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Manuscript mention of Shakespeare in his lifetime

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October 6, 1600
Exchequer, Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer, Pipe Rolls, naming William Shakespeare as a tax defaulter in 1600
Lay subsidies were a type of tax based on personal wealth. In London, the collection of subsidies was managed at the local level of ward and parish.
ca. 1600-1615
Edward Pudsey's Commonplace book [portions]: containing first known manuscript quotations from Shakespeare's plays
SHAKESPEARE DOCUMENTED IS STILL GROWING! Descriptive content and transcriptions will continue to be added, updated and expanded. Check back for regular updates!
1601
Francis Davison notes "W. Shakespeare" in manuscript "Catalog of the Poems contayned in Englands Helicon" in preparation for editing A Poetical Rhapsody
SHAKESPEARE DOCUMENTED IS STILL GROWING! Descriptive content and transcriptions will continue to be added, updated and expanded. Check back for regular updates!
1598- 1601
Pilgrimage to Parnassus and Return from Parnassus: multiple references to Shakespeare
SHAKESPEARE DOCUMENTED IS STILL GROWING! Descriptive content and transcriptions will continue to be added, updated and expanded. Check back for regular updates!
October 10, 1601
Updated deed of transfer of the Globe and other properties from Nicholas Brend to Sir Matthew Brown and John Collett, listing William Shakespeare
Dated October 10, 1601, this is the second of five enrolled indentures of bargain and sale for the Globe site, naming William Shakespeare as a leasee. The Globe playhouse was first built in 1599 on land leased from Sir Nicholas Brend.
October 7, 1601
Deed of transfer of the Globe and other properties from Nicholas Brend to Sir Matthew Brown and John Collett, listing "William Shackspeare gent.”
Dated October 7, 1601, this is the first of five enrolled indentures of bargain and sale for the Globe site, naming William Shakespeare as a leasee. The Globe playhouse was first built in 1599 on land leased from Sir Nicholas Brend.
March 25, 1601
Thomas Whittington includes in his will a debt owing to him of 40 shillings "in the hand of Anne Shaxspere wyf unto Mr Wyllyam Shaxspere"
Thomas Whittington, a shepherd living in Shottery, made his will on March 25, 1601, signing by mark. He was buried on April 19, 1601 and his will was proved ten days later.
begun May 28, 1602
Armorial by William Smith, Rouge Dragon, with the coat of arms of "W[illia]m Shakespeare"
SHAKESPEARE DOCUMENTED IS STILL GROWING! Descriptive content and transcriptions will continue to be added, updated and expanded. Check back for regular updates!
1602
Shakespeare purchases New Place: 1602 buyer and vendor copies of final concord
These two documents are the buyer's and vendor's copies of the 1602 final concord for Shakespeare's purchase of New Place. Shakespeare purchased New Place, one of the largest houses in Stratford-upon-Avon, from William Underhill in 1597.
September 28, 1602
Shakespeare purchases Chapel Lane properties: Copy of court roll recording the assignment of a cottage in Chapel Lane, Stratford-upon-Avon, from Walter Getley to William Shakespeare
Shortly after his purchase of land from the Combes, a major investment, Shakespeare acquired a cottage and a quarter acre of land in Chapel Lane, to be held by a form of tenure known as copyhold.

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