Last night at the British Society of Magazine Editors Awards held in London, Country Life was awarded the Scoop of the Year for our investigative piece in May which revealed the true face of Shakespeare.
The result of an in-depth investigation by one of Country Life’s star writers, botanist and historian Mark Griffiths, this article revealed exclusively to Country Life the true face of Shakespeare: an incredible portrait produced in the playwright’s life.
Whilst researching his latest book, and studying the title page of The Herball by John Gerard, a 16th century book on plants, Mr Griffiths worked out that a code was being used to disguise well-known figures of the time. Detailed portraits of four notable men are included on the page, and after cracking the botanical code, Mr Griffiths has been able to prove that one of the men is indeed Shakespeare, and a portrait drawn from life - a thrilling discovery for any historian and for anyone interested in our cultural heritage.
Watch the video about our discovery here:
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