1. As Ben Jonson urged in his preface to the First Folio of Shakespeare‘s plays: "Reader, looke not on his Picture, but his Booke."

2. Article continues Sir Peter Hall, the founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, suggests the bard‘s bad–line days were the result of his being blotto the night before (as, often enough, was Ben Jonson.

3. It would certainly explain why he penned some of the clumsiest lines in English literature, says John Sutherland Tuesday September 26, 2006 The Guardian Thus spake the Bard‘s great contemporary, Ben Jonson: "I remember, the Players have often mentioned it as an honour to Shakespeare, that in his writing, (whatsoever he penn‘d) hee never blotted out line.

4. "It is certainly fairly likely we are looking at the face of Shakespeare, but we‘d need a document or a signature to prove it beyond all doubt." The face in the painting, which dates from the right period, resembles that in the engraving by Martin Droeshout the Younger on the frontispiece of the First Folio – which was authenticated as a true likeness by Ben Jonson.

5. It may be all the rage here but in the US nobody cares Leader: In praise of ... Ben Jonson Napster on the hunt for buyers Charles I coin expected to fetch 200,000 People: Willie Nelson | Kathy Burke | Damon Albarn and others Beyoncé leads Mobo nominations A designer, a teacher and an ex–soldier: aka the fake old master gang (jailed) Banksy ordered to clean up his elephant act Dust and cracks fail to diminish Kapoor‘s mirror on Fifth Avenue Tate reveals 12m purchases and blockbusters to come Bard ousts bling in night of modest triumph for homegrown talent Owen Gibson, media correspondent Thursday September 21, 2006 The Guardian Rhyming about Shakespeare, the congestion charge and gun crime might seem an unlikely route to reviving British rap and overhauling US superstars such as Kanye West.