Sir Francis Bacon's Cipher Story [FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING] [VINTAGE 1893]

Owen, Orville W., M.D. (discoverer and decipherer)

Published by Howard Publishing Company, Detroit, MI, 1893

About this Item

Near fine condition brown boards with upper and lower front cover embossed decoration & gold front cover lettering. Includes preliminary sections: "Announcement", an October 1893 Howard Publishing document discussing the volume; a section entitled Press Comments consisting of articles entitled: Sir Francis Bacon's Cipher Story by the Detroit Journal; Sir Francis Bacon's Cipher Story by Mr. Geo. P. Goodale, Dramatic Critic of the Detroit Free Press; The Medicine in Shakespeare by Orville W. Owen, M.D. which consists of extracts from a lecture read at a stated meeting of the Detroit Medical and Library Association; and an article by the Detroit Evening News regarding Bacon's Cipher Story. The upper spine edge is lightly rubbed, much less so for lower spine edge and board corners. All pages are in fine condition and the spine is tight and square. "The Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship holds that Sir Francis Bacon, philosopher, essayist, and scientist, wrote the plays which were publicly attributed to William Shakespeare. Various explanations are offered for this alleged subterfuge, most commonly that Bacon's rise to high office might have been hindered were it to become known that he wrote plays for the public stage. Thus the plays were credited to Shakespeare, who was merely a front to shield the identity of Bacon. The theory was first put forth in the mid-19th century based on correspondences between the philosophical ideas found in Bacon's writings and the works of Shakespeare. Later, proponents claimed to have found legal and autobiographical allusions and cryptographic ciphers and codes in the plays and poems to buttress the theory. In 1867, in the library of Northumberland House, John Bruce happened upon a bundle of bound documents, some of whose sheets had been ripped away. It had comprised numerous of Bacon's oratories and disquisitions, had also apparently held copies of the plays Richard II and Richard III, The Isle of Dogs and Leicester's Commonwealth, but these had been removed. On the outer sheet was scrawled repeatedly the names of Bacon and Shakespeare along with the name of Thomas Nashe. There were several quotations from Shakespeare and a reference to the word 'Honorificabilutudinitatibus', which appears in both Love's Labour's Lost and Nashe's Lenten Stuff. The Earl of Northumberland sent the bundle to James Spedding, who subsequently penned a thesis on the subject, who subsequently penned a thesis on the subject. Bacon's reason for publishing under a pseudonym was said to be his need to secure his high office. to set up new institutes to which his inductive method could be applied. He needed high office to gain the requisite influence, and being known as a dramatist, allegedly low-class profession, would have impeded his prospects. Realizing that play-acting was used by the ancients "as a means of educating men's minds to virtue", and being "strongly addicted to the theatre" himself, he is claimed to have set out the otherwise unpublished moral philosophical component of his Great Instauration project in the Shakespearean work. In this way, he could influence the nobility through dramatic performance with his observations on what constitutes "good" government. By the end of the 19th century, Baconian theory had received support from a number of high-profile individuals. Mark Twain showed an inclination for it in his essay Is Shakespeare Dead? Fredrich Nietzsche gave credence to the Baconian theory in his writings. Baconian theory developed a new twist in the writings of Orville Ward Owen, M.D. and Elizabeth Wells Gallup. SIR FRANCIS BACON's CIPHER STORY (1893-95) claimed to have discovered a secret history of the Elizabethan era hidden in cipher form in Bacon/Shakespeare's works. Elizabeth Wells Gallup developed Owen's views. A 1916 lawsuit decision holding that ciphers id's by Gallup proved Bacon was author of the Shakespeare canon, awarding $5,000 in damages. - Wikipedia. Seller Inventory # 000361

Bibliographic Details

Title: Sir Francis Bacon's Cipher Story [FIRST ...

Publisher: Howard Publishing Company, Detroit, MI

Publication Date: 1893

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Near Fine

Edition: 1st Edition