Oxfordian Elisabeth Waugaman had this letter published in the Washington Post recently under the heading “A new vision”:
Philip Kennicott’s June 23 review, “A library worthy of, well, Shakespeare,” did an excellent job of describing the new $80 million renovation of the Folger Shakespeare Library. He captured the tensions between the Folger’s efforts to reach out to the public and to expand the collection to include broader areas of interest such as race, Renaissance cooking, medicine and the role of the women, and its inability to detach itself from “bardolatry,” with its exhibition of 82 first folios displayed “like treasure in a vault, or corpses in a morgue.”
No one but the most die-hard Shakespeare scholars is interested in looking at 82 copies of the first folio. The Folger could use that space to create exhibits that would actually interest the public – and illustrate why Shakespeare studies can be interesting, fun and relevant.
Literary studies have been dying for some time, eclipsed by the STEM fields. It might be true, as Folger Director Michael Witmore told Mr. Kennicott, that “while the patient was on the table, we did everything we could.” But for an operation to be successful, the surgeon has to think about the best ways to reintegrate the patient into the world into which he’ll have to survive. Exhibiting 82 copies of the first folio is not going to help the Folger recover or interest the public the library needs to stay alive.
It’s not too late to rethink this. After the opening, replace the first folio exhibition with rotating exhibitions that will interest and inspire the public and illustrate why we need to keep paying attention to the bard. Shakespeare’s work is still relevant even if the folio exhibit is not.
Elisabeth Waugaman, Rockville
Not to be outdone, Elisabeth’s husband and 2021’s Oxfordian of the Year, Richard Waugaman, who has an enviable record of published letters in The Economist, submitted the following to that magazine which may or may not publish this lightly edited version:
The Folger spokesman said “We’re trying to take down barriers.” If the Folger is sincere in wanting “to make the case that Shakespeare belongs to everyone,” they might begin by acknowledging that, since the 1920s, the most valuable book in their possession is the annotated 1570 Bible owned by the real Shakespeare, the 17th Earl of Oxford. The more times a verse is marked in that Bible, the more often it is echoed in the works of Shakespeare (e.g., 12% of verses echoed once are marked, but 88% of verses echoed six times are marked).
Although Elizabeth Winkler, in her 2023 book on the authorship topic, reports that Henry Folger was a founding member of the American Bacon Society, and although he purchased Oxford’s Bible (for a mere £25) when his London bookseller told him it was originally owned by the man thought by some to be the real Shakespeare, the Folger has increasingly hardened its position to one of defending the traditional but flawed authorship theory with all the wrathful indignation of true believers everywhere. In practice, the Folger has not actually “invited” those with heretical opinions about Shakespeare to present their research, or even attend research seminars.
When the search agency hired by the Folger to help find a new director interviewed me for recommendations, I urged them to choose a specialist in early modern history, since Shakespeare specialists have been indoctrinated into a form of groupthink that strongly discourages them from using critical thinking skills to reconsider who the real Shakespeare was.
During my 20 years of research at the Folger, I encountered one scholar who looked at Oxford’s Bible at my urging, and then told me she’s seen many Elizabethan Bibles, but not a single one with so many annotations. However, she told me it would be “academic suicide” for a scholar to research Oxford’s claim to be the real Shakespeare.
For Shakespeare truly to belong to everyone, all serious scholars of the authorship question need to be heard.
Faithfully yours,
Training & Supervising Analyst Emeritus, Washington
