Original sentence: It would give a boost to the Oxfordian candidacy, as both Bacon and Neville (and, of course, Shakespeare himself) lived well past the 1609 publication of Shakespeare's Sonnets.Oxfordian scholars have cited various examples they say imply that the writer of the plays and poems was dead prior to 1609, when Shakespeare’s Sonnets first appeared with the enigmatic words “our ever-living Poet” on the title page.There is no direct documentary evidence connecting Oxford (or any authorial candidate other than Shakespeare) to the plays of Shakespeare.These Oxfordians claim that the words “ever-living” rarely, if ever, refer to someone who is actually alive
Edited sentence: If either  claim proved accurate, it would give a boost to the Oxfordian candidacy, as both Bacon and Neville (and Shakespeare of Stratford) lived well past the 1609 publication of Shakespeare's Sonnets.Oxfordian scholars have cited various examples they say imply that the writer of the plays and poems was dead prior to 1609, when Shake-Speare’s Sonnets first appeared with the enigmatic words “our ever-living Poet” on the title page.There is no direct documentary evidence connecting Oxford (or any authorial candidate) to the plays of Shakespeare.These researchers claim that the words “ever-living” rarely, if ever, refer to someone who is actually alive