Shakespeare's signature to go on show at exhibition

A document featuring William Shakespeare's signature is set to go on display at an exhibition in London next week.

The 400-year-old scrawl, which is at foot of a deed for a £140 property in Blackfriars, is one of only six known signatures penned by the Bard.

The document also bears the signature of William Johnson, which experts believe is the same William Johnson who was landlord of the famous Mermaid Tavern in Cheapside.

Both Shakespeare and fellow playwright Christopher Marlowe are said to have drunk at the tavern.

John Hemmyng, actor and editor of the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays, is also named as a trustee on the deed, although his signature is not on the document.

The property, which was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666, is believed to have been part of a gatehouse, and according to his will, Shakespeare let one of the rooms to a tenant.

It was located next door to the Blackfriars Theatre and just across the river from the Globe.

The document will be the centrepiece of the Shakespeare and London exhibition at the London Metropolitan Archives from May 28 to September 26.