The Spelling of “Shak(e)speare”

Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide - Nick Groom, Piero 2013

The Spelling of “Shak(e)speare”

Ironically, by a printer’s accident these books also give us our spelling of Shakespeare’s name. In his signatures, he is always Shakspere or Shakspeare, but because of the difficulty in printing the letters K and (the long s) next to each other, the dedications to Southampton are signed “William Shakespeare”. This spelling has been conventional since the end of the 18th century.

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BUT ELIZABETHAN SPELLING WAS ANYWAY VERY FLUID. AMONG THE 83 WAYS OF SPELLING MY NAME ARE … SHAKESPUR, SHAKESPERT, SHAKESBY, SHAKISPERE, SHAKYSPER, SHACKSPEER, SCHAKESPEYR, SCHACOSPER, SHAXBERD, SHAXVER, SHAXBEE, SHEXSPER, SAXPER, SHAGSPERE, SHASPER, SASHPIERRE, SADSPERE, SHAFFTESPERE, CHACSPER…