A Phoenix

Indeed! Maybe there was a family squabble. 'if she's had one, I want one!'

Hi Eric, Thank you - nothing much is kept in the head though it usually involves ODNB and scribbling down family trees to try and make sense of things. re: FB and Oxford. I presume by the £40,000 fine you mean the fine that was given to Bacon after his fall in 1621. If this is the case, Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford was long dead by then (dying in 1604) so it wouldn't have been Edward that FB petitioned. His son by his second marriage to Elizabeth Trentham Henry de Vere (1593-1625) however was alive and it is to him that he petitions. The letter Francis Bacon to the Earl of Oxford 2nd February 1624 is held at the Lambeth Palace Library MS 936, art. 194. See Spedding, Letters and Life, VII, pp. 454-55 and Lisa Jardine and Alan Stewart, Hostage to Fortune The Troubled Life of Francis Bacon (London: Victor Gollancz, 1998) p. 494 which I have reproduced below:

Eric, Just did a bit of digging. Larkin also did another portrait of Anne Cecil. (NOT the Anne Cecil mentioned above) This Anne Cecil was apparently Diana's twin sister and she also had her portrait painted by Larkin c. 1615. Because she was the twin sister of Diana, the above familial relationships apply, Twin sisters Diana and Anne Cecil were Bacon's 3rd cousins. https://images.historicenglandservices.org.uk/fine-art/kenwood-house-paintings/larkin-anne-cecil-j920336-559009.html

Dear Baffled Down Under😄 We're all baffled - it's life - but here's my take on things. I presume in the above you mean Diana Cecil who the Larkin and van Somer portraits represent. I agree the genealogy can be very confusing especially when many had the same name and also they were often known by their title name, i.e., William Cecil was Lord Burghley, etc. I agree with you, whilst sumptuous, the Larkin portrait shows Diana Cecil rather ill at ease whereas van Somer captures her more naturally. I expect portraits are very much down to external factors as well. Costume, environment, and also interestingly the painter themselves and the rapport and ease with which they might make the sitter feel happy/comfortable. A bit I suppose like a photographer today, some you just don’t click with (no pun intended) and others bring out the best in people. Just some brief facts. The lady in the portraits Diana Cecil was great granddaughter to William Cecil, Lord Burghley (Francis Bacon’s uncle). Our Elizabeth Hatton (Francis Bacon’s friend and 2nd cousin) was Diana’s Auntie because she was sister to Diana’s father. So in effect Diana was Francis Bacon’s 3rd cousin. You mentioned an Anne Cecil (1556-1588). This one was daughter to William Cecil, Lord Burghley (Francis Bacon’s uncle and so Anne Cecil was Francis Bacon’s first cousin). The unfortunate girl aged 15 married Edward de Vere Earl of Oxford who by most accounts treated her appallingly. They had grown up together as Oxford was a ward of William Cecil. They largely led separate lives and Oxford, without foundation, accused her of adultery and for many years wouldn’t acknowledge his first child. She died aged 31 of unknown causes leaving her father William Cecil, Lord Burghley grief stricken. So de Vere was married to Francis Bacon’s 1st cousin Anne thus I suppose by marriage de Vere could have been classed as Francis Bacon’s cousin, although one can only speculate how the Cecils and Bacons felt towards the ungrateful, dissolute and cruel Earl of Oxford. Any suggestion that someone like Francis Bacon could be a ‘friend’ of someone like de Vere seems remote and unlikely. Like you suggest, a friends and family ‘map’ of FB would be a very useful future project!

Hi Eric, This is the catalogue of The Francis Bacon Society held at The Senate House Library, University of London - 1314 items - some incredible works here: https://catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/search~S1/?searchtype=m&searcharg=b%2Fs

Really beautiful portraits Eric. Van Somer is certainly a master of eyes and lace and like you say would seem to have been at the summit of his career in this period. The dress and drapes in the Larkin are also exquisite - you almost feel like you could touch them. Diana Cecil was the great grandaughter of William Cecil Lord Burghley, Francis Bacon's uncle. Van Somer and Larkin were obviously favoured artists of the Cecil and Bacon families. Great share - thank you!♥️

The 1723 and 1738 editions of the Freemasonic Book of Constitutions sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of England cryptically reveal that Francis Bacon was the Secret Founding Father of the Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood and Secret author of the Shakespeare First Folio A collection of these Freemasonic symbols are also depicted in two ornaments or emblematic tail-pieces found in The Philosophical Works of Francis Bacon edited by Dr Shaw published in 1733. Both ornaments show the Square and Compasses, the T. T. and Cross Symbol found in the 1723 first Book of Constitutions, together with a Mask denoting that Francis Bacon was a concealed writer. Above the Freemasonic ornament proudly stands the Eagle, symbol of the Higher Degrees.1 Included in the Opera Omnia the first collected edition of Bacon’s works to appear after the publication of the Book of Constitutions in 1723 are other revealing Freemasonic tailpieces. On page 157 (simple cipher for Fra Rosicrosse) of De Augmentis Scientiarum, originally published at virtually the same time as the 1623 Shakespeare First Folio, there appears an ornamental tailpiece depicting Apollo, leader of the Muses, and sun-god of poetry, music and prophecy. He is shown in the engraving as having destroyed with his bow and arrows the huge dragon-serpent Python who inhabited the caves of Mount Parnassus. In classical antiquity Apollo’s arrows were seen as sunbeams piercing the dark and the event became symbolic of light and wisdom triumphing over darkness and ignorance.2 In the third volume facing page 103 which is simple cipher for Shakespeare is a tailpiece from which a mythical phoenix is shown rising from the ashes.3 The Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood adopted the mythical phoenix as a symbol of transformation and immortality which they divinely sought to bring about through a Universal Reformation of the World. The arcane methods of transmission present in the Book of Constitutions and the Bacon and Shakespeare editions published around the same time or shortly after secretly reveal that Bacon is the secret concealed author of the Shakespeare works, Founding Father of the Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood, and if we recall the lines in Henry VIII referring to the phoenix ‘shall star-like rise...and make new nations’, Founding Father of the United States of America, a story dramatically told in his Rosicrucian-Freemasonry play The Tempest placed first in the 1623 Shakespeare First Folio, the greatest Freemasonic book in the history of the world. 1. Peter Shaw, ed., The Philosophical Works Of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Albans, And Lord High-Chancellor of England; Methodized, and made English, from the Originals. With Occasional Notes, To Explain what is obscure; and shew how far the several Plans of the Author, for the Advancement of all the Parts of Knowledge, have been executed to the present Time (London: printed for J. J. and P. Knapton, et al, 1733), II, pp. 419, 590. 2. John Blackbourne, ed., Opera Omnia (London: printed by R. Gosling for Thomas Osborne, 1730), I, p. 157. 3. Ibid., III, p. 103.

The 1723 and 1738 editions of the Freemasonic Book of Constitutions sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of England cryptically reveal that Francis Bacon was the Secret Founding Father of the Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood and Secret author of the Shakespeare First Folio In the year the Freemasonry Brotherhood publicly announced itself to the world in 1723 with the publication of the first Book of Constitutions, there appeared a six-volume edition of the Shakespeare Works (1723-25) edited by the poet and Freemason Alexander Pope.1 It was supplemented by a seventh volume edited by George Sewell containing the poems Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece and the Sonnets. The first poem Venus and Adonis appears between the pages numbered 1-44. The pages for the next poem The Rape of Lucrece do not commence from page 45 instead it begins from page 1 and ends on page 66. The following Sonnets instead of beginning on page 1 as was the case with the two previous poems, or alternatively continuing from page 66, they begin on page 177 simple cipher for William Shakespeare. The reason for these mis-paginations is 177-66=111 Bacon in kay cipher. Above the first page of the Shakespeare Sonnets stands a Freemasonic headpiece. On the left of the headpiece can be seen various Masonic symbols: the Square and Compasses, the Mask, the Scroll with the palette and the brushes, as well as the special Crosses forming the T’s of the Knight's Degree. Stealthily insinuated into this cornucopia of Masonic symbolism to the right of the three figures hailing the sun are the initials FB standing for Francis Bacon.2 1. Alexander Pope, ed., The Works Of Shakespear. In Six Volumes (London: printed for Jacob Tonson, 1723-5). 2. Alexander Pope and George Sewell, eds., The Works Of Mr. William Shakespear: volume the seventh: Containing, Venus & Adonis, Tarquin & Lucrece and his miscellany poems: with critical remarks on his plays, &c (London: printed by J. Darby, 1725), p. 177; Alfred Dodd, The Personal Poems Of Francis Bacon (Our Shakespeare) The Son Of Queen Elizabeth (Liverpool: Daily Post Printers, 1945), p. 305.

The 1723 and 1738 editions of the Freemasonic Book of Constitutions sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of England cryptically reveal that Francis Bacon was the Secret Founding Father of the Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood and Secret author of the Shakespeare First Folio According to the central legend of Freemasonry the craft was introduced into England in the time of St Alban who lived in the 3rd century, from whom the town of St Albans takes its name, after whom Francis Bacon took his title Viscount St Alban. Old Verulam is the site of the old Roman town of Verulamium and within the city walls of the old city of Verulam, Bacon built Verulam House, within the grounds of his Gorhambury estate, which may have been used as an early Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Lodge. The ‘Legend of St Alban’ is presented as follows by Dr Anderson in The New Book of Constitutions of the Antient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons: A. D. 287. CARAUSIUS encouraged the Craft, particularly at Verulam, (now St. Albans, Hertfordshire) by the worthy knight ALBANUS, who afterwards turn’d Christian, and was call’d St. Alban, (the Proto Martyr in Britain under the Dioclesian Persecution) whom CARAUSIUS employ’d (as the old Constitutions affirm) to inviron that City with a Stone Wall, and to build him a fine Palace; for which that British King made St. ALBAN the Steward of his Houshold and chief Ruler of the Realm. St. ALBAN loved Masons well, and cherished them much…He also obtained of the King a Charter for the Free Masons, for to hold a general Council, and gave it the name of Assembly, and was thereat himself as Grand Master, and helped to make Masons, and gave them good Charges, &c. When Dioclesian and Maximian abdicated, A. D. 303.1 The legend of St Alban, the supposed founder of Freemasonry in England, as presented by Dr Anderson is framed by two numbers 287 and 303. If the null ‘0’ is dropped from 303 it leaves 33 Bacon in simple cipher and the number 287 represents Fra Rosicrosse in kay cipher. Thus Dr Anderson in The New Book of Constitutions of the Antient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons officially sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of England secretly communicates to the high initiates and those able to decipher it that the true Founding Father of the Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood is Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban. 1. James Anderson, The New Book Of Constitutions Of The Antient and Honourable Fraternity Of Free and Accepted Masons. Containing Their History, Charges, Regulations, &c. Collected and Digested By Order of the Grand Lodge from their old Records, faithful Traditions and Lodge-Books, For the Use of the Lodges (London: printed for Brothers Caesar Ward and Richard Chandler, 1738), p. 57.

The 1723 and 1738 editions of the Freemasonic Book of Constitutions sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of England cryptically reveal that Francis Bacon was the Secret Founding Father of the Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood and Secret author of the Shakespeare First Folio By way of a second edition The New Book of Constitutions of the Antient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons. Containing Their History, Charges, Regulations, &c. Collected and Digested by Order of the Grand Lodge from their old Records, faithful Traditions and Lodge-Books, For the Use of the Lodges was issued under the supervision of Dr James Anderson in 1738. The Address to the Reader signed by Anderson invitingly alludes to the secret and cryptic methods employed within the work: Most regular Societies have had, and will have, their own Secrets; and, to be sure, the Free-Masons, always had theirs, which they never divulged in Manuscript; and therefore cannot be expected in Print: Only, an expert Brother, by the true Light, can readily find many useful Hints in almost every Page of this Book, which Cowans, and Others not Initiated, cannot discern.1 The title page of the 1738 Book of Constitutions is printed in black and red lettering. The block capital letters printed in red ‘CONSTITUTIONS’, ‘FRATERNITY’, ‘FREE’ and ‘MASONS’ contain a total of 33 letters: 33 Bacon in simple cipher. Below this the following words are also printed in red ‘History’, ‘Charges’, ‘Regulations’, ‘Grand Lodge’, ‘LODGES’, ‘JAMES ANDERSON’, ‘Caesar Ward’ (note ‘ae’ are printed on the title page as one letter) and ‘RICHARD CHANDLER’. It will be observed that five of the words/names are printed in block capitals which contain a total of 34 letters which when added to the 33 letters printed in red above: 33+34=67 Francis in simple cipher. These twelve words contain a total of 78 letters which when added to the 33 letters printed in red above: 33+78=111 Bacon in simple cipher.2 1. James Anderson, The New Book Of Constitutions Of The Antient and Honourable Fraternity Of Free and Accepted Masons. Containing Their History, Charges, Regulations, &c. Collected and Digested By Order of the Grand Lodge from their old Records, faithful Traditions and Lodge-Books, For the Use of the Lodges (London: printed for Brothers Caesar Ward and Richard Chandler, 1738), p. ix. 2. These Baconian ciphers are pointed out by George V. Tudhope, The Discovery of Francis Bacon’s Cipher Signatures in James Anderson’s Constitutions Of The Freemasons (Kessinger Publishing Company, n.d.), p. 8.

The 1723 and 1738 editions of the Freemasonic Book of Constitutions sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of England cryptically reveal that Francis Bacon was the Secret Founding Father of the Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood and Secret author of the Shakespeare First Folio The dedication page to the 1723 Book of Constitutions addressed ‘To His GRACE the DUKE of MONTAGU’, commences with ‘My Lord’ which is placed directly over a large ornamental B in a curious pictorial engraving which is suggestive of Lord Bacon (as he was often referred to) and reminiscent of the large capital letter B at the beginning of the Freemasonic play The Tempest placed first in the Shakespeare First Folio which when magnified reveals the name of Francis Bacon concealed within its decorative scroll. The large ornamental letter B is the thirty-third letter on the first dedication page to the Book of Constitutions: 33 Bacon in simple cipher. The engraving within which the large ornamental letter B is placed is interesting and carefully executed. The male character whose face is framed by the top half of the letter B is Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, poetry, philosophy and wisdom and the leader of the muses, the divine inspirers of poetry and art. As depicted in the engraving Apollo had a charmed lyre, which the woman to the right of the letter B is Artemis goddess of hunting and twin sister of Apollo, children of Zeus. Yet Artemis is usually portrayed carrying a bow and arrows whereas the woman in the engraving is clearly holding a long spear. The stag symbolically is associated with wisdom, solitude and purity, and a supposed antipathy to snakes which they endeavoured to destroy. The woman to the right of Apollo in the letter B is most likely the great goddess Pallas Athena daughter of Zeus and Goddess of wisdom. She is usually depicted carrying her long spear of light and wisdom which she brandishes or shakes at the ignorance around her. Excluding the large ornamental letter B denoting Bacon the first page of the dedication contains 103 letters: 103 is Shakespeare in simple cipher, cryptically conveying the secret message that Lord Bacon is Shakespeare.

The 1723 and 1738 editions of the Freemasonic Book of Constitutions sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of England cryptically reveal that Francis Bacon was the Secret Founding Father of the Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood and Secret author of the Shakespeare First Folio The frontispiece of the 1723 Book of Constitutions officially sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of England also secretly incorporates the great hidden secret of the Freemasonry Brotherhood. Depicted on the left and right-hand side in the foreground of the engraving are several members of the Brotherhood watching its two key characters in the middle of them dressed in their fine attire representing its Grand Master and Deputy-Grand Master with the one on the left passing the one on the right a scroll with the word Constitutions written on it. The word Constitutions has been carefully formatted and separated out for the purposes of conveying a secret message. On the top line we have the syllable Con being the second syllable of Bacon. If the frontispiece is turned forty-five degrees to the right it will be observed that the upper garment of the Deputy-Grand Master provides the letter B and the way the Grand Master is standing on the left gives the appearance of the letter A thus spelling out BACON. In the second line of the scroll appears the letters T and U (T=19 and U=20) which represents the numerical equivalent of 39 F. Bacon in simple cipher. The second and third lines begin with the letters T T which stand for Thirty-Three: 33 Bacon in simple cipher. On the third line appears ‘Tions’ thus the first letters of the three lines are C T T which represents 67 in Kay Cipher which is simple cipher for Francis.1 1. I benefitted from Rob Fowler ‘Light of Truth’, ‘The Greatest Secret of the Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood’, on B’Hive, 22 March 2022 https://sirbacon.org/bacon-forum/index.php?/topic/88-the-greatest-secret-of-the-rosicrucian-freemasonry-brotherhood/#comment-690

Hi Eric, What a lovely painting - the detailing on the costume is beautiful. What an incredibly strange pose though and quite rare I would have thought although I do recall another painting of the period of a male sitter that is similar. Do you recall who it was Eric?

FRANCIS BACON SECRET FOUNDER OF THE FREEMASONRY BROTHERHOOD Those responsible for its publication were aware of the identity of the secret Founder of Speculative Freemasonry Brotherhood and familiar with his secret ciphers.1 The title page of the Constitutions is divided into two main sections by the pictorial woodcut ornament in the centre. The three words CONSTITUTIONS, FREEMASONS and FRATERNITY are in bolder print than the others. These three words have 33 letters in total: 33 Bacon in simple cipher. The numbers at the foot of the page added together 5+7+2+3+1+7+2+3=30: 30 added to the 3 words above provides a total of 33, again Bacon in simple cipher. Excluding the three words which have 33 letters, the remaining number of letters in the top section total 103 which represents Shakespeare in simple cipher. The bottom section of the title page underneath the ornament has 147 letters. The date numbers 5+7+2+3+1+7+2+3=30:147+30=177 William Shakespeare in simple cipher. The top half of the title page has 136 letters and the bottom half 21 roman words 136+21=157 Fra Rosicrosse in simple cipher. The whole page contains a total of 283 letters. The difference between the Masonry date and Anno Domini date 5723-1723=4000. If we drop the nulls (‘000’) 4 added to 283=287 Fra Rosicrosse in kay cipher. 1. James Anderson, The Constitutions Of The Free-Masons. Containing The History, Charges, Regulations, &c. of that most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity. For the Use of the Lodges (London: printed by William Hunter for John Senex at the Globe, and John Hooke at the Flower-de-luce over-against St. Dunstan’s Church, in Fleet-street. In the Year of Masonry-5723 Anno Domini-1723). For the first scholar to identify the presence of Baconian ciphers in the Constitutions see George V. Tudhope, The Discovery of Francis Bacon’s Cipher Signatures in James Anderson’s Constitutions Of The Freemasons (Kessinger Publishing Company, n.d.). For further analysis see Yann Le Merlus, ‘Allisnum2er’, ‘The Greatest Secret of the Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood’, B’Hive 13 March 2022 https://sirbacon.org/bacon-forum/index.php?/topic/88-the-greatest-secret-of-the-rosicrucian-freemasonry-brotherhood/#comment-690

The 1723 and 1738 editions of the Freemasonic Book of Constitutions sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of England cryptically reveal that Francis Bacon was the Secret Founding Father of the Rosicrucian-Freemasonry Brotherhood and Secret author of the Shakespeare First Folio I have held up a light in the obscurity of Philosophy, which will be seen centuries after I am dead. It will be seen amidst the erection of Tombs, Theatres, Foundations, Temples, of Orders and Fraternities for nobility and obedience-the establishment of good laws as an example to the World. For I am not raising a Capitol or Pyramid to the Pride of men, but laying a foundation in the human understanding for a holy Temple after the model of the world. [Francis Bacon, The Great Instauration] Exactly 100 years (100: simple cipher for Francis Bacon) after the publication of the 1623 Shakespeare First Folio the recently formed United Grand Lodge of England sanctioned its first official publication The Book of Constitutions or to give its full title The Constitutions of the Free-Masons. Containing the History, Charges, Regulations, &c. of that most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity in 1723. This extremely rare original edition written by the Rev. Dr James Anderson was the first printed constitutions of the Grand Lodge of England. A man of great learning, Dr Anderson was probably a member of the four old Lodges of London which in 1717 organized what became the Grand Lodge of England. At a meeting of the Grand Lodge on 29 September 1721 Dr Anderson was commissioned to review the old Gothic constitutions and compile the history, charges, and regulations of the Fraternity from the existing ancient constitutions of the Lodges. The work was completed on 27 December 1721. The Grand Lodge appointed a committee of fourteen learned brethren to examine and compile a report on it. The report submitted on 25 March 1722 required a number of amendments before it was formally approved. This first official Freemasonic work was eventually printed in 1723 to coincide with the hundred-year anniversary of the publication of the Shakespeare First Folio.

FRANCIS BACON, THE LAND OF THE ROSICRUCIANS AND SOLOMON'S TEMPLE THE CENTRAL MYTH BEHIND HIS FREEMASONRY BROTHERHOOD It is in his allegorical New Atlantis (Land of the Rosicrucians) where Bacon unfolds the vision of his divine Freemasonry Brotherhood a perfect literary, scientific and philosophical society/world for the everlasting use and benefit of humankind he most resembles Solomon. In their Temple called Salomon’s House the wise men of New Atlantis pursue their research in all arts and sciences. The inhabitants of the island know all the languages of Europe, and their merchants of light bring to them information, knowledge and intelligence from all the other countries of the outside world, while remaining sublimely hidden and unseen to others outside of their own invisible college of Salomon’s House. So named after King Solomon which they believed was the noblest foundation that was ever upon this earth: New Atlantis Land of the Rosicrucians Ye shall understand (my dear friends) Ye shall understand, (my dear friends,) that amongst the excellent acts of that that amongst those excellent acts of that King, one above all hath pre-eminence. King, one above all hath the preheminence, It was the erection and institution of an It was the Erection and institution of an Order or Society which we call Salomon’s Order, or Society, which we call The Temple House; the noblest foundation (as we think) of the Rosie Crosse; The noblest foundation that was ever upon the earth; and the lanthorn (as we think,) that was ever upon the earth; of this kingdom. It is dedicated to the study of And the Lanthorne of this Kingdome. It is The Works and Creatures of God. Some think it dedicated to the study of the works, and beareath the founder’s name a little corrupted, Creatures of God. Some think it beareth as if it should be Salomona’s House. But the the Founders name a little corrupted, as if it records write it as it is spoken. So as I take it to be should be F.H.R.C. his House. But the Records denominate of the King of the Hebrews, which write it, as it is spoken. So as I take it to be is famous with you, and no stranger to us. For denominate of the King of the Hebrews which we have some of his works which with you are is famous with you, and no stranger to us; lost; namely, that Natural History which he For we have some parts of his works, which wrote, of all plants, from the cedar of Libanus with you are lost; namely that Rosie Crucian to the moss that groweth out of the wall, and M; which he wrot of all things past, present of all things that have life and motion. This or to come; And of all things that have life maketh me thing that our king, finding and motion. This maketh me think, that our himself to symbolize in many things with that king finding himself to Symbolize, in many king of the Hebrews (which lived many years things, with that king of the Hebrews(which before him), honoured him with the title of this lived many years before him) honoured him foundation. And I am the rather induced to be the Title of this Foundation. And I am the of this opinion, for that I find in ancient records rather induced to be of this opinion, for that this Order or Society is sometimes called I finde in ancient Records, this Order or Society Salomon’s House, and sometimes the College of the Rosie Crosse is sometimes called the of the Six Days Works; whereby I am satisfied Holy house, And sometimes the Colledge of that our excellent king had learned from the the six days Works? whereby I am satisfied, Hebrews that God had created the world and all That our Excellent king had learned from the that therein within six days; and therefore he Hebrews, that God had created the World, instituting that House for the finding out of the and all that therein is, within six days; And true nature of all things, (whereby God might have before he instituted that house, for the finding more glory in the workmanship of them, and men out of the true Nature of things, (whereby God the more fruit in the use of them,) did give it also might have the glory in the workmanship of that second name.1 them, and men more the fruit in the use of them,) did give it also that second name.2 The allegorical myth Solomon founded the Freemasonry Brotherhood was interwoven into the fabric of the concealed text of the utopian New Atlantis by our English Solomon Bacon, the true Founding Father of Speculative Freemasonry made manifest in the revealed text of the Land of the Rosicrucians. The Masonic legend of Solomon and Hiram Abiff written into the dramatic ritual of the Sublime Third Degree of the Master Mason is concealed in the Rosicrucian manifestos New Atlantis and The Tempest by Bacon who writes Manly Hall ‘wrote into the Shakespearian plays the secret teachings of the Fraternity of R.C. and the true rituals of the Freemasonic Order.’ 3 These divine plays first appeared in their entirety in the First Shakespeare Folio of 1623, a work Freemason Alfred Dodd rightly described as, ‘the greatest Masonic book in the world.’ 4 1. Spedding, Works, III, pp. 145-46. 2. John Heydon, The Holy Guide: Leading the Way to the Wonder of the World: (A Compleat Phisitian) teaching the Knowledge of all things, Past, Present, and to Come; viz. Of Pleasure, long Life, Health, Youth, Blessedness, Wisdome and Virtue; and to Cure, Change and Remedy all Diseases in Young and Old. With Rosie Crucian Medicines, which are verified by a Practical Examination of Principles in the great World, and fitted for the easie understanding, plain practise, use, and benefit of mean capacities (London: printed by T. M. for Thomas Whittlesey, 1662), C7r-v. 3. Manly P. Hall, An Encyclopedic Outline Of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy Being an Interpretation of the Secret Teachings concealed within Rituals, Allegories and Mysteries of all Ages (Los Angeles, California: The Philosophical Research Society, Inc., 1994), p. CLXVI. 4. Alfred Dodd, Shakespeare Creator of Freemasonry Being a Remarkable Examination of the Plays and Poems, which proves incontestably that these works were saturated in Masonry, that Shakespeare was a Freemason and the Founder of the Fraternity (London: Rider & Co, 1937), p. 10.

FRANCIS BACON, THE SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO, AND FREEMASONRY On 1733 Sixteenth Street NW Washington DC is the House of the Temple, headquarters of The Supreme (Mother Council of the World) of the Inspectors General, Knights Commander of the House of the Temple of Solomon, of the Thirty-Third and last degree of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America. The Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree regulates recognized Supreme Councils and their Subordinate Bodies around the world operating a world-wide network of Freemasons in the most powerful positions in various key professions including US and UK intelligence, the international press, leading professors and academics, universities and university presses, and prestigious publishing houses operating in the most important theatres around the globe. The emblem of the Supreme Mother Council of the World is a Double Headed Eagle. Resting on the top of the two-headed eagle is a royal crown which has for its peak a triangle (comprising 3 straight lines and 3 angles) within which appears the number 33 (simple cipher for Bacon) an allusion to the secret Founding Father of the Speculative Freemasonry Francis Bacon whose concealed authorship of the Shakespeare First Folio was known to some of his contemporary Masonic Brethren and the sanctum sanctorum of the first Grand Lodge of England then and all the way down to the present day.

FRANCIS BACON, THE SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO, AND FREEMASONRY All serious Freemasons and Baconians understand the critical importance of numerology or the occult significance of numbers. Bro Guffey has pointed out the importance of the number three in Freemasonic ritual, the number of original Grand Masters, three principal officers with thirty-three degrees the highest total attainable in the Freemasonry and the number three in the Shakespeare tragedy Macbeth with its allegory of the murder of Hiram Abiff the central legend of the Order. The occult number three occurs 385 times throughout the Shakespeare canon and the number 33 is simple cipher for Bacon (B=2, A=1, C=3, O=14, N=13) a number enciphered throughout the Shakespeare First Folio confirming his authorship of the greatest Freemasonic book in the history of the world.

FRANCIS BACON, THE SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO, AND FREEMASONRY Of Macbeth Bro Robert Guffey says ‘The entire play appears to have been written as an allegory for the bloody murder of Hiram Abiff, the core figure of Masonic ritual’: One might notice the uncanny recurrence of the number three in Masonic ritual. Not only are there three original Grand Masters, three assassins, and a total of thirty-three degrees of the Masonic hierarchy, but there are also three principal officers, three symbolic steps “from this life to the source of all knowledge,” three obligations, three lights upon the altar, three “pillars” that support the Lodge, and three knocks that gain the candidate admission into the Lodge, followed by three more knocks to summon the Brethren. This last example is paralleled in Macbeth, Act Two, Scene Three, in which three knocks are continually repeated until the porter allows entrance to Macduff, the future murderer of the “unworthy” Macbeth. Both the number three and the concept of alchemy play an integral role in the story of Macbeth’s downfall. In Act One, Scene One, we are introduced to three witches who utter the words “fair is foul, foul is fair.”…The number three appears again in relation to Hecate’s appearance in Act three, Scene Five…He [Macbeth] is the perfect vessel for Shakespeare’s retelling of the ritualistic killing inherent in the third degree, for the three “unworthy craftsmen” possess many of the same contradictory traits. In Act Two, Scene One, Shakespeare presents a subtle analogy to a fragment of the Hiram story. Confusion abounds when the noblemen learn about the death of King Duncan. In surprise, Macduff yells “horror” three times in a row, followed by these lines:1 Confusion now hath made his Master-peece: Most sacrilegious Murther hath broke ope The Lords anoynted Temple, and stole thence The Life o’th’ Building.2 The parallels between the Abiff legend and these lines are obvious.3 1. Bro Robert Guffey, ‘Was Shakespeare a Freemason? Masonic Symbolism in Macbeth’, The Alberta Freemason, Vol. 73, No. 6, June 2008, p. 1. 2. Shakespeares Comedies Histories, & Tragedies. Published according to the True Originall Copies (London: printed by Isaac Jaggard, and Edward Blount, 1623), Tragedy, p. 137. 3. Bro Robert Guffey, ‘Was Shakespeare a Freemason? Masonic Symbolism in Macbeth’, The Alberta Freemason, Vol. 73, No. 6, June 2008, p. 1.

FRANCIS BACON, THE SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO, AND FREEMASONRY In his Shakespeare Creator of Freemasonry in the chapter ‘The Hiram Legend’ referring to Hiram Abiff the chief architect of Solomon’s Temple and the central character of the allegory constituting the Third Degree in Freemasonry, Dodd reveals how Bacon-Shakespeare leaves fragments of the story scattered throughout certain parts of the following plays: Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, As You Like It, Titus Andronicus, Henry IV and Cymbeline.1 From which we have ‘the murder in the Temple, the hiding of the body, the “slips” preparatory to raising Hiram, the descent into the Grave by the W. M. The Acacia is mentioned, the pursuit, the Sepulture befitting his rank, the punishment and remorse of the criminals.’2 1. Alfred Dodd, Shakespeare Creator of Freemasonry Being a Remarkable Examination of the Plays and Poems, which proves incontestably that these works were saturated in Masonry, that Shakespeare was a Freemason and the Founder of the Fraternity (London: Rider & Co, 1937), pp. 65-73. 2. Ibid., 73.

FRANCIS BACON, THE SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO, AND FREEMASONRY In his chapter ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost The Comedy In Which is Hidden The Genesis Of The Craft’, Dodd devotes thirty pages going through the play Act by Act revealing and explaining the references and allusions to Freemasonry and its secret inner workings and practices. Due to considerations of space, I will confine myself to reproducing the following curious example where the name Francis is used which is not known to those of the modern Shakespeare world who do not possess a copy of the First Folio: ACT III ‘THE ROSICROSSE PASS-WORD, “OUR FRANCIS”’ We will talke no more of this matter. Till there be more matter…. …..I will enfranchise thee. O, marrie me to one Francis….1 [Although the spelling in the Quarto and the First Folio is ‘Francis’ it is invariably changed in modern editions to ‘Frances’].2 1. Shakespeares Comedies Histories, & Tragedies. Published according to the True Originall Copies (London: printed by Isaac Jaggard, and Edward Blount, 1623), Comedies, p. 129; Alfred Dodd, Shakespeare Creator of Freemasonry Being a Remarkable Examination of the Plays and Poems, which proves incontestably that these works were saturated in Masonry, that Shakespeare was a Freemason and the Founder of the Fraternity (London: Rider & Co, 1937), p. 90. 2. Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, eds., William Shakespeare The Complete Works Second Edition (Oxford Clarendon Press, 2005), p. 316; G. R. Hibbard, ed., Love’s Labour’s Lost (Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 138; Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, eds., Love’s Labour’s Lost (The Royal Shakespeare Company, 2008), p. 47; William C. Carroll, ed., Love’s Labour’s Lost (Cambridge University Press, 2009), p. 98; H. R. Woudhuysen, ed., Love’s Labour’s Lost (Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2014), p. 168.

FRANCIS BACON, THE SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO, AND FREEMASONRY In his ground-breaking and revelatory work Shakespeare Creator of Freemasonry Being a Remarkable Examination of the Plays and Poems, which proves incontestably that these works were saturated in Masonry, that Shakespeare was a Freemason and the Founder of the Fraternity the Baconian Alfred Dodd, himself a Freemason, and a world authority on Bacon, Shakespeare and Freemasonry, devotes chapters to the two most important Freemasonic plays in the canon, Love’s Labour’s Lost and The Tempest. On account that this little-known and less read work is now long out of print and not widely available I have thought it best to reproduce some of his observations on these two Freemasonic plays to a modern audience. His chapter ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost The Comedy In Which is Hidden The Genesis Of The Craft’, as its title indicates, reveals that the play incorporates the secret beginnings of the modern Freemasonry Brotherhood. The play is set in the kingdom of Navarre where the king and 3 friends vow to forego the company of women and turn the court into a little academy and devote 3 years (33 Bacon in simple cipher) to the study of philosophy and knowledge. The hidden meaning of its opening scene is described and revealed by Dodd under a series of headings: ‘THE URGE TO CREATE AN ETHICAL SYSTEM’ Let Fame, that all hunt after in their liues, Liue registered vpon our brazen Tombes, And then grace vs in the disgrace of death: when spight of cormorant deuouring Time, Th’ endeuour of this present breath may buy: That honour which shall bate his scythes keene edge, And make vs heyres of all eternitie [my italics].1 ‘THE AIMS Of FREEMASONRY’ [To] warre against your owne affections [passions] And the huge Armie of the worlds desires.2 ‘THE CONCEPTION OF THE LODGE’ Our Court shall be a little Achademe, Still and contemplatiue in liuing Art.3 ‘THE THREE WHO RULE’ You three, Berowne, Dumaine, and Longauill, Haue sworne for three yeeres terme, to liue with me: My fellow Schollers, and to keepe those statutes That are recorded in his scedule heere.4 ‘THE VOW’ Your oathes are past, and now subscribe your names: That his owne hand may strike his honour downe, That violates the smallest branch heerein: If you are arm’d to doe, as sworne to do, Subscribe to your deepe oathes and keepe it to.5 ‘THE OBJECT’ To seeke the light of truth.6 ‘A FIRST VAGUE HINT’ Light seeking light, doth light beguile: So ere you finde where light in darknesse lies, Your light growes darke by losing of your eyes.7 1. Shakespeares Comedies Histories, & Tragedies. Published according to the True Originall Copies (London: printed by Isaac Jaggard, and Edward Blount, 1623), Comedies, p. 122. 2. Ibid., Comedies, p. 122. 3. Ibid., Comedies, p. 122. 4. Ibid., Comedies, p. 122. 5. Ibid., Comedies, p. 122. 6. Ibid., Comedies, p. 122. 7. Ibid., Comedies, p. 122. For Notes 2-7 see Alfred Dodd, Shakespeare Creator of Freemasonry Being a Remarkable Examination of the Plays and Poems, which proves incontestably that these works were saturated in Masonry, that Shakespeare was a Freemason and the Founder of the Fraternity (London: Rider & Co, 1937), pp. 78-79.

FRANCIS BACON, THE SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO, AND FREEMASONRY The 1623 Baconian-Shakespeare First Folio is saturated with Freemasonic language, imagery, and symbolism throughout the canon from the earliest plays dating from the 1580s to the last written, revised and enlarged up to the early 1620s, over a period of some four decades. Here are some of the references and allusions to Freemasonry in the Shakespeare First Folio: I wil visit thee at the Lodge. That’s hereby. I know where it is situate. Lord, how wise you are! Come Iaquenetta, away. [Love’s Labour’s Lost] Your oathes are past, and now subscribe your names: That this owne hand may strike honour downe, That violates the smallest branch heerein: If you are arm’d to doe, as sworn to do, Subscribe to your deepe oathes and keepe it to. [Love’s Labour’s Lost] But this is a worshipfull society, And fits the mounting spirit like my selfe; [King John] And whisper one another in the eare. And he that speakes, doth gripe the hearers wrist, [King John] Here Robin, and if I dye, I giue thee my Aporne [Apron]; And Will thou shall haue my Hammer… And God in Iustice hath reueal’d to vs The truth and innocence of this poore fellow, [2 Henry VI] The Nobilitie thinke scorne to goe in Leather Aprons. [2 Henry VI] What my old worshipfull master? [The Taming of a Shrew] And from the Crosse-row pluckes the letter G: [Richard III] Doth any particular name particular belong Vnto the Lodging, where I first did swoon’d? ‘Tis called Ierusalem, my Noble Lord. [2 Henry IV] Put on two leather Jerkins, and Aprons, [2 Henry IV] Hee is not his Crafts-master. [2 Henry IV] I thanke thee good Tuball. [The Merchant of Venice] Who is this companion now? He hath euery month a new sworne brother. Is there no young squarer now that will make a voyage with him…? [Much Ado About Nothing] The singing Masons building roofes of Gold [Henry V] Where is thy Leather Apron, and thy Rule? [Julius Caesar] I will finde Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeede Within the centre. [Hamlet] Who builds stronger than a Mason…? [Hamlet] Like to the Garters-Compass, in a ring, [The Merry Wives of Windsor] I shall stay here the fore-horse to a smocke, Creeking my shooes on the plaine Masonry, [All’s Well That Ends Well] I am a brother Of gracious Order, late come from the Sea, [Measure for Measure] I will, as ’twere a brother of your Order, Visit both Prince, and People: [Measure for Measure] His necke shall come to your waist, a Cord Sir. [Measure for Measure] Come guard the doore without, let him not passe, But kill him rather. [Othello] I haue not kept my square, but that to come Shall all be done by th’ Rule: [Antony and Cleopatra] You have made good worke, You and your Apron Men: [Coriolanus] O that euer haue I had squar’d me to thy Councell: [The Winter’s Tale] being then appointed Master of this designe. [The Tempest] And set it downe With gold on lasting Pillers. [The Tempest]

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GRAND MASTER BACON-SHAKESPEARE Excepting Timon of Athens the Freemasonic Seven Set Squares headpiece appears over the first page of the plays enumerated above. In the case of Timon of Athens the headpiece appears after the end of the tragedy above the page designated ‘THE ACTORS NAMES’ providing the dramatis personae for the play. For more than a century many Baconian scholars have rightly claimed that Bacon the author of Timon of Athens, is dramatically portrayed in its eponymous character Timon, as well as suggesting a more appropriate title for the play, Bacon of London. Timon is 67 in simple cipher the same as Francis. It is also maintained the play if not first written was heavily revised after his fall in 1621 prior to its first appearance in the 1623 Shakespeare First Folio. At the bottom of the page is a woodcut bearing in the centre of it the Tudor Arms with two cupids which had previously appeared on the first page of the 1604 edition of Hamlet printed by James Roberts for Nicholas Lang, and on the title page of the 1606 edition of Bacon’s Essays printed for John Jaggard, and title pages of the Part I and Part II editions of Bacon’s Essays printed for John Jaggard in 1612. A woodcut bearing the Tudor Arms at its centre also appeared above the first page of the 1619 Quarto edition of The Merchant of Venice (with a false date and imprint) as part of the Pavier/ William Jaggard so-called False Folio. Over the Tudor arms rests a crown with a female and male either side reaching for it and to the far left and right appear two children, representing Queen Elizabeth and her secret husband Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and their two royal children Francis Tudor Bacon and Robert Tudor Devereux, second Earl of Essex.