A historian named Mark Griffiths claims to have uncovered “the true face of” William Shakespeare. According to Country Life magazine, this likeness of the Bard can be found on the title page of John Gerard‘s 1597 botany book, The Herball.
The video embedded features Griffiths recounting how he made this discovery. Below, we’ve posted the cover from the May 2015 issue of Country Life magazine which showcases Shakespeare’s portrait.
The world’s greatest English playwright lived from 1564 to 1616. Given the publication date of Gerard’s plant tome, this means that the image was created during Shakespeare’s lifetime. The Guardian reports that “the only known authentic likenesses of Shakespeare are in the First Folio and the effigy on his monument at Holy Trinity church in Stratford-upon-Avon. Both of these were made posthumously.” (via CNN.com)
