mbe ~bake5peare Oxford Society "Dedicated to Researching and Honoring the True Bard" Vol. 44: No.3 "A plague UpOIl it whell thieves call1lot be t/'lle to olle another!" Hellry IV, part one. 2.2.27. Summer 2008 Is a Powerful Report of the White Plains Authorship Shakespeare Authorship Conference Smoking Gun By Richard Joyrich Buried Within The White Plains Shakespeare Au­ light of events in the life of Edward thorship Conference,jointly sponsored de Vere, particularly his relationship Westminster by the Shakespeare Oxford Society with his wives and children. and Shakespeare Fellowship, convened Albert Burgstahler and Betsy Abbey? at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Clark provided lucid accounts of By Dr. Paul Altroccchi Plains, NY from October 9-12, 2008. complicated cryptographic and It was well attended and the sixty-plus numerologic analysis of several My name be buried attendees were treated to a variety of dedications and title pages of where my body is. topics during 22 presentations, several works important in the Shakespeare - Sonnet 72 discussion sessions, and two evening Authorship Question. Burgstahler Discovery of the original copies of DVD showings. expanded upon the work of David Shakespeare's plays, missing for 400 The thing that has begun to stand Roper, now available in a new book, years, should be welcomed with un­ out during the annual conferences while Clark presented her own nu­ bridled enthusiasm by all Shakespeare is the continuing trend towards real merologic analyses. There seems scholars. This would, however, doom intricately researched scholarship to be much more of interest along the Stratfordian authorship theory. which, freed from the blinders of the these lines.to be discovered. Edward de Vere's handwriting being Stratfordian story, is beginning to reveal On Friday, after the annual meeting well known, the manuscripts would many new things about Shakespeare of the SOS, Frank Davis presented his authenticate his authorship, asmoking and the world in which he lived. The researches into the famous Henslowe gun so powerful that the long-awaited conference has begun to shy away from Diary. He has uncovered (or at least Oxfordian Paradigm Shift should oc­ attempts to prove the Oxfordian thesis revealed) many things which have cur immediately. and move on to what can we now learn either escaped the notice of Stratford­ Unbridled enthusiasm? Perhaps given Oxford as the author. ians or have been suppressed. These not. In 200 AD, Tertullian issued a Daniel Wright gave the conference include how actor-playwrights could (cont'd 011 p. 3) a great start on Thursday afternoon all sign their names well, and some • INSIDE' with a well-reasoned discussion on the indications ofthe Shakespeare works theme of bastardy and royal succession having been written earlier than the President's Page 2 in the Shakespeare plays. It seems established dates. Greetings 2 that Shakespeare is very interested in Michael Egan then spoke about what makes a person fit to rule, not The Oxfordian's new Editor intellectual integrity, citing many is up for the Challenge 14 necessarily who is in the legitimate examples of unfair criticism of his succession, Dr. Wright says that the recent work establishing Shakespear­ For Immediate Release 18 plays convey this political message. ean authorship of the play Richard II, Letters to the Editor 20 Wright focused on the play King John, Part 1 (formerly known as Thomas of Shakespeare as Brand Name 23 but his argument holds for many other Woodstock). He then went on to ex­ works as well. plain more about how he will function Noted Shakespearean Egan Takes Over Helen Gordon presented some new as the new editor of The Oxfordian. The Oxfordian 24 ways of looking at the sonnets in the (collt'd 011 p. 16) page 2 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter

Shakespeare Oxford President's Page Newsletter Published quarterly by the By Matthew Cossolotto Shakespeare Oxford Society Dear Society Members and that it would eliminate the possibil­ P.O. Box 808 Friends: ity that a small minority of Trustees Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 Readers of my most recent Presi­ could make decisions on behalf of the Tel: (914) 962-1717 dent's Page column will no doubt be Fax: (914) 254-9713 entire Board. Even though this power Email: [email protected] surprised to see this new one. I thought I had not been used by the Board for ISSN 1525-6863 had written my last column as president several years, the possibility of rule www.shakespeare-oxford.com of the Shakespeare Oxford Society. by Executive Committee continued to Editor: Butitnow appears, paraphrasing Mark exist in theory. The Board felt it would Lew Tate Twain, that rumors of my demise as be better to eliminate the Executive Editorial Board: president have been greatly exagger­ Committee entirely. The membership, John Hamill ated. An explanation is in order. in its wisdom, agreed wholeheartedly. Frank Davis I'm writing this column in late No­ So now we can all say good riddance Dr. Jim Brooks vember 2008 as your new ly reelected to the Executive Committee. Ramon Jimenez president a little over a month follow­ The second amendment recom­ James Sherwood ing the Society's annual meeting, held mended by the Board and approved by Dr. Richard Smiley in White Plains on October 10,2008. the membership was what I referred to Katherine Chiljan Many members will recall that two Derran Charlton as a "good governance" amendment Brian Bechtold amendments to the Society'S by-laws during the discussion at the annual were on the ballot, both originally meeting. This amendment allows the Layout and Printing St. Martin de Porres Lay Dominicans proposed to the Board of Trustees by Board, by unanimous vote, to extend New Hope, Kentucky first vice president John Hamill. Both the term of any officer for a period of All contents copyright © 2008 amendments were overwhelmingly up to one year. Shakespeare Oxford Society adopted by the membership, includ­ This amendment was necessary be­ The Newsletter welcomes research alticles, book ing those present at the meeting and cause the by-laws impose a three-year reviews, letters and news items. Contributions those who mailed in their ballots prior term limit on officers serving in any should be reasonably concise and, when appro- priate, validated by peer review. Assignment of to the meeting. given position, including Treasurer, copyright is required for publication. The views One amendment eliminated the Secretary, Membership Secretary, and of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of Executive Committee - which had not President. Since all Board members and the Shakespeare Oxford Society as a literary and educational organization. been used by the Board of Trustees for officers serve in a voluntary capacity, it several years. As I mentioned during is sometimes difficult for the Board to the annual meeting, this was a "pro­ find new recruit new members and to Board of Trustees democracy" amendment in the sense find qualified people to serve as officers. Shakespeare Oxford Society (cont'd 011 p. 19) Lifetime HOllorary Tnlstee Charles Boyle Greetings 2008 Here is your new newsletter. We ted by Richard J oyrich. I hope some Brian Bechtold are still running behind but working presenters will consider submitting Matthew Cos sol otto (President) to catch up. You writers out there their work for publication. Stephen Downs - submit! As you know, 2009 is the All of the authorship publications lh Toni Downs 400 anniversary of the publication are excellent evangelical tools for John Hamill (First Vice President) of the sonnets. You will read here of our cause. For example, as a teacher Virginia Hyde (Secretary) the SOS declaration of 2009 as The of Shakespeare, I use your material Year of the Sonnet. The Newsletter is a often in my presentations (full and Richard Joyrich (Membership Secretary) good place for you to respond through correct attribution, of course). Each Michael Pisapia your research and writing. presentation, oral or printed, adds James (Jaz) Sherwood The 2008 Joint Conference has another voice to the international and Richard Smiley resulted in glowing reports. I regret on going discussion. Suan Width (Treasurer) that I had to miss it this year. What Lew Tate, Ed. a line up! We have a report submit- tate3211 @bellsouth.net Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Summer 2008 page 3

(cont'dfrolll p. J) mountain-top warning about the usual response of humans imprinted and enlarged to almost as much again as it was, to a New Truth which conflicts with basic beliefs: according to the true and pelfect copies." After de Vere 's death in 1604, presumably the manu­ "Cum odio sui coepit veritas, scripts remained with his family although we don't know Simil atque apparuit, inimica est." with whom. The First Folio of 1623 states that the 36 "The first reaction to truth is hatred. The moment it ap­ Shakespeare plays were "published according to the True pears, it is treated as an enemy." (I) and Originall Copies," but this is very unlikely because of Given the Stratfordian track record of chicanery for the large number of mistakes in wording, suggesting that centuries, including destruction of vital documents, memorized versions of actors - the illegal Quartos - may alteration of portraits, persistent deception and men­ have been used for at least some of the folio plays. dacity, those manuscripts would have to be guarded As all Oxfordians know, the three folio producers all carefully by impartial historians to preserve their very had a direct or indirect relationship to Edward de Vere: existence. 1. Susan de Vere, youngest daughter of Edward de As an example of Stratfordian "honesty above reproach," Vere. Oxfordian Charlton Ogburn, Jr. became entranced by the 2. Her husband, Philip Herbert, First Earl of Montgomery, thought of finding the play manuscripts. He speculated who, with his brother, William, were the "Incomparable that they might be hidden within the Shaksper monument Paire of Brethren" to whom the First Folio was dedicated in Stratford's Trinity Parish Church (2, 3,4), failing to and who financed as well as produced the folio. consider that the large bulk of 36 or more manuscripts 3. William Herbert, Third Earl of Pembroke, who for could not possibly fit within that small space. years kept his relatively minor job as Lord Chamberlain Shakespeare Birthplace Trust officials refused Ogburn's to the Stuart Kings, spurning the much more prestigious request to open the monument. Then they secretly arranged job of Lord High Treasurer of England several times so a nocturnal invasion of the church by "unknown criminals" he could keep power over publications in anticipation who chiseled a four inch excavation in the monument's of saving de Vere's great plays for posterity. He finally base. No interior cavity was found by the tidy intruders, agreed to relinquish the job but only if his brother Philip who even swept up the debris! The mysterious vandals became Lord Chamberlain. were neither sought nor caught by cooperative police and local authorities (4, 5). What might have happened If The Shakespeare Trust had found the manuscripts, to the play manuscripts? would they have publicly announced their discovery? If Oxfordians must realize that 36 to 40 plays written on so, why the nighttime attack on the monument rather than thick parchment would fill a trunk. Could such a bulky the requested daytime search in full view of the public? collection have been overlooked in a dusty attic or muni­ Was their real intent to find and then destroy such a pre­ ment room all this time? Unlikely. Since few Elizabethan miere smoking gun which would certainly demolish their Era play manuscripts have survived time's vicissitudes, man, Shaksper, as the great playwright and thus instantly and considering the special political survival hazards of de terminate millions of pounds of annual tourist revenue? Vere's plays, it seems unlikely that the play manuscripts Can one hope for impeccable honesty in humans whose still exist. What might have happened to them? basic tenets and/or jobs and income are threatened by a 1. Destruction by the Cedis. Considered possible but new discovery? unlikely because the term "grand possessors" was used Early locations of the play manuscripts in 1609 when Troi/us and Cressida was registered for the second time, suggesting that the manuscripts were still Edward de Vere retired from his "job" as a fulltime intact and that the Herbert brothers knew their location. courtier in Queen Elizabeth's Court in 1588, at the age Also, the term "true and origin all copies" was used in the of 38, after the Battle of the Armada, to work full time on 1623 publication of the First Folio, after both William rewriting his plays, turning them into great literature in Cecil, in 1598, and Robert Cecil, in 1612, had died. their own right as well as for stage presentation. During his 2. Destruction in Ben Jonson's house fire. In Oct. sixteen play-revision years, first in Stoke-Newington from or Nov., 1623, "there was a fire in Jonson's lodgi ngs, and 1588 to 1596, then at King's Place, Hackney until he died many books and manuscripts were destroyed" (6). The in 1604, it is logical to assume that all play manuscripts First Folio producers hired Ben Jonson to compile and stayed in his possession. On the front page of the 1604 edit the Folio. Whether he personally ever had posses­ publication of Hamlet, for example, we are told, "Newly sion of the original copies is not known. If they were in page 4 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter his possession temporarily, could he have staged a fake Stratfordian prowess in getting rid of any documents fire to hoodwink the authorities before giving back the which cast doubt upon their authorship theory. originals to the relatives? 3. Accidental destruction in other fires. Since the Report me and my cause grand possessors were Herberts, could the manuscripts aright to the unsatisfied have been incinerated in the severe 1647 fire at Wilton In the final revision of his masterpiece, Hamlet, ac­ House, the Herbert family home southwest of London, complished shortly before he died in 1604, Edward de which is thought to have destroyed important muniments Vere wrote powerful lines, urging his cousin, Horatio, to (7)? William and Susan Herbert were already dead by 1647, tell the world that he, de Vere, is the playwright, William but Susan's husband Philip was alive. The manuscripts are Shakespeare, who was forced by Cecilian power to use a not at Wilton House today or at County Hall, Trowbridge pseudonym and disappear from history. where most Wilton House muniments are stored (8). As with other striking authorship clues in the plays, the If the manuscripts were in Baynards Castle on the Thames, reader should note well that these words have 110 relevance the London home of the Herberts, or in the London home whatsoever to Hamlet, Prince of Denmark or to the play of a Vere-Cecil descendent, they probably would not have itself. The Prince did not have a wounded name, nor was survived the catastrophic fire of 1666 which obliterated there any untold story within the play which was withheld most of Elizabethan London (8). This fire, incidentally, from the world. Yet the lines are included in the final scene did not reach Westminster Abbey. in which Hamlet is dying from a poisoned rapier-thrust 4. Buried under the slab cryptically marked "Stone inflicted by his duel-adversary, Laertes (l0): Coffin Underneath" near the monument of Francis Vere in theAbbey's Chapel of St. John the Evangelist. Although Hamlet: a favorite theory of Oxfordians, this was ruled out by Horatio, I am dead, archeological analysis in 1913 (9). Thou liv'st. Report me and my cause aright 5. Destruction by Stratfordians. If the manuscripts To the unsatisfied ... did withstand the above threats unscathed, could such conclusive smoking guns have endured the past 300 years o God, Horatio, what a wounded name, of Stratfordian hegemony? Quite doubtful considering Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me!

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If thou didst ever hold me in they heart, ate, litigious grain dealer and real estate speculator with Absent thee from felicity a while, a similar name to Shakespeare, was the actual author. And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain Horatio had the original play manuscripts in his hands To tell my story. and was unable, in an authoritarian era, to broadcast to the world the truth that Edward de Vere was WilIiam Oxfordians firmly believe that the play, Hamlet, is au­ Shakespeare. What options were available to preserve the tobiographical and that the character, Horatio, represents premiere authorship smoking gun for future generations? Horatio Vere, one of Edward de Vere's two favorite first Would Horatio have considered burying the manuscripts cousins. The word "unsatisfied" carries the meaning of in a coffin in Westminster Abbey, in a space reserved for those in doubt and uncertainty about the true author of the Veres, to await a more propitious historical time to reveal Shakespeare plays. The Oxfordian hypothesis adopted by their secrets? this writeris that Edward de Vere urged Horatio to make sure Let's examine Westminster Abbey, its history and its that the play manuscripts survived to establish once and for rules, and what technical problems might be encountered all his true authorship. Horatio accepts this responsibility. if it were chosen as a temporary burial site for the manu­ Charlton Ogburn, Jr. couldn' t believe that any de Vere scripts, including opportunities for later retrieval. relative would destroy the manuscripts, "but to hide them so that they would never be found would be tantamount to Westminster Abbey and its burials destroying them. So what to do? Could they be hidden so Construction of the Abbey began in the 11 th century that they would not be found until the existing authorities in the reign of Edward the Confessor, with the initial ver­ had passed from the scene?" (4) sion completed in time for the coronation of William the How was Horatio to protect and preserve the manu­ Conqueror in 1066. AlI monarchs since, except Edward scripts? The First Folio producers have just been forced V and Edward VIII, have been crowned there. In the mid- to publish the world's greatest literature under a pen name 1200s, Henry III began building a more majestic church. while those in political authority continued to perpetrate The modern Abbey is the result of additional building in the hoax that William Shaksper of Stratford, an illiter- the 13th through 16th centuries (11).

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JonlOO'S House, n . 1626-1631 61 COll on's ~.----~. SOUTHWARK H o u~ ff)7l'- TheHop.e . The Rose The-Globe TheS". I f If Mluhalsea PriloO n Figure 1. Map of Westmillster alld adjacellt LOlldoll. Westlllillster Abbey is ill the 10IVer left, arolilld the Cllrve of the Thallles. page 6 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter

For the first few hundred years, burials in Westminster register (12). The most accurate and complete external Abbey were a mixture of the great, usually buried in the source is Joseph Lemuel Chester's 1876 compendium, chapels, the not-so-great, and the The Marriage, Baptismal, and Burial Registers of the obscure (12). Many undistinguished commoners, includ­ Collegiate Church orAbbey of5t. Petel; Westminster(13). ing Abbey monks, were buried there in early centuries, Each English citizen is only allowed one registration usually in the cloisters, a cloister being a courtyard sur­ of burial. Therefore, if someone is buried elsewhere rounded by four corridors. Since the 1500s, traditionally and then transferred to the Abbey, the reburial in the only royalty, nobles, and commoners of note (e.g., Chau­ Abbey is not recorded in Abbey records. cer, Spenser, and Beaumont in Poets' Corner) have been Since relevant literature contains many errors and honored with burial in the Abbey. misconceptions about Vere family burials in Westminster By the late 1700s, royal vaults at Westminster Abbey Abbey, they will now be summarized by chapel of burial were nearly full. Since 1810, a shelved royal crypt beneath for the first time, as derived from the records of Joseph Wolsey Chapel at Windsor Castle has been the final rest­ Chester (13) and confirmed independently by a very ing place of monarchs and their relatives. competent and cooperative Abbey Curator, Historian, and Accurate Abbey burial records were not kept until 1607. Librarian, Tony Trowles (12). Many were buried without record, and many were listed, even memorialized on marble slabs, who were not buried A. Chapel of St. Nicholas in the Abbey (13). Many burials went unrecorded in the 1. Anne Cecil de Vere, Edward de Vere's first wife, 17th century even after better record-keeping had been was buried here on June 25, 1588 at the age of 3l. established. Joseph Chester compiled a list and description 2. Elizabeth de Vere Stanley, Edward de Vere's oldest of all persons documented as being buried in the Abbey daughter, was buried here on March 10, 1627 at the age who were not recorded, but he died before the project was of 50. Evidence suggests that Edward de Vere was not her completed and his notes have vanished (11). biological father (14). The Abbey does not keep a vault-by-vault record of 3. Susan de Vere Herbert, Edward's youngest daughter, burials. The only way to ascertain burials in a particular died of smallpox and was buried here on February 1, 1629 vault is to work one's way through the Abbey's official at the age of 42. She had ten children, with six sons and one daughter surviving into adulthood. B. Chapel of St. John the Evangelist 1. Francis Vere was buried here on August 29, 1609 at the age of 49. Francis and his brother, Horatio (Horace) Vere, were Edward de Vere's favorite first cousins who spent their entire careers as the preeminent generals in the war against the Spanish in The Netherlands (15). All three were grandsons of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford. Francis and Horatio were sons of Geoffrey, while Edward was the son of John, ~,outh Transept 16th Earl of Oxford. Francis' wife, Elizabeth Dent, aged 17, gave Ea.t Cloi>tel birth to one child in their 22 months of marriage but the child died before the father. Francis is described as "a gentleman of singular character, both for arms and letters ... who brought ...... :v glory to the name of Vere ..." (16) His wife had Cloister ~ a black marble monument built showing Francis U lying below a table containing his battle armor, .s::: o Z g held on the shoulders of four kneeling men. The 'f) monument was copied from the tomb of Engelbert Figure 2. Westminster Abbey's interior layout. The Chapel of St. John the Evangelist (#1) is located in the North Transept. The Chapel of St. John the Baptist (#2) in the church at Breda, The Netherlands (17, 18). and The Chapel of St. Nicholas (#3) are located in the area of the Sanctum),. Elizabeth Dent Vere was buried elsewhere. Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Summer 2008 page 7

The size of the Francis Vere vault underneath the floor is unknown since such details of Abbey vaults were not recorded in the Abbey's official registry (19). As Warwick Rodwell, England's leading church archaeologist, said in 2006, "It is very rare for documents to record the dimen­ sions of burial chambers, or the number of coffins they were designed to hold" (20). He also speculated, "My guess is that Francis Vere is in a timber or lead coffin in a brick-lined chamber, perhaps vaulted over." (20) Prof. Rodwell thought that the vault would be large enough to hold six coffins. The Abbey Burial Register records the burial of Francis Vere as follows: "Sir Francis Vere was buried in St. John Evang: Chappole. Aug. 29, 1609." Figure 3. Frallcis Veres omate mOllument ill the For ease of access and to prevent collapse from overly­ Chapel of St. Johll the Evallgelist ill Westmillster Abbey. ing weight, burials were usually alongside, not directly beneath, any monument. Vaults are not interconnected and and five daughters were not buried in the Abbey. there is no access to vaults from below. The only entry 3. Lord Aubrey de Vere, 20th and last Earl of Oxford, is by direct removal of overlying stones on the Abbey was buried on March 22, 1703, age 76, in a grave to the floor. The exact entrance to the Francis Vere vault is not north of the Vere brothers (21). recorded (12). Rodwell states that "if it were intended that 4. Diana de Vere, second wife of Aubrey, was buried other members of the Vere family would be added later, here on April 16, 1719. She most likely was buried along­ then there would be an access pit in the floor of the aisle, side her husband. immediately to the west of the Vere monument." (20) 5. Henrietta Vere, unmarried daughter of Aubrey and The burial of Francis is the eighth entry on the official Diana, was buried here on Oct. 2, 1730, commemorated Abbey burial register which replaced the haphazard old by a small memorial stone near the Francis Vere monu­ system on January I, 1607. Why is this the firstVere burial in ment. Westminster Abbey when the family was so distinguished for 500 years? Because the Vere tradition was to be buried ,6u 7 in the family chapel at Earl's . Colne, Essex, or in the church /V 1,t9 I in Castle Hedingham, or close to other Vere homes. 2 . Horatio Vere was bur- ied next to his brother on / ~crq May 8, 1635 at the age of 70 .. (21). The record states: "Sir Horatio Vere was buried by Sir Fran: Vere his brother. May8,163S."Theword"by" means that Horatio's coffin was laid adjacent to the coffin of Francis, presumably within a vaulted chamber. No other burial is recorded in this spe­ cific location except the two brothers. Horatio was second in command to Francis in the Figure 4. The Abbey burial record of Sir Frallcis Vere. It is the ollly Abbey burial ill 1609. Spanish war. Horatio's wife Courtesy of Westmillster Abbey alld Librariall TOllY Trowles. page 8 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter

ITI.- JIJ ..- wound infection. The Abbey register (' t--ll"'",»j -' /:1 . states: "Henry Vere, Earl of Oxford, "'V'!II,,, Lord High Chamberlaine of England In'Yi.~ ~ t.. )",,11,... - . 1>. t (.j I' was buried in St. John Bapt. Chapol. In Y R1~ July 15, 1625." 'by -1)",,,,'>tt A slab of marble placed by Dean Arthur Stanley of the Abbey in the 19th Century records Henry's burial in the chapel of St. John the Baptist. In January, 1624, Henry married Diane Cecil, a great -granddaughter ofWilli am Cecil and his first wife, Mary Cheke, and granddaughter of Thomas Cecil. Henry may have been forced to marry her to achieve release from prison. They were childless in their seventeen months of marriage. Whether Henry was buried in the Earl of Exeter vault ofThomas Cecil, who died in February, Figure 5. The Abbey records Horatio's burial as the only burial of 1635. fifth ellf!)' from the top. 1623, or separately, is not clear from Courtesy of Westminster Abbey and Librarian Tony TrolVles. the record or the slab. C. Chapel of St. John the Baptist A myth perpetuated by Oxfordians for three-quarters of a century is that Henry de Vere was 1. Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford, the son of Ed­ buried in the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist in the vault ward de Vere and his second wife, Elizabeth Trentham, of Sir Francis Vere. This myth appears to have originated was buried in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist on July with Colonel B. R. Ward in 1923 who stated: "The tomb 15,1625, at age 32. He was a regimental commander under of Sir Francis Vere is in the Chapel of St. John the Evan­ Horatio Vere when he was wounded in the arm during a gelist, at the southeast corner of the north transept. Henry, siege of Breda, dying a few months later, in June, 1625, of the 18th Earl of Oxford ... was buried here in 1625" (22). This myth, as often happens when ~:;-.. ~--v u'\O~ ~77"'''''----~'~-~-_~--; -::,~_~l.-"-.'__ --T r_~-"" primary sources are not checked, was 'I v''" '" /. )1;' (,A:., _':~f" Lv· 1 u' 24- .:' .. >;,,:. .'A tv f,,·j"- then carried on by several respected Oxfordians (23, 24, 25). 2. Ann Bayning de Vere, first wife of Aubrey, the 20th Earl of Oxford, was buried in this chapel in 1659, memorialized on the same strip of marble in front of the Popham monu­ ment as Henry de Vere. D. St. Andrews Chapel Maria Vere, unmarried third daughter of Aubrey and Diana, was buried here on August 8, 1725 in St. John's alias Norris's Chapel-- record WAM 5982 B states "St. Andrew's Chapel," a component of Norris's Chapel (12).

Figure 6. Burial record of Henry de Vere in 1625, confirming his coffin's location in St. John the Baptist Chapel. Courtesy ofWestlllinsterAbbey and Librarian Tony TrolVles. Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Summer 2008 page 9

Summary of relevant Vere burials of the other because of the tomb's narrowness. Vere and in Westminster Abbey Trentham heraldic crests are affixed side by side on the outside of the monument (27). These eleven burials are the only Vere burials in official 6. Some time before King James dies on March 27, Westminster Abbey records (13). The three Vere burials 1625, and with his permission, Horatio arranges to have relevant to the major component of this research are: the remains of Edward de Vere and his wife, Elizabeth 1. Francis Vere, 1609, buried in a new vault in the removed from their simple tomb in Hackney and reburied Chapel of St. John the Evangelist, specifically constructed in Wesminster Abbey. The vault would thus contain four for him and his family. The number of available coffin coffins -- Francis Vere, the manuscripts, Edward and spaces in this Vere vault is unknown, but England's lead­ Elizabeth de Vere -- with space for two more. ing Church Archeologist estimates six. 7. In January, 1624, Henry de Vere marries Diane Cecil. 2. Henry de Vere, buried in the Cecil area of the Chapel Henry dies of war wounds seventeen months later and is of St. John the Baptist in 1625. buried in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist on July 15, 3. Horatio Vere, buried next to his brother, Francis, in 1625 near to, but not within, the tomb of Thomas Cecil. 1635 in the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist. Comments on this scenario A hypothetical Oxfordian scenario English Oxfordian Giant Percy Allen discovered the Speculation is a legitimate strategy in research which unpublished Vere family history document, Harleian always includes tentative hypotheses. The following is a Manuscript 4189, written by Persivall Goulding (modern speculative, but not impossible, scenario for the present spelling Percival Golding), first cousin of Edward de Vere, location of the missing play manuscripts. As stated, it is entitled "The Armes, Honours, Matches, and Issues of the doubtful that the original manuscripts still exist, but if auncient and Illustrious Family of Veer. Described in the they do, this sequence is offered as a hypothetical basis honourable progeny of the Earles of Oxen ford & other for future investigation: branches thereof from the first Original to the present 1. In the play, Hamlet, and in private, Edward de Vere time." This private document contained, on page 24b, urges Horatio to make sure that the play manuscripts the following paragraph well-known to Oxfordians (24, survive to establish with certainty his authorship of the 25,28,29,30): Shakespeare plays. Horatio agrees. 2. Edward de Veredies on June 24, 1604 and is buried inside "Edward de Vere, only sonne of John, borne the St. Augustine Church, Hackney on July 6, 1604 (26). twelfth day of Aprill A (Anno) 1550 Earle of Ox­ 3. On August 29, 1609, Francis Vere is buried in a new enford, high Chamberlayne, Lord Bolebec, Sanford underground chamber in the chapel of St. John the Evan­ and Badlesmere, Stuard of the Forest in Essex, and gelist in Westminster Abbey. The space is, as postulated by of the Privy Counsell to the kinge Matie that now is. Warwick Rodwell, a vaulted, brick -lined chamber with space Of whom I will only speake what all men's voyces confirm: he was a man in mind and body absolutely for six coffins, to the side of the Francis Vere monument. accomplished wi th honourable endowments. He died 4. Horatio Vere has become increasingly concerned at his house at Hackney, in the month of June A about Robert Cecil's determination to destroy all records (Anno) 1604 and lyeth buryed at Westminster." of de Vere's life. Horatio decides to protect the play manuscripts, so he packs them into a labeled lead coffin The authenticity of this statement, by a first cousin of and places it in the Francis Vere vault at the same time Edward de Vere, that "he lyeth buried at Westminster," has Francis is buried in 1609. not been contested and is believed to be true by many, if Although Francis has no living children, Horatio is not most, Oxfordians. A falsehood by Percival Golding just starting a large family, Henry de Vere is alive and in his never-published personal history of the Vere family well, and there is every expectation of later Vere burials would have served no useful purpose to anyone. in the Francis Vere vault. Thus there would be future op­ Abbey Historian Tony Trowles confirms that a reburial portunities to retrieve the manuscripts at a time free from within the Abbey would not have been recorded in the malignant Cecilian political authority. Abbey's burial register because the first burial had been 5. Elizabeth Trentham dies in 1612 and, following her cataloged elsewhere and no one in England was allowed wishes, is buried alongside her husband inside a specially­ two records of burial (12). constructed simple tomb of gray marble with money Even though the 3rd Earl of Southampton was dead, he provided by her will. The coffins are placed one on top had living sons who represented a threat to the legality of page 10 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter the Stuart Monarchy. This will be explained fully in later the church in Hackney to the Abbey in Westminster chapters. Although both William Cecil and Robert Cecil sometime in the twelve years between January, 1613 were dead by 1625, the families of Robert and Thomas and March, 1625. Cecil had considerable political power and the time was 6. William Kittle (30) points out that "In 1633, Anthony not ripe to announce to the world Edward de Vere's pen Munday, who for very many years had been a servant to name, William Shakespeare. Edward de Vere, made with one H. D. a survey of the tombs This scenario does not explain why the play manuscripts in the St. Augustine Church: they named and described were not removed from the Francis Vere vault by Horatio those of Christopher Urswick (d. 1522), Henry Thorsbey, in 1625 at the time of the reburial of Ed ward de Vere and Edward Saunders (d. 1599), Lady Lucy Latimer, and his wife, or by some otherVere after Horatio's interment in others, but they made no mention of the Earl of Oxford." the Francis Vere vault in 1635. It was the wrong decision Since Munday had been a close colleague and friend of because during the next 373 years there were no further de Vere, this suggests that the de Vere tomb was empty burials in the Francis Vere vault and thus no further op­ in 1633. portunity to retrieve the play manuscripts. 7. In 1720, ecclesiastical historian John Strype published a survey of 67 tombs and inscriptions in St. Augustine Circumstantial evidence in favor Church. He described an empty surface tomb in this sur­ of this hypothesis vey which had some special significance to him because 1. The burial record in Hackney confirms that Edward de he placed his own initials of "J.S." in the margin of this Vere died on June 24, 1604 and was buried in St. Augustine paragraph: Church, Hackney on July 6 (26). The Oxfordian myth that J.S. On the north side of the chancel first an an­ de Vere died of "ye plague" was exploded once and for all cient table monument with a fair grey marble stone in 2002 (26) The cause of his death is not known. without inscription. There were coats of arms on the 2. King James I of England died on March 27, 1625. sides, but torn off. This monument is concealed by The fact that the document of Percival Golding says that the schoolmaster's pew (29). de Vere was on the Privy Council of the King's Majesty "that now is," means that King James was still King when 8. Except for the bell tower, St. Augustine Church in Golding wrote the Vere family history -- therefore it was Hackney was pulled down in 1798 to build a new and written before March 27, 1625 and therefore de Vere's body larger church which was renamed the Church of St. John­ had been transferred to the Abbey before that date. at-Hackney (30). 3. Elizabeth Trentham, Edward de Vere's second wife, 9. In the Hackney Library up to the present day is wrote her will on November 25, 1612, including her burial a drawing of a tomb with two circles on the side which request: presumably held the heraldic emblems of de Vere and Trentham, as noted above by John Strype in 1720. The I ... desiring to be buried in the Church of Hackney, tomb is described further on the drawing itself: within the County of Middlesex, as near unto the body of my said late and noble Lord and husband as "Scale, one inch to a foot, T. Fisher. An old tomb may be, and that to be done as privately and with as found in pulling down Hackney Church." little pomp and ceremony as possible may be. Only I will that there be in the said Church erected for As Kittle wrote, "T. Fisher or some one must have had us a tomb fitting our degree, and of such charge as an unusual interest in this old Tomb just as John Strype shall seem good to mine executors (30). did 71 years before. T. Fisher's Scale of one inch to a foot shows that the Tomb, according to the drawing, was 2 ft. 9 4. On January 9, 1613, a Mr. Chamberlain wrote Sir inches wide and 5 ft. 7 inches long, and that the two circles Ralph Winwood: "The Countess of Oxford is dead ... on one side of the drawing were each several inches in and left her Son her Land and all her Jewells and Stuff, diameter... The length of the Tomb, 5 ft. 7 inches, agrees on Condition he pay her Legacies, which rise to £2000, with the Earl of Oxford's stature." (30) and bestow funds for a Tomb for his Father and her." Whether this tomb was in fact Edward de Vere's tomb (30, 31) is not known with certainty, but circumstantial evidence 5. We know, therefore, that de Vere's remains were in is in favor of this conclusion. The narrow width of the St. Augustine's Church as of January, 1613 and, accord­ tomb means that the two coffins of Edward and Eliza­ ing to Percival Golding, they were not there on March beth de Vere were placed on top of each other within the 27,1625. Thus Edward de Vere's body was moved from marble tomb. Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Summer 2008 page II

Where in the Abbey might Most authorship investigators, whether Oxfordian or de Vere be buried? Stratfordian, have misinterpreted what Jonson said, chang­ ing the word "Moniment" to "Monument," which casts In 1937 English Oxfordian Giants Captain B. M. Ward an entirely different light on Jonson's meaning. Jonson and Percy Allen expressed the opinion that Edward de is saying that Shakespeare, whom he well knew was Ed­ Vere's body had indeed been transferred from St. Augus­ ward de Vere, lay in an unmarked tomb and therefore has tine Church to Westminster Abbey, but they didn't hazard to be represented by his body of work - his Moniment a guess as to its exact location (28, 32). In 1938, Percy's - without an acknowledged monument or tomb. He must twin brother ErnestAllen, published a now hard-to-Iocate live anonymously through his art, his "Book," his written pamphlet entitled "When Shakespeare Died" which came record - his great plays and sonnets. to the same conclusion. Whether Jonson knew, at the time of the First Folio Phyllis Carrington, an English researcher, summarized publication in 1623, that de Vere already had been trans­ the evidence in 1943 in an article entitled, "Was Lord ferred to Westminster Abbey or merely that there was a Oxford Buried in Westminster Abbey?" (25) In 1955, plan afoot to do so, is not clear. But Jonson seems to be Dorothy and Charlton Ogburn, Sr. stated confidently saying that he is not lying, or will not be lying, in Poets' that de Vere had been transferred to the Abbey tomb of Corner with Chaucer, Spenser and Beaumont. Being a Francis Vere (33): member of the longest-duration and most distinguished "The noble Earl was buried in the church at Hack­ noble line in England, it is very unlikely that de Vere's ney; but later his remains were quietly removed to relatives would place him in a communal grave site with Westminster Abbey and placed in the tomb of the a group of non-nobles. Also, evidence suggests that both Veres." de Vere and his wife were removed from St. Augustine Church for reburial at the same time, and wives were not There are only three places in the Abbey to consider allowed in Poets' Corner. So it is very unlikely that de for reburial sites: Vere lies there. 1. In the same tomb with his son, Henry, in the Cha­ 3. By far the likeliest location for de Vere's remains pel of St. John the Baptist. This is impossible because is in the Vere family tomb of Francis Vere, where Francis Percival Golding stated that Edward de Vere's body had was buried in 1609 in a space which Warwick Rodwell been transferred while King James the First was still believes would hold six coffins. Between 1613 and when­ alive. King James died on March 27, 1625 and Henry de ever Edward de Vere was transferred before March 27, Vere wasn't buried until July 15, 1625, three and a half 1625, Francis was the only human occupant. months later. King James was an enthusiastic admirer of Shake­ 2. In Poets' Corner. In the 1623 First Folio, Ben Jonson speare-de Vere, arranging for eight Shakespeare plays to refers to a poem by William Basse, which, in the title, be staged for the Royal Court after de Vere's death in 1604 refers to Shaksper's death in 1616. Here is the first stanza and fourteen Shakespeare plays after Elizabeth Trentham of Basse's poem (25): de Vere's death in 1612-1613 (33). Surely King James ON MR. WM. SHAKESPEARE. would have granted permission for the transfer of Edward HE DYED IN APRILL 1616. de Vere's body to Westminster Abbey, especially since de Renowned Spenser lye a thought more nigh Vere's mortal enemy, Robert Cecil, who was primarily To learned Chaucer and rare Beaumont lie responsible for de Vere 's coerced pseudonymi ty, had died A little nearer Spenser to make room on May 24, 1612, before Elizabeth Trentham's death. For Shakespeare in your threefold, fourfold tomb. The only two registered coffins in the tomb of Fran­ cis are the coffin of Francis, buried in 1609, and that of Ben Jonson's 1623 poem included these lines: Horatio, buried in 1635. My Shakespeare, rise; I will not lodge thee by Probing Francis Vere's tomb Chaucer, or Spenser, or bid Beaumont lye How can an underground tomb be probed without direct A little further, to make thee a roome: digging? Modern high-tech radar can penetrate stone. In Thou art a Moniment, without a tom be, 2005, England's leading Church Archaeologist, Warwick And art alive still, while thy Book doth live, Rodwell (34), using the latest radar techniques, by accident And we have wits to read, and praise to give. precisely located inside Westminster Abbey the tomb of page 12 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter

Edward the Confessor, who was King of England from metal, stone, and air all register as changes. Skilled in­ 1042 to 1066 and who initiated construction of the Abbey terpretation is required since it is not an exact science. itself. Professor Rodwell described the find: It would be highly unlikely that radar could identify the Our archaeological team had been examining the con­ actual contents of coffins (20). struction of the Cosmati pavement, which dates from According to the speculative scenario described above, 1268, using a very-high-frequency radar to a depth of and if the conditions described by Warwick Rodwell did, about 20 inches. The power of the radar was intensified in fact, exist, then ground-penetrating radar examination of to examine deeper sections of the pavement. the Francis Vere vault could yield evidence of two to five coffins, postulated as containing the following contents: Little did we expect that, by using a lower frequency radar, we would find chambers, vaults and founda­ 1. Evidence of two coffins - Francis and Horatio Vere. tions of such fascinating historical interest, dating 2. Evidence of three coffins - Francis, Horatio and back to the very founding of the abbey a millen­ Edward de Vere. nium ago. (35) 3. Evidence offour coffins - Francis, Horatio, Edward de Vere and Elizabeth Trentham de Vere. Some relevant details about the Abbey stone floor 4. Evidence of five coffins - Francis, Horatio, Ed­ have been provided by personal communication from Dr. ward de Vere, Elizabeth Trentham de Vere, and the play Rodwell (20): manuscripts. 1. The major slabs of marble are five to six inches thick and up to eight inches thick under monuments. Small Final Remarks paving slabs are two to four inches thick. If the original play manuscripts still survive, the 2. Professor Rodwell states that "The large slabs are most logical hypothesized location is in the Francis Vere likely to be the 'lids' of brick-lined shafts which lead vault. Would the Abbey allow examination of this vault? directly into the vaults, which can be of single or double Absolutely not for removing floor stones and searching width and three to six feet deep. They may contain from the vault, and very unlikely for an investigation by radar, one to six coffins. Generally, the shafts were not backfilled despite its noninvasiveness. As a high-ranking member with soil, and there was a void beneath the floor slab." of the Abbey administration has said, "Ultrasound and However, I imagine that many, if not most, were infilled similar techniques have not been used here for speculative with soil or rubble during the Victorian era and later investigation" (12). works to the floors. Unfilled shafts containing damp and Sanctioned examinations of Abbey vaults by digging decaying coffins and corpses tend to emit an unpleasant have been rare in the past 300 years, the last being the smell - hence they were often later filled." Much of this search for James 1's coffin in 1869, which was found in backfilling was done in the Victorian era from 1837 to Henry VII's chapel. The Abbey's conservative philosophy 1901, more than 200 years after the burial of Horatio, so is understandable - it is the most sacred church in Eng­ backfilling should not have been necessary and is consid­ land, intimately intertwined with English history and the ered unlikely within the Francis Vere tomb. Therefore, the English monarchy. area around those coffins is more likely air than soil. Now, however, there is a precedent for ground-pen­ Since Francis Vere was from such an illustrious noble etrating radar investigation through the Abbey's floor family of England, and since he was so highly regarded stones to evaluate structures and coffins underneath, as by Queen Elizabeth as her very successful general-in­ exemplified by Warwick Rodwell's recent identification chief in the long war against Spain, Dr. Rodwell believes of Edward the Confessor's tomb dating back to 1066. The it highly likely that Francis was granted an Abbey vault reasons for the technological probe must be completely not only for himself but for family members, i.e., a vault acceptable to the authorities which, in the case of Edward large enough to contain six coffins adjacent to, and west de Vere as Shakespeare, will remain premature until the of, his large monument. paradigm shift occurs and Stratfordians and their lobby Dr. Rodwell states that in the right circumstances, groups are neutralized. ground-penetrating radar might provide information as to Oxfordians should be aware that such research can the number of coffins - e.g., if the burials were directly backfire. In the 1950's, authorship devotees of Chris­ under the floor slabs without too much intervening brick, topher Marlowe obtained permission to open the tomb and especially if the coffins were surrounded by air rather of Thomas Walsingham at Chiselhurst, Kent where they than dirt, or were made of lead. Radar detects differences thought Marlowe might lie buried. When nothing but sand in the density of materials, so that interfaces between was found, not even a skeleton, "considerable hilarity at Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Summer 2008 page 13 the expense of anti-Stratfordians" resulted, yielding BBe 24. Ogburn, Charlton Jr. The Mysterious William Shakespeare, Dodd, commentary and front page stories and ridicule throughout Mead & Company, New York, 1984, 766. Great Britain (36). 25. Carrington, Phyllis. Was Lord Oxford Buried in Westminster Abbey? Once de Vere is recognized as Shakespeare, cogent Newsletter, The Shakespeare Fellowship, American Branch, June, 1943. reasons can be presented for a search for his remains in 26. Altrocchi, Paul It was not "Ye Plague." De Verean Mythology About the Cause of Oxford's death. Shakespeare Matters, Vol. I, no. 4, Sum­ the Francis Vere vault. As Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean mer, 2002. of Westminster Abbey, wrote in 1876: "It is obvious that 27. Miller, Ruth Loyd, Shakespeare Identified, ibid., vol. 1, 528 - 529. the interest of a great national cemetery like Westminster Abbey depends, in great measure, on the knowledge of the 28. Ward , B.M. Two New Oxford Discoveries. The Shakespeare Fellow­ ship News-Letter, May, 1937 exact spots where the illustrious dead repose" (37). 29. Ogburn, D. and Ogburn, c., op. cit. , 1198. Edward de Vere as Shakespeare meets that criterion. 30. Kittle, William. Edward de Vere Seventeenth Earl of Oxford, The References Buchanon Co., Washington, DC, 1935. 1. Guterman, Norbert. FromTertullian's "Apo10geticua," TheAnchorBook 31. Winwood Papers. III, 1725, 422. of Latin Quotations, Anchor Books, Doubleday, NY, 1966, 340 - 341 . 32. Allen, Percy. Lord Oxford as Shakespeare, East Anglian Magazine, 2. Ogburn, Charlton Jr. The Mystery of the Shakespeare Manuscripts. vol. 2, no. 8, 1937. Privately printed, Oakton, Virginia, 1962, 1-16. 33. Ogburn, D. and Ogburn, c., Sop. cit ., 56. 3. Ogburn, Charlton Jr. The Mystery of the Shakespeare Manuscripts. 34. Rodwell, Warwick. The Archaeology of Churches, Tempus, Stroud, Harper's Magazine, 1972. England, 2005. 4. Ogburn, Charlton Jr. Adventures in the Quest for the Shakespeare 35. Petre, Jonathon, Religious Corespondent, The Telegraph (UK), London, Manuscripts. Appendix to The Mysterious William Shakespeare, Dodd, February 12, 2005. Mead & Company, New York, 1984, 788-802. 36. Rudyerd, G.w. Editorial Notes, The Shakespeare Fellowship News­ 5. Ogburn, Charlton Jr. The Quest for Shakespeare's Manuscripts. The Letter, Autumn, 1956. Shakespeare Oxford Society Newsletter, vol. 14, no. 3, summer, 1978. 37. Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn. Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey, 6. Brock, Heyward. A Ben Jonson Companion, Indiana Univ. Press, John Murray, London, 1876,·535. Bloomington, Indiana, 1983, 139. 7. Guide to Wilton House, the Home of the Earls of Pembroke, 1995, I. 8. Altrocchi, Paul. Search for an Oxfordian Smoking Gun in Elizabethan Personal Letters, The Oxfordian, vol. 8, 2005. 9. Altrocchi, Paul. Stone Coffin Underneath. Shakespeare Oxford News­ letter, winter, 200 I . OXFORD'S LEI'IERS 10. Hamlet V, ii, 290 rthe Letters of 'Edward de Vere 11. Trowles, Tony. Official Guide to Westminster Abbey, 1997, 7 - 9. Seventeenth 'Earl of Oxford 12. Trowles, Tony. Westminster Abbey Librarian, personal communica­ tions, 2001 and 2002. Read by Sir Derek Jacobi 13. Chester, Joseph Lemuel. The Marriage, Baptismal, and Burial Registers of the Collegiate Church or Abbey of St. Peter, Westminster. Mitchell and With quotes from letters by contemporaries Hughes, London, 1876, vii - xii. and music thought to be by de Vere 14. Ogburn, Dorothy and Ogburn, Charlton, Sr. The Renaissance Man of England, Coward-McCann, Inc., New York, 3rd Ed. 1955, 94-10 I. Narration by Joan Walker Narrative and editing by Stephanie Hopkins Hughes 15. Clements R. Markham. The Fighting Veres. Houghton, Mifflin and Recorded by Malcolm Blackmoor at EFS Motivation Sound Company, New York, 1888. Studios in London 16. Ward, B.R. , The Mystery of "Mr. W. H." C. Palmer, London, 1923, 120. Produced by Susan Campbell and Malcolm B1ackmoor 17 . Anderson, Verily. The De Veres of Castle Hedingham, Terence Dalton, Ltd., Suffolk, 1933, 244. For the 2CD set, send order and check: 18. Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn. Hi storical Memorials of Westminster Abbey, John Murray, London, 1876, 205. lNAMERICA lNENGLAND $20 to; £9.95 to: 19. Trowles, Tony. Personal communication, 2006. Stephanie Hughes Susan Campbell 20. Rodwell, Warwick. Personal communication, 2006. 59 Depew Ave. 36 Shad Tha mes 21. Trowles, Tony. Official Guide to Westminster Abbey, 1997, 51. Nyack, NY 10960 308 Butler's Wharf 22. Ward, B.R., op. cit., 119. London SEl 2YE 23. Clark, Eva Turner. The Man Who Was Shakespeare. Richard R. Smith, For more information see IUwlU.politicwonn.com New York, 1937, 300. page 14 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter The Oxfordian's new Editor is up for the Challenge Professor Michael Egan maintains that an objective eye at the helm of the SOS journal my strengthen its case. Interview by Gerit Quealy The Oxfordian, the annual scholarly was correct. But then I began to feel sort of thing, I agreed. But it led to journal published by the Shakespeare that the evidence was ambiguous in one unholy sort of row. Oxford Society, just appointed a new some places and so I ended up where Were you surprised by that? editor. For 10 years, the journal has I am now, which is agnostic. Totally. And I was very distressed been helmed by Stephanie Hopkins When you were initially looking by it. It led to all kinds of attacks on Hughes, who shepherded it from its into the question, did you discuss my knowledge and scholarship and debut to the standing it now holds. it with other colleagues? competence - and the fact that I To begin the next decade, Michael Sure, and the reaction I got was wasn't a true believer. Because this Egan has stepped into the editorship. another reason I became interested in was not what I signed up for, I re­ Egan holds aBA from Johannesburg's the issue and the Oxford movement. I signed. And they said don't run away, Witwatersrand University and a PhD was immediately struck by the hostil­ please accept. And I finally said 'OK' from Cambridge University, where ity that people display, toward even because I thought that was the most he edited the Cambridge Review and raising the question. I'm temperamen­ interesting choice. was the first Contributing Literary tally such that, as soon as people tell Editor of the Times Higher Educa­ Regarding choices, your books cut me I can't do something, of course tion Supplement. He is also a prolific across a wide swathe of subject that's immediately what I want to writer, with scores of articles and ten matter, from Henry James and do. Whether the Oxford hypothesis is books to his credit. Most pertinently Huck Finn to comic books about correct or not, it's a perfectly legiti­ for Shakespeareans, he has authored proper parenting. How do you ac­ mate question to ask, because there The Tragedy of Richard II Part One: count for that? is enough circumstantial evidence A Newly Authenticated Play by Wit­ What it comes down to is supple­ to raise the question. Which is why limn Shakespeare. Edited with an menting an academic's income. I I'm a signatory of the Declaration of Introduction and Variorum Notes had a management consulting firm Reasonable Doubt. (Mellen Press), which won the 2006 for a while and some of the material Adele Mellen Prize for Distinguished How did you come to be offered came out of that, such as the child Contribution to Scholarship. editorship of The Oxfordia1l? rearing material, which took the form As he is an acknowledged agnostic Well, as you know, my claim to of what I call graphic textbooks. It's on the question of authorship, the Shakespearean fame is my book on always been my feeling that there's DVS newsletter explores the reason­ the 'discovery' of this previously un­ no reason why serious ideas should ing behind Egan's acceptance of this recognized Shakespeare play, Richa rd not be entertainingly presented. I'm position. II Part One [see below]. Because of not above making the odd bad joke. my connection with Roger, I was I think readers need to be rewarded Professor Egan, when did you first invited in 2006 to give a paper at the for the labor of responding to having become aware of the authorship [SF/SOS] joint conference in Ann been invited into your mind. Even question? Arbor, Michigan and I guess people my hefty Richard II book, I think is I was a professor of English at there liked my presentation enough pretty readable. the University of Massachusetts at ... the SOS conferred on me an hon­ Amherst and Roger Stritmatter was Now your Richard II hook is Thomas orary membership, which I was very a graduate student there. Our paths of Woodstock? pleased to have since I had already crossed, and Roger is of course very [The play] does conventionally signed up for the Fellowship. So when passionate about the subject. He go by Thomas of Woodstock. In fact, Stephanie Hughes was retiring as intrigued me enough to look into it, the manuscript is untitled, so you can editor, the people at the Oxford So­ which I did, educating myself and call it anything you like, you can call ciety [sic] contacted me and asked if reading everything I could lay my it Swiss cheese, but I like to call it I would be willing. And because I'm hands on. At the time, I became pretty Richard II Part One - that's what interested in the authorship question, convinced that the Oxford argument it's about. In fact, the early original and I'm a nerd [laughs] and like this Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Summer 2008 page 15

editions were titled Richard II Part Oh yes. Hardy Cook who pub­ play. And at the SOS conference in One. But the whole debate about lishes a listserv discussion group Westchester, NY on October 10th, Egan whether it is or is not by Shakespeare about Shakespeare on the Internet, emphatically stated: 'The authorship is in part the argument over what to of which I've been a contributor for question is the most exciting field in call it. You have to make the case many years, for over a year simply Shakespeare studies today.' through the accumulation of detail. refused to publish anything from But apart from the controversy, The evidence has got to nail down me. Just would not publish my let­ Egan distills what it is that quickens every little detail and that's what I ters. Even though he knew that I'm the pulse for many of us in exploring do in the book. But it is huge, four simply a fellow traveler as opposed this writer, or any great thinker: 'I've solid volumes, so I understand the to a card-carrying member. always felt that excepting sex only, hesitation [to read it] . reading is the most intimate activ­ What do you bring to the table as ity we can indulge in. For a while, How does this feed into your editor­ the editor of The Oxfordian? you allow somebody's mind to take ship of The Oxfordian? I think I bring objectivity. I bring over your mind. You 're reading their I realized that there was a lot of scholarship, intellectual integrity. I thoughts, you're reading their ideas. very good scholarship coming out think one of the reasons I was ap­ It's a very intimate experience. I of the Oxford side, and if nothing pointed is that they thought the whole think that's why we enjoy reading, else, the scholarship has forced the movement was perhaps becoming too this intimate contact with another establishment! Stratfordian critics to internal looking, a bit cult-like. I had mind. It's a tremendously exuberant reexamine their assumptions. Posing an exchange with William Niederkorn feeling with some writers, this sense the question about the authorship is of The New York Times, and he said of intellectual power. And that really no longer quite as sort of loony. [ac­ he thought I was almost unique as a brings us back to Shakespeare. Part of knowledges pun] as has previously Stratfordian scholar who was willing the joy we have in reading him, and in been perceived, people are beginning to be calm and objective about what viewing him, is the sense of contaCt to recognize that it is, or could be, a the Oxfordians and other candidates with this extraordinary intellect, and question. for the authorship mantle had to say. that's a very exciting thing because I think my appointment has given You don't think there's still a de­ it is and is not like ourselves. We can the SOS a good boost in credibility gree of hostility about the raising recognize ourselves in it, while at the because they're willing to be objec­ the question? same time realizing that we could never tive. What they're saying is, 'Egan's Oh I' m not denying that. I've received do it. It's sort of like being a tennis not an Oxfordian but we believe that the [hostility] even by virtue of be­ player and watching Pete Sampras on a level playing field the Oxfordian ing sympathetic. For example, I was or Roger Federer-you can see what argument will prevails.' until recently scholar-in-residence at they're doing and you can appreciate Brigham Young University in Hawaii it, but you could never do it. In conclusion, Professor Egan ex­ and had done very well there. I'm not pressed a cohesive overview: 'I think a Mormon, but they had created this we all have a sort of vague feel i ng that Note: Professor Egan says that any posi tion to accommodate me so that I we're in this together.' Ifhe 'turns out member of the DVS who has a well could be there without actually being to be right,' that Thomas of Woodcock researched article to contribute is a Latter Day Saint, or indeed any other is in fact Richard II Part One, it cer­ most welcome to submit it to him. kind of saint. As soon as I accepted tainly supports an Oxfordian thesis; He also has a list of possible avenues the editorship of The Oxfordian, the for one thing, Lady de Vere appears that he feels need exploration and atmosphere became pretty cool in the in the play. 'What's she doing there?' documentation. FOl' topic suggestions English department, very rapidly, so he says, whereas Robert de Vere is or submissions, you can contact him at: I recently decided to retire from the conspicuously absent. Although Egan drmichaelegan @comcast.net G. Q. position. Nobody ever said anything was introduced to the manuscript at overt, it was just a cooling off-in a Cambridge, he credits Roger Stritmat­ Editor's Note: This interview was place where I'd been pretty hot. tel' with suggesting a variorum edition conducted by Gerit Quealy. It appeared So you've experience what most of the material, which is how he arrived in the October issue of the de Vere Oxfordians deal with on a regular at the conclusion that it is indeed a Society Newsletter, printed here by basis? precursor to the Shakespeare history permission. page 16 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter

(Conference contil1l1edfrolll page 1) His remarks seemed to satisfy those in the standing questions in the Oxfordian theory audience who had some doubts as to how and how to best move forward in spreading it would be done, and many people came the word about the authorship question. away with a new appreciation of what Egan Friday evening brought movie-night with could bring to the publication and the future two DVDs on offer first, an extremely amus­ of our movement. ing episode of the Twilight Zone where a Stephanie Hughes gave an overview of hack television writer conjures up William the "big picture" as she calls it and how the Shakespeare to help him out, only to find formation of the commercial public theater Shakespeare leaving at the end in disgust was the beginning of "functional democracy." when his work is mangled by the sponsors of She descri bed how private entrepreneurs were Pall I Altrocchi the TV show who want it to be more modern. certainly involved in this project, but that there This brings to my mind the idea of a "hack" still had to be the financial and political backing of those actor/shareholder acting as front man for Edward DeVere, in the upper echelons of society. She showed evidence for with meaningless topical allusions added to the plays when a group of people including Oxford and his close associ­ they were "repackaged" for the public theater (thereby ates being at the very center of this enterprise. giving "proof" that the plays were written after such and Ron Hess spoke about how the manuscript of Beowulf such a date). The second DVD was the above-mentioned was owned by Oxford's tutor Lawrence Nowell, and how allegorical production of A Midsummer Night's Dream by there is evidence that Oxford could read and write Old John Hudson's Dark Lady Players. English and may very well have been involved in the the Saturday morning began with a rousing spiritual type most important literary-legal project of the Elizabethan presentation by Paul Streitz. Paul has teamed up with Rus­ age, the buttressing of the legal sell DesCognets to provide financial basis for the religious settlement of backing for his project ofdistribut­ Elizabeth. He detailed a "curious ing a free copy of Paul's book on gap" in Oxford's biography, giving Oxford to anyone who wants it. He a potential explanation of what says he is hoping it will become Oxford was doing at the time. the new Oxfordian Bible. (Will we Paul Altrocchi then spoke about start to see it under our pillows in the question of what happened to our hotel rooms?) Some attendees those Shakespeare manuscripts. were turned off by the dogmatic Although believing that they have nature of this approach while others been most likely destroyed by applauded the effort. now, Altrocchi offered some pos­ Elliot Stone and Stephanie Hopkins-HlIghes We then heard from Ron Destro. sible explanations of where they Ron has put together a wonderful might still be found, specifically in the crypt of Francis introductory lecture on the Oxford theory that he has given Vere in Westminster Abbey. The thesis also helps explain several times to appreciative audiences. He gave us a run­ the remark of Percival Golding that Oxford is buried at through of this presentation, explaining how he covers the Westminster. basic arguments and what kind of responses (almost all John Hudson, author of a forthcomi ng book on the theory positive) he has been getting when he does his talks. that the Shakespeare plays were written by Amelia Bassano Bonner Cutting then gave a talk on the will of Shaksper Lanier, talked about some of the interesting allusions in of Stratford. Bonner has done some amazing research here, the plays of Hebrew and Judaic thought (such as Talmud examining countless wills of the period. You won't find and Kaballah), showing that the author must have been the kinds of things she has uncovered in any conventional familiar with these. Hudson then went on to explain his biography of Shakespeare, that's for sure! In addition to recent production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as an the lack of books and literary materials in the will, Bonner allegory on the Roman-Jewish War of 66-73 CEo Those has also discovered that, unlike most people of the time, who were not too tired were able to view this production Shaksper had not left anything,or virtually nothing, for on DVD later in the evening. the education of his children or for the Stratford Grammar Although there was disappointment in the absence of School or for the town itself. Also, the "greatest writer of Oxfordian Jeopardy this year, Alex McNeil redeemed all time"used boilerplate text in the preamble of the will himself by moderating a spirited discussion on some out- instead of composing his own (as even uneducated people Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Summer 2008 page 17 did). These are only a few of the things Robert Brazil talked about Angel Daye 's Bonner has found that indicate that this is The English Secretary (which was dedicated a will of a stingy businessman who didn't to Oxford), making a good case that Oxford have a literary bone in his body. had a major hand in the writing of this work In his talk (which was more of a discussion (particularly the amusing and complex period), Matthew Cossolotto again brought "sample letters" it contains) up that next year will be the 400lh anniversary Cheryl Egan-Donovan talked about the of the publication of Shake-Speare 's Sonnets progress of her documentary, Nothing is and that we should capitalize on this in our Truerthan Truth, based on MarkAnderson's outreach programs. In particular, we should book. She showed some excerpts from this try to make the point that the publication work-in-progress. We hope to see this on was posthumous. Mark Anderson PBS in the near future. We broke for a nice buffet lunch and then Earl Showerman then continued his amaz­ were treated to a great keynote address by ing series of talks on Greek sources for the Mark Anderson. He says that instead of Shakespeare plays (something Stratfordians Oxfordians going on the defensive whenever prefer to dismiss since they have a hard time a Stratfordian brings up Oxford's death showing how Will of Stratford could have in 1604 as a weakness in the case (plays read original Greek sources). This time written after that, etc.), we should be on the play under consideration was Timon of the offensive. We should ask the questions Athens, which Earl says is straight out of "What did Shakespeare read?" and "What the Sophoclean tradition. Many character did Shakespeare report on?" It turns out that names, plot elements, and themes are to be (with no real exceptions) all the sources found in original Greek sources. for the plays were written before 1604 and After a dinner break the hardy ones came that topical allusions in the plays are all to back for another movie night. We first Derran Charlton events that happened before 1604. Mark did watched an adaptation of Mark Twain's Is mention the two to three plays Shakespeare Deadby Canadian that Stratfordians will bring up Keir Cutler. Although no Hal (particularly The Tempest) and Holbrook (he didn't even try explained how NONE of these to be) Mr. Cutler did a good apparent problems stand up to job of presenting Twain's very scrutiny. In all cases there are humorous skewering of the earlier sources or events which Stratfordian case and a little of better fit the plays. The case the case for Bacon. Cutler also for The Tempest has been dealt added in a little of the cases for with by Roger Stritmatter and Oxford, and Marlowe (which Lynne Kositsky. As another of course were not mentioned example, Macbeth is always by Mark Twain). said to refer to the Gunpowder We then watched the BBC Plot (1605) because it men- adaptation of Timon ofAthens, a tions "equivocation", which Dan Wright and Earl SllOwerman very dark and brooding produc­ was one of the defenses put forward by the conspirators. tion which left us all despondent at the end of it. (Maybe However, there were previous high-profile trials that also we should have seen it BEFORE the Twain presentation used this defense. so we could have gone to bed happy.) We then heard from Denan Charlton who tried to Sunday morning began with the annual meeting of the show that an anonymous Elizabethan portrait probably Shakespeare Fellowship. Following this the presentations represents Edward DeVere dressed as King Henry IV in began with Robin Fox, continuing on from the talk he an acting role. This kind of thing, if true, would perhaps gave two years ago in Ann Arbor on the Stratford Gram­ partially explain the famous remark of John Davies about mar School Education. The basic idea is that Oxfordians Shakespeare: "Had'st thou not plaid some Kingly parts in should not disparage the Stratford Grammar school as sport/Thou had'st bin a companion for a King" grammar schools provided a very good basic education. page 18 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter

Of course, there is still specialized knowledge evident in tant in the play Henry V, and why this law was important the plays that would require more education. Countering in understanding some of the legalities involved in the Stratfordian arguments that the plays contain some refer­ question of the succession after Elizabeth. ences to things only someone who attended a grammar During the banquet, the annual Oxfordian of the Year school would know, Robin pointed out that the education award was presented to Daniel Wright for his multiple of the nobility was pretty much the same as the grammar efforts for our movement, particularly getting the Con­ school (with some additions) so a nobleman would be cordia Authorship Research Centre off the ground -the familiar with the same Latin and grammar textbooks. center will open next fall-. A new award, the Shakespeare Bill Boyle then gave a talk which was a kind of sum­ Authorship Award, was presented (in absentia) to John mary of multiple talks he has given in the past about the Shahan and the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition as importance of the Succession Crisis of the 1590s, especially commemoration of the great success of the Declaration the part played by the Earls of Essex and Southampton. He of Reasonable Doubt. touched quite a bit on the puzzling work Willobie, His Avisa, All in all, this was a very successful and enjoyable presenting a theory that Avisa represents Queen Elizabeth conference. It demonstrated what kinds of new things or and her suitors represent "real" suitors of Elizabeth. new ways of looking at things can be developed when the It was now time for the final banquet and awards Pre­ true author of the plays of Shakespeare is identified. sentation. Thomas Regnier gave a very informative talk The 2009 joint conference is currently scheduled for with finally explained (to almost everyone's satisfaction) November 5-8, 2009 in Houston, TX. Watch for further exactly what was the Salic Law which seems to be impor- details.

For Immediate Release SAC contact person: John Shahan at (909) 896-2006. Claremont, California, November First Folio. As head of the Reader Nearly 1,400 people have now 17,2008 - The Shakespeare Author­ Services Department from 1974 until signed the Declaration, including ship Coalition (SAC) is pleased to her retirement in 1999, her responsi­ 300 during the last year. These in­ announce that SAC Secretary Vir­ bilities included screening applicants clude 244 (18%) current or former ginia J. Renner, former head of the and introducing researchers to the college/university faculty members, Reader Services Department at the Library's resources. 196 (14%) with doctoral degrees, and Huntington Library in San Marino, Ms. Renner's doubts about the 299 (22%) with master's degrees. California, has succeeded in recruit­ author's true identity (doubts shared English literature graduates held their ing ten of her former colleagues to by her late husband) date from the substantial lead among academic sign her copy of the Declaration of early 1980s when she began reading disciplines with 232, followed by Reasonable Doubt about the Identity the authorship claimant literature, those in the arts (142), theatre arts of William Shakespeare. By recruit­ much of it from the Huntington's (95), education (87), social sciences ing ten signatories based on a single own holdings. She first encountered (74), math, engineering & computers theme, she has set an example that Shakespeare authorship doubters on the (7 I), history (69), natural sciences we hope others will follow. The SAC Huntington's professional staff when (65), other humanities (62), law has produced a limited edition of 400 she began working there in 1967. (59), medicine and health care (58), of the museum-quality posters of the Shakespeare scholars from all over management (45), and psychology Declaration, each with lines at the the world come to the Huntington to (42). bottom for ten signatures. do research, and the fact that so many Notable signatories include Shake­ Virginia J. Renner, former head of well-educated people who have worked spearean actors Sir Derek Jacobi, Reader Services at the Huntington there doubt Shakespeare's identity is Mark Rylance, Jeremy Irons and Library, proudly displays her personal startling. It certainly contradicts the Michael York. copy of the Declaration, signed by ten orthodox stereotypes of authorship The Declaration was launched dur­ of her former colleagues. doubters. Many Shakespeare scholars ing a signing ceremony at the Geffen Virginia J. Renner, M.L.S., worked will no doubt find it disconcerting Playhouse in Los Angeles, California, for over thirty-two years at the world­ that so many highly professional staff in April 2007, and in the U.K. at the renowned Huntington Library - home people at the Huntington, who served Chichester Festival Theatre in Sep­ of many rare editions of the works in them so well, thought that they were tember 2007. For more info, go to: the Shakespeare Canon, including the researching the wrong man. http:/www.DoubtAboutWiII.org. Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Summer 2008 page 19

(President's Page continuedfrolll page 2) We recently experienced a problem finding a replacement for the authorship issue generally and the case for Oxford's our previous Treasurer, Virginia Hyde, Virginia had served authorship in particular. I am in the process of forming a admirably for three years as Treasurer, Because of the strict Year of the Sonnets committee to help plan and execute a term limits provision, last year we had to find a suitable year-long campaign to focus on the theme that the Sonnets replacement. But the search wasn't easy, We eventually were published posthumously. If we succeed in making found our new Treasurer, Sue Width (who happens to be a the best case we can on that point, if we can plant that Certified Public Accountant and is doing a fantastic job) but seed in the minds of the media and other key audiences, Sue didn't join the Board until several months after Virginia I think we could put the authorship question front and had to step down as Treasurer. The transition was awkward, center in the public discourse about Shakespeare next and it was made much more difficult because of the rigid year. One thing we need to make a real impact next year: three-year term limit provision. a well-researched, carefully documented report that lays As John Hamill argued to the Board and at the annual out the best possible case we can muster in support of the meeting, this amendment is intended to give the Board posthumous publication thesis. needed flexibility by allowing the Board, by unanimous Please let me know if you would like to participate in the vote, to extend the term of an officer for one more year planning committee for the Year of the Sonnets. I'd like in a given position. The Board felt strongly that requiring to see us develop a wide-ranging program of publications, a unanimous vote of the Board for such an extension of­ conferences, lectures and other events next year. I should fered the membership substantial protection against abuse. mention here that the annual conference at Concordia in The unanimous-vote requirement sends a strong signal to April will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Son­ the membership that an officer whose term is extended nets. That's an important event on the calendar in 2009. pursuant to this amendment has wide support from the But I hope we will be able to sponsor additional activities Board and must be deemed to be doing an excellent job in 2009 to take advantage of this important anniversary in that position. in Shakespeare studies. Which brings me to where I started - why I'm writing this column as your new ly reelected president. The Board New Board Members and Officers of Trustees voted unanimously this month to continue as Finally, I want to let members know about the new your president for one more year, thereby extending my line-up of Board members and Officers for the coming term in this office beyond three years. I want to thank all year. Welcome and congratulations to newly elected Board Board members for their support and confidence, but I members Stephen Downs and Toni Downs. Congratulations have made it clear to the Board - and I make a pledge to to newly reelected Board members Sue Width (Treasurer), the entire membership now - that this will be my final James (Jaz) Sherwood, and Richard Smiley ... as well as year as president. to the following new ly elected officers: John Hamill (First Vice President); Virginia Hyde (Secretary); and Richard 2009: The Year of The Sonnets Joyrich (Membership Secretary). We also have several One reason I accepted this one-year extension relates committees and task forces (including the Publications to a project I mentioned in my previous column and at Committee chaired by John Hamill and the Youth Outreach the recent annual conference. I hope we can call attention Task Force chaired by Brian Bechtold) in case members th in 2009 to the 400 anniversary of the publication of the want to volunteer their time and expertise. Sonnets. I will be proposing to the Board that we desig­ Remember, this is your Board of Trustees and your nate 2009 as "The Year of the Sonnets" and that we do a Society. Please share your ideas and suggestions. If you much as we can to take advantage of the PR opportunity send an email [email protected]. our office man­ of this important literary milestone by underscoring the ager will forward your email to me or to the appropriate authorship clues contained in the Sonnets. In particular, I Board member. Thank you for your ongoing support as believe we should focus our efforts on assembling as much we endeavor to fulfill our mission of researching and evidence as we can in support of the proposition that the honoring the true Bard. Sonnets were published posthumously in 1609. Sincerely, In my presentation at the annual conference in October, Matthew Cossolotto, November 2008 I developed this argument at some length. I called upon the Editor's Note: Year ofthe Sonnet Declaration by the SOS Board ofTrustees entire Oxfordian community to mount a concerted research - In recognition of the four hundredth anniversary of the publication of and outreach effort next year to not only commemorate Shake-speare's Sonnets the Shakespeare Oxford Society hereby designates the Sonnets but to use this anniversary to highlight both 2009 The Year of the Sonnets and declares its intention to highlight the proposition that the Sonnets were published posthumously in 1609. page 20 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Letters to the Editor

A joint letter to both the true author of the Shakespeare canon. like or if you list only one Oxford­ SOS and SF To quote a fellow SF member, "It is ian interpretation, you run the risk about the Earl." of that person either being bogged by Stuart J. Green So why is it that after all these years down with too much information or of tireless efforts by so many intelli­ they find your interpretation a little I would like to preface this joint gent and rational people, that we find hard to swallow. While it is my belief letter by saying that I hold all its ourselves still so far away from gain­ that rational people can put aside the members in the highest regard for ing acceptance by the world at large? myth ofthe Virgin Queen, they might the work they have done in their Why do we find our organizations not still find it hard to believe that the respective fields to the continuing growing but rather stagnating? One Elizabeth was able to conceal mul­ expansion of the Oxfordian cause. I possibility is the perception that we tiple pregnancies, let alone one. This do not pretend to be telling you any­ are merely a conspiracy group. Well, is not to say that those who support thing that you do not already know how can we overcome this hurdle? the Prince Tudor theories don't have or have considered yourselves. That A possible way of debunking this some valid points in their arguments. being said, I feel that we sometimes perception by the traditionalist is I personally find the idea plausible, allow our respective interpretations of to work towards developing a clear, as I also do with the homo/bi sexual the history and, indeed, the mystery concise, and non-threatening way of interpretation. But when we are deal­ surrounding the most celebrated writer communicating the facts support­ ing with those who have had little or of the English language to cloud or ing Oxford, coupled with the facts no knowledge of either Shakespeare overshadow the central issue which against the traditional figure of the or of the authorship candidates, we is the validity of Edward DeVere as man from Stratford. Now what was must be very subtle in our approach. Shakespeare. I do not pretend to be I meaning by the statement that we We should communicate the simple as knowledgeable as my fellow SOS must use a non-threatening approach? points of Oxford's biography and how and SF members in terms of the finer All too often, we are asked by those it corresponds with the Shakespeare points of Oxfordianism, yet I feel first hearing about the authorship canon, not bash them over the head that my position as a relatively new question, "What does it matter?" or with it but rather give them something member gives me a fresh outlook on even, "Why can't you just appreciate to think about. Give them some lit­ what I see to be some problems facing the works as they are without having erature or point them towards sources both organizations. to find something wrong with them?" that won't overburden them with the While I have only been a member This is certainly something I have had more minute details that are covered of the Oxfordian movement for a few to respond to (even from members of in our conferences and in some of our years, I, like many others, have had to my own family). I have to reassure publications. face some of the same skepticism and these people, that to question the Another way we could make our­ sometimes hostility that comes with the validity of the authorship is not an selves more accessible to those who discussing of the Authorshi p question attack on the works themselves. We do not yet ascribe to our view of the and the validity of de Vere as a prime are not trying to make mountains out Shakespeare authorship issue is to candidate, I have come to believe that of molehills but rather attempting to open ourselves and more particularly there are a number of ways in which cultivate new interpretations of these our publications to non-Oxfordian we need to re-evaluate our approach. literary masterpieces by gaining a contri butors. I am speaking, of course, I do not prescribe wholly to any of further understanding of the man who to the recent divisiveness over the ap­ the numerous sub-groups that exist in wrote them. pointment of Dr. Michael Egan as the either of our organizations. Whether Another question that is often asked new editor of The Oxfordian. While I or not one believes in the Prince Tudor of me by skeptics is the reasoning was at first surprised and unsure about theories(s) or that the sonnets were, behind keeping the identity of the what it would mean to have an editor in fact, the expressions of the bi/ho­ author a secret even after his death. who was not a confirmed Oxford­ mosexual relationship between de Vere Here is the make-it or break-it point ian, after thinking the issue over and and the young Earl of Southampton, as I see it. For if you become too listening to Dr. Egan's responses to we can all agree that the one unifying detailed with names, dates and the membership's questions and concerns, belief is that Edward de Vere was the Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Summer 2008 page 21

I have come to the belief that it will message are we sending to those on the the son-in-law of Sir Henry Neville, ultimately help us in the long run to outside when we are unable or unwill­ having married his daughter Anne in have a person of Dr. Egan's standing ing to work together? Let us not forget 1622. Vicars was also the step-son-in­ working for us. While I certainly be­ that we all have a common goal, and law of Bishop George Carleton, who lieve that The Oxfordian should remain while we may disagree on some of the has married Neville's widow and, as primarily Oxfordian in its content, it finer points, we should all be willing Bishop ofLJandaff, employed Vicars as is my opinion that as long as we allow to agree on the most important thing his chaplain and gave him ecclesiasti­ only the Oxfordian perspective to be . .. "it is about the Earl." cal preferment. Sir Henry Neville is, represented, we will only succeed in I must now end this letter and, once of course, the candidate as the actual producing a journal that preaches to more, ask that you please forgive my author of Shakespeare's works proposed the choir and which can, therefore, presumptiveness in addressing you on by Brenda James in the work which I be written off by our critics as being these matters. I mean not to dictate or co-authored, The Truth Will Out(2005). biased. We should not look at it as a preach, but merely to voice some of We did not know ofthe Vicars reference step towards abandoning our ideals but the concerns I have come to have over until it was published by Fred Schurink rather as a way to help us sharpen our the last three years. I want to thank all in Notes & Queries in 2006 and then arguments against the opposition. those who have befriended me and given given publicity by Roger Strittmatter. The final point that I would like to me the encouragement to take a more Evidently, at some stage after his mar­ mention as being a possible deterrent active role in this, our cause. riage Vicars (1589-1638) was initiated to gaining new converts to our cause Yours sincerely, into the family secret. I might also add is the continued split between our two Stuart J. Green that I know of no association of any organizations. As those of you who have kind between Vicars and the Earl of met me at previous conferences might Dear Editor, Oxford or his family. recall, I have been an avid supporter I fully agree with the article by Sincerely, of the efforts at reunification. While I Donald Frederick Nelson, "Schurink's (Professor) was never privy to the causes that led Discovery of a Century," about the William D. Rubinstein, to the original schism, I would contend importance of the reference by Rev. Dept. of History, that whatever issue or issues led to the Thomas Vicars in the third edition University of split, they have either been resolved or of a work by him on rhetoric which, Wales-Aberystwyth, are no longer of consequence. Would translated, strongly suggests that he Penglais SY23 3DY, U.K. it not serve both organizations to pool was well aware that "Shakespeare" was [email protected] our collective resources to form a single a pseudonym. What he has omitted to and much stronger organization? What point out, however, is that Vicars was

THIS IS YOUR NEWSLETTER The Shakespeare Oxford Society welcomes articles, essays, commentary, book reviews, letters, and news items of relevance to Shakespeare, Edward de Vere Visit the Shakespeare Oxford Society and the Authorship Discussion. It is the policy of the Shakespeare Oxford Society to require assignment of website at copyright on any article submitted to the Newslettel: www.shakespeare-oxford.com Please contact the editor with any questions. Submit text in digital form to: Publications [email protected] Membership tate3211 @bellsouth.net Calendar Mail photographs and illustrations to: Links to Shakespeare on the Net Newsletter Editor Shakespeare Oxford Society Blue Boar Giftshop PO Box 808 • Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 Shakespeare Oxford Library page 22 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter

The 13th Annual Shakespeare Authorship Studies Conference Concordia University April 16 - 19, 2009

If you will be attending the Awards Banquet at which we will honour Robin Williams - author of Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare? and William Boyle - librarian, editor and Shakespeare Authorship database creator

please choose one of the following entrees:

__ Filet mignon __ Smoked Salmon __ Vegetarian dish

Registrations for both the Conference and the Awards Banquet close with our receipt of the first 175 paid registrations.

To assure yourself of a place at these events, send in this registration form for receipt by 30 March 2009 with your cheque or money order for $275, payable to The Shakespeare Authorship Studies Conference. Mail your registration to Prof Daniel Wright, SASC Conference Director, Concordia University, 2811 NE Holman, Portland, OR 97211. If you will not be attending the banquet, include a cheque or money order for $195 for the four-day conference only Name ______

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www.authorshipstudies.org Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Summer 2008 page 23 Shakespeare as Brand Name By Carleton W. Sterling

What's in a name? That's a key call that riverboat pilot Samuel Clem­ links two words while revealing the Shakespearean question. ens heard from deckhands sounding the compound's components. So the print­ Is "Shakespeare" just the accepted depth. The pen name is informative. ers crafted the name as the phrase spelling of the family name of William So let's try to decode Shakespeare, "Shake spear(e)." of Stratford or is it a brand name for the biggest brand name in English This suggests pertinent images. a literary canon? literature. The final letter e was surely An image from English heraldry Stratford Willie neglected to spell meant to be silent, serving only to that long intrigued Oxfordians was Shakespeare with the full complement make the name look longer. the lion rampant grasping a broken of vowels we know, and Oxfordians Speare e) clarifies the pronunciation spear whose hanging piece resembles note his failure to spell his family of the suffix. The pronunciation of a pen poised to write. Oxfordians name consistently for his signatures on the Stratford name might suggest a have backed away from the claim his last will and testament. Stratford­ horseman if it rhymed with Hotspur that Edward de Vere may have used ians reply that Elizabethans mostly and a sailor if it rhymed with ship's this coat-of-arms image on a seal for didn't care about consistent spelling. spar. The author of the Shakespeare manuscripts. Still the image befits a This is all the more reason to see the canon may have been both horseman blueblooded wordsmith, and the British significance of when the name was and sailor, but the ea gives the vowel aristocrats would have been familiar consistently spelled. sound in spear. Pronouncing Shake with it because coats of arms were The Elizabethan printers who set in is a no-brainer, but no e after k in devised to distinguish friend from type the name William Shakespeare Shaksper muddies the pronunciation foe on the battlefield. on title pages of published works of the prefix, which could be Shack The spectacular outpouring of starting in the 1590s nailed down the or Shax. So the early printers told English literature written by educated Shakespeare spelling for all time while us how to pronounce the name; the Elizabethans was accompanied by simultaneously spelling Shakespeare's Stratford folk did not. their reading the Greek and Roman royal Henries both Henry and Henrie The one variation in the published classics. So such readers would know on the same page. The Stratford clan spelling was whether or not the printer The Spear Shaker, attribute name of did not embrace the published spell­ placed a hyphen between Shake and Athena. Association with the Greek ing of Shakespeare. After William's speare. Shake-speare appeared on title goddess of wisdom would make a death in 1616, his daughter Judith pages in the 1590s, the 1603 edition clever brand name for a line of great bore a son whose given name was of Hamlet, the 1609 Sonnets, and in literature. registered as Shaksper. some of the dedicatory passages of The Spear Shaker invokes Athena's Why did printers raid their letter the 1623 First Folio. warrior attribute. In the virtual arts, boxes for extra vowels when setting the Later generations mostly shunned the goddess is most often presented author's name ifit served no purpose? the hyphen because it didn't square with helmet, shield and spear. But It wasted time and effort inconsistent with the Stratford name. No one be­ another subject of interest is simi­ with the Stratfordian claim that the lieved that a Mr. Shake and a Miss larly represented. During their rule of Bard was a "good businessman." Speare married and acquired a hy­ Britain, the Romans recognized their The businesslike answer is that phenated name. Stratfordians dismiss island territory with a coin showing Shakespeare was a brand name so the intrusion of the hyphen as a trifle Britannia holding a trident as her spelled to identify the product. Kel­ signifying nothing, yet they accept spear. Later Brits adopted variations logg named the cereal Rice Krispies that Robert Greene's 1592 published on this icon to personify their nation. not because spell-check hadn't been jibe about "Shake-scene" referred to Athena recast as Britannia is an apt invented but because the capital K the Bard. association for a brand that lifted the was key to the brand name signifying Oxfordians infer that the hyphen English language to the peak of the crispy rice from Kellogg. invites the reading of words not just literary world. The most famous brand name in sounds. The punctuation helps deliver Britannia no longer rules the waves, American literature is Mark Twain, the message. While letters are the but the sun never sets on the Shake­ which sounds like a homespun Ameri­ building blocks of words, punctua­ speare brand. can name, but it was the "safe water" tion helps with phrases. The hyphen page 24 Summer 2008 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Noted Shakespearean Egan Takes over The Oxfordian Submitted to the Newsletter by Matthew Cossolotto

http://w\Vw.playshakespeare.colll I and experience in the plays and poems, Marlovian and whoever might be the lat­ shakespeare-news/3692-noted-shakespearean­ together with remarkably detailed infor­ est candidate in a very full field-will be egan -ta kes-over-t he-ox ford ian mation of all kinds of esoterica. I'd like given a platform, so long as the quality to know how they got there. of argumentation survives a rigorous Wednesday, 29 October 2008 06:02 peer-review process. That's where my PLAYSHAKESPEARE: What do you scholarly detachment comes in. Every­ Recently, Dr. Michael Egan, noted feel only you call brillg to the table? Shakespearean and author of The one will be offered an equitable shake. DR. EGAN: What I bring to the table is Tragedy of Richard II, Part One: A I should add that it is the judgment of scholarly detachment, a willingness to Newly Authenticated Play by William the Shakespeare Oxford Society that in "0 wherever the evidence may lead. If b a fair fight, as it were, Edward de Vere, Shakespeare has taken the helm as the this sounds elementary, I can only say new editor of The Oxfordian, the annual 17th Earl of Oxford, will emerge as the that in the current world of Shakespeare incontestable true author. journal focused on "proving" Edward de attribution studies, scholarly objectivity Vere is the true author of Shakespeare's is in cruelly short supply. The issues are Let me slip in here an invitation to anyone plays. This is an unusual move for the debated with the acrimony, bitterness and who would like to submit an article to Shakespeare Oxford Society, which dishonesty characteristic of religious or TOX in the broad area of Shakespeare hopes that Egan, a self-described ag­ political sects. There's more jeering and nostic on the authorship question, will attribution/authorship studies. Contact silencing than discussion. Temperamen­ [email protected] This e-mail ad­ "follow the evidence where it leads." tally, however, I'm not a joiner - I keep PlayShakespeare.com took a moment dress is being protected from spambots. changing my mind when presented with You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to chat with Dr. Egan about his newly new data. A nerd, in short, but in the pres­ appointed position and what he hopes ent climate, that's an to accomplish for the future. advantage.

PLAYSHAKESPEARE: D,: Egan, how PLAYSHAKE­ did this new position come about? SPEARE: If you're DR. EGAN: In 2006, I presented a not an Oxfordian, paper about Richard I/, Part One, to why did you sign the the Shakespeare Oxford Society/Shake­ Declaration of Rea­ speare Fellowship convention in Ann sonable Doubt? Arbor, MI. I liked them and they liked DR. EGAN: Because me. Also, I think delegates were surprised you don't have to be at my open-mindeness on the so-called an Oxfordian to be Authorship Question. Some months later reasonably doubt­ the editorship of The Oxfordian became ful about the author­ vacant, and they invited me to take the job. ship of Shakespeare's After thinking about it, I accepted. plays.

PLAYSHAKESPEARE: Why did PLAYSHAKE­ you agree? What attracted you the SPEARE: What is most? your vision for the DR. EGAN: I think there's areal question upcoming year? about the authorship of Shakespeare's DR. EGAN: I plan to plays-the disjunct between what we run The Oxfordian as a think we know about him and the mind research journal of the and personality reflected in the Collected highest intellectual Works. Ascri bing their aston i shi ng range, integrity. Its emphasis wisdom and knowledge to genius is sim­ will continue to be on ply to invoke magic. One may be born the Authorshi p Ques­ with superior abilities but education must tion. All views and still be acquired. There's deep learning theories-Stratfordian,