Oberon Shakespeare Study Group

Robert Brazil's childhood friend and publisher, Jefferson Foote, announced that Brazil's unpublished manuscript, Angel Day, the English Secretary, and the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford , is now available as a paperback from Amazon. The Amazon.com description of Angel Day, etc. says: . . . In this volume, Robert Brazil reports his research into the life of Angel Day and The English Secretary' s broad influence on Elizabethan writers, including Shakespeare. Day was the English Secretary -- to Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, to whom every edition was dedicated. Brazil shows evidence that the two men worked together to produce the book, Day being the loyal, practical conduit for the erratic co-contributions of an eccentric genius. Upon learning of Brazil's death in 2010, and with the approval of Brazil's family, Foote undertook to publish Brazil's lifework beginning with Edward DeVere and the Shakespeare Printers that Foote published in 2012 under t...

by Linda Theil William Shakespeare and Others: Collaborative Plays byJonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen (Palgrave Macmillan (Nov. 2013) is the latest implement in the recently popular Shakespeare-as-collaborator toolbox. “New” plays by Shakespeare and buddies have been popping up all over the canon, and I detect the stink of desperation in the Stratfordian rush to gain knowledgable assistants for the Stratford man's rapidly disintegrating authorial skills. Here is what J.Kelly Nestruck says on the topic in yesterday’sToronto Globe and Mail : If the larger-than-life myth of William Shakepeare – the genius son of a glover, the greatest writer of all time – has often strained belief, it’s only because of misunderstandings about the intensely collaborative culture he worked in (a culture that makes theories that Shakespeare was a secret pseudonym seem more absurd than ever).  Really? Although a very good Oxfordian friend says I am dead wrong, I insist that the Shakespeare “c...

by Linda Theil Neue Shake-speareGesellschaft (New Shakespeare Society) board member Hanno Wember of Hamburg, Germany reports that Kurt Kreiler’s new book, Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford -- The Thriftless Threadwhich Pampered Beauty Spins , was released by leading German publisher Suhrkamp/Insel on November 11, 2013. The book features commentary and translation into German of the poems of Edward de Vere (1550-1604). “The book - although in German - is bilingual concerning the poems. Interested people can at least read the poems in the original language,” Wember said. “ Suhrkamp/Insel is is one of the leading German publishing houses in literature.” Wember translated two paragraphs from the publisher’s webpage from German into English to give a sense of the content of Kreiler’s book about de Vere’s poems: Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford Der zarte Faden, den die Schönheit spinn (“The thriftless thread which pamper’d beauty spins”) One Hundred Poems Edited and translated by ...

This information about the 2013 SAT Conference in London, England is available from their web site at: http://www.shakespeareanauthorshiptrust.org.uk/index.htm . LT Shakespearean Authorship Trust Conference 2013 - Sunday 24 November 2013 The Shakespearean Authorship Trust , in collaboration with Brunel University, presents  Much Ado About Italy . Our conference this year will challenge the assumption among orthodox scholars that Shakespeare was  no true traveller . Topics covered will include the Author’s familiarity with Italian literature and the arts - including Roger Prior’s remarkable discovery of the Bassano frescos - and a presentation of the extensive researches of Richard Paul Roe in his landmark book The Shakespeare Guide to Italy - Retracing the Bard's Unknown Travels . Speakers: Ros Barber  ( The Marlowe Papers  and  Shakespeare: the Evidence ) Julia Cleave  (Trustee of the SAT) Kevin Gilvary  ( Dating Shakespeare’s Pla...

by Linda Theil Ros Barber's Shakespeare: The Evidence --The Authorship Question Clarified will be published Nov. 24, 2013. Info at  https://leanpub.com/shakespeare . Video promo for the book (above) is available on YouTube at Shakespeare: The Evidence. Promo material on the publisher's page says: Whether you are a firm believer that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare, or suspect that he didn't, this book aims to enable readers to gain a more comprehensive knowledge of the problems at hand, clarify their thinking, and identify weaknesses in, and logical rebuttals to, the arguments of their opponents, as well as potentially strengthening their own. Ros Barber, PhD is the author of The Marlowe Papers (St. Martin's Press, 2013) that won the Hoffman Prize in manuscript in 2011. UPDATE 11/17/13 : A note published today by Ros Barber at  http://rosbarber.com/shakespeare-evidence/  says the first installment of the  Shakespeare: The Evidence  ebook will be pub...

by Linda Theil Wally Hurst talks about his presentation "What's Your Authority for that Statement?" at the Toronto Shakespeare authorship conference Oct. 17-20, 2013. Wally Hurst is that rarest of creatures: a master of arts in Shakespeare authorship studies. He was awarded his degree from Brunel University, London, England in July this year. Also trained in the law, Hurst put his academic background to good purpose when he spoke on day-one at the Toronto Shakespeare authorship conference, October 17, 2013. Hurst's presentation was met with great enthusiasm by conference attendees; the title of his talk became something of a byword for the remainder of the conference. In fact, the question raised by Hurst's topic might serve as a motto for anti-Strats everywhere: "What's Your Authority for that Statement?" Hurst told his audience of authorship skeptics that they must develop a sense of skepticism about all research, including their own. In...

by Linda Theil An article titled “Come not between the Oxfordian and his wrath to paraphrase Lear”  appeared in the Toronto Globe & Mail on October 16, 2013 -- the day before the Toronto Shakespeare authorship conference began. This piece did not get as much attention as  later articles in the local press criticizing York University and Guelph University for their roles in supporting the conference. In the October 16 article, Stratfordian Kelly Nestruck wrote about an encounter last year between Toronto Shakespeare authorship conference organizer Don Rubin and Ontario's  Stratford Festival  communications director David Prosser at a day-long authorship seminar Rubin convened on April 7, 2012 wherein Prosser compared authorship inquiry with Holocaust denial. According to Nestruck’s October 16 article, Prosser said he regretted his comment. Nestruck wrote: In defending the traditional, fact-based narrative that a fellow named William Shakespeare wrot...

Oxfordian of the year! Roger Stritmatter, PhD was named Oxfordian of the Year at the 2013 Shakespeare Oxford Society/Shakespeare Fellowship joint conference held at the Metropolitan Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, October 17-20. SOS President John Hamill and SF President Tom Regnier, JD announce the results of the unification vote. Members of the Shakespeare Oxford Society (138 to two) and the Shakespeare Fellowship (74 to four) voted in favor of unification. Hamill will assume presidency of the unified organization, the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship, when legal papers are filed today. Update 10/22/13: Ann Zakelj posted a video of the presidents signing the new bylaws at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQK7J2d9r8&sns=em . Shakespeare Authorship Coalition Director John Shahan spoke to attendees at the conference banquet about what they can do to forward the cause of anti-Stratfordian research: 1. read and sign the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt , 2. share auth...

Film maker Cheryl Eagan-Donovan presented on the topic of Oxford's homosexuality. "I believe Oxfords sexuality is a primary reason for his pseudonym," she said. She will debut her film Nothing Is Truer than the Truth in Boston in November. New York actor and author Hank Whittemore spoke about Oxford as the guiding force behind the three most important acting companies of Elizabeth's reign. Lynne Kositsky and Roger Stritmatter sign their new book On the Date, Sources and Design of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Journalist Mark Anderson gave the keynote address on "Shakespeare, Newton and Einstein: Listening to the Obsession of Genius". Shelly Maycock made her debut appearance at the conference with a paper on "Essex, Oxford, and the Concept of Popularity in Late Elizabethan Discourse". SOS/SF Unification vote: During the SOS annual meeting this morning, Vote Teller Frank Davis announced a total of  l38 ballots ...

Shakespeare Authorship Conference organizer Don Rubin (right) and assistants Chad Froude (left) and Peter Andrusiak (center) prepare for a second successful day at the Metropolitan Hotel in Toronto, Ontario. Shakespeare Fellowship President Tom Regnier beams after successful presentation on the errors in Clarkson and Warner's analysis of Shakespeare's knowledge of the law. Gerit Quealy presented a fascinating look at how authorship study informs the work of actors. York University theater students Michael Atlin and Jade Lattanzi illustrated Quealy's talk wearing t-shirts she designed based on the Droushout engraving in the First Folio . Check out availability on her Facebook page, History Chiq.

  Oberon member Ron Halsted, after successful presentation on the "Dangerous Timeliness of Julius Caesar" Bonner Cutting, SF trustee Roger Stritmatter and Wally Hurst discuss Hurst's presentation on examining evidence in early modern authorship. UPDATE DEC 7 2013: Hurst's address now available on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPN11Dp5Y9U. Anthony Pointon and Heward Wilkinson in from England will present this weekend. Hanno Wember from Germany and Michael Kositsky discuss Wember's presentation of Robert Detobel's "The Outcast State". Richard Joyrich, SOS trustee relaxes after a successful conference launch, Note: We were very sorry to hear that Ron Hess and family members were in an auto collision on their way to the conference with no injuries, but Hess will not attend the conference to present his paper on Oxford'ssecretary hand. We send our best wishes for their speedy recovery from thei...

Posted by Richard Joyrich As many of you already know, the two leading Oxfordian groups in the United States, the Shakespeare Oxford Society and the Shakespeare Fellowship, are making plans to unify into a single organization. This unification is long overdue, in my opinion. Both organizations have the same basic goals and mission and there has been a lot of inefficiency and extra expense in maintaining separate organizations. Both groups have already shown that working together has many benefits. Witness the past seven Joint Authorship Conferences (and the upcoming eighth one to be held next month in Toronto) as well as the recently concluded High School Essay Contest. The Boards of Trustees of both organizations have been working tirelessly to come up with a plan to unify the two groups in a way that preserves the "best of both". A Plan of Unification and a completely new set of bylaws for the new organization have been drawn up. As I write this, both of ...

Posted by Richard Joyrich I have more information now about the upcoming Toronto Conference to be held October 17-20, 2013. I urge everyone to register as soon as possible.  Tickets to see The Merchant of Venice at the Stratford Festival on Friday are only guaranteed if your registration is received by September 15 (but MIGHT still be available later). Also, the Metropolitan Hotel, where the conference is being held will only honor the discounted conference room rate of $135/night (plus taxes and fees) until September 17. Please go to either the Shakespeare Oxford Society website ( www.shakespeare-oxford.com ) or the Shakespeare Fellowship website ( www.shakespearefellowship.org ) for other information and to register for the Conference. Here is the current Conference schedule (subject to change):                Toronto Conference Schedule       ...