• -REF ID: A69930. 

!Ir. Brighton P .. Slutes 

H.- H. Robertson Ganpan7 -2036 Fast 22d Street 

Cleveland 15, Ohio 

Dear Mr. Slute=s: 

424 North ~orge Mason Drive 

Arlington 3) Virginia 

23 Mq .1951 

Receipt Of youi- letter of 9 Jli..v' 19.51 is acknawledged. 

_ Thank· you tor the background intormation in c0nneetion with 

the quotation "last night •• -.,n. I had some correspondence with 

~ss Holmes two or three years a.go and dQ not wish at this time to 

renew it. 

I read what Clemens said about the Bacon-Shakespearean 

controverq a long time ago but it wouldn•t hurt to review it. So 

the specific reference to the volume would be welcome. -

When the newepapers carried the stocy re Alan Keen, I consul ted with a friend on the stat£ of the Shakespeare Folger Library 

here and got tram him a som.~t detailed account of Keen and his 

previou-s "finds". I am not. sure that this one should be taken at 

the tun va.J.ue Keen places on it, but no doubt in a tevi more months 

there will be further information, provided Keen will permit 

authorities in the field to e.xamine his new "find" closely enough 

to form a firm judgment.. I don•t think he has ,.et attorded them 

this opportunity. · 

With thanks for your letter, I am, 

. Sincerely yours, 

William F. Friedman 

@'pproved for Release by NSA on 04-01-2014 pursuantto E.O. 1352a 
HH 

BCILDlllG 

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~F ID:A69930 ' • 

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GENERAL OFFICES PITTSBURGH,U.S.A. 

2036 EAST 2211JJ STREET 

CLEVELAND 15. OMIO 

WORLD WIDE BUILDllG SERVICE 

May 9, 1951 

FACTORIES. AM•AIDGE, PENNSYLVANIA, 

US A,SARNIA,ONTARIO,CANADAAND 

ELLESMERE PORT.CHESHIRE ENGLAND 

CAllLE ADllAESSD·-ERrllCICIF PITTSBLIAllH 

AND ROS&:RTROOF ELLESMERE PORT 

Mr. William F. Fr-iedman 

424 N. George Mason Drive 

Arlington 3, Virginia 

Demr Mr. Friedinan: 

Early in March I had a letter from Mr. William ·G. Bryanr the Editor 

of the Am-erican Cryptogram Association, and his letter stated that 

he wanted me to write to you about the Bacon-Shakespearean controversy. 

At the time I received Mr. Bryan's letter I was about to leave on a 

month's holiday in Mexico, and on my·return I became involved in my 

own neglected affairs. 

You may be interested in my situation, so far as this Shakespearean 

thing is concerned. I am not a student of literature and have no great 

interest in the Shakespearean question. About five years ago I was 

'· 

• 

introduced by correspondence to a lady who is a member of the Baconian ( 

Society and w~o resides in this co'ilntry~ She sent me some copies of 

the Baconia:n Quart~rly, and these magazines contained articles written 

by her. I finally recalled that I had somewhere read tht: following 

quotation, "Last night I completed another play and now I must arrange 

for its delivery to Master Shakespeare. " 

Assuming that this lady may be able to tell me where I had read this 

statement.: I wrote her and asked her. She, however, had not heard of 

the quotation and in considerable excitement asked me to make every 

effort to locate the source as she wanted to write an article about it for 

the Ba.conian Quarterly. This started '.inE off on my search and I have 

been making sporadic efforts since that time. 

I read the books in our Cleveland Library on the Baconian side of the 

controversy. Some place along the line I recalled having read Samuel 

Clemens' anBl:ysis of his thoughts in the matter, and I went back to my 

Mark Twain volumes and and reread it. Pretty convincing, too. If you 

are interested in reading this yourself, in case you have not already 

done so, I shall be glad to look up the volume which contains the Shakes -

pearean essay. 
- - - -------------------------------------- • REF ID:A69930 

88ROBERTSQNC0 • 

Now, if your interest carries to the point of writing to the lady that I refer 

to, I give you her name and address: Miss Pauline Holmes, 50 Bates Road, 

Watertown, Mass. 

One more thought. Among the people I appealed to in my dilemma is a 

Librarian in southern Ohio. During April just past, she sent me a clipping 

from a Cincinnati paper, sent by the United Press from London. This 

story tells about a chap named Alan Keen who has announced that he has 

located a volume published in 1550 under the title, "The Union of the Two 

Noble Houses, York and Lancaster". Mr. Keen found this volume completely 

covered with written notes in the margins and all other available clear space. 

These notations include rough drafts of dialogu:e appearing in the plays, 

Richard II, and Henry IV, and Henry V. The story quotes Mr. Keen as 

saying, "From the tudor style writing and othe"I" features, I knew these had 

been written during Shakespeare·•s lifetime. Who I thou:ght could have 

roughed out the original dialogue, scarcely· daring to think the name. " 

Mr. Keen feels that the finding of this old volume clearly establishes 

Shakespeare as the author of the plays attributed to him, and also clears 

up the mystery of what Mr. Keen calls Shakespeare·•·s hidden seven years. 

He apparently means that for the seven years in Shakespeare's life he 

devoted to study and research which enabled him to turn out his writings. 

I shall be happy, indeed, to receive any comments from you. 

V~inc~y/Uff: 

~ I\ ~ . .::tA; 

Brighton P. Slutes 

bps./j