By Me William Shakespeare: A Life In Writing is staged as part of Shakespeare 400, a year of events marking Shakespeare’s huge cultural impact over the four centuries since his death in 1616.

Record specialists at The National Archives and academics from the London Shakespeare Centre at King’s College London – the world’s foremost centre for the study of Shakespeare – have carefully selected six of the nation’s most important documents held by The National Archives relating to Shakespeare’s life (see box).

Presented together for the first time, these are some of the most significant documents in the world that track Shakespeare’s existence as a citizen of London, as a businessman, as a family man, servant to the King and even possibly a thief and a subversive. They explore both his domestic and professional lives, what it meant to live in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras and the social impact of his plays. The exhibition takes place at the Inigo Rooms in Somerset House from 3 February to 29 May – it was at the original Somerset House where early performances of Shakespeare’s plays took place and the will was first held.

Visitors will encounter Shakespeare in his own words and in his own handwriting. They will be taken on a journey from the birth of The Globe through to Shakespeare’s dying days in Stratford-upon-Avon.

This exhibition provides a once-in-ageneration opportunity to see these key documents, including four of the six known signatures, alongside carefully selected artefacts and paintings from various institutions.

Six scenes in Shakespeare’s life are narrated through key documents and include highlights such as:

• Court papers following the daring ‘theft’ (possibly involving Shakespeare himself) of materials from a rival theatre on one side of the Thames to create The Globe on the other side of the river
• Shakespeare’s rise in power both socially and commercially as he takes a controlling share in The Globe and leads a favourite theatre company of both Queen Elizabeth I and King James I and VI
• Royal papers show payments to Shakespeare for his Boxing Day performances of new plays for James I’s wife Queen Anne and that Shakespeare took part in James I’s coronation procession, marking his honorary and privileged position at court
• Court papers capturing the trial and retribution against those involved in the failed Essex Rebellion of 1601 in which Shakespeare’s ‘subversive’ play Richard II was used by Essex’s supporters to stoke insurrection. The fact that Shakespeare avoided being arrested or hung illustrates his favoured position by Elizabeth I
• Shakespeare’s deposition in the courts over a disputed dowry payment provide insights into how he might have spoken and his earliest recorded signature

The National Archives has been carrying out conservation work on Shakespeare’s will this year with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the chronology of its drafting. Results of this work will be revealed during the exhibition..

Deborah Bull, Assistant Principal, King’s College London said: “This unprecedented collaboration between King’s College London and The National Archives will take an entirely innovative approach to connecting audiences with Shakespeare’s life. The digital installation – juxtaposed with these historic and precious documents, preserved over four centuries – give us an opportunity to witness Shakespeare’s life in London. From personal court testimony, through Boxing Day performances for King and Queen, to the theft of a theatre – the exhibition will enable audiences to engage and identify with a man who has influenced cultures across the globe for the past 400 years.”.

Professor Gordon McMullan, Director, London Shakespeare Centre at King’s College London, added: “The documents in this extraordinary exhibition offer unique insight into Shakespeare’s life and that of his fellow actors and playwrights. They represent the core of our knowledge of his biography – his interactions with officialdom, whether law cases, records of performance at court, tense examinations over potentially treasonous activity, disputes over rent, marital tensions, or the end of a life. Together, these records – which are unlikely to be on public display again in our lifetimes – give us the opportunity to reconstruct Shakespeare’s life. We in the London Shakespeare Centre at King’s are privileged to have the chance to share the curation of this wonderful exhibition with The National Archives’ experts and to be actively involved in making these priceless documents accessible to all.” bymewilliamshakespeare.org/