1) Several of Shakespeare's contemporaries refer to him as an author.

2) In the Companion to Shakespeare, the authors say that "documents relating to Shakespeare's activities, including letters to him and material relating to his family, are extant in quantity in the Shakespeare Centre records office at Stratford upon Avon." Is this correct?

3) The reproduction of Martin Droeshout's engraving of Shakespeare in the 1623 First Folio is based on a portrait that was painted in the early 1600s when Shakespeare was in his late 30s. It is the only picture of the Bard that is based on an extant representation.

4) There is evidence that the authorship of the plays attributed to Shakespeare was contested even during his lifetime.

5) When Shakespeare died, he bequeathed to his wife all of his books as well as the couple's second-best bed.

6) There is no evidence that William Shakespeare of Stratford ever attended school.

7) Shakespeare is unique among writers of the period, in that he did not leave a single manuscript of any of his plays.

8) Evidence of Shakespeare's activities as an actor and playwright is found in the diary of Philip Henslowe, who produced a number of Shakespeare's plays.

9) We know that Shakespeare was an excellent penman because in the First Folio the actors John Heminges and Henry Condell wrote that "we have scarce received from him a blot in his papers."

10) "Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?" This famous line from As You Like It is often cited as an example of Shakespeare's striking originality as a writer.

11) Extra Credit: What play is the title of this quiz taken from?