Summer 1997 Column Beauty and The1987 Moot Court Trial the Paradigm Ten Years Later the Verdict Is In: by Mark K

The Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Vol.33:no.3 "Let me study so, to know the thing I am forbid to know" Summer 1997 Column Beauty and The1987 Moot Court Trial the Paradigm Ten Years later the Verdict is in: by Mark K. Anderson Edward de Vere and Oxfordians won Last year, I wrote an article for the Shake- The events of September 25th-26th,1987 speare Oxford Newsletter on Thomas Kuhn’s in Washington DC should eventually be The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, known as one of the true watershed mo- Kuhn’s concept of “paradigm shifts” and the ments in the history of the Shakespeare Oxfordian movement. (“A Little More Than authorship debate. Kuhn and Less Than Kind,” Newsletter, First, there was the Moot Court Trial, Winter 1996.) held on Friday, September 25th, at American In the interim, the essay’s reception out- University, with three Justices of the United side the Oxfordian enclave has been delight- States Supreme Court presiding. This event fully mixed. It has been assigned reading lists attracted mainstream media coverage of the in higher education, while in the Internet’s authorship debate such as had never been online world, the Obfuscation Police were seen before in this century. And while the apparently called on to disperse the growing official result was a seemingly decisive 3-0 crowds around Kuhn’s work. verdict for the Stratford actor, the true story “Ever since Kuhn’s book came out in the from that day is that two of the three Justices 1960s, every crackpot whose ideas are re- presiding actually began a journey which jected by the establishment has piously de- eventually brought them to Oxford’s door- clared that they represent a new ‘paradigm,’ step in the 1990s (along with many hundreds and that the old guard is just clinging to their of other former Stratfordians). outmoded ideas because they can’t see be- Meanwhile, at the 11th Annual Confer- yond the old paradigm,” wrote Shakespeare Charlton Ogburn listens intently as the ence of the Shakespeare Oxford Society Authorship Page co-manager David Kathman Justices read their decisions at the Trial. (held in conjunction with the Moot Court earlier this year. “This does not mean that Ogburn had been much distressed at how event), history was also being made. The everyone who invokes Kuhn is a crackpot, events unfolded 10 years ago, but today he turnout of new Society members from around only that many of them are, and that just agrees that it was, ultimately, a major vic- the country, all gathered together for the invoking Kuhn in favor of your cause doesn’t tory for both himself and the cause. Moot Court, resulted in well-attended morn- mean a whole lot.” ing and afternoon meetings on Saturday, Online correspondent Caius Marcius Inside: September 26th, which in turn resulted in the went Kathman one better. He stated that the near tripling of the size of the existing Board authorship controversy was about a “fact” Annual Conference of Trustees (from 5 to 14 members), and the —i.e. whether Oxford or Shakspere of page 3 beginning of 10 tumultuous years of growth Stratford was the author—and not a theory. and change. (See page 9 for a separate story Therefore Kuhn’s findings were irrelevant to Shakespeare and on the 11th Annual Conference.) Oxfordianism. (Never mind that the same the Fair Youth There are undoubtedly a number of our sleight-of-hand can be performed with Kuhn’s current members who first became aware of own case study. Namely, the stir Copernicus page 4 the authorship issue through publicity im- caused was merely about a “fact”—i.e. mediately surrounding the Moot Court, or whether the Sun or the Earth is at the center Shakespeare’s Legal Appeal six months later through the James Lardner of the Solar System. Argal Kuhn’s findings Page 18 article on the event in The New Yorker (April are irrelevant to Kuhn’s data.) 11, 1988). This article, still only available to (Continued on page 10) (Continued on page 6) page 2 Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Book Reviews in The Washington Post; Princess Diana, Articles in academic journals 1961-1997 On Sunday, August 17th The Washing- ing a sack. Price’s position is that the Princess Diana, mother of a future king ton Post book section featured a major re- monument was never changed, a thesis also of England, died in an automobile accident view of three of the most recent authorship presented by Jerry Downs and Barbara in Paris on August 31st. The loss was one books, all of them works that treat the issue Westerfield at the 1994 SOS Conference in which literally shocked millions throughout seriously, and two of which openly declare Carmel, Calif. the world. for Edward de Vere as the true Shakespeare. The article and this thesis were debated Probably not all Society members are The books reviewed were John hotly over the summer on the Internet aware of several intriguing Shakespeare Michell’s Who Wrote Shakespeare?, Rich- Oxfordian discussion group Phaeton. We connections that had been part of the mar- ard Whalen’s Shakespeare: Who Was He?, will include a more detailed report on this riage of Prince Charles and Diana, and the and Joseph Sobran’s Alias Shakespeare. debate in our next Newsletter. naming of their two sons. Reviewer Peter W. Dickson (a former Price has also been published in The Diana was, among her many family ties, CIA analyst) gives an excellent overview of Shakespeare Newsletter again, doing battle also in the line of descent from Edward de the authorship landscape in the brief space with Donald Foster over Funeral Elegy. Vere (through Elizabeth Vere). allotted, noting especially how much the (Richard Whalen reports on this at the end The young princes were both named debate has heated up in the last ten years. of his book review on page 17.) with Shakespeare in mind. Prince William is He recommends Michell’s book for its It is of special interest how often author- named for William Shakespeare, and Prince overview of the debate, and notes in particu- ship matters now appear in The Shakespeare Henry is named for Henry V. lar Michell’s sympathies for the authorship Newsletter, for when the editorship first claim of Mary Sidney (Countess of Pem- changed hands in 1993 new editor Thomas Interview with broke), sister of Sir Phillip Sidney and mother Pendleton canceled the Oxfordian page and of both of the earls to whom the First Folio indicated authorship merited no attention Ogburn completed is dedicated. whatsoever in a mainstream publication such Society members Lisa Marie Wilson His comments on both Whalen and as The Shakespeare Newsletter. and Roger Stritmatter spent three days in Sobran highlight the strengths of their pre- Meanwhile, Gary Goldstein’s Elizabe- Beaufort, SC, over Labor Day weekend in- sentations and so further the strength of de than Review has published in its latest issue terviewing Charlton Ogburn, Jr. Vere as the leading authorship claimant (Spring 1997) David Kathman’s “Why I Am They report that all went very well, with Dickson concludes with commentary Not an Oxfordian,” a broadside against all Ogburn in great spirits throughout the three on the “particularly vexing question” of Oxfordians, and in particular, Charlton days. Eleven hours of videotape were re- why the need for long-term secrecy? He Ogburn and his The Mysterious William corded, and editing is already underway. introduces an interesting note based on his Shakespeare. Lisa reports that the fundraising letter own research into a book on Christopher Kathman is a familiar name to those on that members received in August did cover Columbus, namely that Columbus’ family the Internet, where he co-manages the Shake- all travel and production expenses. How- had also displayed a long-term need for speare Authorship Page and debates au- ever, still more is needed to complete post- secrecy. thorship regularly on the Usenet Shake- production work. Donations through the The secret involved Columbus’ Portu- speare group. Society are, of course, tax-deductible. guese wife and her family’s involvement in While some Oxfordians have been sur- A trailer of highlights will be available the Braganza conspiracy to murder the King prised that this lengthy one-sided article for viewing at the Seattle Conference. Final of Portugal. The intriguing point here is, of was published by Goldstein, he has de- versions of the tape will be available to course, how a family secret involving high- fended his decision in a letter to Ogburn by Society members through the Blue Boar. level politics can be kept secret if all the high- noting that it really represents progress, level parties involved see it as necessary. with the Academy engaging a leading New Fundraising Meanwhile, the authorship debate and Oxfordian in scholarly terms. Goldstein related scholarship is also becoming a regu- stated that the article advances the legiti- Program Begins lar staple of academic journals as much as it macy of the authorship question, with an On September 8th an exciting new now regularly appears in the popular media. academic questioning [Oxfordian] evidence fundraising initiative for the Society was In The Review of English Studies (May and challenging us to say otherwise. established. The James S. Hardigg Fund- 1997) Diana Price has published an article on “I do not see how a few minor errors on Matching Program will begin immediately, the oft-debated matter of the famous Trinity our part invalidates our mass of evidence,” with Mr. Hardigg matching dollar for dollar Church monument of Shakespeare Goldstein wrote. “ What Kathman has done (up to a limit of $10,000 per year) any contri- (Shaksper) and the equally famous Dugdale is what no other academic has done: taken us butions made to the Society.

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