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AMERICAN BRANCH

VOL. I FEBRUARY, 1940 NO. 2 The Secret Personality of "Shakespeare" Brought to Light After Three Centuries

The Ashbourne portrait (above), owned by the cally for the first time in history - with results Folger Shakespeare Library, and two other famous likely to change the whole course of Shakespearean paintings of the poet have been dissected scientifi• research. Solution of authorship mystery at hand. 2 NEWS-LETTER Scientific Proof Given that Lord Oxford Posed for Ancient Portraits of the Bard X-RAYS AND INFRA-RED PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW THAT EDWARD DE VERE, MYSTERIOUS LITERARY NOBLEMAN, IS THE REAL MAN IN THE FAMOUS ASHBOURNE "SHAKESPEARE" AND ALSO IN OTHER PAINTINGS OF ENGLAND'S GREATEST DRAMATIST. CHARLES WISNER BARRELL'S EPOCH-MAKING DISCOVERIES ARE FEATURED BY SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN AND TELEGRAPHED TO MORE THAN 2,000 NEWSPAPERS BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND OTHER NEWS AGENCIES. WORK OF AMERICAN SECRETARY OF THE SHAKESPEARE FELLOW­ SHIP REPRESENTS A LANDMARK IN ELIZABETHAN RESEARCH AND MAY CAUSE IMMEDIATE REVALUATION OF THE COMMONLY ACCEPTED THEORY OF THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE PLAYS.

Early in the morning of December 13, 1939 - It has remained for the American secretary of a date not soon to be forgotten by anyone in­ THE SHAKESPEARE FELLOWSHIP and a skilled terested in the pictorial record of "Mr. William group of technicians working under his direction, Shakespeare" - the news operators of the As­ to bring to light and accurately interpret after sociated Press began to tap out across two exhaustive corroborative studies among Eliza­ thousand wires leading to newspapers throughout bethan and Jacobean art, historical and genealog­ the length and breadth of the American continent, ical records, facts which the foremost "orthodox" a feature story that began as follows: Shakespearean authorities have completely over­ New York, Dec. 13-(AP)-X-ray evidence looked. that three world-famous paintings supposedly Charles Wisner Barrell's work, as outlined in of William Shakespeare actually are of the the Scientific American for January, 1940, under Earl of Oxford - interpreted as corroborat­ the title of "Identifying 'Shakespeare' With X-rays ing the theory that the Earl was the real and Infra-Red Photography," vindicates the find­ author of "Shakespeare's" plays - was re­ ings of J. Thomas Looney, who in 1920 published ported today by Charles W. Barrell, photo­ his remarkable volume of literary detection, graphic expert and prominent Shakespearean "Shakespeare" Identified In Edward de Vere, 17th student . . . in an article in the forthcoming Earl of Oxford. The evidence produced by these issue of Scientific American Magazine . . . two men, covering years of painstaking effort to get at the basic facts in history's most puzzling There is no need to repeat the entire news re­ "missing person" case, is clear-cut, circumstan­ lease, for you undoubtedly read it at the time. It tial - and graphic. Corroborating and supple­ marked a culminating point in the history of menting each other, the labors of Messrs. Looney Shakespearean research, detailing the high lights and Barrell seem destined to bring about a revolu­ of the first scientifically conceived and illustrated tion in the entire fieldof Shakespearean biography. revelation of the hidden personality behind the Mr. Looney found Lord Oxford's personality re­ painted camouflage of the so-called "Bard of flected in the plays and poems. Mr. Barrell Avon." actually shows the lineaments and over-painted Incredible as it may sound, no investigation symbols of the mysterious literary nobleman in employing such tools of scientific accuracy as three of the best-known portraits of the Bard - X-rays and infra-red photography had previously paintings which the foremost Shakespearean art been carried out for the purpose of penetrating experts of the past two centuries have agreed upon the oft-suggested secrets lurking in the backgrounds as compositions of Elizabethan or Jacobean crafts­ of these ancient portraits. manship. --�/ FEBRUARY, 1940 3 While his investigation includes complete dis­ Roentgen rays were applied under the joint direc­ sections by photographic science of the Hampton tion of Mr. A. C. Cooper and the Curator of Court Palace Shakespeare, owned by the royal Paintings at Hampton Court Palace. Mr. Cooper family of Great Britain; the so-called "Janssen" also made most of the panchromatic negatives Sh1kespeare, owned by the Folger Shakespeare required on the British paintings of Lord Oxford Library of Washington, D. C.; and the Ashbourne and "Shakespeare." His advisory supervisor in Shakespeare, also a Folger Library acquisition, making infra-red exposures was Dr. S. 0. Rawling, Mr. Barrell was obliged by exigencies of space to F.R.P.S., of the !!ford Research Laboratories, one confine his Scientific American article to a report of the world's authorities on infra-red photog­ of research on the Ashbourne canvas. Although raphy. his X-ray and photographic analysis of this pic­ ture embraces twenty-five plates, only eighteen Working under Mr. Barrell's supervision, these could be published in the magazine. experts have all contributed materially to the technical success of the investigation. The sub­ Arrangements are now being made to publish sidiary research, which required some two years the complete narrative of the pictorial discoveries for completion, was carried out by Mr. Barrell in book form during the coming months. Alto­ in Washington and New York, with Mr. Percy gether, the dissective studies and comparative Allen of London contributing valuable items photographs taken by Mr. Barrell and his tech­ transcribed from documents in the College of nical associates embrace about seventy-five ex­ Heralds and the British Museum. Special photo­ posures. These cover the three ancient Shake­ graphic studies were also made for Mr. Barrell - speare portraits and the on! y two inscribed paint­ at Oxford and Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. ings of the 17th Earl of Oxford known to exist today, one dated 1575 and owned by the Duke of Of the two thousand or more newspapers in Portland at Welbeck Abbey, the other ascribed the United States and Canada that carried the to Marcus Gheeraedts the Younger and owned by Associated Press digest of the Oxford-Shakespeare the Duke of St. Albans at Bestwood Lodge. Repre­ portrait discoveries, many featured it on the sentatives of both of these noblemen have co­ front page. Associated Press representatives also operated very cordially with Mr. Barrell in the called on well-known Stratfordian authorities at course of his studies. leading American universities and elsewhere for expressions of opinion regarding the evidences of The technicians employed by Mr. Barrell to Lord Oxford's personality in the ancient paint­ assist in the investigation included: ings. But none of the eminent experts interviewed Mr. Arthur G. Eldredge, former Professor of could give any coherent explanation of the strange Photography at the University of Illinois. Mr. transformations that science had brought to light. Eldredge is recognized as one of the ablest of "Absurd!" or "I don't believe it!" or "There American photographers. He is especially skilled must be some mistake - I never heard of the Earl in the science of reproducing paintings, having of Oxford!" were the usual comments. Needless been employed by the late J. Pierpont Morgan to to say, such expressions, bearing witness to the illustrate the famous connoisseur's luxurious vol­ emotional reaction of high authority rather than ume, Notable Paintings in American Collections, rational consideration of the evidence on its own as well as his Book of Chess. Lately Mr. Eldredge merits, could not be handled by the Associated made the photographs for Booth Tarkington's Press editors. Some Old Portraits. In the fine calculations re­ quired to balance light, focus and length of ex­ Although six weeks have passed since the first posure, Mr. Eldredge has no American superior. news story was released, no Stratfordian expert He also understands the secrets of infra-red ex­ has come forward as yet to offer any reasonable posure and development - a difficult branch of refutation of Mr. Barrell's pictorial conclusions. photography to master, as applied to the dissection Meanwhile, there have been many follow-up of paintings. newspaper items and articles on the Scientific X-ray work on the "Janssen" and Ashbourne American story, with editorial writers, columnists, pictures was carried out in Washington at the book-reviewers and dramatic critics featuring the National X-Ray Laboratories, and in London the portrait discoveries as one of the livest topics of 4 NE WS-LETTER the times, despite the superabundance of war Walter Winchell also broke the news in his news. typically breezy style in the column that now During one week, three New York dailies, enjoys the widest syndicated coverage. The Post, The New York Times and The Sun · William Shakespeare's real name was Ed­ treated the subject editorially. The Sun editorial, ward de Vere ... Walter whispered ... a most interesting tribute to the Barrell findings, Charles Wisner Barrell, American secretary is reproduced in full at the conclusion of this of the Shakespeare Fellowship, will so allege narrative. in the January Scientific American, due The Christian Science Monitor gave liberal December 20th. Bill, it appears, was the space in two issues to the investigation. On 17th Earl of Oxford and Lord Chamberlain December 21st, 22nd and 23rd, The Cleveland of England under Queen Liz. For the first Plain Dealer published a three-part discussion time in history scientific tools - infra-red by Harlowe R.Hoyt, under the general heading: photography and the X-ray - were employed "So Edward de Vere Wrote Shakespeare?" Mr. by Barrell to probe the true personality of Hoyt covered the main points in the Oxford­ the Bard. Shakespeare case, beginning with Mr.Looney's The lengthy news article carried by The New work and ending with Mr. Barrell's. In Boston, York Times and later amplified in editorial treat­ a city that has for years counted many Baconians ment and correspondence provided an interesting among its noteworthy citizens, The Post ran an contrast to Mr. Winchell's staccato telegraphese. eminent! y fair and readable resume of the new And from all of these many sources millions of Oxford evidence. readers of the news have heard that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, not only devoted On the Pacific coast, Ada Hanifin, dramatic himself to the writing of plays and poems in the critic of The San Francisco Examiner, not on! y Shakespearean age but actually posed for three published the news, but announced that she had of the best-known "life portraits of Mr.William been convinced for some years past that Oxford Shakespeare." was the real anthor of the Shakespeare plays and The Oxford theory is definitely on the map at was now glad that the portrait evidence confirmed last! her own conclusions. Editorial reactions of The New York Sun to The San Francisco Chronicle's erudite Joseph the new state of affairs, as expressed in its issue Henry Jackson on December 20th devoted his of December 16, 1939, will, we are sure, be ap­ Bookman's Notebook column to the subject, "Sci­ preciated by members of THE SHAKESPEARE FEL· ence Takes a Hand in the. Shakespearean Con­ L0WSHIP and all other disbelievers in the Strat­ troversy." San Francisco is fast becoming an fordian fables: important center of Oxfordian interest. Not so long ago The Argonaut, pioneer weekly of its class, ran a lengthy article on the Earl and his THE ROENTGEN SHAKESPEARE pen-name by Flodden W. Heron. In this con­ Who was the model for three paintings genera II y nection, we think we may say without fear of accepted as portraits of SHAKESPEARE? ("0 Eng­ contradiction that the city of the Golden Gate is land! model to thy inward greatness ...") The one spot on the Globe today where Oxford would American secretary of the Shakespeare Fellow­ be accorded adequate recognition on his own ship, CHARLES W.BARRELL, has been taking X-ray merits if he should return, incognito, to the 20th photographs of the Hampton Court Palace por­ century. trait of the poet, and of the two possessed by the Newspapers as far removed asThe Daily Herald Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington of Biloxi, Mississippi, and the weekly Dispatch of ("T.itan's rays on earth!") Mr.BARRELL presents Warwick, New York, ran the portrait story on the evidence of his photographs to support his their front pages. One of the best "follow-up" belief that the Earl of Oxford wrote the works of articles of all appeared inThe Villager of Green­ SHAKESPEARE, and that the paintings were made wich Village, N.Y.C. Newsweek Magazine for of the Earl, EDWARD DE VERE, and later altered to December 25th carried an illustrated version of remove all identifying signs. ("What, have you the story on their book page. got the picture of old Adam new-appareled?") FEBRUA RY, 1940 5

He declares that the hand of the same craftsman works have frequently cited evidence in the Ian• is to be discerned in the alterations in all three guage and historical incidents of the plays and portraits. ("Who was he That, otherwise than will naturally make much of X-ray evidence un• noble nature did, Hath alter'd that good picture?") covered by Mr. BARRELL. ("I cannot hide what He reports that details of the original paintings I am.") were carefuly changed. ("He wrought better than made the painter.") He implies that the "BY ANY OTHER NAME" result of these revisions of the portraits has George Ross, in his New York World-Tele­ therefore concealed for posterity the name of the gram column, "So This Is Broadway," brought true author of the plays and poems published as out another piece of news in connection with SHAKESPEARE'S. (" 'Twere concealment worse Mr. Barrell's article on the Ashbourne portrait: than a theft, no less than a traducement, To hide "Warren Munsell, Jr., who just sold a play your doings.") entitled By Any OtherName, which tries to prove It is known that some thirty years ago a British that the Earl of Oxford wrote Shakespeare's plays, authority on art charged that the Ashbourne por• got the biggest break of his life yesterday when trait of SHAKESPEARE had been tampered with. the front pages reported the revelations of Shake• ("To spurn at your most royal image And mock spearean Scholar Charles Barrell. The revelations your workings in a second body.") The advo• were that the Earl of Oxford had written the cates of the Oxford authorship of SHAKESPEARE'S Shakespearean works."

Dean of Literary Detectives on the War The author of "Shakespeare" Identified as Ed­ egoism which has afflicted other nations besides ward de Vere, Seventeenth Earl of Oxford, Mr. J. Germany. To me, however, it does not appear Thomas· Looney, has been compelled to close his to be a struggle between democracy and dictator­ home on Tyneside, near Newcastle, owing to the ship so much as between material force and exigencies of the war, and is living temporarily spiritual interests; between a brutal national ego• in the Midlands. ism and the claims of Humanity; and as an From a letter to Mrs. Eva Turner Clark re• Englishman I am proud to feel that my country cently received, we quote the following: stands on the side of Humanity and spiritual "It comes quite as a 'pick-me-up' to learn liberty, and alongside of France is destined to that you intend to go straight ahead, and indeed lead the way towards a recovery in Europe of a to add new initiative in the cause of Shakespeare true sense of spiritual values. authorship. In these days when the mind of the "This is where our interest in Shakespeare and world is engrossed with war interests, with all all the greatest of the poets come in. my heart I wish you success. You of course have an advantage in not being so directly implicated "Amidst the darkness of the present times we in the international trouble as we are; but even shall do well therefore to make a special effort in this country I feel that it would be all to the to keep alive every spark of interest in their good if people kept constantly in mind the things work. More even than in normal times we need of the 'spirit' that are destined to endure, and them today, however incompatible they may seem refused to be absorbed by the forces and move­ with the tragedy that overshadows us. My own ments of rebarbarisation which today hold Euro• work, 'Shakespeare' Identified, was largely the re­ pean civilisation in their grip. I cannot help re• sult of an attempt to do this during the last war: calling the circumstances under which I wrote, a refusal to be engulfed by an untoward environ• at the close of the last great war, in the con­ ment even when suffering most poignantly from the loss of many who were dear to me. clusion of 'Shakespeare' Identified, a protest against the materialistic aims, then in vogue. • . . "This then is part of our share in the present Those materialistic aims pursued in Europe dur• day struggle: to insist even in the slaughter and ing the intervening twenty-one years have borne distress of battle fields and bombardments by sea their natural fruit • . . the consummation of that and air on the supremacy of the things of the materialism harnessed to a stupendous national human soul." 6 NEWS-L ETTER

NEWS-LETTER proponents of ineffective "orthodoxy." But despite THE SHAKESPEARE FELLOWSHIP all handicaps, needles_sly imposed delays and AMERICAN BRANCH misrepresentations, the Oxfordian explorers have finally succeeded in excavating the richest vein of VOLUME I FEBRUARY, 1940 NUMBER 2 biographical a'hd historical ore ever opened before the eyes of living men. Presi.dent Louis P. Benezet, A.M., Ph.D. At the same time, these pioneers realize only too well that time and tools of high precision are Vice-Presidents needed to bring the new-found treasures to the James Stewart Cushman surface intact. Therefore-- Mrs. Eva Turner· Clark Individuals or foundations with funds to allot Secretary and Treasurer for the advancement of knowledge are respectfully Charles Wisner Barrell urged to investigate the Oxfordian discoveries with Occasional meetings of the American Branch the idea of insuring the permanence of the facts will he held, for which special notices will be which they represent. sent to members. Dues for membership in the Oxfordian projects already mapped out along American Branch are $2.50 a year, which sum scientific lines must also be assured of comple­ includes one year's subscription to the NEWS• tion. Monetary aid rendered for such purposes LETTER. can be made to return the same substantial divi­ The officers of the American Branch will act as dends of prestige that inevitably accrue to backers an editorial board for the publication of the of successful expeditions. NEWS-LETTER, which will appear every other month, or six times a year. PERCY ALLEN'S BEST BOOK News items, comments by readers and articles We are happy to announce shipment to the of interest to all students of Shakespeare and of Secretary of THE FELLOWSHIP of a consignment of the acknowledged mystery that surrounds the thirty copies of Percy Allen's most stimulating authorship of the plays and poems, are desired. book on the Oxford-Shakespeare evidence, The Such material must be of reasonable brevity. No Life Story of Edward de Vere as "William Shake­ compensation can be made to writers beyond the speare." sincere thanks of the Editorial Board. Articles Written in Mr. Allen's happiest vein and liter­ and letters will express the opinions of their ally crammed with facts and suggestions enough authors, not necessarily of the editors. They to fill three volumes of ordinary composition, The may be sent to Charles Wisner Barrell, 17 East Life Story has hitherto been unavailable for 48th Street, New York, N. Y. American readers. The price at which copies can be mailed post­ FUNDS NEEDED FOR EXPLORATION paid in the United States and Canada is $2.10 An adequate endowment fund should be made apiece. available without delay to insure the continuance The Secretary shall be glad to accept orders of Oxford-Shakespeare research among sources immediately. that have been definitely proven worthy of pains­ But owing to the small number of copies that taking exploration. will be available, members of THE FELLOWSHIP All major discoveries in this field have been should lose no time in sending in their reserva­ accomplished to date by individuals working on tions for this work by the veteran Oxfordian dra­ their own time and at their own expense - a matic critic, novelist and playwright who has situation that has entailed considerable self-sacri­ personally visited most of the scenes that he fice. describes while following Edward de Vere's These enthusiasts have fought an uphill battle strange career. against entrenched prejudice and the powerful DEFINITION vested interests of professional Stratfordia. To date not one penny has come their way from any To copy from one book is called plagiarism. of the numerous research foundations that during To copy from three books is called research. the same period have lavished thousands upon Harry Hansen " FEBRUA RY, 1940 7 Rapid Growth of Research Fellowship Means End of Pompous Obstructionists

Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the wrl-tmg, nor make known ... the inter11retation thereof. DANIEL, S, 8. Thanks to the foresight and enthusiasm of Mrs. Two well-known musicians. Eva Turner Clark of 470 Park Avenue, New York The foremost American engraver of armori­ City, the American Branch of THE SHAKESPEARE al devices. FELLOWSHIP was organized November 10, 1939. A famous American physician· and Shake­ Five active members of the parent organization spearean scholar. of London including Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Mary B. A well-known New York advertising man. Herridge of Ottawa, James Stewart Cushman, An executive officer of the United Stales Paul Munter and Charles Wisner Barrell, together Fores! Service. with seven friends interested in the Oxford-Shake­ One of the most widely read dramatic speare theory of authorship, attended the organiza­ critics on the Pacific Coast. tion meeting. Since that date, less than three months ago, THE Contacts made with leading American newspaper SHAKESPEARE FELLOWSHIP - American Branch and magazine editors, art directors and writers - has made rapid strides and now has nearly sixty assure THE SHAKESPEARE FELLOWSHIP on this paid-up members on its roster. Before the present side of the Atlantic full and fair consideration of year has passed we confidently look forward to a all its aims and accomplishments. We are defin, membership of at least one hundred and fifty active itely "on_ the map" and henceforth our point of proponents of the new order of Shakespearean view cannot be ignored by anyone who undertakes research. seriously to evaluate the evidence relating to the personality behind the creations of "Mr. William Members of the American Branch include, as Shakespeare." we go to press: The library of one of the most progressive Editorial barricades that have heretofore been colleges in the United States. guarded by dyed-in-the-wool Stratfordians have The oldest college library in the United been breached if not entirely removed. Anyone States. with a thorough grounding in Oxfordian research The librarian of one of the ancient char­ who can write an interesting article or give voice tered companies of London. to a stimulating talk can now secure a hearing. One of the world's foremost rare book Stratfordian professors who have been able to experts who has owned at various times pocket a few extra dollars in the past by advising more copies of Shakespeare's First Folio magazine editors, play producers and book pub­ than any other living pers9n. lishers against printing or producing Oxford­ The business manager of one of America's Shakespeare evidence will find this source of finest theatres. income closed. They will either have to con­ Two playwrights. vince editors, publishers and producers that they Two popular novelists. know more about the theme they are asked to A distinguished motion picture producer. criticize than the person who wrote it, or com­ The senior member of a famous and high- promise their own reputations for omniscience. ly successful firm of book publishers. For years it has been the practice of many of Five college professors, one of them for­ these "authorities" to condemn all Oxfordian merly a Shakespearean editor and now lit­ literature out of hand without bothering to read erary adviser to a great publishing house. it. Their stock phrases "absurd" and "quite im• A typographical expert. possible" have now lost weight. Three American attorneys of international The 1940 editor, publisher and producer is going reputation. to demand a bill of particulars from those who One prominent barrister of British Colum­ seek to demolish Oxfordian research with a pom­ bia. pous pursing of oracular lips. 8 NEWS-LETTER Ben Johnson and the First Folio

A Review by Lieut,,Col. Montagu W. Douglas, C.S.l., C.l.E. President The Shakespeare Fellowship of Great Britain Sir George Greenwood reached the positive con­ sign by ode or other recognition, on the occasion clusion that the plays of Shakespeare must in of the death of the latter. The exuberant tributes the main he attributed to a gifted aristocrat of ,, of the Folio were in the main advertisement to the Elizabethan Court; and that the evidence of promote the sale of the work. It was not a Ben Jonson, the supposed "sheet anchor of the co�ercial speculation, and the heavy expendi­ traditional belief", as contained in the documents ture, far beyond the means at the command of prefixed to the first Folio, must he rejected. the publishers, must have been met by Patrons. Dr. G. H. Rendall, following his own line Dr. Rendall discusses the motives, which of argument, arrives at a similar conclusion. He prompted the venture; and finds no personal in­ shows that Ben Jonson was in close touch with terest in the collection and publication of° plays those most concerned with the production of the by the Stratford man. The motives must he found Folio; more especially, with Mary Lady Pem· in family and filial desire to perpetuate the works broke, whose house at Wilton was the resort of their distinguished relative the Earl of Oxford, of the leading literary figures of the period. The whose reputation as Poet and Playwright in the Folio was dedicated to her sons, the "Incom­ opinion of the best Elizabethan critics was second parable Paire", one of whom, William, had for to none. a time been engaged to Oxford's daughter Bridget, The question arises as to why the authorship while his brother, Philip, married Susan, his should have been further concealed, seeing that younger daughter. Oxford had died in 1604 and Shakespeare of In 1615, when Ben Jonson was at the height Stratford in 1616. The "present writer" has sug­ of his fame as producer of Plays and Court gested that this was in deference to Edward de Masques, the Earl of Pembroke succeeded to the Vere's own wishes, expressed in the Sonnets: officeof Lord Chamberlain. And in 1616, the year "Do not so much as my poor name of the death of Shakespeare of Stratford, there . S.71 occurs a marked gap in Ben Jonson's productive rehearse" . . "My name he buried where my body is" S.72 activity. This may reasonably he connected with "I once dead to all the world must die" S.81 the commencement of the editorial labours in­ volved in the compilation of the Folio, under the Dr. Rendall, to·whom the question was referred, direction of the Pembroke Group. Sir George replied: Greenwood, though he rejected any suggestion "In your summary, I attach more weight than that the Plays as a whole were attributable to you assign to the canons of social and literary Bacon, admitted his possible collaboration in the convention. Few things are more binding than compilation of the Folio. Dr. Rendall examines etiquettes; and we must remember that the 'Son in detail with his usual scholarly discernment and Heir,' as well as the family group of the the preludes to the Folio, and finds that the Patrons, and the Earl of Southampton, were still dedicatory epistle and address as well as the alive, and deeply compromised in name and tributary odes, were the work of Ben Jonson, and fame by disclosure of actual authorship." form part of a definite scheme to mislead the Finally Dr. Rendall draws attention to a interested public. He traces further the ties of "wholesale and drastic omission" in the exclusion intimacy which linked Ben Jonson to Holland, of the Sonnets from the Folio text. These poems Digges, and I. M. (James Mahhe) and their ob­ hear such traces of the life and handiwork of vious subjection to his authority as Editor. their author, Edward de Vere, that their inclusion There is no evidence of any "idolatrous" ap­ would have rendered futile any elfort to conceal preciation, or even of personal friendship between the authorship of the Plays. Ben Jonson and Shakespeare; and he made no We have in this pamphlet a formidable attack on the citadel of orthodoxy "the evidence of Ben Ben Jonson And The First Folio Edition of Shake• Jonson." Coming from a scholar of Dr. Rendall's speare's Playsby Gerald H. Rendall, B.D., Litt. D., LL.D. Benham Co., Colchester, England. ls Id. judgment and standing it deserves consideration. & , ., FEBRUARY, 1940 4S8741 9 Shakespeare Read Books Written in Greek Steevens, one of the early commentators on the to the dramatist the dialogue quoted above, and Shakespeare plays, says of the following lines says that Plato was on! y accessible in Shake­ from Titus Andronicus ( l.i.179): speare's time through a Latin version translated The Greeks upon advice did bury Ajax, by Ficino, published at Bale in 1551; another That slew himself: and wise Laertes' son edition of Ficino's version, published at Venice Did graciously plead for his funerals. in 1581; and a translation by Janus Cornarius, published at Biile in 1561. Collins believes that, "This passage alone would sufficiently convince while the Stratford youth did not know Greek, he me that the play before us was the work of one did know enough Latin to read these translations who was conversant with the Greek tragedies in and in that way became familiar with the best of their original language. We have here a plain the Greek classics. However, he mentions only allusion to the Ajax of Sophocles, of which no Plato as being accessible through a Latin transla­ translation was extant in the time of Shakespeare. tion and does not say that the Ajax of Sophocles In that piece Agamemnon consents at last to was thus accessible. allow Ajax the rites of sepulture, and Ulysses is the pleader whose arguments prevail in favour Another passage which has attracted the at­ of his remains." tention of students of the Greek language follows (Merchant of Venice, Professor John Churton Collins, in Studies in IIl.ii.57.): Shakespeare (ed.1904), has gone deeply into the Now he goes, Greek allusions in all of the plays and finds, With no less presence but with much more besides the passage quoted above, innumerable love parallels in thought and expression, so many Than young Alcides, when he did redeem indeed that he states, "If Shakespeare had not The virgin tribute, paid by howling Troy read the Ajax and been influentially impressed by To the sea-monster. it, there is an end to all evidence founded on reference and parallelism. Reminiscences of it Hunter says, "There is something very Greekish seem to haunt his dramas." in this; something which seems to show that Shakespeare was acquainted with the structure of Collins also comments on the following dia­ the Greek drama, and he shows his acquaintance logue from Troilus and Cressida (Ill.iii.) : with it at the proper time, when Portia compares Ulysses. A strange fellow here herself to the virgin devoted by Laomedon to the sea-monster." Writes me: That man ... Feels not what he owes but by reflection. All three commentators quoted above attribute the authorship of the Shakespeare plays to Wil­ Achilles. This is not strange, Ulysses, liam Shakspere of Stratford who is conjectured The beauty that is borne here in the face to have "left school" at the tender age of twelve, The bearer knows not, but commends itself became a butcher's apprentice, married at eigh­ To other's eyes; nor doth the eye itself, teen, and had three children by the time he was That most pure spirit of sense behold itself twenty. With domestic responsibilities resting Not going from itself, but eye to eye oppos'd heavily upon him, how, when, or where could he Salutes each other •.• have found the opportunity to study the difficult Ulysses. I do not strain at the position, Greek language? Could he even have studied It is familiar, but at the author's drift, the Greek classics in a Latin version? In view of the way this Stratford man spent his last years Who ... - as a maltster, in money-lending, and in small "A strange fellow," says Collins, "is Plato," as is suits at law - can we imagine that he ever had "the author" in the later reference. an inclination to do so? He permitted his Collins then gives a literal version of the ma• daughter to grow up without learning to read terial portions of the parallel passage from her native English or to write her own name, as Plato (too long to include here ) which suggested pointed out by Mr. Barrell in the December 10 NEWS-LETTER

NEWS-LETTER. Is that fact consonant with an puns on the words vera and veritas suggesting unusual love of knowledge on the father's part, among other things that her motto be Ever Lover such as the study of Greek indicates? No, no, no! of the Truth. While the poem was in Latin, with a thousand times, No! which easier language Lord Oxford was doubtless The plays clearly demonstrate that their author more familiar, the fact that it was written in a was familiar with the Greek classics. All of the Greek testament indicates his interest in the older probabilities indicate that William Shakspere language. of Stratford was not familiar with the Greek ·' In Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, noted classics. We have, then, to look for the man Elizabethan dramatist, we have an author clearly who was. equipped with knowledge of the Greek classics, The dramatist of the Elizabethan period, highly knowledge he had gained through residence with acclaimed by contemporary critics, who could and the Cecil family whose special delight was the did know Greek and Latin (French and Italian study of Greek; knowledge he had gained through as well) wasEdward de Vere, 17thEarl of Oxford. such famous men as tutors as Sir Thomas Smith, Lord Oxford spent his youth in the household the well-known statesman, scholar and author, his of Sir William Cecil (later Lord Burghley) and uncle Arthur Golding translator of Ovid's Meta­ Lady Cecil, both of whom were noted Greek morphoses and other classics, and Lawrence scholars, especially the latter, a daughter of Sir Nowell, Dean of Lichfield, brother of the learned Anthony Cooke, one of the Governors .to King Alexander Nowell, Dean of St. Paul's. Two old Edward VI, who, it is said, "taught his daughters account books record Lord Oxford's purchases, what he taught his Prince." Lord Oxford had at the age of nineteen, of a Geneva Bible, Plu­ for tutors several outstanding scholars, who must tarch's works in French, two Italian books, Tully's have been familiar with Greek. He was a pur­ and Plato's works, with other books and papers. chaser of ancient classics at an early age. Fur­ These books, which show the scholarly mind of thermore, upon the birth of his first child, while the purchaser, are all hooks which students of he was travelling in Italy, he sent as a gift to his Shakespeare recognize as entirely familiar to the Countess a Greek testament upon the fly-leaf of author of the plays. which he had written a Latin poem, a series of Eva Turner Clark

Best Wishes From Abroad It has been a pleasure to receive letters from Captain Ward was called into active service at several members of THE SHAKESPEARE FELLOW• the outbreak of the war. But a physical disability, SHIP of Great Britain, expressing keen approval dating from World War service, has recently put of the organization of the American Branch. With him on the inactive list. He expects to be made the uncertainty of day to day conditions in war­ available for "light duty" in the immediate future. torn Europe, the knowledge that the case for Captain Ward's many friends in this part of the Oxford as "Shakespeare" will be continued in world would like to see him assigned to a study this part of the world preserves the sense of in­ of the military tactics of Shakespeare or some tellectual continuity that is an outstanding char­ similar duty at the Folger Library in Washington acteristic of many inhabitants of the British Isles. or the Huntington Library in San Marino, Cal. Lieut.-Col. Montagu W. Douglas, as President Despite severe financial reverses, aggravated of the parent association, backs his hearty en­ by poor health and the loss of his twin brother, dorsement of our aims with a written contribution. Mr. Percy Allen, Honorary Secretary of THE Extracts from a most interesting personal com­ FELLOWSHIP in London, expresses warm approval munication from Mr. J. Thomas Looney, our of the public interest that is being aroused in the beloved dean, also appear elsewhere in this issue. Oxford-Shakespeare case over here. He also speaks Captain Bernard M. Ward, who ranks next to of a desire to get out a new edition of his Life Mr. Looney in the regard of Oxfordians generally Story of Edward de Vere. We confidently pre­ for his achievement in writing the authoritative dict that Mr. Allen will soon be back in harness, life of Edward de Vere, The Seventeenth Earl of lecturing to large audiences with his accustomed Oxford, has been heard from, we are glad to say. vigor and conviction. FE BRUAR Y, 1940 11

The Portrait of Edward de Vere 17th Earl "Elizabethan Mystery Man" of Oxford. A Digest of Oxford Case The Face That "Shakes a Spear." The Poet-Peer's Background. To meet the need for cheaply priced literature Oxford's Theatrical Affairs. on Edward de Vere and his well-proven relation• The Earl's "Shakespearean" Style. ship to the creative career of "Mr. William Shake­ The Dual Personality. speare," August Gauthier of 17 East 48th Street, Hamlet's Encounter With Pirates. New York City, has issued Charles Wisner Barrell's An Actor Steals the Play. digest of Oxfordian evidence, ELIZABETHAN MYS· The Thief Bides His Time. TERY MAN, in pamphlet form. "My Invention" Of a Pen-Name. The booklet takes its title from the essay which Lord Oxford's Hand in "Shakespeare's" aroused so much comment when it originally ap• Works. peared in The Saturday Review of Literature in For distribution among people who require a 1937. A recent editorial in the New York Times brief and accurate outline of the evidence connect• referred to this outline of the Oxford authorship ing Edward de Vere with the Shakespearean works, evidence as "an enlightening summary." this pamphlet is excellently suited. It is bound Mr. Barrell has revised and amplified ELIZA· in a careful approximation of the ancient "Read­ BETRAN MYSTERY MAN and combined it with a ing tawny" color that Lord Oxford's retainers - previously unpublished paper called "Shake­ including his theatrical troupes - wore in Eliza­ spearean Detective Story," founded upon the in• bethan days. teresting discoveries of Dr. A. S. Cairncross The price of ELIZABETHAN MYSTERY MAN is 25 relating to the creation and stage production of cents a Copy, or Five Copies for $1., postpaid Shakespeare's Hamlet in 1589 or earlier. As on! y in the United States. For foreign mailing, orthodox authorities conjecture the masterpiece add 5 cents for One or Five Copies. to have been written between 1601 and 1603, the Cairncross findings represent a revolution in Shakespearean chronology. They also show the COLLECTORS, GIVE EAR utter impossibility of the Stratford man's respon• We are proud to announce that Number One, sibility for the creation of Hamlet - unless he Volume One of the NEws-LETTER has been de­ wrote it while working as a butcher's apprentice posited in the famous collection of "first copies" in his native village. owned by the Worshipful Company of Stationers Two rare and valuable reproductions are used and Newspaper Makers of London. to illustrate Mr. Barrell's pages. The first is a This is the same chartered company which con• full-page plate of the Duke of St. Albans' por• trolled the printing crafts in the days when trait of Edward de Vere, evidently painted by Edward de Vere Earl of Oxford was known as Marcus Gheeraedts the Younger about 1586. the patron and familiar friend of many popular Prior to its appearance in the Scientific American writers. for January, 1940, as one of the comparative pie• Mr. F. D. Bone, Honorary Librarian of the lures used by Mr. Barrell in his article "Identify. Stationers' Company has sent us part of The ing 'Shakespeare' With X-Rays and Infra-Red Saturday Magazine for August 15, 1840, contain­ Photography," the St. Albans portrait had never ing an interesting article on Hedingham Castle, been publicly reproduced. It is one of the key Essex, Edward de Vere's birthplace. It is illus­ exhibits in the Oxford authorship case and will trated with a fine woodcut of the ancient strong­ be prized by collectors generally. hold of the Earls of Oxford - which Lord Burgh­ The second illustration is another full-page plate ley forced De Vere to relinquish about 1590. of the exceedingly rare First Quarto title-page of Some years later the property was restored to the Hamlet from the Henry E. Huntington Library Earl's widow and her son. copy. "I like to believe that some of the early The subject matter covered in this handbook Shakespeare plays were written here," Mr. Bone can be gathered from the page headings, which comments. A great many other people are coming run as follows: to the same state of mind, we may add. 12 NEWS -LETTER THE NEAPOLITAN PRINCE theRoman communion, and in the Papal balance that great advantage to the Church, of course, far Ner. First, there is the Neapolitan Prince. outweighed the mere rights of the Catholic Mary Por. Ay, that's a col,t indeed, for he doth nothing but Stuart. . . . The Nuncio at Madrid was there­ talk aboUl his horse. fore ordered to urge upon the King the propriety Merchant of Venice, I.ii.38. of employing Don John as a missionary-husband Dr. Johnson suggests that "perhaps in the for the conversion of Elizabeth and her realms." enumeration of Portia's suitors there may be (Stirling-Maxwell). some covert allusion to those of Queen Elizabeth," It is unnecessary to inquire further into Don but he does not attempt to identify them. John's activities in the Low Countries, for nothing In Queen Elizabeth's day, the Kingdom of came of the scheme outlined above. It is enough Naples was part of the vast empire ruled over by for us to know that he was the Neapolitan Prince, Philip II. Philip's illegitimate half-brother, Don that he was a lover of horses, and that at one time John of Austria, following his success as leader his marriage with Queen Elizabeth was suggested, of the Armada which was victorious against the for us to identify that Prince as Don John of Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, spent Austria. most of his time for the next five years at Naples. Eva Turner Clark He surrounded himself with a small but luxurious court at which the famous Venetian ambassador, AN OXFORDIAN'S HAPPY THOUGHT Lippomano, was in attendance for nearly a year. Flodden W. Heron, who with Ada Hanifin of In a long report to the Doge and Senate of the San Francisco Examiner and George Frisbee, Venice on the Kingdom of Naples and the state the Elizabethan rancher of Sonoma County, keeps of its defences, Lippomano sketches the character the new Oxfordian lamps burning brightly on of the Prince to whom he had been accredited. the PacificCoast, has evolved an interesting hobby. Sir William Stirling-Maxwell gives the account This is called The Book-Stamp Plan and com­ in his Don John of Austria, from which is taken bines the association of "first-day covers" of the the following excerpt: "The Lord Don John of now famous American Authors series of stamps Austria . . . is of middle stature, well made, of with cheap editions or second-hand copies of books a most beautiful countenance, and of admirable written by the same authors. It is an ingenious grace. . • . He dresses sumptuously, and with idea and seems destined to be taken up in a big such nicety that it is a marvel to see him. Active way by boys and girls all over the country. Read­ and perfectly skilful, he has no rival in the ers of the NEWS-LETTER who wish to know more management of horses, and in jousting, in all about this inexpensive and clever way to build a kinds of military sports and tournaments." He library of assured future value should write had, indeed, taken a prize at one of the most direct to Mr. Heron, Mills Building,San Francisco, famous tournaments on record, that at Piacenza, California, for literature on the subject. in 1574. Even in his childhood it is reported Mr. Heron hopes in time to persuade the Post­ that, while he disliked his studies, "riding on master General to issue a series of stamps showing horseback both in the military style and in that famous American actors in Shakespearean roles. of the manege is his chief delight." In 1576, Don John was sent as Governor to the Netherlands, one of the Spanish dominions, with THE EARLE OF OXFORD'S MARCH a scheme for the invasion of England and a On Saturday, December 16th last, three pieces marriage with Mary Stuart, with whom he would by William Byrd, "The Earle of Oxford's March," then occupy the English throne. "In the marriage "Pavana," and "The Bells," were performed for of Don John the Pope Gregory XIII took a most the first time in this country by the Philharmonic paternal interest. He was at first greatly taken Symphony Orchestra under the direction of John with the idea of matching him with Queen Eliza­ Barbirolli. "The result," said a critic, "is a worth­ beth, an idea which appears to have originated in while addition to the repertoire, for Byrd's brief one of the personal and political coquetries of creations are typical products of his genius which that Princess herself. In this connexion the Pope flowered in the middle of the sixteenth century. saw the restoration of England and her Queen to The performance was an admirable one."