The last line of Shakespeare’s will reads “I have hereunto put my seale”, and then seale is scratched out and replaced with “hand”, “the date and year above written.” What does this mean? Typically he would have used a “seal ring” to identify the official document, but presumably he could not find it when he was writing the will, and thus his signature would have to suffice. The blog “Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet” has the fascinating history of that ring, which was found in 1810, including some very frenzied reactions to the discovery (“in sooth I hope it is not Brummagem, in double sooth I hope it is his, and in triple sooth I hope I shall have an impression” :)) and even speculation about how he lost it in the first place. Weight loss due to illness, perhaps? Pictures included, as well as plenty of links and excerpts of original dated documents. Nice informative post.
