BBC News, 19 May 2015

A 400-year-old botany book contains what could be the only known portrait of Shakespeare made in his lifetime, according to an academic expert.

Botanist and historian Mark Griffiths cracked an “ingenious cipher” to identify the playwright in an engraving in the 16th-Century work.

“This is what Shakespeare looked like, drawn from life and in the prime of life,” he said.

Details of his discovery are revealed in this week’s issue of Country Life.

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