14 APRIL 1928, Page 3

Dr. Rosenback the American collector, having acquired the MS. of

Alice in Wonderland at a preposterous price, next bought the Ward Diary for the more reasonable sum of /10,500. This diary was kept by the Rev. John Ward, of Stratford-on-Avon, in the middle of the seven- teenth century, and is best known for certain statements about Shakespeare which were no doubt current in Stratford-on-Avon in Ward's time. Ward says, for instance, that Shakespeare produced two plays every year and was able to live at the rate of /1,000 a year—a very large income in those days. Then there is the statement that Shakespeare's death was caused by drinking too heavily with Ben Jonson. These and other statements have often been drawn upon by Shake- spearean scholars, but none of them can be verified.