Review
of
Francis Carr's book,
Who Wrote Don Quixote?
___
Review by
Lochithea 2008
Here you may safely turn Necromancer, and consult with the dead, or rather with the living, for such Monuments as these survive marble.Scrinia Ceciliana, 1663
In a whirlwind of Baconianism and history, should one be allowed to open an assessment where Lord Francis Verulam's writ is concerned, then that should be with his own words: What is Truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer. (1)
And in taking that path of truth, without shaking another tree, I am indulged to bring into play Lawrence Gerald's (2) point, "when time dissolves the Stratford myth we will see how the story of who wrote Don Quixote elucidates Shakespeare and how Shakespeare elucidates Don Quixote. A very curious fact that should forever keep us on our toes is that Cervantes and Willy Shaksper died on the very same day April 23, 1616 one in Spain and the latter in England. This is a CLUE to look deeper."
Indeed. Clues being the outbreaks of unreasoning rage yet such strong convictions that something is afoot! But it is possible that we no longer have the need, if you will, to be a Sherlock holding a magnifying glass across every writ that has been flowing from the ceaseless progress of Verulam's quill; and I will permit myself the liberty of saying this, especially upon my reading of Francis Carr's Who Wrote Don Quixote? published in 2004, (3) to which I find is a damn good research that shall gain the applause of future ages.
Free from all controversial pettifogging, the author offers an intricate account of the book's title. This, if anything, is rarely seen in research and possibly remains a weak element to many researchers: unable to account their contents for the title of their work. Personally, I choose a book from its title, and then expect its contents to live up to its title. If not, then my wit rages upon the question, why entitle?
1 Francis Bacon's Essay Of Truth
2 Lawrence Gerald, moderator and creator of [www.sirbacon.org]
3 The book was gracious to receive and a generous gesture to be forwarded to me by the author
Francis Carr's first sentence, the reader stands gazed upon is
"What evidence is there that Miguel de Cervantes wrote Don Quixote?" (1) The very first words touch the fine issues of the title. I say fine issues, as there are probably 1001 titled researches on the literary market delving into the Authorship Shake-speare vs Bacon Controversy, fed by many currents from the long stream of human experiences, education, interests, and personal gain. It shall remain a subject in the rustling forest until his forest is deprived of trees. It shall continue to intrigue the reader, researcher, and the writer, as Sir Francis Drake so elegantly expressed that "there must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory."
So be it. But allow me to ask reader, how many books have you glanced upon that are entitled Who Wrote Don Quixote? Fate had turned and twisted a thousand ways far from such a question. There have been numerous entries of Don Quixote. Of one I have in recollection is in James O. Halliwell's A Dictionary of Old English Plays, published in 1860 with four entries to which I offer as follows:
It is well stated by Macaulay, ( 2) "With the dead there is no rivalry. In the dead there is no change…Cervantes is never petulant…" and neither I may add is Francis Carr's work on the subject of Don Quixote that shall not fall into the convenient oblivion of the waste-basket.
1 Who Wrote Don Quixote, 2004. p.11
2 T. Babington Macaulay: Essays, Critical and Miscellaneous, 1858; Chapter Lord Bacon
Francis Carr's Introduction is examined with curiosity, as he explains how the state and people of Europe were dominated when Don Quixote was given birth; this smoothly leads the reader into the first chapter of the study of the work to be lit upon, and helpfully leads to The Life of Cervantes Saavedra. Once our acquaintance is over with Cervantes, and of what little exists on record of this person, the author peddles us for a ride to boggle the mind: "If Don Quixote was not written by Miguel de Cervantes, who was the real author?" is his question crowning the third chapter that allows for the reader to remain intoxicated with joy for furtherance.
My wish is not to write an extensive moment of Francis Carr's work, yet offer a delightful flavour to those who may not yet have in their library this work of zeal, in fifteen completed chapters, that state conditions to make it obligatory for Stratfordians, Oxfordians, and De Vereians not to overlook this opportunity to delve into the actual words of Lord Francis Verulam, "I have taken all knowledge to be my province." (1)Because as long as we stand on the shoulders of dwarfs, Stratfordians, Oxfordians, and De Vereians, we shall never see further. It is upon the shoulders of giants, if we stand, that we shall see further, and Who Wrote Don Quixote? was written by a giant.
1 Letter to Burghley, 1592