By Rich Rennicks for the New Antiquarian, 4 June 2015

Another controversy over Shakespeare erupted recently. By itself, this fact would not be worth reporting, as controversy swirls around the legacy of William Shakespeare like that of no other writer. However, this one revolved around something that collectors of rare books will have special interest in and knowledge of: printers marks.

Botanist and historian Mark Griffiths was writing a book on 16th century horticulturist John Gerard, in the course of which he decided to determine who the four figures depicted on the title page of Gerard’s magnum opus, The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes (1597), were, as it is thought these figures are allegorical.

Three of the four figures appear relatively straight-forward and uncontentious: the author himself, his patron — Lord Burghley (who raised Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford and for many the prime suspect for who could have written the Shakespeare plays if William did not), and Rembert Dodoens, the Flemish botanist whose work Gerard was building upon. The fourth figure is less obvious, and this is the one Griffiths believes to be William Shakespeare.

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