Welcome to The Oxfordian, the annual journal published during the fall by the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship. The Oxfordian is a professional publication that features papers providing in-depth coverage of issues of importance to Shakespeare scholars. The Oxfordian welcomes submission of learned essays on three interrelated topics:
- Important literary works of the Early Modern Period in English literature
- Shakespeare studies
- Shakespeare authorship issues
The Oxfordian (ISSN 1521-3641) was established in 1998 by Stephanie Hopkins Hughes and she served as its editor for ten years. Dr. Michael Egan edited the journal from 2009 to 2014. Chris Pannell was the editor from 2014 to 2017. Gary Goldstein is the current editor. Several articles that first appeared in The Oxfordian have been republished, and many more have been cited with approval, in mainstream Shakespeare books and journals. The Oxfordian has been cited as “the best American academic journal covering the authorship question” by William Niederkorn, formerly of the New York Times. It has also been praised by Stratfordian scholar Stuart Hampton-Reeves for its “academic rigour” in Shakespeare Beyond Doubt (2013). Articles from the most recent volumes are password-protected and available to Members only. All articles from other issues are freely available. Members may send an email request to newsletter@
The Oxfordian issues available online:
Also available for purchase on Amazon.com!
FULL VOLUME (available only to members)
Shakespeare at Palazzo Te by Sky Gilbert (available only to members)
Shakespeare mentions only one contemporary visual artist by name in The Winter’s Tale, not just because one day he happened to come upon Giulio Romano’s name in Vasari’s Lives of the Artists. From the moment Shakespeare stepped onto the grounds of the Palazzo Te in Italy, he knew that Romano’s mannerist masterpiece would allow him to rejoice in a sensibility identical to his own, one that was the incarnation and visual corollary of what his written work would someday be.
John Lyly and the Marprelate Controversy: Innovation, Inhibition, and the 1589 Hamlet by Karl Yambert (available only to members)
This essay argues for a probable date of composition of 1589 for the First Quarto (Q1) of Hamlet, which inferentially would favor Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, rather than William Shakspere as the playwright. It demonstrates that the Martin Marprelate controversy (1588–90), which began as a war of pamphlets, was precisely the sort of challenge to the established order that Elizabethans called an “innovation.” Indeed, Queen Elizabeth herself called the initial Martinist tracts an “innovation.” Further, the Marprelate affair then led to the suppression of acting troupes of both boys and men. That is, the Marprelate “innovation” resulted in what was clearly an “inhibition” imposed on stage performances, exactly as Hamlet has it.
When Were Shakespeare’s Plays Written? Three Major Plays as Test Cases by Matt Hutchinson (available only to members)
When examining the evidence for dating the plays from “first principles,” the conventional dating system of Shakespeare’s plays is problematic—the plays were likely written considerably earlier than currently believed. This paper focuses on three of Shakespeare’s plays and argues for earlier dates for each of them: The Merchant of Venice, usually dated between 1595–98, is redated 1578–79; Hamlet moves from 1599–1601 to 1588–89; while The Tempest, often seen as Shakespeare’s “swan song,” appears to be known by 1598–99 rather than the conventional date of 1610–11.
Baldassare Castiglione’s The Courtier and Shakespeare’s Coining of Words by Jens Münnichow (available only to members)
Baldassare Castiglione’s The Courtier can be seen as an “encouragement” to the literary program of Euphuism that Edward de Vere executed throughout his career. Part of this program was to strengthen the English language by diminishing foreign influences, mostly from the French, Greek and Latin. To achieve this, de Vere replaced French, Greek and Latin vocabulary with newly minted expressions that were then incorporated into the English lexicon.
Literary Rivalry: Oxford’s Response to Sidney’s Defence of Poesie by Kevin Gilvary (available only to members)
The longstanding rivalry between Sir Philip Sidney and Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, runs deeper than many scholars of early modern literature have hitherto considered: as suitors for Anne Cecil, as renowned poets, and as court rivals. Sidney was even parodied in the plays of Shakespeare as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, as Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and as the Dauphin in Henry V. Sidney’s Defence of Poesie (or Apologie for Poetry) was a work of profound literary criticism, the earliest such work in English. Sidney’s criticism clearly relates to many of Shakespeare’s plays, which emphatically follow different precepts. While Sidney’s analysis of poetry has been very influential, his complaints about the theatre have been ignored. The standard narratives, casting Sidney as the heroic figure, soldier and courtier and poet, with Oxford as the spendthrift, eccentric, inferior poet, need a far more nuanced treatment.
Syr Philip Sidney’s Comeuppance: Newman’s Own Astrophel and Stella by William S. Niederkorn (freely available)
Astrophel and Stella by Philip Sidney was first printed in 1591, a year after publication of his other major literary work, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia. Both works were published posthumously. Prefacing the 1591 book, titled Syr P.S. His Astrophel and Stella, are a dedicatory letter signed Thomas Newman and a letter to the reader signed Thomas Nashe. They are followed by Astrophel and Stella in 107 fourteen-line sonnet stanzas. Next are 10 poems by Sidney that extend the Astrophel and Stella theme. Following Sidney’s works are an introductory sonnet and 27 more sonnets by Samuel Daniel, five cantos signed “Content,” a poem titled Megliora—and finally a poem with the heading “Finis E.O.” This is a newly discovered poem by Edward de Vere, who signed off on eight poems as E.O. in The Paradise of Dainty Devices, published in 1576.
Was “Thomas Nashe” a Pen Name of the Earl of Oxford? by Robert R. Prechter, Jr. (available only to members)
According to the author, the name Thomas Nashe does not refer to a real writer. Rather it denotes a biographical construct purporting to represent a real writer. A variety of scholars have proposed that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote under pseudonyms and allonyms. They include Arthur Brooke: Romeus and Juliet, 1562; Arthur Golding: Ovid’s Metamorphoses, 1565/1567; John Lyly: Euphues novels, plays, 1578–1593; Robert Greene: novels, pamphlets, plays, 1580–1592; William Shakespeare: poems, plays; 1593–1623. Should Thomas Nashe, whose literary oeuvre was composed during 1589–1600, be added to that list? Evidence suggests that the answer is yes.
The Blinde-Worm’s Sting in Macbeth by Connie J. Beane (available only to members)
Based on topical allusions in Macbeth, the author proposes the play be redated to the period 1592–97, which serves to refute the contention that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, could not have been the author, since it places the composition of the play firmly within his lifetime. The orthodox chronology, as proposed by E.K. Chambers in 1930, places Macbeth’s composition in 1606, two years after de Vere’s death in 1604.
A New Interpretation of Francis Beaumont’s Verse Letter to Ben Jonson by Heidi Jannsch (available only to members)
The author holds that Beaumont’s verse letter to Jonson can be understood as a concerted effort by Beaumont to document the Shakespeare Authorship deception and comment on the diplomatic action taken by Edward de Vere to dissociate himself from the works to save the Earl of Southampton’s life.
Music and Lyrics by E.O. by Cheryl Eagan-Donovan (available only to members)
The paper inquires into the significance of music as one aspect of Oxford’s development as a playwright and theater maker, further to compare his knowledge of music with the abundance of songs and musical references in the works of Shakespeare. Exploring the musical skills and knowledge possessed by the 17th Earl of Oxford strengthens the case for his authorship of the Shakespeare canon.
A Reply to Robert Prechter’s “Avisa: Queen Elizabeth or Penelope Rich?” by John Hamill, Matt Hutchinson and Alexander Waugh (available only to members)
Robert Prechter’s article “Avisa: Queen Elizabeth or Penelope Rich?” published in The Oxfordian 25 strives to demonstrate that John Hamill’s argument for Penelope Rich as the wife ‘Avisa’ in the anonymous 1594 pamphlet Willobie His Avisa is misplaced and the work is a straightforward paean to the unmarried Queen Elizabeth. The authors attempt to show that Prechter is incorrect and that Willobie is not about Queen Elizabeth, but was an intended libel against the promiscuous courtier and sister of the Earl of Essex, Lady Penelope Rich.
A Response to the Rebuttal—Avisa: Queen Elizabeth or Penelope Rich? by Robert R. Prechter, Jr. (available only to members)
The author’s 2011 article for the journal Brief Chronicles hypothesized that George Gascoigne wrote the main verse and prose material within Willobie His Avisa, loosely chronicling the suitors of Queen Elizabeth until his death in 1577. The rebuttal in this volume of The Oxfordian promotes an opposing idea: that Penelope Devereux Rich is the subject of Willobie as well as Shakespeare’s Dark Lady and the mother of a bastard child fathered by the Earl of Southampton, whom Edward de Vere and Elizabeth Trentham secretly adopted and raised as the 18th Earl of Oxford. Even after carefully reviewing the proponents’ latest material, the author remains unaware of any substantive evidence, historical or literary, for any of those claims.
BOOK REVIEWS
The Shakespeare Authorship Question and Philosophy: Knowledge, Rhetoric, Identity by Michael Dudley (freely available)
Reviewed by Phoebe Nir
Stalking Shakespeare: A Memoir of Madness, Murder and My Search for the Poet Beneath the Paint by Lee Durkee (available only to members)
Reviewed by Elisabeth Waugaman
Is That True? Shakespearean Explorations by Warren Hope (available only to members)
Reviewed by Michael Delahoyde and Don Ostrowski
The Starre, the Moone, the Sunne by Ron Destro (available only to members)
Reviewed by Richard M. Waugaman
The Shakespearean Interplay with Marlowe by Tony Hosking (available only to members)
Reviewed by Gary Goldstein
Also available for purchase on Amazon.com!
Letter to the Editor from Tom Goff (online only)
Letter on James Warren’s Article on the First Folio (& Reply)
by John Hamill, John Shahan, and Jim Warren
Letter on Sky Gilbert’s Article on Hamlet’s Book by Earl Showerman
From the Editor—Judging the Shakespeare Authorship Debate by Gary Goldstein
The academic community is evenly split on the legitimacy of the Shakespeare authorship issue, with university librarians and bibliographers accepting its relevance, while professors continue to prevent its inclusion in the classroom and academic conference. How should academics judge the authorship debate given these circumstances?
Classical Mythopoetic Profusion in The Most Lamentable Roman Tragedy of Titus Andronicus by Earl Showerman
This paper provides evidence that Arthur Golding’s 1564 translation of Justin’s Abridged Trogus Pompeius, which was the first book ever dedicated to his nephew, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, should be included among the classical sources for Titus Andronicus.
The French Influence in Hamlet by Elisabeth Waugaman
This paper examines texts which Shakespeare used as sources in the writing of Hamlet; the profound influence of Belleforest’s Amleth, whose psychological influence has not been fully appreciated; Montaigne’s Essais; and the contemporary historical and political background as they relate to the story of the play, as well as modern studies that analyze Shakespeare’s knowledge of French.
How the Romance of Leir Became the Tragedy of King Lear by Michael Hyde
How did Shakespeare transform the chronicle of King Leir into the tragedy of Lear? The article explains how the Bard employed the vogue for Senecan tragedy in this dramatic metamorphosis and offers evidence that Shakespeare was also the author of the original King Leir play.
Henslowe, Alleyn, Burbage & Shakespeare: Staging the Myth by Cheryl Eagan-Donovan
There is more documentary evidence about the lives of the three theater impresarios Henslowe, Allen, and Burbage, than for their associate William Shakspere of Stratford. A comparison between what is revealed in the extant documents in one important archival source, the Henslowe-Alleyn collection at Dulwich College, and two popular theatrical depictions of the story of the Bard and his plays, can assist scholars and educators in understanding the role Shakespeare played in early modern theater.
A Portrait of Susan Bertie or Mary Vere, Shakespeare’s Sister? by Katherine Chiljan
The paper offers documentary and circumstantial evidence that the sitter of the portrait identified as Susan Bertie is actually a contemporary portrait of Mary Vere, the sister of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.
When Did Shakespeare Die? by Matt Hutchinson
There was no notice given of the death of William Shakspere of Stratford in 1616. On the other hand, there are numerous veiled allusions, beginning in late 1604, which suggest that the great writer had passed and that he had been involved in scandalous behavior. The paper examines the contemporary evidence contained in more than a dozen Elizabeth and Jacobean texts to ascertain when the real Shakespeare died.
Anne Cecil and the Crisis in Edward de Vere’s 26th Year by James A. Warren
The key development in the fateful year of 1576 from which all else flowed was Edward de Vere’s belief that he was not the father of the daughter, Elizabeth, born to his wife, Anne Cecil, while he was traveling on the continent. The most long-lasting consequence of that year was the break between de Vere and the Cecils—his wife and her parents, William Cecil and Mildred Cooke—as a result of his “mislikes” about events related to Anne’s pregnancy. De Vere would go on to portray aspects of the events of that year in nearly half of his plays and poems.
Simplicity and Complexity in Shakespeare by Richard Waugaman
The ongoing controversy over who wrote the works of Shakespeare illustrates the tension between simplicity and complexity. Sigmund Freud believed that connecting the Shakespeare works with the Earl of Oxford’s life would deepen our psychoanalytic understanding of those works. This Oxfordian theory, backed by far more evidence than is the traditional theory, remains surprisingly unfamiliar to Shakespeare scholars, who dismiss it without having studied it objectively.
Avisa: Queen Elizabeth or Penelope Rich? by Robert Prechter
The paper seeks to refute the theory that the 1594 book Willobie His Avisa is a libel against Penelope Rich, that Penelope Rich is the “dark lady” of the Sonnets, and that the Earl of Southampton and Penelope Rich were the biological parents of Henry de Vere (b. 1593), who was raised as Oxford’s son by his second wife, Elizabeth Trentham.
Where did Shakespeare Learn Hendiadys? by Charles Mercier
According to this paper, hendiadys is not rare in Ovid; the Golding translator confronted it many times in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. This article attempts disciplined identification of hendiadys when arguing about its application to the Shakespeare authorship question. It will then identify some 40 instances of classical hendiadys in Metamorphoses and consider their treatment in the Arthur Golding version.
BOOK REVIEWS
Heresies, Certainties, Conspiracies and Shadows: a review of Elizabeth Winkler’s Shakespeare Was a Woman
Reviewed by Ramon Jiménez
The Russians are Coming by Rima Greenhill
Reviewed by Bruce Johnston
Reviewed by Gabriel Ready
B.M. Ward in Context—in All its Trappings by James A. Warren
Reviewed by Margo Anderson
Shakespeare’s First Draft of Richard III by Ramon Jiménez
Reviewed by Michael Delahoyde
Foliolatry and Bardolatry Rampant: the First Folio
Brief Chronicles Vol.8: The First Folio: A Shakespearean Enigma, Ed. Roger Stritmatter, Reviewed by Michael Hyde
Percy Allen: Collected Writings on Shakespeare: Volume 5 by Percy Allen, James A. Warren (ed.)
Reviewed by Don Rubin
Behind the Mask of William Shakespeare by Abel Lefranc (translation by Frank Lawler)
Reviewed by Elisabeth Waugaman
A Conversation with author Jon Benson (aka Doug Hollmann)
Interviewed by Phoebe Nir
Also available for purchase on Amazon.com!
FULL VOLUME (available only to members)
In Memoriam: Warren Thomas Hope (1944-2022)
A tribute to one of the outstanding leaders of the Oxfordian movement in the United States: scholar, writer, editor and professor.
From the Editor—Interdisciplinary Scholarship and the Authorship Gary Goldstein
The insight of interdisciplinary scholarship has enhanced the Oxfordian case despite the continuing censorship of academics, thereby laying a foundation for the time when the modern academy embraces a true liberal culture.
The Grand Deception of the First Folio Katherine Chiljan
A detailed examination as to how the prefatory materials of the First Folio demonstrate that its financiers deliberately designed its production as a tool of strategic deception regarding the authorship of Shakespeare’s works.
A Contrarian View of the First Folio: Why Was It Published? James A. Warren
The author proposes that the First Folio was designed by the Incomparable Pair of brother Earls to enable Edward de Vere to be easily revealed as William Shakespeare at a future date—when a different political environment would facilitate its acceptance.
A Companion for a King: “Shakespeare…THOU HADST BIN [An Earl]” Matt Hutchinson
The author demonstrates that the reference to “a companion for a King” in John Davies’ epigram, To Our English Terence, Mr. Will Shake-speare, shows that Shakespeare was very likely an Earl.
“Sogliardo” and Greene’s Upstart Crow Matt Hutchinson
The author shows how several topical allusions in the 1590s point to Shakespeare being compared to a crow as well as to several poems by Edward de Vere.
Some Autobiographical Aspects of Timon of Athens Warren Hope
The late author compares the hero of Timon of Athens and the career and life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, showing how similar they are in terms of interests, psychology and behavior.
Triumphal Numbers and the “Stigma of Print”: Michael Drayton’s Encomium to Shakespeare in Agincourt Roger Stritmatter
The article explores the application of Jacobean aesthetic doctrines associated with the idea of “triumphal forms” to Michael Drayton’s encomium to Shakespeare in his 202-line friendship poem, originally printed in 1627.
Employing Mathematics to Identify the Real Shakespeare Paul Chambers
The author proposes that the tool of Bayesian mathematics can be successfully employed to demonstrate the probability that Edward de Vere was the true author of the Shakespeare canon.
Are the Paratexts of Sejanus His Fall an Homage to Edward de Vere? Heidi Jannsch
This paper investigates to what extent the paratexts of Ben Jonson’s play, Sejanus, praises Edward de Vere after his demise in 1604, when his reputation was being publicly censored by the state.
Shake-speare’s Sonnets: Their Dates, their History, and the Story They Tell Stephanie Hopkins Hughes
The author examines the knowledge revealed in Shakespeare’s Sonnets, often seen as private letters written in verse, for what it can tell readers about the author and his social circle of friends and lovers.
“Nothing is Truer than Truth” and Shakespeare Richard Waugaman
In this essay, the author investigates the way in which truth was viewed by Shakespeare, while analyzing the Shakespeare play, All’s Well That Ends Well, as an example of the dramatist’s application of the principle in his creative work.
What is Hamlet’s Book? Sky Gilbert
In this scintillating examination of Ancient Greek and Renaissance philosophy in the works of Gorgias and Girolamo Cardano, the author attempts to determine the identity of the book that Hamlet is seen reading in the play of the same name.
The 17th Earl of Oxford and the Occult Richard Malim
The author traces de Vere’s interest in the occult as it appears in Giordano Bruno’s works as well as the Shakespeare plays, along with de Vere’s relationship with Dr. John Dee—a proponent of both the scientific method and occult practices.
Stratfordian Epistemology and the Ethics of Belief Michael Dudley
This monograph delves into how we know what we know about the Shakespeare authorship question—and to what extent the modern scholarly community is ethical in how it pursues an answer to that question.
BOOK REVIEWS
The First Oxfordian Edition of Twelfth Night by Michael Delahoyde
Reviewed by Felicia Londré
A New Oxfordian Critical Edition—The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth by Ramon Jiménez
Reviewed by Michael Delahoyde
Delineating Shakespeare’s Education by Stephanie Hopkins Hughes
Reviewed by Don Rubin
Oxford’s Voices: What Shakespeare Wrote Before He Was Shakespeare by Robert R. Prechter, Jr.
Reviewed by Phoebe Nir
Was Shakespeare a Literary Revolutionary? by Richard Malim
Reviewed by Gary Goldstein
Also available for purchase on Amazon.com!
An Exchange on the Sonnets’ Dedication
The papers published in the current issue of The Oxfordian by Ramon Jiménez and John Shahan have generated a further exchange between the two authors on the topic examined: is the dedication to Shakespeare’s Sonnets a cipher designed by the Earl of Oxford or a plain text composed by the Sonnets publisher Thomas Thorpe? Since John Shahan initiated the exchange, he presents first, followed by Ramon Jiménez.
– Gary Goldstein, Editor, The Oxfordian
“TO. THE. ONLIE. BEGETTER. Making sense of the Dedication”: A response to Ramon Jimenez’ Article with that title, contradicting mine John M. Shahan
To the Editor Ramon Jiménez
From the Editor—Research Breakthroughs Gary Goldstein
A series of scholarly discoveries are currently advancing the Oxfordian hypothesis with academics, theater professionals and Shakespeare aficionados. This issue publishes several new breakthroughs regarding Shakspere’s six signatures, the dedication to the Sonnets, and whether the Earl of Oxford translated Boccaccio’s The Decameron into English, among others.
Additional Evidence for Edward de Vere’s Authorship of Shakespeare’s Troilus & Cressida Michael Hyde
The author contributes new evidence that complements existing scholarship on the authorship of this complex drama—this includes Elizabethan theater productions, medieval manuscripts of Chaucer’s magnum opus, The Canterbury Tales, and Oxford’s use of the family motto in Troilus and Cressida.
Is Lord Prospero Visconti of Milan the Model for Lord Prospero of The Tempest? Katherine Chiljan
Which historical figure served as the real-life model for the character of Lord Prospero? Historian Frances Yates thought Dr. John Dee was the primary one, but Katherine Chiljan demonstrates that the Renaissance Italian politician Prospero Visconti was the main source for Shakespeare’s portrayal of the magus in The Tempest.
“Commit my Body to your Mercies”: The Production of the First Folio Reconsidered Gabriel Ready
Ready performs an in-depth examination of the theory that the key impetus for the publication of the First Folio was the political crisis attendant on the Spanish Match policy of King James. The author shows how the practice of printing in Jacobean England and the intricacies of domestic and foreign politics call for a reappraisal of that hypothesis.
Did the 17th Earl of Oxford Serve on Queen Elizabeth’s Privy Council? (1603 Privy Council letter) Gary Goldstein
Documentary evidence from the archives of the Folger Shakespeare Library proves conclusively that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, did indeed serve on Queen Elizabeth I’s Privy Council.
The Slippery Slope of Shakspere’s “Signatures” Matt Hutchinson
This comprehensive monograph provides compelling evidence based on paleography and contemporary legal practice that the six signatures attributed to William Shakspere of Stratford on Avon were actually written by law clerks.
TO. THE. ONLIE. BEGETTER. Making Sense of the Dedication Ramon Jiménez
Historian Ramon Jimenez makes the case that the dedication to Shakespeare’s Sonnets does not contain cryptograms requiring decoding but is the work of its publisher, Thomas Thorpe, whose dedications in other books he printed are similar in rhetoric and typographic design. According to Jimenez, the dedication is addressed to fellow stationer William Hall and, further, Oxford had nothing to do with the dedication in any way.
The author expands upon the 1997 article by Dr. John Rollett, who first proposed that the dedication to the Sonnets contains two ciphers that point to Edward de Vere as the author of the Sonnets and the 3rd Earl of Southampton as the dedicatee. Several inadequacies in Rollett’s case are augmented by new discoveries derived from contemporary history and the fields of math and cryptography.
Did Edward de Vere Translate Boccaccio’s Decameron into English, Published in 1620? Richard Waugaman
A comparative study of philology of the first English translation of The Decameron published in 1620 with Shakespeare’s use of language, along with Oxford’s personal history and literary connections to the works of Oxford’s secretaries John Lyly and Anthony Munday.
Shakespeare’s Tranect and the Traghetto of Lizza Fusina Catherine Hatinguais
What does the word “Tranect” in the Merchant of Venice actually mean—and how did Shakespeare come to the word: from local Italian usage, from Latin philology, or his own imagination? Hatinguais does an historical investigation of Italian sources and provides contemporary maps and illustrations showing exactly what Tranect meant to Renaissance Italians.
Analyzing the Chiljan Portrait Elisabeth Waugaman
Art historian Elizabeth Waugaman examines a 1580 painting of an anonymous sitter by an anonymous artist to see if the colors, iconography and artistic style of the portrait provide additional evidence for its subject being the 17th Earl of Oxford.
BOOK REVIEWS
Shakespeare Revolutionized by James Warren
Reviewed by Gary Goldstein
The English Petrarch, Renaissance Man: The World of Thomas Watson by Ian Johnson
Reviewed by Warren Hope
North by Shakespeare: A Rogue Scholar’s Quest by Michael Blandingby Michael Wainwright
Reviewed by Michael Hyde
Adapting Shakespeare to the Screen
by Charles Boyle
Also available for purchase on Amazon.com!
In Memoriam—Tom Regnier 1950-2020
A tribute to the former president of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship who passed away this spring.
From the Editor—Oxford Gains Academic Acceptance Gary Goldstein
Since 2018 three books by academics have appeared under the imprint of academic publishers, the authors of which accept Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, as the real author of the Shakespeare canon. This represents a breakthrough with the scholarly community in the US and UK, which previously censored publication of any research by professional scholars that acknowledges Oxford as Shakespeare.
Was the Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth Shakespeare’s First Play? Ramon Jiménez
Ramon Jimenez’s monograph demonstrates that the anonymous play, The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth, was actually Shakespeare’s first play. A detailed presentation employing historical, theatrical and literary evidence, Jimenez’s case should compel literary historians to identify Shakespeare as the author of the play and lead to a scholarly reassessment of the consensus that Shakespeare did not revise and enlarge upon his early works throughout his career.
Calgreyhounds and the First Folios of Jonson and Shakespeare Michael Hyde
Michael Hyde examines an unusual piece of contemporary evidence: the use of heraldry and its emblems in the published works of Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. In his paper, Hyde seeks to determine if the unique use of calgreyhounds by the 13th, 15th and 16th Earls of Oxford—and its presence in the First Folios of Jonson and Shakespeare—implies that Jonson and the Herbert brothers employed a visual piece of evidence that points to the 17th Earl of Oxford as the real Shakespeare.
Is Falstaff a Portrait of the Historical Henry VIII? Richard Waugaman
Dr. Waugaman delves into Shakespeare’s dramatic methodology of using real life models for communicating to a wide variety of contemporary audiences, including the Queen, in 1 and 2 Henry IV. In his paper, he investigates whether the comic figure of Sir John Falstaff was based mostly on King Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s father.
Was Shakespeare Don Quixote (or was He a Jacobean Dramatist)? Sky Gilbert
Was Oxford a medievalist who employed rhetoric in his plays and poems as first propounded by the ancient Greek philosopher Hermogenes? Gilbert here examines Shakespeare’s philosophical position in light of the evolving spirit of the age: “Shakespeare dared to align himself with a point of view that was in danger of becoming anachronistic. His work was the aesthetic personification of an old, romantic world order that was reluctantly giving way to a new, more pragmatic one, and he waged a valiant, passionate final crusade in the name of medieval rhetoric and chivalry.”
Five letters from J.T. Looney published in the British press during the early 1920s expand upon Looney’s evidence as to why Oxford’s poetry and Shakespeare’s are so similar in vocabulary, theme and philosophy. These letters were unknown to modern scholars until they were recently re-discovered by historian James
Warren in the British Library.
Is Ben Jonson’s De Shakespeare Nostrati A Portrayal of Edward de Vere? Andrew Crider
A psychologist demonstrates how Ben Jonson’s memoir of William Shakespeare actually refers to Edward de Vere after examining the many differences in their biographies and personal psychologies.
The Latin Inscription on the Stratford Shakespeare Monument Unraveled Jack Goldstone
This paper by Professor Goldstone explicates how the Latin inscription on the Shakespeare monument in Stratford-on-Avon was deliberately designed to convey covert truths to the educated.
BOOK REVIEWS
Shakespeare Beyond Science by Sky Gilbert
Reviewed by Warren Hope
Who Wrote That? by Donald Ostrowski
Reviewed by Ramon Jiménez
The Rational Shakespeare by Michael Wainwright
Reviewed by Michael Dudley
Reviewed by Don Rubin
Early Shakespeare Authorship Doubts by Bryan Wildenthal
Reviewed by Chris Pannell
Honour Killing in Shakespeare by Loraine Fletcher
Reviewed by Ligneus
Also available for purchase on Amazon.com!
From the Editor—Expanding the Canon Gary Goldstein
The Shakespeare Authorship Debate Continued: Uncertainties and Mysteries Luke Prodromou
For the first time an English and Theater academic questions the traditional authorship of the Shakespeare canon in a scholarly journal, basing his assessment upon an inadequate biography, epistemological issues and a need for applying cultural context to the controversy. Together they provided Dr. Prodromou with the framework needed to reconsider the traditional authorship of the Shakespeare canon.
Why Was Edward de Vere Defamed on Stage—and his Death Unnoticed?
Katherine Chiljan
The author finds that plays written by Thomas Dekker in the early 1600s slandered the Earl of Oxford for immoral behavior as part of a government directed campaign of vilification over de Vere’s political activity regarding the royal succession. This contemporary evidence, using the stage as an instrument of public defamation, shows why there was widespread silence in England after Oxford passed away in 1604.
What Role Did the Herbert Family Play in the Shakespeare Cover-Up?
Bruce Johnston
To what extent did the Herbert family manage the cover-up of the Shakespeare authorship? The author contends the two sons of Mary, Countess of Pembroke, were the prime agents in gaining copyright control of the Shakespeare play scripts from Susan Vere through marriage, then gaining political control over theater and printing activity in England by attaining the office of the Lord Chamberlain when the First Folio was published and dedicated to both noblemen.
Catching the Flood: River Navigation from the Adige to the Po In Shakespeare’s Italy Catherine Hatinguais
To what extent did Shakespeare accurately depict the inland navigation
system of northern Italy in the play, The Two Gentlemen of Verona?
The author demonstrates that Shakespeare accurately depicts the method by which boats traveled on an extensive system of rivers that were inter- connected to a sophisticated system of canals. Maps, illustrations and schematics from Renaissance era publications provide a portfolio of evidence supporting the author’s contention: that the Italian river navigation system operated along different lines from the English system, and Shakespeare was specific enough in his reference to clinch the argument that the information was gleaned from personal experience.
Shakespeare’s “Idle Hours” in Historical Context Robert Detobel
The late author shows how the aristocratic concept of using “idle hours” for artistic activity by European nobles reveals that Shakespeare was an aristocrat. The author demonstrates this by analyzing the dedication to the Earl of Southampton in Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare, where Shakespeare explicitly promises “to take advantage of idle hours” in composing a more serious poem for Southampton.
A Reassessment of the French Influence in Shakespeare Elisabeth Waugaman
The author proves that French literary, political and social sources permeate the Shakespeare canon to the same extent that Italian sources do. This detailed survey demonstrates that the Earl of Oxford was fluent in French and had traveled in France among the nobility to gain inside knowledge of their language and behavior.
The Politics of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Richard Malim & Robert Detobel
Did the Earl of Oxford provide political speechwriting for the Queen’s government on the issue of land enclosures? A bill before the House of Commons in the 1590s may be the anonymous work of Oxford based on a series of literary correspondences between the bill’s language and that of the Shakespeare canon.
Who was the Model for the Butcher of Ashford in 2 Henry VI?
Warren Hope
Was the character of Dick the Butcher modeled upon William Shakspere of Stratford-on-Avon? The author provides circumstantial evidence showing the connections between Shakspere and Dick the Butcher as well as the contemporary theatrical scene.
Transforming Productions of Shakespeare’s Plays (Critical Stages reprint)
Gary Goldstein
Can the topical allusions that Shakespeare incorporated into the canon reveal the author’s original intent of his dramas for modern audiences? Can retrieving and presenting these allusions through Playbills and DVD inserts recapture that intent effectively to theater and movie audiences?
Edward de Vere and the Psychology of Creativity Andrew Crider
The author delineates the psychological basis for creativity in the arts and applies the scholarly research to the Shakespeare authorship issue in assessing the Earl of Oxford’s case. A fascinating perspective on the nature of artistic activity, especially at the highest levels of achievement.
Nicholas Hilliard’s Portraits of the Elizabethan Court Gary Goldstein
The career of Nicholas Hilliard, the greatest of English miniature painters during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, provides a visual record of the prominent noblemen in both courts. His achievement is epitomized by the painting of Queen Elizabeth I on the cover of The Oxfordian.
BOOK REVIEWS
Shakespeare, Court Dramatist by Richard Dutton
Reviewed by Ramon Jiménez
How the Classics Made Shakespeare by Jonathan Bate
Reviewed by Earl Showerman
Reviewed by William Boyle
Reviewed by Michael Delahoyde
Necessary Mischief: Exploring the Shakespeare Authorship Question by
Bonner Miller Cutting
Reviewed by Michael Dudley
Early Shakespeare by Bronson Feldman, Edited by Warren Hope
Reviewed by Richard M. Waugaman and Elisabeth P. Waugaman
Hamlet, an Oxfordian Critical Edition, Editor Richard Whalen
Hamlet’s Elsinore Revisited (2nd edition), Sten F. Vedi and Gerold Wagner
Shakespeare Identified—Centennial Anniversary Edition, Editor James Warren
Shakespearian Fantasias: Adventures in the Fourth Dimension, Esther Singleton
Reviewed by Gary Goldstein
MOVIE REVIEW
Movie Review, King Lear: BBC-TV (2018)
Reviewed by Charles Boyle
Also available for purchase on Amazon.com!
Did Edward de Vere Translate Ovid’s Metamorphoses? Richard M. Waugaman, M.D.
This philological study of the 1565-67 English translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses examines the widespread use of hendiadys in both the translation and the Shakespeare plays, including exact parallels in each. It demonstrates that de Vere was the actual translator of this ancient masterpiece and not his uncle Arthur Golding, a Puritan whose religious beliefs conflicted with the licentious contents of Ovid’s narrative poem.
The 17th Earl of Oxford in Italian Archives: Love’s Labours Found Michael Delahoyde and Coleen Moriarty
The authors detail the contents of four historical documents they uncovered about the 17th Earl of Oxford in the archives of northern Italy during the past three years. Their scholarship enhances the biography of de Vere from contemporary sources, as filtered through the eyes of European diplomats.
“The Knotty Wrong-Side”: Another Spanish Connection to the First Folio Gabriel Ready
The paper examines the ramifications of Ben Jonson’s use of a Spanish poetic form known as the decima in his prefatory poem in the First Folio. The form had specific cultural connotations that were suited to Jonson’s ambiguous messages in the Folio, for the decima was long used by Spanish poets as a technique to mock its subjects rather than celebrate them.
Ben Jonson’s “Small Latin and Less Greeke”: Anatomy of a Misquotation (Part 2) Roger Stritmatter
The second part of Roger Stritmatter’s paper examines the tradition which continues to misinterpret Ben Jonson’s phrase “small Latin and less Greek” in the latter’s First Folio poem, implying that the Bard had little knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages and literature. Stritmatter reveals its actual meaning to be at odds with centuries of orthodox scholarship based on Jonson’s employment of poetic structure and covert methods of communication.
The True Story of Edward Webbe and Troublesome Travailes Connie Beane
Connie Beane investigates the authorship of an Elizabethan travel book by a merchant seaman named Edward Webbe which alludes to the Earl of Oxford in Italy, uncovering its literary sources and allusions. She proposes that we consider a more likely author for this literary effort, someone who employed a pseudonym to cover his actual identity: Edward de Vere.
J. Thomas Looney in The Bookman’s Journal: Five Letters (1920-1921) James Warren
Five letters written by J. Thomas Looney to The Bookman’s Journal in Great Britain in the early 1920s, which center on the literary reception of Shakespeare Identified, were re-discovered by James Warren, and are re-published here. The letters, hitherto unknown to scholars, defend the methods which Looney employed in his research and the accuracy of his findings.
Geoffrey Fenton A Note by Warren Hope
A note by Warren Hope looks at the contemporary connections between Geoffrey Fenton and the 17th Earl of Oxford’s circle in literary, financial and political terms.
The Tragedie of Hamlet Prince of Denmarke Gary Goldstein
An article celebrating a fine arts production of Hamlet describes the design achievement of the Cranach Press of Weimar, Germany, which published its edition back in 1930. The article reprints several line illustrations by Gordon Craig from that seminal edition (also featured on the cover).
REVIEWS
Is This Shakespeare’s Dramatic Juvenilia?
Shakespeare’s Apprenticeship by Ramon Jiménez
Reviewed by Felicia Hardison Londré
Rediscovering Ancient Greece in Shakespeare’s Plays
Shakespeare and Greece by Alison Findlay and Vassiliki Markidou, Eds.
Reviewed by Earl Showerman
Six Shakespeares in Search of an Author
My Shakespeare: The Authorship Controversy by William D. Leahy, Ed.
Reviewed by Michael Dudley
100 Years of Shakespeare Films
Shakespeare Films: A Re-evaluation of 100 Years of Adaptations by Peter E. S. Babiak
Reviewed by William Boyle
The Quest for the Historical Shakspere
The Fictional Lives of Shakespeare by Kevin Gilvary
Reviewed by Warren Hope
Also available for purchase on Amazon.com!
“Small Latine and Lesse Greeke”: Anatomy of a Misquotation (Part One) Roger Stritmatter
Examines the role of Jonson’s encomium “To the memory of my beloved, the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare . . .” in developing the myth of Shakespeare-from-Stratford. Includes (1) the historical context of the publication of the First Folio, including the effect of the Spanish Marriage crisis on England’s Protestant “patriot earls,” (2) the influence of Jonson’s phrase “small Latin and less Greek” on perceptions about the education of the author of the works, and (3) the role of the earls of Montgomery and Pembroke, including their families and associates, in the publication of the First Folio in 1623.
Macbeth: A Language-Obsessed, Heretical Play Sky Gilbert
Macbeth is a language-obsessed play (like many other Shakespeare plays, including Love’s Labour’s Lost and Twelfth Night) based on a medieval cosmology in which Christianity
and pagan mysticism exist side by side. It was fundamentally influenced by Navarrus, a 16th century philosopher whose views on equivocation prefigured modern language theory. In Macbeth’s climactic scenes the witches’ pronouncements are polysemous; the meaning of words becomes equivocal, and language offers threatening truths that at first appear to be false. Focusing on the play’s obsession with language as well as its heretical worldview has implications for the authorship debate.
Sufficient Warrant: Censorship, Punishment, and Shakespeare in Early Modern England Bonner Miller Cutting
Only the author of the Shakespeare works could insult important families, write about the deposition of a monarch, and have his work performed as part of a treasonous enterprise, and still remain unseen and unpunished. Shakespeare was free of governmental oversight at a time when transgressions far less serious led to severe consequences for other writers, ending their writing careers if not their lives. He appears to have been exempt from the oversight of censoring authorities, and untouchable. In this light, we also carefully examine Queen Elizabeth’s decision (in June 1586) to execute a Privy Seal Warrant in which she instructed her Exchequer to pay a thousand pounds a year to Edward de Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford.
Methinks the Man: Peter Brook and the Authorship Question Don Rubin
Shakespeare’s reputation as a producible dramatist has been carried for centuries by his key stage interpreters: directors and actors. Rubin summarizes the books of legendary British theatre director Peter Brook, author of one of the great manifestos of twentieth century theatre, The Empty Space (1968). In particular, Brook’s interest in the SAQ seems to be an outcome of his thinking on the nature of acting and directing. “Brook’s hovering around the issue for some twenty years or more, indicates he really just wants to be challenged a little more . . . Perhaps his ongoing protests about the authorship are just his way to provoke us into giving him more as a director.” For Rubin, “Brook’s protestations suggest that he wants us to make [the SAQ] real for theatre people before he goes any further.”
Othello and the Green-Eyed Monster of Jealousy Richard M. Waugaman
A study of jealousy in Shakespeare’s play Othello, showing that to know the true author’s life experiences with the extremes of pathological jealousy will deepen our understanding and appreciation of this unsettling play. Since jealousy is based on a fear of being betrayed – and there was no lack of betrayal in the life of Edward de Vere, particularly in the early years of his development – it is easy to infer that he was left with multiple narcissistic wounds, and the sort of narcissistic rage that is ever on the lookout for future hurts, real or imaginary. Highly pathological forms of jealousy can lead to a false perception of betrayal when there has been none. Othello offers many examples of these behaviors and points to Edward de Vere as its author.
The Mystery of Willy: Oxford, Spenser, and Theocritus’ Sixe Idillia Richard Malim
In 1588 there appeared a little printed book whose title page reads “Sixe Idillia that is, Sixe Small, or Petty Poems, or Aeglogues, Chosen out of the right famous Sicilian Poet Theocritus, and translated into English Verse . . . Printed at Oxford by Joseph Barnes 1588.” It contains translations of six of Theocritus’ poems (or idillia), numbered 8, 11, 16, 18, 21 and 31. The sole surviving copy is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. While the publication date is clear, the date of these translations and the translator’s identity are unknown. There is however, intrinsic evidence in favour of Edward de Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford.
Shakespeare: A Missing Author John Thomas Looney (Reprinted. Introduction by James Warren)
“Shakespeare: A Missing Author,” was the last of the eighteen articles and letters John Thomas Looney wrote for publication. Looney’s objective is to prove that William Shakspere of Stratford could not have written the poems and plays attributed to him. He pursues two lines of reasoning. The first shows the absence of any personal or emotional connections between the man from Stratford and the literary works. The second line pursues Ben Jonson’s role in making the myth of Shakespeare-of-Stratford. “Faced with the two alternatives of whether Jonson actually cooperated for many years with Shakspere in the activities of the royal companies of actors, or, at a later time, cooperated with others in carrying out a scheme of concealed authorship, there can be no doubt. . . . It was all a made-up business and Jonson did what was expected of him.”
Who was James Joyce’s Shakespeare? Gary Goldstein
James Joyce had a lifelong admiration for William Shakespeare, to whom Joyce compared himself throughout his life. Indeed, this fascination led Joyce to incorporate into Finnegans Wake a thousand allusions to the person and works of his English rival as well as to the claimants of Shakespeare’s crown. Joyce left provocative evidence in Ulysses and Wake that, thoroughly examined, enables one to hear the echoes and see the shadows of the man who may be Joyce’s Shakespeare.
In Conversation with Hank Whittemore: 100 Reasons Shake-speare was the Earl of Oxford
Interviewed by Chris Pannell.
REVIEWS
The Shakespeare Authorship Companion published by Oxford University Press
Reviewed by Michael Dudley, Gary Goldstein, and Shelly Maycock.
The Shakespeare Authorship Mystery Explained by Geoffrey Eyre
Reviewed by David Haskins.
Shakespeare the Man: New Decipherings. Essays edited by R.W. Desai
Reviewed by Sky Gilbert.
Shakespeare and Psychoanalytic Theory by Carolyn E. Brown
Reviewed by Richard M. Waugaman.
Reconstructing Contexts: Principles of Archaeo-Historicism by Robert D. Hume
Reviewed by Wally Hurst.
An Evening at the Cockpit: Further Evidence of an Early Date for Henry V Ramon Jiménez
A better explanation of the performance and printing history of Henry V is that
lines 22-34 of the Act 5 Chorus do not refer to Essex at all, and were not written in
1599, but at least fifteen years earlier, when the Folio version of [the play] was first
seen by an Elizabethan audience. . . . This passage . . . is much more appropriate to
events earlier in Elizabeth’s reign – before the Irish revolt of the 1590s – when there
were two serious uprisings in Ireland known as the First and the Second Desmond
Rebellions.
Reconsidering the Jephthah Allusion in Hamlet Connie J. Beane
While Hamlet is talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the second act, prior to
the arrival onstage of the visiting Players, Polonius enters to deliver news of their
coming. Hamlet then taunts Polonius, calling the old man “Jephthah” and referring
to his “one faire daughter and no more, the which he loued passing well” (2.2.349-
350). The incident occupies less than a dozen lines and on the surface, appears trivial.
However, in Shakespeare’s plays, what appears to be trivial is sometimes significant.
Who was Jephthah, and why would Hamlet compare Polonius to him?
Sc(e)acan, Shack, and Shakespeare Eddi Jolly
Changes in semantics, pronunciation, and spelling during the period of Early Modern
English (1500-1650) are of particular interest to those interested in ‘Shakspere’
and ‘Shakespeare’ . . . . One of the changes in Middle English was that some short
vowels were lengthened. Baugh gives the example of the Old English infinitive bacan,
which became Middle English baken, modern to bake. Other words which shared the
sound change of bacan include tacan, modern to take; sc(e)acan, to shake; and the noun
nama, name. Part of the change to modern pronunciations took place during what is
called the Great Vowel Shift, generally seen as occurring between 1400 and 1600, but
there were later vowel changes too.
Twelfth Night: How Much Did deVere Know of Dubrovnik? Richard Malim
We know that Oxford incurred an injury to his knee on a Venetian galley in 1575
during his stay in Italy. In September 1575, an Italian banker wrote from Venice:
“God be thanked, for now last [lately] coming from Genoa his lordship found himself
somewhat altered by reason of the extreme heats: and before [earlier] his Lordship
hurt his knee in one of the Venetian galleys . . . ” A Venetian galley would only
have been used on a sea voyage, not a canal or river journey. Possibly, de Vere made
a trip to the free city state of Ragusa (its Italian name) or Dubrovnik (its Croatian
name). If so, he could have seen for himself a culture and location that he would
later use as background for Twelfth Night.
Evermore in Subjection: Wardship and Edward de Vere Bonner Miller Cutting
One might feel for the plight of the youth who entered Cecil’s magnificent London
house in 1562. Even the brightest of twelve-year-olds would be no match for . . .
William Cecil, a man who commanded the Privy Council, the Court of Wards, and
the Treasury. Because of wardship, Edward de Vere accrued backbreaking debts and
entered into a disastrous marriage. In the end, he lost everything: property, children,
and his reputation. . . . Burghley himself wrote “The greatest possession that any
man can have is honor, good name, and good will of many and of the best sort” –
sentiments that Shakespeare ascribes to Iago.
The Sycamore Grove, Revisited Catherine Hatinguais
[In] Verona, our bus stopped briefly near Porta Palio to allow us to see Romeo’s sycamore
grove. I asked our Italian guide – just to be sure – if those trees . . . through
the bus windows were the famous sycamore trees. She answered bluntly: “No, those
are plane trees. Sycamores are a different species.” Once I recovered from my surprise,
I started thinking . . . Are there really two different tree species, each with
its own unique name? Or is there only one species of tree, but with two different
names, depending on the region or the era? . . . To get to the root of this problem,
we first had to get to the leaves. . . . Little did I know how far this modest inquiry
would lead.
The Great Reckoning — Who Killed Christopher Marlowe and Why? Stephanie Hopkins Hughes
The Oxfordian thesis has forced us into areas of psychology, biography and history
– English, continental, and literary . . . [because of] the issue of Shakespeare’s identity
. . . . Seeking the truth about the author of the western world’s most important
and influential literary canon has required that we examine the facts surrounding
the production of other literary works at the time, facts that demonstrate that the
Stratford biography is not the only one rife with anomalies. Although Christopher
Marlowe’s biography holds together far better than most, his death remains as much
a mystery as Shakespeare’s identity. Could these two mysteries be related?
Essex, The Rival Poet of Shakespeare’s Sonnets Peter Moore
[Some] principal questions about the Sonnets are the identities of the fair youth, the
dark lady, and the rival poet . . . The most often proposed rival poets are George
Chapman and Christopher Marlowe, but the arguments for them are thin; even
weaker cases have been offered for virtually every other contemporary professional
poet. . . . Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex, was . . . intelligent, handsome,
athletic, improvident, charming, a generous patron of writers . . . He was also the
best friend and hero of the youthful third Earl of Southampton. He was also a poet
whose talent was admired by his contemporaries.
The Rival Poet in Shake-speare’s Sonnets Hank Whittemore
The Oxfordian model opens the door to an entirely new way of looking at the nine
sonnets in the rival series, resulting in a view . . . that the rival was not a person at all,
but a persona. . . . The rival series contains Oxford’s own testimony about the authorship
– a grand, poetic, profoundly emotional statement of his identity as the author
being erased for all time and being replaced by the printed name known since 1593
as William Shakespeare. In this context, the sonnets about the so-called rival refer
not to Oxford’s original use of the pseudonym in 1593, but rather to the need several
years later for his real name – his authorship – to be permanently buried.
A Psychiatrist’s View of the Sonnets Eliot Slater
Shakespeare’s preoccupation with his own aging, a physical decay destined to end in
death, gives by itself an impression of such melancholy that we are bound to consider
whether he may have had a depressive illness. Scholars have repeatedly emphasized
the world-weariness, the despair of human kind and the self-contempt that
inspire so much of the poetry and the action of such plays as Hamlet, King Lear, and
Timon of Athens. Some (Chambers, for instance) think of the possibility of a nervous
breakdown. The Sonnets are a record which can help us to a partial answer of whether
the poet was ever in worse case than merely very miserable, or whether, in fact, he
had a mental illness.
Review of Quentin Skinner’s book, Forensic Shakespeare Richard Waugaman
Review of Robert Bearman’s book, Shakespeare’s Money Richard Waugaman
Honest Ben and the Two Tribes He Hath Left Us Gabriel Ready
Knowledge Ill-Inhabited: The Subjugation of Post-Stratfordian Scholarship in Academic Libraries Michael Dudley
Spinning Shakespeare Don Rubin
Nearly Forgotten Article by J. Thomas Looney Introduction by James Warren
Is Greene’s Groats-worth of Wit about Shakespeare, or By Him? Robert Prechter
“A Mint of Phrases in His Brain”: Language, Historiography, and The Authorship Question in Love’s Labour’s Lost Julie Harper Elb
Subliminal Chaucer in Shakespeare’s History Plays Michael Delahoyde
The Rediscovery of Shakespeare’s Greater Greek Earl Showerman
Oxfordian Theory and Continental Drift James Warren
My Oxfordian Bookshelf Chris Pannell
Introduction: The Oxfordian Mind
Greene’s Groatsworth of Witte Henry Chettle
Excerpt from Palladis Tamia Francis Meres
Delia Bacon and Shakespeare Nathaniel Hawthorne
Was Shakespeare a Lawyer? Mark Twain and George Greenwood
Discovering Edward de Vere John Thomas Looney
Who was Shakespeare? Eva T. Clark
This Star of England Dorothy and Charlton Ogburn
Shakespeare in Italy Richard Paul Roe
Editorial: Midnight in the Garden of the SAQ
Did Joseph Hall and Ben Jonson Identify Oxford as Shakespeare? Carolyn Morris
The Two Lear Plays: How Shakespeare Transformed His First Romance into His Last Tragedy Ramon Jiménez
New Discoveries about the Authorship of Shakespeare’s Works Richard M. Waugaman
Still in Denial: Shakespeare Beyond Doubt versus Shakespeare Beyond Doubt? Gary Goldstein
All Is True Mike A’Dair
Edward de Vere and The Two Noble Kinsmen Michael Delahoyde
Storm over The Tempest Stephanie Hopkins Hughes
Editorial: Ill Met by Moonlight
An Historic Document: The Shakespeare Authorship Coalition Answers the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust John M. Shahan, et al.
The Psychopathology of Stratfordianism Richard M. Waugaman
The Playwright’s Progress: Edward de Vere and the two Shrew Plays Ramon Jiménez
Reclaiming The Passionate Pilgrim for Shakespeare Katherine Chiljan
Giordano Bruno: Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know Derran Charlton
The Case for Sir Henry Neville as the Real Shakespeare William D. Rubinstein
Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford: Touchstone to the English Literary Renaissance Stephanie Hopkins Hughes
New Light on Willobie His Avisa and the Authorship Question John Hamill
Verse Parallels Between Oxford and Shakespeare Robert R. Prechter, Jr.
Editorial: An Oxfordian Triumph
The Black Book, Oedipus and Robin Hood: Oxford’s Lawsuits and the Character of Timon Robin Fox
Titus Andronicus, the Psalms, and Edward de Vere’s Bible Richard M. Waugaman
The Date of The Merchant of Venice: The Case for 1578 Ramon Jiménez
Alas Poor Anne: Shakespeare’s “Second Best Bed” in Historical Perspective Bonner Miller Cutting
On the Date and Authorship of The Contention Kevin Gilvary
The ‘Learned’ vs. The ‘Unlearned’ Shakespeare Frank Davis
The Anglified Italian Who Invented Shakespeare Lamberto Tassinari
Did Shakespeare Have a Literary Mentor? W. Ron Hess
A Response to “Did Shakespeare Have a Literary Mentor?” Sabrina Feldman
Editorial: Good Deeds in a Naughty World
In Memoriam: Robert Sean Brazil, Verily Anderson Paget
Top Ten Reasons Shakespeare Did Not Write Shakespeare Keir Cutler
The Troublesome Raigne Of John, King of England: Shakespeare’s First Version of King John Ramon Jiménez
A Matter of Pronunciation: Shakespeare, Oxford, and the Petty School Robin Fox
The Fable of the Belly: A Reassessment of the Date of Composition of Coriolanus P.D. McIntosh
Titus Andronicus and the Treasonous House of Howard Marie Merkel
Some Comments on Michael Egan’s ‘Slurs, Nasal Rhymes, and Amputations Macdonald P. Jackson
Michael Egan Replies to Macdonald P. Jackson Michael Egan
Doctor Faustus, Tamburlaine and The Taming of The Shrew Derran Charlton
The Swallow and the Crow: The Case for Sackville as Shakespeare Sabrina Feldman
The Shakespeare Clinic and the Oxfordians Ward E.Y. Elliott and Robert J. Valenza
A Reply to Ward E.Y. Elliott and Robert J. Valenza John Shahan & Richard Whalen
In Memoriam: Katherine Ligon 1948-2009
Editorial: Breaking the Log Jam
Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare David Kathman
Why Marlowe Didn’t Die in 1593 Peter Farey
The Case for Oxford Revisited Ramon Jiménez
Amelia Bassano Lanier: A New Paradigm John Hudson
The Other W.S., William Stanley, Sixth Earl of Derby John Raithel
An Oxfordian Response Stephanie Hopkins Hughes
And also
Shakespeare, Oxford, and the Grammar School Question Robin Fox
Timon of Athens: Shakespeare’s Sophoclean Tragedy Earl Showerman
Greene’s Groats-worth of Witte: Shakespere’s Biography? Frank Davis
Slurs, Nasal Rhymes and Amputations: A Reply to MacDonald P. Jackson Michael Egan
Auditing the Stylometricians: Elliott, Valenza and the Claremont Shakespeare Authorship Clinic John Shahan & Richard Whalen
Book Reviews, Letters, News, Notices
Editorial Stephanie Hopkins Hughes
The Spanish Maze and the Date of The Tempest Roger Stritmatter & Lyne Kositsky
Could Shakespeare have Calculated the Odds in Hamlet’s Wager? Sam C. Saunders
Did Samuel Rowley Write Thomas of Woodstock? Michael Egan
“Look Down and See what Death is Doing”: Gods and Greeks in The Winter’s Tale Earl Showerman
A Dozen Plays Written after Oxford Died? Not Proven! Richard F. Whalen
Sacred Pearls in the Machinery of Hamlet Carl Caruso
Did Oxford make his Publishing Debut in 1560 as “T.H.”? Robert Prechter
The Woman’s Prize: A Sequel to Taming of the Shrew George Swan
My Other Car is a Shakespeare: A Response to Shahan and Whalen Ward E.Y. Elliot & Robert Valenza
Book Reviews, Letters, News, Notices
From Russia with Love: a Case of Love’s Labour’s Lost (unavailable until further notice by author’s request)
Oaths Forsworn in Love’s Labors Lost Ruth Loyd Miller
De Vere’s Lucrece and Romano’s Sala di Troia Michael Delahoyde Ph.D.
Dating Sonnet 107: Shakespeare and the “mortall Moone” Eric Miller
On the Chronology and Performance Venue of A Midsummer Night’s Dream Roger Stritmatter, Ph.D.
A Crisis of Scholarship: Misreading the Earl of Oxford Christoper Paul
Apples to Oranges in Bard Stylometrics: Elliot and Valenza fail to eliminate Oxford John Shahan and Richard Whalen
Authorship Clues in Henry VI, Part 3 Eric L. Altschuler, MD & William James
Book Reviews, Letters, News, Notices
The Stratford Bust: A Monumental Fraud Richard F. Whalen
Shakespeare’s Sexuality and how it affects the Authorship Issue John Hamill
Another Rare Dreame: Is this an “Authentic” Oxford Poem? W. Ron Hess
Two Gentlemen of Verona: Italian Literary Traditions and the Authorship debate Kevin Gilvary
Hamlet’s Love Letter and the New Philosophy Peter Usher
Searching for the Oxfordian “smoking gun” in Elizabethan Letters Paul H. Altrocchi MD
Book Reviews, Letters, News Notes
A Monument Without a Tomb: The Mystery of Oxford’s Death Christopher Paul
To Be or Not To Be: The Suicide Hypothesis Robert Detobel
Orestes and Hamlet: from Myth to Masterpiece, Part 1 Earl Showerman
The True Tragedy of Richard the Third, Another Early History Play by Edward de Vere Ramon Jiménez
Did Queen Elizabeth Use the Theater for Social and Political Propaganda? Gary B. Goldstein
Edmond Ironside, the English King: Edward de Vere’s Anglo-Saxon History Play Ramon L. Jiménez
Shakespeare in Composition: Evidence for Oxford’s Authorship of The Book of Sir Thomas More Fran Gidley
Shakespeare in Scotland: What did the author of Macbeth know and when did he know it? Richard F. Whalen
No Spring till Now: The Countess of Pembroke and the John Webster Canon Stephanie Hughes
Bardgate: Was Shakespeare a Secret Catholic? Peter W. Dickson
The Proof is in the Pembroke: A Stylometric Comparison of the Works of Shakespeare with 12 Works by 8 Elizabethan Authors George Warren
Shakespeare’s “Lesse Greek” Andrew Werth
Authorial Rights, Part II: Early Shakespeare Critics and the Authorship Question Robert Detobel
The Prince Tudor Dilemma: Hip Thesis, Hypothesis or Old Wives’ Tale? Christopher Paul
A Reattribution of Munday’s “The Paine of Pleasure” Sarah Smith, PhD
The Paine of Pleasure Attributed to Anthony Munday
On Looking into Chapman’s Oxford: A Personality Profile of the Seventeenth Earl Richard F. Whalen
Shakespeare’s Support for the New Astronomy Prof. Peter Usher
Alexander Pope: An Oxfordian at Heart? Helen Gordon
The Poem Grief of Minde: Who Wrote it and Why it is Important Frank M. Davis MD
Authorial Rights in Shakespeare’s Time Robert Detobel
Advances in the Hamlet Allegory Peter Usher
Shakespeare’s Knowledge of Law: A Journey through the History of the Argument Mark Andre Alexander
We Must Speak by the Card or Equivocation will Undo Us: Oxford, Campion, and the Howard-Arundel Accusations of 1580-81 Richard Desper
Such Shaping Fantasies? Psychology and the Authorship Debate Sally Hazelton Llewellyn
What is the Authorship Question?
“Shakespeare” and Burghley’s Library Bibliotheca Illustris: Sive Caelogus Variorum Librorum Eddi Jolly
“Shakespeare’s” Tutor: Sir Thomas Smith (1513-1577) Stephanie Hopkins Hughes
Shakespeare’s Medical Knowledge: How did He Acquire It? Frank M. Davis MD
Who was Arthur Brooke: Author of The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliett? Nina Green
Can the Oxford Candidacy be Saved? – A Response to W. Ron Hess: ‘Shakespeare’s Dates’” Ward E.Y. Elliott and Robert J. Valenza
Reprint: Lord Burghley as Master of the Court of Wards Joel Hurstfield
Prolegomena for the Oxfordian General Jack Shuttleworth
Dating Shakespeare’s Hamlet Eddi Jolly
Shakespeare’s Dates: Their Effects on Stylistic Analysis W. Ron Hess
Secrets of the Dedications to Shakespeare’s Sonnets John Rollet
Unpacking The Merry Wives Robert Brazil
Mathematical Models of Stratfordian Persistence Dr. Charles Berney
Opinion: Reading by the Lamp of Biography Andrew Werth
Who was Spenser’s E.K.? Was he the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford? Nina Green
Shakespeare, Oxford and “A Pedlar” James Fitzgerald
William Byrd’s “Battle” and the Earl of Oxford Sally Mosher
De Vere’s Dedicatory Poem in Cardan’s Comfort (1573) Roger Stritmatter Ph.D.
“He was a scholar and a ripe good one”: Oxford’s Education Mirrored in the Shakespeare Canon Daniel L. Wright
Hotwiring the Bard into Cyberspace W. Ron Hess
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