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When did William Shakespeare first appear in London literary records?
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William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare, detail of an oil painting attributed to John Taylor, c. 1610. The portrait is called the “Chandos Shakespeare” because it once belonged to the duke of Chandos.
The first recorded mention of William Shakespeare in the London literary world occurred in 1592.1
This reference appeared in the pamphlet Greenes, groats-worth of witte, bought with a million of Repentance, written by the dramatist Robert Greene on his deathbed and published posthumously that same year. In the text, Greene disparaged Shakespeare as an "upstart crow" who believed himself capable of writing blank verse as well as established playwrights. While the exact nature of Shakespeare's early career remains unclear, it is believed he arrived in London during the late 1580s to begin his apprenticeship in the theatre.213