DiscoveringShakespeare.com Images of Shakespeare A copy of the original monument made for Shakespeare, shortly after his death. It was drawn in 1634 and printed in Dugdale's "History of Warwickshire" in 1653. It represents the view of the "poet" taken by his fellow Stratfordians - a prosperous farmer without a trace of literary sophistication. He clutches what is patently a bag of grain. 1630 Monument Present Monument The present monument in Stratford church bears little resemblance to the original. By the time Garrick launched the modern tourist industry with his Anniversary celebrations in 1769, the figure has been transformed. The dress and bearing have acquired a fresh bourgeois complacency. The agricultural implications of the sack have given way to a cushion and scroll of paper. In his hand he wields a quill. He is plainly a writer. Stratford tills have tinkled happily ever since.