New-York tribune., 1922-11-26
Bacon Called
The Author of
Varit,lls Book .
Controversy Over Author
ship Of Shakesp 8 eare's
Works Ia Given d New
Turn by French Savans
Ben .Jonson Included
Document In Cipher Il
Cited TO Prove Scholar
Wrote Many Volumes

s--~4-4-~..~.--4A---.--.
/ PARIS, Nov. t5..~Ths CONTROVERSY
over the suggeeted Baeenian author
ship Of the works which bear Shakes
peare's name may perfsps never be
ended. But now Bacon is credited with
| the authorship Of the worries aseribed to
numerous other famous men besides the
Bard ef Avon. Sach III the conclusion,
reached by the eminent French author
ity, General Cartier, at the end Of a
biographical and critical study in the
"Mercure de France" He says:
"rhe various hypothssea advanced to
establish the paternity of the works at
tributea to William Shakespeare rest
generally On tho following bases,
which are formulated In the work Of
Abel Lefranc. published in 1919 under
the title: Sous le masque de William
Shakespeare, William Stanley, sixieme
Comte de Derby. Thus:
"'Fhe dramatic and other works
which have been played ahd published
since the last years Of the sixteenth
century under the name Of the actor
William Shakespeare cannot in any
manner have been composed by this
parsonage.
'The true author of thase works was,
according to all evidence, member Of
the English aristocracy who wanted
his authorship TO remain conceaied.
"fhese bases seem indisputable. es-
pecially the frst one, II it 10 recognized
chat William Shakespeare was ai1ost,
IL not completely, iIliterate Meme of
/ the works which we have consulted
gives absolute preof in favor of the
presumed author there Indicated. The
discussion is therefore left open. xnd
it seems logical to consider q certain
ancient document TO contribute TO the
clearing up of the mystery
Besides, this document enlarges the
discussion, since 1t attributes to one
and tho same author (Francis Bacon)
not only the paternity Of works that
appeared under the name of William
Shakespeare, but also Of works pub
lished under the names of various au-
thors who lived In the sane epoch
Robert Burten, Robert Greene, Ben
Jonson, George Pesie, Edmund SPen-
Ger, MARROW.
"It Ia not contended that all the
works Of the aforementioned authors
were writtsn by Francis Bacon, but
merely that Francis Bacon borrowed
the names OF these authors to sign his
works, which he thought he could not
sign himself, for various reasons.
"The question of the authenticity Of
the document is evidently the FIRST to
be resolved. 1t must be noted that the
document itself has. been extracted by
cryptoeraphie processes, sursoupdcd by
all guarantees. from the works of the
authors enumerated above, and it was
published by parsonage who lived at
the time OF their production.
This document is ciphered by
process devised by Francis Bacon dur
ing his stay in France that is to say,
1915 -'7s--and described for the time in
a work published under his name in
London in 1905. Advancement OF
Learning Its wording seems to indi-
cate that Francis Bacon was its au-
thor.
"Thers are, therefore, serious pre-
sumptions in favor Of Francis Bacon
being the pub!ishet and cipherer of
this autobiography, the distribution or
which in certain number of works
must also be taken into considerat on.
However this be, the first problem
is presented by the fact Of the exist
ence of the document: (a) Who wrote
it? (b9 Who ciphersd it? (c) How
could it be printed and inserted in the
various works OF which we have the
list?
"In regard TO the fact that William
Shakespeare's name was borrowed
without the knowledge and consent of
this actor, il 10 probable that such .aisn
was the case where the true author
was Francis Bacon. while the reputed
author was the Earl of Derby or any
other parsonage.
"It should be considered how this
substitution would have been possible
with the other names borrowed by the
cipherer and indicated in the document.
"0n the other hand. the publishers
must have known the peeuliarity cf the
work asked Of them, because they must
have had to manufacture the two
forms Of characters which character
ize the eryptographie system employed
in the manuscripts and indicating to
the typesetters the types to be used
for the successive letters composing
the words Of the text
Perhaps something interesting will
be found or this subject in she arr
chiyes Of the printing Offices which
printed the works containing the
eryptegsaphical pasts.
1t has to be rloted that If the facts
nentfoned in chs document are exact
it Is evident chat Francis Bacon had
the greatest interest in dissembling,
and this is an argument that sheuld be
taken into arca,,p4 II a. A2x@as u, Shal