Transverse section [realia].

Transverse section [realia].

[S.l.] : [s.n.], [18th century]

1 piece of uncarved wood : mulberry tree wood ; approx. 1 1/2 in. high, 8 in. wide.

wood

This piece of wood has 35 annual rings plus a ring in the bark, suggesting that the section was cut from a limb and not the trunk itself. In Shakespeare's lives...1970, p. 180, S. Schoenbaum refers to Malone's conjecture that the tree was planted in the spring of 1609, when many thousands of the trees were imported from France by order of King James.

Certification: Item described by J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps in A lyttle boke...1857, no. 12, "A large piece of Shakespeare's mulberry-tree, cut from one of the blocks presented to Garrick. So many supositious mulberry-tree relics are in existence, it is hazardous to vouch for the authenticity of any, but the present one can be traced almost beyond a doubt, having been cut in my presence from one of the blocks which had the certificate of Garrick's seal..." 5 of the 6 pieces of mulberry wood said to have been owned by David Garrick which did not have his seal were sold by Mr. Christie on May 5, 1825, lot nos. 171-172. Entry in public catalog under Garrick's name. The 6th piece, discussed by Halliwell-Phillipps on p. 8, belonged to Thomas Crofton Crocker and had Garrick's seal. The certificate which accompanied the block is described as follows, "A piece of Shakespeare's mulberry tree, presented y the Corporation of Stratford-upon-/Avon, to David Garrick, 1762, and sealed by him with his seal, (a head of Shakespeare) which still remains on the block. On Mrs. Garrick's death in 1822, this relic came into the possession of George Frederick Beltz...Lancaster Herald, one of her executors, and in 1844 was presented to me, by this brother Samuel Beltz...of the treasury. [signed] Thomas Crofton Crocker." According to Halliwell-Phillipps, the piece of mulberry owned by Croker was subdivided at his death and "...a large portion of it was sent to American, but a considerable fragment was retained in England, and carefully distributed into about six shares."

Provenance: This fragment was in the Warwick Castle Library Shakespeare collection. See M.b 31. According to Seymour de Ricci, who wrote of HCF's acquisition in English collectors...1930, p. 148, this collection was built up by Halliwell-Phillipps for George Guy Greville, 4th earl of Warwick, from 1852-1870. It was subsequently sold by Richard Charles Guy Greville, 5th earl of Warwick, through Henry Sotheran & Co., April 9, 1897. HCF paid L10,000 for the collection. The receipt is in HCF's file under Warwick in drawer marked, Correspondence: Special Collections & Subjects.

Wood no. 23

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