Lew blum biography of william shakespeare

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Shakespeare's Last Will and Testament

For all his fame and celebration, William Shakespeare remains a mysterious figure with regards to personal history.

There are just two primary sources for information on the Bard: his works, and various legal and church documents that have survived from Elizabethan times. Naturally, there are many gaps in this body of information, which tells us little about Shakespeare the man.

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, allegedly on April 23, Church records from Holy Trinity Church indicate that he was baptized there on April 26, Young William was born of John Shakespeare, a glover and leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a landed local heiress.

William, according to the church register, was the third of eight children in the Shakespeare household&#;three of whom died in childhood. John Shakespeare had a remarkable run of success as a merchant, alderman, and high bailiff of Stratfo