, 1874-06-21
THE FACE o. SHAKESPEARE,

| In Scri6ners Monthly for July thero is ar
| interesting article by John 8. Hart on tbe
"Shakspeare Death-Alask." The article is ali
/ many himself to examine the mask, and had
every opportunity to do so. The mask, if it IN
deed be mask, OF Shakespeare, affords the only
undoubted information AZ to the great dramatists q
earthly lineaments. Mr. Hart Sits the proof Of
its authenticity and trustworthiness, aud seems
to agree with the verdict passed upon it By Baron
Pollock, who, after examining the testimony
said: "If we're called upon to charge jury
in regard to this point. should instruct them to
bring in a verdict in favor Of the claimant"
The mask in question Mr.. Hart found in Darn
stadt IN possession Of DR.. Ernst Becker, Private
Secretary OF the Princees Alice OF Hesse-Da1m-
stadt, who permitted him to examine it, take
measurements Of it, and gave him valuable in
formation besides concerning it. The cast came
into possession OF DR.. Becker with other effects
OF his deceased brother Ludwig. The latter dis
covered it in 1s49 in Mayence. Going afterwards
to South Australia, he left tho cast in charge Of
1O4. 4ACHAtA ohcu. LAo auALou48t AuU Iu1ALQT
OF the British Museum. Ludwig periehed in the
South Australian expedition, and thus the cast fell
into the hands OF his brother Ernst.
Connected With the history Of the mask is that
been owned by the family Of q German nob1eman,
Count Francis Won Kesselstadt, who died ut May
ence in l8i3. but whose ancestors had resided in
Cologne for many generations previous. This
picture had always been regarded by the family |
as a. portrait Of Shakespeare, and bore the in
scription: "Den 1raditioner Mach (according |
to tradition) n)-shakspeare, ~ and the date, 1857.
The picture represents the subject lying in state
On bier and a candlestick dimly seen in the !
background. A1r. Becker and Others infer
red from the appearance and from vari-
ous peculiarities OF the picture that
t had been painted from an older
LIKENESS, or probably from death-maak. Mr.
Becker went, therefore, in search Of the original,
'r the mask He found that = plaster-ol-Puis
ast OF some kind had been in possession Of the
lesselBtadt family. but that it had not been
much valued by them. After two years'
earch ho found the mask in pawnbrokers
hop in Mayence, among lot Of trash. Every
nc who has compared tho picture and the mask
ays that they are representations OF the same
erson. The letters and figures on tho back OF
he cast are such as wero made two centuries aud
half ago, and the inscription ia, to all
ppearance, Of the same ago as tho
ast. The experts of the British Museum
ere satisfied that the inscription was cut at the
me the cast was made. There ia no possibility I
hat the cast eau be forgery, even though it be
OF cast Of Shakespeare. The inscription On
le back OF the cast is this:
TAO DIN 1916, {
hich signifies died in the year OF our Lord 1915 {
the year in which Shakespeare died. That the {
lst, therefore, is related to the Keaselatadt pic
Ire. that the latter Was painted from it, and t
lat it ia the cast Of some one who died the same !
'ar that Shakespeare did, is certain. The point c
difficulty is that there is no showing positive q
that any member of the Kesselstadt family was T
er in England. and 1t ia not known, therefore, +
'W tho cast got from England to Germany. t.
udwig Becker supposes that some attache Of Il
q German Ambassador poking about among &
9 rubbish in the shop OF Gerard Johnson il
g tomb-maker who executed shakspeare's A
bust-Haw this cast where it had ! a
en- thrown aside and, struck By the efigy, | N
ught it or begged it and carried it home with P
n to Germany, where. after time, it turned n,
in the KeBselstadt family. es
When Hermann Grimm saw the bust. and tt
Tore he was told whose it was, be said it must OF
shakspoare's. Bays he: "At the first glance fe
aought to myself bad never seen nobler vi
What noble, c1san-cut; aquilne 81
Ia: what 4 R8oudarfut}r.shAn t.anw folt AZ