Scene from Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing, 1856-1858.

Scene from Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing, 1856-1858. William Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado about Nothing was first performed c1598. In this scene (Act 4 Sc 2), Dogberry, Constable of the watch, instructs his clerk to write down replies given by Conrade and Borachio. There is evidence that the part of Dogberry was written for the Elizabethan comedian William Kemp or Kempe (d1603). Chromolithograph after an illustration by Robert Dudley (fl1858-1893) for an edition of Shakespeare's works published in London, 1856-1858. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)