This brief, selected bibliography will be a work-in-progress. Categories overlap. Readers are also referred to bibliographies at https://SirBacon.org, The Francis Bacon Society, and the Francis Bacon Research Trust. Whatever the label of the source, readers are encouraged to read critically, questioning what they read and being willing to dig deeper. The truth may not lie neatly on the surface. It may be mixed in with fictions, things we believe to be true which are not true. If we don’t explore sufficiently deeply, we may be misled by false assumptions. It may help to remember that the word “author” can also mean the main person in editorial charge of a major literary project that involves multiple contributing writers, or an author who was also such an editor. References to law or lawyers are in boldface.
Outline:
- A. Sources supporting Bacon’s authorship
- B. Sources acknowledging collaborative authorship
- C. Sources favoring Shaxpere and/or negative on Bacon’s authorship
- D. Sources challenging Shaxpere’s or other “candidates'” authorship (see “H”).
- E. Bibliographies, study guides, libraries; unclassified
- F. College courses and programs in Shakespeare authorship
- G. List of links to Francis Bacon’s New Advancement of Learning, https://SirBacon.org pages which I cited in my book, Francis Bacon’s Hidden Hand in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: A Study of Law, Rhetoric, and Authorship (New York: Algora Publishing, 2018). Perhaps it might be useful to those browsing the site.
- H. Resources on Other Authorship Candidates (besides William Shaxpere of Stratford and Francis Bacon)
A. Some of the sources supporting Francis Bacon’s contribution, authorship and/or editorship of the works of Shakespeare
Baconiana, “The printed journal of the Francis Bacon Society, 1886-1999,” online. The Francis Bacon Society, https://francisbaconsociety.co.uk/baconiana-journals/ and “Baconiana Journals 2007 – Present,” https://francisbaconsociety.co.uk/baconiana-journals/baconiana-journals-2007-present/. Also at http://www.sirbacon.org/baconiana-collection.html. Indexed.
Blog, “Bacon is Shakespeare,” accessed 9/28/20, last updated 11/21/2009, http://baconisshakespeare.blogspot.com/.
Briggs, Arthur E. [attorney]. “Did Shaxper Write Shakespeare?” American Bar Association Journal (April, 1960), pp. 410-412. JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25721149.
Brown, Basil [Isabel Kittson Brown], Supposed caricatures of the Droeshout portrait of Shakespeare (New York, 1911), Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/supposedcaricat00taylgoog (made contemporaneously, suggesting that their creator was “in on the joke” about the portrait, thus contradicting the argument that “no one doubted that William Shaxpere of Stratford was Shakespeare until the 18th or 19th century”).
Carr, Francis. “Summary of Baconian Evidence for Shakespeare Authorship,” SirBacon.org, http://www.sirbacon.org/links/evidence.htm.
Clarke, Barry R., Francis Bacon’s Contribution to Shakespeare: A New Attribution Method. New York: Routledge, 2019. Access his 2014 Ph.D. thesis, “A linguistic analysis of Francis Bacon’s contribution to three Shakespeare plays: The Comedy of Errors, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and The Tempest,” http://sirbacon.org/newpage.htm (pdf, posted September 15, 2021).
Cockburn, N. B. [barrister], The Bacon Shakespeare Question: The Baconian Theory Made Sane. Printed for the author, 1998. As I understand it, the British Library will provide a print-on-demand paper copy or encrypted download for registered on-demand users, paying royalties. https://ondemand.bl.uk/onDemand/itemDetails/show/BLL01007816035 (as of 11-13-2020). 740 pages. Cockburn was a barrister. In my opinion, he strives to be fair and objective.
Dawkins, Peter, The Shakespeare Enigma. London: Polair Publishing, 2004 (For all books by Dawkins, see the Francis Bacon Research Trust website. https://www.fbrt.org.uk/).
——Second-Seeing Shakespeare. April 6, 2020. e-book. https://www.fbrt.org.uk/books/
Francis Bacon Research Trust: Gateways to Wisdom. Peter Dawkins, founder and principal. Essays and more. https://www.fbrt.org.uk/pages/peter_dawkins.html. Videos (youtube channel) and https://www.youtube.com/c/FrancisBaconResearchTrust/videos.
Francis Bacon Society (FBS). Publisher of Baconiana since 1886. https://francisbaconsociety.com.uk. trust/. The Francis Bacon Society youtube channel (with videos by: actor Jono Freeman (JonoFreeman33 on YouTube); Peter Dawkins (Francis Bacon Research Trust YouTube channel); Simon Miles, and others. https://francisbaconsociety.co.uk/the-society/videos/.
Francis Bacon’s New Advancement of Learning, https://sirbacon.org. A treasure-trove of resources on Francis Bacon/Shakespeare. Resources include essays (by, e.g., Mather Walker and “A Phoenix), book reviews, book excerpts (by, e.g., Penn Leary, N. B. Cockburn), and entire online books (by, e.g., E. M. Dutton, Kenneth Patton). “The Bibliographies” includes classic works (by, e.g., Edwin Bormann, Walter Begley, Alfred Dodd, Edwin Reed, William Hepworth Dixon, W. S. Melsome) as well as modern ones (by, e.g., Peter Dawkins, Barry R. Clarke, Brian McClinton, N. B. Cockburn). In Contested Will (2010), regarding the question of Bacon’s authorship of Shakespeare, Stratfordian Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro specifically refers readers to SirBacon.org and the late Brian McClinton’s 2008 book, The Shakespeare Conspiracies in Contested Will (2010). See “What’s New at SirBacon.Org” for the latest.
Freeman, Jono. Entertaining, informative, professional quality videos by actor Jono Freeman. Accessible at JonoFreeman33 YouTube channel, Francis Bacon Society Videos, and SirBacon.org newpage. Listed: “The Missing Elegies to Shakespeare: The Manes Veruliami” (Sept. 25, 2021); “Honorificabilitudinitatibus: long word, little bit funny” (July 12, 2021); “For Faust Sake: The Marlowe-Bacon Problem” (May 23, 2021); “The D’vere D’version: Oxford vs. Bacon” (February 27, 2021); “Eating Bacon: Tragedy and Timon of Athens” (Oct. 9, 2020); “The Mulberry Tree–Shakespeare Crackpot” (Oct. 8, 2020); “Pic Tidbits: What did Shakespeare Look Like?” (July 23, 2020); “The Bacon in Shakespeare … Just Sayin'” (May 12, 2020); “Pots” Part One: Bacon In Our Times–100% Charged in 2020″ (May 1, 2020); “Pots” Part Two: The Project–The Story of Bacon and His Devotees” (May 1, 2020); “Special Stratfordians” (April 27, 2020).
Greenwood, G. G. (Sir George Greenwood). The Shakespeare Problem Restated. London: John Lane, 1908.
—-Shakespeare’s Law. London: Cecil Palmer, 1920. For other books, see the Online books page for Sir George Greenwood.
—-editor of E. W.Smithson, Baconian Essays (London: Palmer, 1922) (with two Baconian essays and a Baconian conclusion by Sir George Greenwood).
Holmes, Nathaniel [St. Louis, MO judge]. The Authorship of Shakespeare, with an appendix of additional matters including the recently discovered Northumberland MSS, a supplement of additional proofs that Francis Bacon was the real author, and a full index. In 2 volumes. London, 1866. (see https://sirbacon.org/holmes.htm).
Leary, Penn, The Second Cryptographic Shakespeare [lawyer] (Omaha: Winchester House, 1990), Penn Leary, Author, https://www.baconscipher.com/. See also response by Terry Ross, “The Code That Failed: Testing a Bacon Shakespeare Cipher,” https://shakespeareauthorship.com/bacpenl.html; to which Penn Leary responded with: “A Reply to ‘The Code That Failed,” https://shakespeareauthorship.com/bacpl2.html; to which Ross responded with: “Hiawatha’s Cryptographing: A Response to Leary,” https://shakespeareauthorship.com/bacpl3.html.
Light-of-Truth, a website honoring Sir Francis Bacon. https://light-of-truth.com/.
McClinton, Brian. The Shakespeare Conspiracies: Untangling a 400 year Web of Myth and Conceit. Belfast: Shanway, 2d ed., 2008 [Aubane Historical Society, 2007]. An eloquent, comprehensive treatment of the main tenets of the Bacon-Shakespeare argument from a former teacher of economics and history. 470 pp. This book is one of two resources on Bacon-Shakespeare authorship which James Shapiro specifically recommended in Contested Will (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010) for those wishing to investigate further. The other is SirBacon.org. Sadly, Brian McClinton passed away June 3, 2022 at age 77.
Pares, Commander Martin. “Francis Bacon and the Knights of the Helmet,” 46 American Bar Association Journal 402 (1960). JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25721148.
Reed, Edwin. Bacon vs. Shakspere, Brief for Plaintiff, 7th ed. Boston, 1897. Online Books Page.
—-Coincidences, Bacon and Shakespeare. Boston: Coburn Publishing, 1906.
—-Francis Bacon: Our Shakespeare (Cambridge MA: University Press, 1902).
Waldman, Christina G. [lawyer]. Francis Bacon’s Hidden Hand in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: A Study of Law, Rhetoric, and Authorship. New York: Algora Publishing, 2018. A previous 81-page version in pdf, “Bacon is Bellario with Just Desserts for All!” was was first published online at the (old) “What’s New” page, SirBacon.org, July 28, 2016.
Walker, Mather, “The Shakespeare-Bacon Essays of Mather Walker, 199-2015” and other works, http://sirbacon.org/Matherpage.htm.
–“What evidence points to Bacon as the author of the Shakespeare plays?” and other essays, http://www.sirbacon.org/matherevidence.htm.
Wilde, Rt. Hon. Sir James Plaisted [judge]. Lord Penzance on the Bacon-Shakespeare Controversy: A Judicial Summing-Up. Edited by M. H. Kinnear. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., 1902.
B. Several of the sources acknowledging some degree of collaborative authorship
Clarke, Barry R., Francis Bacon’s Contribution to Shakespeare: A New Attribution Method. New York: Routledge, 2019.
[Crowell, Samuel, pseudonym]. William Fortyhands: Disintegration and Reinvention of the Shakespeare Canon. Charleston, WV: Nine-Banded Books, 2016 (citing Bacon in the front matter).
Dawkins, Peter, The Shakespeare Enigma. London: Polair Publishing, 2004 (For all books by Dawkins, founder and principal of the Francis Bacon Research Trust, see https://www.fbrt.org.uk/books/.
Taylor, Gary and Gary Eagan, eds. The New Oxford Shakespeare: Authorship Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Waldman, Christina G. Francis Bacon’s Hidden Hand in Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’: A Study of Law, Rhetoric, and Authorship. New York: Algora Publishing, 2018.
C. Some of the Sources favoring William Shaxpere’s authorship and/or expressly disfavoring Bacon’s authorship.
Edmonson, Paul and Stanley Wells (b. 1930), eds. Shakespeare Beyond Doubt: Evidence, Argument, Controversy. Edited by Paul Edmonson and Stanley Wells. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014 [2013]. Reviewed by: Thomas Regnier, “Review of Shakespeare Beyond Doubt,” (n.d.), SBD_Regnier_review-1.pdf, available from archives, “Stanley Wells,” Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship, https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org/tag/stanley-wells/ and Shakespeare Authorship Coalition (“SAC”) website, https://doubtaboutwill.org/beyond_doubt. [revised, first published in Shakespeare Matters 12(3) (Summer, 2013) (online newsletter of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship)]; Ros Barber, “Review, Shakespeare Beyond Doubt” (May 10, 2013); anonymous blogpost by “Unfold Yourself,” “Bacon as Shakespeare-Authorship Evidence,” (September 21, 2013), https://bacon-shakespeare-evidence.blogspot.com/2013/09/shakespeare-beyond-doubt-21-chapter-2.html).
(Response by: John M. Shahan and Alexander Waugh, eds., for the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition, Shakespeare Beyond Doubt? Exposing an Industry in Denial, 2d. ed. Claremont CA: Shakespeare Authorship Coalition, 2016 [2013]; reviewed by Stanley Wells, “Shakespeare Beyond Doubt?: Nothing to Prove,” Literary Review (August 2013), archive no 412, https://literaryreview.co.uk/nothing-to-prove. Don Rubin, ed., reviews both books in “Shakespeare Beyond Doubt …; Shakespeare Beyond Doubt? …,” Critical Stages/Scènes critiques, no. 9 (February 2014), https://www.critical-stages.org/9/shakespeare-beyond-doubt-evidence-argument-controversy-shakespeare-beyond-doubt-exposing-an-industry-in-denial/, also available at https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org/tag/stanley-wells/.)
—-Shakespeare Bites Back: Not So Anonymous. Free e-book. Available from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, May 22, 2014 [2011], https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/blogs/shakespeare-bites-back/.
“The Shakespeare Authorship Question. Jennifer Reid interviews Jonathan Bate.” Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (Stratfordian view) https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/shakespeare-authorship-question/. Accessed 11/23/22.
Kathman, David, ch 110, “Authorship Controversy,” part 12, The Historical William Shakespeare,” ed. Peter Holland, The Cambridge Guide to the Worlds of Shakespeare, ed. Bruce R. Smith, in assoc. with Katherine Rowe, with Tom Hoenselaars, Akiko Kusunoki, Andrew Murphy, Aimara da Cunha Resente (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016, online 2019), 851-856, DOI:10.1017/9781316137062.110. (Kathman states that Francis Bacon left no books or manuscripts in his Will (p. 855); but see “The Last Will of Francis Bacon, Viscount St. Albans,” Spedding 14:539-545, 539-540).
—- and Terry Ross. “The Shakespeare Authorship Page, Dedicated to the Proposition that Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare.” https://shakespeareauthorship.com/ (undated, last accessed October 22, 2021).
Lang, Andrew, Shakespeare, Bacon, and the Great Unknown. London: Longmans, Green, 1912 (published posthumously). Reviewed (unfavorably) by G. O’Neill, “Review of Andrew Lang, Shakespeare, Bacon, and the Great Unknown. London: Longmans, Green, 1912,” Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review 2, no. 5 (March, 1918), 916–921. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/25700935. See also “Bibliography–Bacon/Shakespeare–Commentary,” this website.
Pressley, J. M., “The Authorship Debate,” accessed 11/23/22, http://www.bardweb.net/author.html (written by a freelancer writing as “The Shakespeare Resource Center.” Links are inadequate and out-of-date).
Robertson, J. M., The Baconian Heresy: A Confutation. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1913. Rebutted in Baconiana (see “Bibliography–Bacon/Shakespeare Authorship–Commentary,” this website).
Robertson, John G., “The Shakespeare–Bacon Theory,” Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., 25:786-7 (1911), reprinted online, “Theatre History,” http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/shakespeare030.html.
Seibel, George. “Did Bacon Write Shakespeare?” The Open Court, vol. 30, no. 4. 1916. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/ocj/vol1916/iss4/1/ (superficial and out-dated. Seibel also wrote Bacon Versus Shakespeare (1919) and The Religion of Shakespeare (1924)).
Shapiro, James. Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. (Note: The myth that no one contested “William Shakespeare’s” authorship for more than two hundred years after his death, as the publisher states, is rebutted by Brian McClinton, ch 2, “Treacherous Doubts,” The Shakespeare Conspiracies, 37-54).
Simpson, David. “Francis Bacon 1561–1626.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Without attempt at substantiation, he asserts his opinion: “Despite the fanatical claims (and very un-Baconian credulity) of a few admirers, it is a virtual certainty that Bacon did not write the works traditionally attributed to William Shakespeare.” Also, he cites Macauley’s defamatory essay on Bacon without mentioning contrary authority such as Nieves Matthews, Francis Bacon: The History of a Character Assassination (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996.). Undated. Last accessed 11/23/2022. https://iep.utm.edu/bacon/.
Spurgeon, Caroline. Shakespeare’s Imagery and What it Tells Us. Cambridge: University Press, 1935. Critiqued by F.E.C.H. and W.S.M., “Professor Spurgeon and her Images,” Baconiana, Sept. 1969. http://www.sirbacon.org/spurgeon.htm.
Alan Stewart, question 45, ‘Is it plausible that Sir Francis Bacon wrote the work attributed to Shakespeare?’ “Sixty Minutes with Shakespeare ….” Sixty Minutes with Shakespeare,” Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (September 1, 2011), https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/podcasts/60-minutes-shakespeare/; but see SAC rebuttal to “Sixty Minutes with Shakespeare,” pdf, link at “Press Release from Monday, November 21, 2011” (4th par.), https://doubtaboutwill.org/press/11_21_2011. More specifically, see rebuttal by Peter Dawkins, “Doubter Response” to “question 45,” pt. 2, “The [Shakespeare Authorship] Coalition Responds…,” Shakespeare Beyond Doubt? 49‒50 (Shahan & Waugh, eds.), available at https://doubtaboutwill.org/press/11_21_2011.
Stewart, Alan. “The Case for Bacon,” ch 2. In Shakespeare Beyond Doubt: Evidence, Argument, Controversy. Edited by Paul Edmonson and Stanley Wells. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014 [2013] (For reviews and responses, see the entry for the book, above).
Stopes, C. [Charlotte], The Bacon–Shakespere Question Answered. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010 [1889]. Critiqued in Baconiana 2, no 8 (January 1889), 90-96; and by “G.S.” [George Stronach] in “More Shakespearean Romance,” Baconiana 9, new series, no 35 (July 1901), 129-132, available from https://sirbacon.org/baconiana-collection/
White, Edward J. [lawyer]. “The Bacon Shakespeare Controversy: History of the Vagary,” 41-page introduction to his Commentaries on the Law in Shakespeare, with Explanations of the Legal Terms Used in the Plays … Also a Full Discussion of the Bacon Shakespeare Controversy, 2d. edition (St. Louis, MO: F. H. Thomas Law Book Co., 1913 [1911, with 16-page intro., “General Observations”].
D. Sources challenging or doubting William Shaxpere’s or other “candidates'” authorship (see “H”)
Dutton, E. M. Homeless Shakespeare, His Fabricated Life From Cradle to Grave. e-book. Silo, 2011, https://silo.pub/homeless-shakespeare-his-fabricated-life-from-cradle-to-grave.html; Internet Archive. Link at Francis Bacon’s New Advancement of Learning, “What’s New on the Site?” (April 23, 2018), http://SirBacon.org/newpage.htm (Reviewed by C.G. Waldman, April 30, 2019, http://www.sirbacon.org/Homeless-Shakespeare-EM-Dutton-review%204-30-2019.pdf).
Hope, Warren, and Kim Holston. The Shakespeare Controversies: An Analysis of the Authorship Theories, 2d ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2009. Chronological Annotated Bibliography pp. 141-229. An “Oxfordian” source.
Nelson, Alan. Monstrous Adversary: The Life of Edward De Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Liverpool English Texts and Studies (LUP). Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2003. Online July, 2017, Cambridge Core, https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/monstrous-adversary/B3C1B71A6E4BA25E08E1779205328AFE. Nelson gives reasons why Oxford could not have been Shakespeare. Reviewed by: Thomas A. Pendleton, “Monstrous Adversary Review,” http://themarlowestudies.org/z-oxford/DeVere-Monstrous_Adversary-Review.pdf; four at Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship, https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org/4-reviews-of-monstrous-adversary-by-alan-nelson/; Steven W. May, in Shakespeare Quarterly 56, no. 2 (Summer, 2005), 214-216, https://academic.oup.com/sq/article-abstract/56/2/214/5064411?redirectedFrom=fulltext, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3844308.
Pointon, A. J. The Man Who Was Never Shakespeare. Turnbridge Wells, UK: Parapress, 2011.
Price, Diana. Shakespeare’s Unorthodox Biography: New Evidence of an Authorship Problem (2014. First published by Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 2001. https://www.shakespeare-authorship.com/).
E. Bibliographies, study guides, libraries; unclassified
Attar, K. E., “Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence: A Baconian and his Books,” The Library, vol. 5, no. 3. September, 2004. pp. 294-315. https://doi.org/10.1093/library/5.3.294.
Bristol, Michael, “Sir George Greenwood’s Marginalia in the Folger copy of Mark Twain’s ‘Is Shakespeare Dead?’ Shakespeare Quarterly vol 49, no 4 (Winter, 1998), 411-416, JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2902236.
Durning-Lawrence Library, Senate House Library, University of London, https://london.ac.uk/senate-house-library/our-collections/special-collections/printed-special-collections/durning-lawrence-library (based on the personal collection of Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence (1837-1914) (“about 5,000 titles from the fifteenth to the twenty-first century by or in some way perceived as relating to Sir Francis Bacon.”).
Folger Shakespeare Library, https://www.folger.edu/. (Apparently it has not altered its Stratfordian position. See: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/frequently-asked-questions/did-shakespeare-write-the-plays-and-poems-attributed-to-him/; https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/henry-vi-part-3/appendix-authorship-of-henry-vi-part-3/; https://www.folger.edu/shakespeares-life; https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/; but see https://www.folger.edu/shakespeare-unlimited/christopher-marlowe-attribution-henry-vi; https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/henry-viii/appendix-on-authorship/. Evidence at “Shakespeare Documented,” https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/ (references to “Bacon” at https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/search?s=Bacon&page=1 and search Google: “Folger Francis Bacon”)).
Francis Bacon Library Archive, Online Archive of California (OAC), https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8cj8g5h/.
Gerald, Lawrence, “The Bibliographies,” Francis Bacon’s New Advancement of Learning. Type “bibliographies” in search box.
“Shakespeare Studies/Authorship Studies,” The University of Winnepeg, “an interdisciplinary guide ….” https://libguides.uwinnipeg.ca/c.php?g=124979&p=817288. Last updated Oct. 11, 2022.
World Shakespeare Bibliography. Subscriptions available to libraries and institutions. Published by Oxford University Press for the Folger Shakespeare Library. https://www.worldshakesbib.org/
Wyman, W. H. Bibliography of the Bacon-Shakespeare Controversy, with notes and extracts (Cincinnati: P.G. Thompson, 1884), HathiTrust, https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001018497 (already the literature was voluminous).
—“Recent Shakespeare-Bacon Literature since April 1884,” Shakespeariana, vol. 3: no. 25 (March (January?), 1886), pp. 163-167; no. 28 (April, 1886), pp. 163-167; no. 31 (July, 1886), 302-311; vol. 4, pp. 160-165 (April. 1887), 553-559 (__, 1887); vol 5 (December, 1887); vol. 6 (May, 1888); vol 7 (December, 1888); vol 8, Poet-lore (February, 1888, Jan, & Feb. 1889) (additional source: Albert Cohn, Shakespeare-Biblioraphie, 1887 und 1888 (Weimar).
F. College courses and programs in Shakespeare authorship
“Introduction to Who Wrote Shakespeare,” Prof. Ros Barber, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Goldsmiths College, University of London, offered through Coursera, https://london.ac.uk/courses/introduction-who-wrote-shakespeare.
Shakespeare Authorship Studies at Brunel University (former program, described by Robin Williams, https://shakespeareanauthorshiptrust.org. /).
G. List of links to Sir Francis Bacon’s New Advancement of Learning, https://SirBacon.org pages which I cited in my book, Francis Bacon’s Hidden Hand in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: A Study of Law, Rhetoric, and Authorship (New York: Algora Publishing, 2018).
“Bacon versus Shakespeare, A Judicial Decision . . . .” (1916 New York Times article), https://www.sirbacon.org/links/nytimes.html.
“Bacon’s Royal Parentage” (Twenty-five references prepared by Francis Carr). https://www.sirbacon.org/parentage.htm.
“Baptismal Registration of Francis Bacon from St. Martin-in-the-Fields.” http://www.sirbacon.org/baptismalregistration.htm.
“The Bibliographies.” www.sirbacon.org/biblio.html.
Biddulf, L., “Lord Bacon and the Theatre.” From Baconiana no. 108, July 1943. http://www.sirbacon.org/links/lord_bacon_&_the_theatre.htm.
“Binder’s Waste Discovery of a Manuscript Similar to Shakespeare,” Sotheby’s July 21, 1992 (Henry IV). http://www.sirbacon.org/graphics/sothebys.jpg.
Bormann, Edwin, appendix to ch. 1, “Did Mr. James Spedding Really Know Everything about Francis Bacon?” from Francis Bacon’s Crytpic Rhymes and the Truth They Reveal, pp. 217-226 (“Bormann Spedding”). https://www.sirbacon.org/bormanonspedding.htm.
Bridgewater, Howard (Barrister). “Evidence Connecting Sir Francis Bacon with “Shakespeare.” The Bacon Society, London. (“Evidence – by Howard Bridgewater”). http://sirbacon.org/ResearchMaterial/evidence.htm.
Carr, Francis, “The Writer’s Finger Prints.” http://www.sirbacon.org/links/carrlegalquixote.html.
Cockburn, N.B. [Nigel], The Bacon Shakespeare Question, The Baconian Theory Made Sane (table of contents. http://www.sirbacon.org/cockburn.htm; ch. 4, “Bacon’s Reasons for Anonymity” (pp. 40 – 54) https://www.sirbacon.org/anonymous.htm; review by Mather Walker, http://www.sirbacon.org/mcockburnreview.htm.
Cooper, D. W. and Gerald, Lawrence. “A Bond for all the Ages: Sir Francis Bacon and John Dee: The Original 007.” https://www.sirbacon.org/links/dblohseven.html.
“Directory of Sir Thomas More, Document Unravelled,” by Edwin J. Des Moineaux. https://www.sirbacon.org/stmcontents.htm.
Dodd, Alfred, “Francis Bacon and his Nemesis Edward Coke.” https://www.sirbacon.org/cokeandbacon.htm.
— “The Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret,” from The Marriage of Elizabeth Tudor, pp. 38-42. https://www.sirbacon.org/doddsublimeprince.htm.
Gentry, R. J. W., “Francis Bacon and the Stage” (from Baconiana). https://www.sirbacon.org/links/bacon&_the_stage.htm.
Johnson, Edward D., a chapter from “Francis Bacon’s Promus” in The Shaksper Illusion. https://www.sirbacon.org/links/notebook.html.
Lawrence, Sir Edward Durning, “Francis Bacon and the English Language.” https://www.sirbacon.org/links/BaconEnglishLanguage.htm.
Leith, Alicia Amy, “Bacon on the Stage.” From Baconiana, July 1909. pp. 150 – 162. https://www.sirbacon.org/leithbaconstage.htm.
Manes Verulamiani (Shades of Verulam; Bacon being Lord Verulam) pdf. https://sirbacon.org/Parker/Parker_ManesVerulamiani.pdf.
Pares, Martin, “Parallelisms and the Promus,” https://www.sirbacon.org/mp.html. From Baconiana, August 1963. Pares was President of the Francis Bacon Society from 1956-1962.
“The Northumberland Manuscript, Bacon and Shakespeare Manuscripts in one Portfolio!” https://www.sirbacon.org/links/northumberland.html.
Northumberland Manuscript Parts I and II, transcribed and edited with notes and introduction by Frank L. Burgoyne. librarian of the Lambeth Public Libraries. London: Longmans, Green, 1904. https://sirbacon.org/ResearchMaterial/nm-contents.htm.
Patton, Kenneth R. “Setting the Record Straight, bk 1, The Vindication of William Stone Booth.” https://www.sirbacon.org/pattonstrs.htm.
Purchase, Heather, “Writing’s on the Wall for Shakespeare” (from the London Evening Standard, July 30, 1991). http://www.sirbacon.org/links/handwriting1.html; see also “Maureen Ward Gandy,” https://www.sirbacon.org/links/gandy.htm. [See also Maureen Ward-Gandy, “Elizabethan Era Writing Comparison for Identification of Common Authorship,” 1992, reviewed for Lawrence Gerald, 1994, first published in Christina G. Waldman, Francis Bacon’s Hidden Hand … (New York: Algora Publishing, 2018), pdf and professional credentials update available at https://sirbacon.org/elizabeth-era-writing-comparison-for-identification-of-common-authorship/.]
Schoch, Juan, “The Private Manuscript Library of Francis Bacon” (“cokeandbacon”). https://www.sirbacon.org/Tottel.htm.
Von Kunow, Amelie Deventer, Francis Bacon, the Last of the Tudors, transl. Willard Parker, President, Bacon Society of America (1924). Electronically typed and edited by Juan Schoch. https://www.sirbacon.org/vonkunow.html.
Wheeler, Harvey, “Francis Bacon’s Case of the Post-Nati (1608).” Foundations of American Constitutionalism: An Application of Critical Constitutional Theory.” Ward,1998; Wheeler, 1957, 1960. https://www.sirbacon.org/wheelerpostnati.html. [For access to related works, see “Selected Works – Harvey Wheeler,” The Constitution Society, last updated 3/24/21. https://constitution.org/2-Authors/hwheeler/hwheeler.htm].
H. A Few Resources on Other Candidates for Authorship (besides William Shaxpere of Stratford, to whom Shakespeare authorship is traditionally attributed, and Francis Bacon):
Bassano, Peter. Shakespeare and Emilia: The Untold Story. 2020.
Blanding, Michael, North by Shakespeare: A Rogue Scholar’s Quest for the Truth Behind the Work. Hachette Books, 2021. The “rogue scholar” is Dennis McCarthy.
Barber, Ros. Shakespesare: The Evidence: The Authorship Question Clarified. e-book. https://rosbarber.com/; https://leanpub.com/shakespeare.
—-The Marlowe Papers. Sceptre, 2012; St. Martin’s Press, 2013 (fiction).
Casson, John and William D. Rubenstein, Sir Henry Neville Was Shakespeare: The Evidence. Amberly Publishing, 2016. William Rubeinstein’s blog, https://nevilleandshakespeare.wordpress.com/.
James, Brenda. Henry Neville and the Shakespeare Code. Cransmere Press, 2008.
—-and William D. Rubenstein. The Truth Will Out: Unmasking the Real Shakespeare. New York: Harper Perennial, 2007.
Leahy, William, editor, introduction. My Shakespeare: The Authorship Controversy. A collection of essays by contributors making cases for “Bacon, Neville, Oxford, Marlowe, Mary Sidney, Shaxpere, and Shakespeare.” (with chapters by Alan Nelson; Diana Price; Alexander Waugh; Ros Barber; John Casson, William D. Rubinstein, and David Ewald; Robin Williams; Barry Clarke; and William Leahy). Brighton, UK: Edward Everett Root, 2018.
Mary Sidney Society, http://www.marysidneysociety.org/aboutmarysidney/.
Rubin, Don, ed. and intro., “Special Topic II: The Question That Won’t Go Away,” Critical Stages, the Journal of the International Association of Theatre Critics. Dec. 2018, no 18, https://www.critical-stages.org/18/special-topic/. Collection of essays by contributors. Rubin supports, I believe, the view that Oxford was Shakespeare. This article does not include a piece written by a strictly-speaking “Baconian.”
Shahan, John and Alexander Waugh, eds. Shakespeare Beyond Doubt? Exposing an Industry in Denial, 2d ed. The Shakespeare Authorship Coalition. 2016.
Shakespeare & John Florio Authorship: The History, https://www.florioshakespeareauthorship.com/2021/06/05/shakespeare-john-florio-authorship/.
Tassinari, Lamberto. John Florio: The Man Who Was Shakespeare. 2d ed. revised and augmented. Gianno Books, [2009] (e-book, Oct. 2013). https://johnflorio-shakespeare.com/site/index.html.The Marlowe Society of America, https://www.marlowesocietyofamerica.org/.
The Shakespeare Authorship Coalition. https://doubtaboutwill.org/.
The Shakespearean Authorship Trust, https://shakespeareanauthorshiptrust.org.
The Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship, https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org/.
Williams, Robin P. Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare? 2019 [2006].
Winkler, Elizabeth, Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies: How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2023. This book should help to raise awareness about the Shakespeare authorship question. Unfortunately, Winkler, a journalist, did not interview any current writing-and-researching Baconians, or report than she had asked any Baconians to be interviewed who had declined, or treat the case for Bacon as of current, not just historical, interest. True, her prologue relates the upholding of a bequest to the Francis Bacon Society as valid in a 1964 court case in England. And, she did interview Mark Rylance, Shakespeare actor, who in the past has come out strongly for Bacon (e.g., writing the foreword to Peter Dawkins, The Shakespeare Enigma in 2004), but who seemed to have back-stepped into a more neutral corner (based, it seems on stylistic studies), while still challenging the “Stratfordian” status quo. She also interviewed William Leahy (see above). She did not explain her editorial decision not to interview Baconians (see my blogpost, “Why Did Elizabeth Winkler Not Interview Any Baconians?” July 5, 2023, this website).
Last revised Sept. 6, 2023.