PREFACE THE enquiries of which the following pages are the outcome were commenced with the intention of rectifying certain apparently erroneous impressions upon the subject of Shakespeare's marriage licence. Other results obtained in the course of the investigation seem, however, to be of sufficient interest to place on record, although some of them, certainly, add to the great mass of inference and assumption to which few writers on the incidents of the poet's life avoid making a contribution. Of the two marriage licence documents now preserved at the Worcester Diocesan Registry the bond alone possesses any biographical value, the entry in the bishop's register, recording the issue of the licence, being of interest only on account of certain differences from the bond, one of which, however, affords a possible clue to the place of marriage or the residence of one of the parties to the application. Many years have elapsed since these writings were discovered, and both have been the subjects of much discussion; but it does not appear that a complete explanation of the discrepancies has yet been given or the suggestive value of the bond fully realized. With the object of ascertaining whether some new light could be thrown upon the points of disagreement and the circumstances under which the licence was obtained, I have examined such of the contemporary matrimonial and other records as appeared likely to afford |
