Additional Coverage:
- ‘Antiques Roadshow’ expert starts trembling after guest brings a unique 400-year-old notebook (marketrealist.com)
A Tiny 400-Year-Old Notebook Shakes Up “Antiques Roadshow”
An “Antiques Roadshow” expert was visibly moved by a small, 400-year-old notebook brought in by a guest whose ancestor was 18th-century antiquarian, John Loveday of Caversham. The guest had discovered the book among his mother’s belongings.
Antique expert, Matthew Haley, was thrilled with the find, stating that the notebook, though nearly illegible, contained phrases seemingly lifted from Shakespeare. “My hands are trembling just looking at it,” Haley remarked, noting its potential historical significance.
The notebook’s minuscule script suggested a 17th-century origin and a user intimately familiar with Shakespeare’s works. Notes within referenced plays like “Twelfth Night” and “Much Ado About Nothing.” Haley estimated the notebook could fetch over £30,000 at auction, a value likely much higher today.
Professor Tiffany Stern of the Shakespeare Institute examined the notebook. While it contained no new Shakespearean writings, it offered a fascinating glimpse into the Bard’s early readership.
Stern identified the notebook as a collection of quotes from Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623), compiled by what she described as an “obsessive fan,” perhaps the earliest known. She dated the notebook to the 1630s.
While the original owner remains a mystery, clues remain. A Waterhouse family seal appears on the back, and Stern noted the writer’s apparent fascination with pregnancy and eyebrows.