Summary

of
Baconian Evidence
for
Shakespeare Authorship

 

"Tragedies & Comedies are made of one Alphabet."   Francis Bacon

"There be some whose lives are as if they perpetually played a part upon a stage, disguised to all others,
open only to themselves." Francis Bacon from The Essay of Friendship found only in the 1607 & 1612 edition

The clearest indication of Bacon using another name for his work is in Tobie Matthew's letter to Bacon , in 1623, written from France:

"The most prodigious wit, that ever I knew of my nation, and of this side of the sea, is of your Lordship's name, though he be known by another."

In 1603, Bacon wrote to a friend of his, the poet, John Davies, who had gone north to meet the King:

"So desiring you to be good to concealed poets, I continue, yours very assured, Fr. Bacon."

"The wisdom displayed in Shakespeare was equal in profoundness to the great Lord Bacon's Novum Organum." -William Hazlitt

"Lord Bacon was the greatest genius that England, or perhaps any country, ever produced."Alexander Pope , 1741

"In Shakespeare's plays we have Thought, History, Exposition, Philosophy, all within the round of the poet. It is as if into a mind poetical in form there had been poured all the matter which existed in the mind of his contemporary Bacon. The only difference between him and Bacon sometimes is that Bacon writes an Essay and calls it his own, while Shakespeare writes a similar essay and puts it into the mouth of a Ulysses or a Polonius." orthodox Professor David Mason

"...The subjects which most engrossed the mind of Bacon, the opinions which he most strongly expressed, the ideas which he desired especially to inculcate, are those which are found chiefly pervading the plays. Those things which are explained in the prose works of Bacon are to be found repeated, or alluded to, or forming the basis of beautiful metaphors and similes, in the Plays. And the vocabulary of Bacon and Shakespeare is to a suprising degree the same." Constance Pott

"Two things were strenuously avoided by Bacon; the direct mention of the name of Shakespeare, and the literal quotation of any passages from the Plays. This man of genius, coming forward in the essays as commentator on his own works, always clothed his elucidations in words other than those he chose as the poet& as Shakespeare. The poet clothes the thoughts of the philosopher in gorgeous robes: the language of the scholar must be plainer in style, the pictures he draws must be simpler and yet in spite of all, not only in the thoughts, but in the wording and manner of expressing himself, Bacon could not avoid telling us a great deal that carries the mind back to the Plays." EMB, The Day Star Of The Muses, essay in Baconiana 1968

"Directly as men were aware that the main purpose of the published plays was not so much to entertain them as to put them to school, the New Method was certain to become a failure. Long and patient trial of the system could alone attain success. To disclose the author was to reveal the schoolmaster, whose work would be resented as an impertinence by those for whom it was most fit."Parker Woodward (Baconiana, Oct. 1905):

"Without a mask, Bacon's plan for his Instauratio Magna would not have been possible; William Shakespeare was a necessary feature in the vast scheme of Bacon's philosophic experiment which had the world for its theatre, ages for its accomplishment, and posterity for its beneficiaries."Introduction to facsimile of Manes Verulamiani, by W.G.C. Gundry, Barrister-at-Law (Chiswick Press, London 1956).

A comparison of the writings of contemporary authors in prose and verse, proves that no other writer of that age, but Bacon, can come into any competition for the authorship. Judge Nathaniel Holmes 1884

Bacon's style varied almost as much as his handwriting; but it was influenced more by the subject matter than by youth or old age. Few men have shown equal versatility in adapting their language to the slightest shade of circumstance and purpose. Dr. Edwin Abbott

There are far more allusions to the stage and acting in Bacon's works than there are in Shakespeare. R. Eagle,, New Views for Old,1930

"This play (Love's Labour's Lost) is tailor-made for Bacon's authorship"Nigel Cockburn, author of The Bacon-Shakespeare Question 1998

" To write with powerful effect, he must write out the life he has led, as did Bacon when he wrote Shakespeare." Mark Twain

"Will be ready to furnish a Masque" Francis Bacon in Letter to his Uncle, Lord Burleigh .

1. The only Shakespeare notebook, a collection of expressions, phrases, and sentences, many of which appear in the Shakespeare plays. This is the Promus, written by Francis Bacon. This notebook has not been mentioned by a single Shakespeare biographer. (There is a very good psychological reason why orthodox scholarship is so concerned to repudiate any suggestion of Lord Bacon's connection with Shake-speare. This is to protect the Bard (whom all admire, whoever he was) from the stigma of Lord Bacon's supposed corruption, which they in their ignorance take for granted.-Martin Pares)

2. The only contemporary document bearing the names of Shakespeare and Bacon and the titles of two Shakespeare plays (Richard II and Richard III) and Shakespeare phrases. The Northumberland Manuscript which resides where it was discovered in Alnwick Castle, can be found an interesting juxtaposition of Bacon's Christian name and William Shakespeare. The page consists of a contents list of speeches and other manuscripts. Underneath "by ffrancis William Shakespeare" we read "Richard II and Richard III." Over the word 'ffrancis' is written another word which it is impossible to read until the whole page is turned upside down. Then it is seen that the word is 'ffrancis ' and next to it , also upside down, are the words, 'your sovereign.' The long word in Love's Labour's Lost also appears in the Northumberland Manuscript. The probable date of the Manuscript is 1597.

3. Bacon -Shakespeare Coincidences

4. The Manes Verulamiani, a collection of obituary poems written in honor of Bacon by his friends, in Latin, some of which quote the expressions used on the Shakespeare monument in the Stratford church. Several of these tributes praise Bacon for his comedies, tragedies and poetry.

5. Bacon's royal parentage, may be considered one of several reasons for his anonymity as author.

6. Bacon's knowledge of Hermetic, Rosicrucian, Neoplatonic and Kabbalistic teaching. Rosicrucian themes are found in:

Bacon's New Atlantis
As You Like It
Love's Labour's Lost
Venus and Adonis
The Shakespeare Sonnets

7. That Bacon was known as a poet by his contemporaries is validated by their tributes.(Yet this prodigious writer left hardly any poetry printed under his own name.) Perhaps the most important proof of the esteem in which he was held is exhibited in the "Great Assizes Holden in Parnassus" published in 1645.

a) Bacon as a concealed Poet : Contemporary Evidence

b) Bacon as a concealed Poet : Posthumous Eulogies

c) Bacon as a concealed Poet : His own Admission

8. The nonsense word in Love's Labour's Lost, honorificabilitudinitatibus.

9. Letter from Bacon to King James,Nov.1622:

"...for my pen, if contemplative, going on with The Historie of Henry the Eighth."

Letter from Bacon to the Duke of Buckingham, 21 February 1623:
...Prince Charles "who, I hope, ere long will make me leave King Henry VIII and set me on work in relation to His Majesty's adventures."

Letter from Bacon to the Duke of Buckingham, 26 June 1623:
"...since you say the Prince hath not forgot his commandment touching my history of Henry VIII."

January 1623. Bacon applied to the records office for the loan of archive documents relating to the reign of Henry VIII.

December 1623 ' The Historie of King Henry VIII' printed for the first time in the Shakespeare First Folio.

A brief, 30-line summary of Henry's reign was printed after Bacon's death under his own name.

10. The St.Albans Mural, in the White Hart Inn, dated 1600 illustrating scenes from Venus and Adonis. At least six details have been found which link this large painting with Bacon, his nearby house at Gorhambury, the Rosicrucians, led by Bacon, and the Shakespeare plays. One of the six rules imposed on members of the Rosicrucian order, was anonymity for a hundred years. If this mural had been discovered in Stratford, or Bankside, it would have been mentioned in all books on the life of Shakespeare since its discovery in 1985. It has not been mentioned once.

11. How the Shakespeare Plays Fit Bacon's Life-Story

12. See Bacon's influence behind 'The Comedy of Errors', 'Julius Caesar' & 'Anthony and Cleopatra'

13. Thirty-Two reasons for believing that Bacon wrote Shakespeare

14. Francis Bacon and Timon of Athens

15. A Perspective on Bacon & Hamlet

16. Another viewpoint on Bacon and Hamlet

17. The Ghost or Spirit in Hamlet and Bacon's scientific observations on the nature of Spirit

18. Contemporary Evidence of Bacon linked to the Stage & Bacon's integration of Stagecraft with his other Writings

19. Frequent references made by Bacon regarding the Theatre and Stage

20. Mutual Themes (Manners, Mind and Morals) are found in the works of Bacon & the Shakespeare Plays

21. Mutual thoughts and subjects can be found in the works of Bacon and Shakespeare collated by W.F.C .Wigston in his book Francis Bacon : Poet, Prophet, Philosopher,Versus Phantom Captain Shakespeare The Rosicrucian Mask

22. Transcript from a lecture given on April 28, 1910 in St. Albans : Bacon wrote Shakespeare

23. Bacon's Essay of Gardens and the Shakespeare play, the Winter's Tale

24. Bacon's writings on Hope , Wonder and Love can be found throughout the Shake-Speare plays and poems.

25. After the 1622 Quarto edition was first printed many changes to Othello could be found a year later in the 1623 Folio edition. Find out how these changes suggest that the author was Francis Bacon.

26. The Shakespeare Myth

27. The Medicine in Shakespeare-  medical references in various Shakespeare plays are attributed to Dr.William Harvey who was Bacon's physician and teacher when they met at Caius College, hence the character Master Doctor Caius in the Merry Wives of Windsor. Dr.Harvey is noted for a discovery about blood circulation which was made after William Shaksper's death in 1616 and yet his discovery is in the the play Merry Wives.

28. The Tempest and Bacon's History of the Winds

29. Francis Bacon and Macbeth, & King James

30. Francis Bacon and Richard II

31. The Tempest uses details from a private letter from one William Strachey to which Bacon, but not Shakspere, had access. Bacon almost certainly drafted a report of the Virginia Company which likewise draws on the letter.

32. Outline and Summary : What evidence points to Bacon as the author of the Shakespeare Plays?

Please send your comments to lawrencegerald33@yahoo.com

Thanks to Francis Carr of the Shakespeare Authorship Information Centre