Transcription for Essay by Helen Keller about William Shakespeare and Francis Bacon

[Lawrence Gerald]

https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=p&p=helenkellerdocumentdisplay&d=A-HK02-B223-F10-001&e=-------en-20--1--txt--------------------------0-1

[Light-of-Truth]

The link came up all jabber-wocky. Funny, listening to Planet Drum from last night in Berkeley with my headphones, the page looks like the drums are beating!

I'll see if I can find a clear link. Below is what I see. 😉

Francls Bacon.
Fo.r more tjian a year T, have been int©nested in the relation ©,f-
Franoi.s. Baoon' to.; the= wonks of' ill Lam Bhakesne-arey.' and espeGiall.y
in the struetaral signatnre-s which. M.r.. I., S. Booth has' fonn-d in
the* pages ol the Elizabethan texts./ Since l have, been ©rlti.oized
for embarking mpon this/ disou
on
aay explain
th.e- 'grounds of - , my ■kno.wlelg'e- and my met,h©.d O'f' in-
vestigation. The- texts of-'many' oif- Shakespearels plays^;« toigether
with notes,; and, the* ^orthodox 1 *' lifo of' Skaks/pere^ > are in my library
in rained print,./ In Radclif'fe College I; took cours/es in' Shakespeare
books, not in
11 k c*ht*%s
■ Tfi n
for two
year
s' ■ under' P
ro.f esso.r /O
b f r e d
❤️ e.'
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Among
rals'.ed ,p
rint
from whi

[Lawrence Gerald]

Helen Keller, Shakespeare skeptic

 

 

https://www.perkins.org/helen-keller-shakespeare-skeptic/?fbclid=IwAR3MJ5vpbQF9AjDrCyKfMahjp7a81NBLYgzZ77hWFbCSnQDe_J349rIjYh0

[Light-of-Truth]

Perfect!

You know we ALL love you on this forum. SirBacon.org Father!

[A Phoenix]

We certainly all love Lawrence father of SirBacon.org and a great inspiration to Baconians around the world.♥️♥️

[Light-of-Truth]

In the article:

Keller wrote a 34-page manuscript entitled “A Concealed Poet Disclosed,” in which she argued that Bacon secretly wrote Shakespeare’s plays. To her dismay, no publisher agreed to print it. Instead, they encouraged her to write more autobiographical material, which was popular with the public.

I've look for it and can't find it anywhere. I'd love to read it!

I bet her title page was like this:

A Concealed Poet Disclosed
By Helen Keller

🙂

 

[Christie Waldman]

https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK02-B223-F10-001.1.6&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1--txt--Shakespeare+authorship------------------------0-1

Thank you, Lawrence. I have always wanted to read this, and it is a missing piece in a puzzle for me. The "digital transcription" (i.e., scan?) made in 2016 seems to have not been made with sufficient care, for you can easily read the typewritten pages, one by one, when you click on each of the 34 images (with typed pages above, digital transcription below), zooming in. Where the transcription reads "h" as "l", you can clearly see that Keller typed an "h." (Prior written permission is needed to use "any image" from the site.). What a fascinating site! You can also read her letters with Mark Twain at this site.  No transcription problem here!  https://www.afb.org/about-afb/history/helen-keller/letters/mark-twain-samuel-l-clemens/letter-miss-keller-sl-clemens-0. Thank you, thank you, thank you. What a beautiful soul she was! She died in 1957, in the same year as the publication of the Friedmans' book.  If it comes up jabber-wocky, "click on item," to go to the typewritten pages which are easier to read.

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by Christie Waldman
to add a sentence on how to get to the typewritten pages.

[Light-of-Truth]

Great find, Christina!!! 🙂

 

[Kate]

5 hours ago, Christie Waldman said:

https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK02-B223-F10-001.1.6&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1--txt--Shakespeare+authorship------------------------0-1

Thank you, Lawrence. I have always wanted to read this, and it is a missing piece in a puzzle for me. The "digital transcription" (i.e., scan?) made in 2016 seems to have not been made with sufficient care, for you can easily read the typewritten pages, one by one, when you click on each of the 34 images (with typed pages above, digital transcription below), zooming in. Where the transcription reads "h" as "l", you can clearly see that Keller typed an "h." (Prior written permission is needed to use "any image" from the site.). What a fascinating site! You can also read her letters with Mark Twain at this site.  No transcription problem here!  https://www.afb.org/about-afb/history/helen-keller/letters/mark-twain-samuel-l-clemens/letter-miss-keller-sl-clemens-0. Thank you, thank you, thank you. What a beautiful soul she was! She died in 1957, in the same year as the publication of the Friedmans' book.

 

Just read it  - every word. Fabulous. I started to read it out loud into my Word programme using dictation, but ran out of steam at page 13.

What is the law around quoting from something like this. I see you mention not to use the images, but can one use the words?

There is a passage where she is saying why Bacon would have concealed his authorship which is wonderful and it uses what looks like a direct quote from him, where he talks about how plays could be used to educate men to virtue and that all the great philosophers and learned men saw play-acting as "as a kind of musicians bow by which men's mind may be played upon”

Isn't that great!

Thanks again

Edited May 31, 2022 by Kate

[Light-of-Truth]

It would be totally fine to type a transcription from yhe images. 🙂

[Kate]

Ok then, if that is so then here is the transcript from dictation of the part I thought most interesting on pages 31/32/33. It covers the question, Why would Bacon have concealed his authorship?

“Underlying Bacon's anonymity we may look for a variety of possible motives.  We have already seen in the “Arts of English Poesie”. The implication that a literary dilettante might be regarded by those in power as unfit for important service. In those days the poet’s gown was indeed a “despised weed.” A young man seeking advancement in law and politics and mediating serious philosophical works would not have wished to be known as the author of “Venus and Adonis” and “Lucrece.” Even today lyric gift would hardly be an advantage to a candidate for the office of district attorney.  The matter-of-fact dullard, upon whose suffrage the men of practical affairs depend for his position and authority, finds in artistic genius, the sign of an unsound judgement. The people will not respect the law if the Lord Chancellor is reported to be a writer of love-verses and stage-plays. The learned professions are jealous of their dignity.  Dr. Holmes thought that a young physician with literary aspirations ought to establish himself securely in his practice before he betrayed his fondness for the muses.

In the Elizabethan age the conditioning of the theatre was such that a person in a high position suspected of anything like professional association with it would suffer in his moral reputation.  In 1597, when the greatest of English plays were being produced, the Lord Mayor of London denounced the theatre as “a place for vagrants, thieves, horse-stealers, contrivers of treason, and other idle and dangerous persons.” A political enemy could construe any of Shakespeare's historical plays to prove the author a contriver of treason. Essex had it played forty times in London to stir the populous up to sedition. At the trial of Essex a member of Shakespeare's company, Phillips, was summoned to give evidence about the performance of the play; but Shakespeare was not summoned! And here is a more surprising thing. In his account of the trial Bacon refers to a seditious pamphlet of the reign of Henry IV, the period covered by the play of Richard II. It  was allotted to Bacon to make the charge relating to this pamphlet, and he replied that he was reluctant to undertake this charge because “I having been wronged by bruits before, this would expose me to them more, and it would be said that I gave in evidence mine owne tales” (My italics and bolding throughout)

On one side of Bacon were king and nobles upon whose favour his advancement depended, and on the other side Puritans like his mother, to whom the theatre was abhorrent, and who expressed fears lest her son be corrupted by the proximity of his lodgings to such a den of iniquity.

Even in later days when free speech and free printing had placed literature in a more secure position, some writers found it expedient to conceal their identity. The most famous case is that of Janius, whose brilliant letters against the British Government in 1770 remain to this day an unfathered mystery. The author must have been known to many in the inner circle of politics and literature; but none betrayed his secret. Scott concealed his authorship of the “Waverley Novels” for several years, and this great- hearted gentleman did not hesitate to meet suspecting inquiries with flat denial.

It may be asked why, if Bacon did not wish to be known as a poet, he did not forego the publication of poetry altogether. He has, we suspect, answered this himself.  In the “Advancement of Learning” He says, “Dramatic poesy, which has the theatre for its world, would be of excellent use if well directed; for the stage is capable of no small influence both of discipline and corruption. Now of corruption in this kind we have had enough; but in our times the discipline is plainly neglected, and, though in modern states play-acting is esteemed but as a toy, except when it is too satirical and biting, yet among the ancients it was used as a means of educating men’s minds to virtue. Nay, It has been regarded by learned men and great philosophers as a kind of musician’s bow by which men's minds may be played upon.” (My italics and bolding) – Helen Keller

I have tried to keep the dictation faithful to what she wrote so the punctuation is hers. There may be a tiny error here and there as it is dictation so please check the originals if using. https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK02-B223-F10-001.1.1&e=-------en-20--1--txt--Shakespeare+authorship------------------------0-1

[A Phoenix]

Hi Kate, the passage quoted above from such a truly remarkable women was stirring and emotional and captured the essence of FB's concealment with feeling and true understanding. Overwhelming.

[Light-of-Truth]

Thanks Kate! I'm a big fan of Helen Keller!

My Great Grandmother (deaf, dumb, and blind) and Great Grandfather Fowler (deaf, dumb, and blind in one eye) met at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in the early 1900's. They read books in braille and communicated with the family by reading each other's hands by touch. Growing up we'd visit them in their home in southwest VA. I was always fascinated by their lives, they always were happy. I wonder if they had Read any Bacon.

[Christie Waldman]

Hi Kate, on p. 32, I think the name is "Junius" instead of "Janius," in the Federalist Papers. Junius Americanus. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-17-02-0018-0001, https://selfeducatedamerican.com/2012/10/06/junius-americanus/. This gives a 1770 date. https://www.textbookx.com/book/9781437337792/. Thanks so much for taking the time to do that.

The quotation from Bacon about "kind of a musician's bow" is here, I believe: De Augmentis, bk 2, ch 13, Spedding 4:316, HathiTrust, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044014199384. I have it in my essay, "Francis Bacon, Shakespeare, and The Secrets of Nature: Violence, Violins, and--One Day--Vindication?" (p. 31, fn 132). https://sirbacon.org/waldman/Waldman Violence Violins Vindication final 5-21-21.pdf. It makes me think of the reported incident about Queen Elizabeth and Dudley privately listening to a little boy playing a stringed instrument. Does anyone have that reference? In my opinion, one reason he hid his identity as poet-dramatist was because in his art he could speak of private matters in a concealed fashion that he could never speak of otherwise. It was forbidden by law to speak of "the succession."

Edited June 6, 2022 by Christie Waldman
to add info and reference

[Light-of-Truth]

Christina, you said:

Quote

In my opinion, one reason he hid his identity as poet-dramatist was because in his art he could speak of private matters in a concealed fashion that he could never speak of otherwise. It was forbidden by law to speak of "the succession."

Two of my favorites lines are in Sonnet 66:

And arte made tung-tide by authoritie,
And Folly (Doctor-like) controuling skill,

Bacon had to hide his identity even though so many people knew who he was, even Elizabeth. Yet done with style and skill, he was able to speak. But he could not be himself, Francis Bacon, even though anybody in the loop 400 years knew and did not question who Bacon was.

It was a secret, but everybody knew, anybody who needed to know. Bacon was wise enough to know a generation later very few would know who he was. So he left his clues and ciphers, with many of his friend's helping. Not for a generation later, but centuries later. It is so sad, but also very exciting for we who 400 years later bring his Truth to Light.

And you, Christina Waldman, are one of us who are the future voices who Bacon knew would pop up in just the right time. Granted we are a well over a century into the latest movement, yet the Light is shining and Will show soon.

 

[A Phoenix]

Hi Christina, 

In the late 1560s, the queen’s cousin and the premier peer and only duke of the realm Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk, a regional prince and senior member of the Privy Council, was aware of the secret private marriage of Elizabeth and Dudley and that she had given birth to an unacknowledged son and heir about which it seems he left a hint to posterity. In his Confessions for High Treason Norfolk records when the court was at Guildford seeing a young child with both Elizabeth and Leicester in her private apartments delightfully playing a lute and singing to them:

'when the court was at Guildford, he came unaware into the queen’s privy chamber, and found her Majesty sitting on the threshold of the door, listening with one ear to a little child, who was singing and playing on the lute to her, and with the other to Leicester, who was kneeling by her side. The duke, a little confused, no doubt at interrupting a party so conveniently arranged, drew back; but her Majesty bade him enter. Soon after Leicester rose, and came to Norfolk, leaving the Queen listening to the child, and told him, “that he was dealing with the queen in his behalf when he approached;”…¹                                                            

Knowing the private marriage of Queen Elizabeth and Dudley and that she had given birth to an unacknowledged heir to the throne was a heavily guarded state secret while fighting for his life on a charge of treason and the future of his family, he was careful not to be too specific about what he was witnessing, and did not, or dared not, name the child, whom he almost certainly knew was their secret royal offspring. How then can we be confident the child singing and playing the lute to Elizabeth and Leicester seen by Norfolk was their concealed son Francis? The answer has always been hidden in plain sight right in front of the eyes of the world as this and more occasions like it were later recalled by Bacon in one of his Shakespeare Sonnets:   

                            Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,

                            Strikes each in each by mutual ordering,

                            Resembling sire and child and happy mother,

                            Who all in one pleasing note do sing.

                                                    [Sonnet 8]2

 

    1. Agnes Strickland, The Life of Queen Elizabeth (London: published by J. M.

        Dent, 1910), p. 265.

   2. As far as the present writer is aware the first to point this out was Alfred Dodd

        in The Marriage Of Elizabeth Tudor (London: Rider and Co., 1940), pp. 46-7;

        see also by the same author Francis Bacon’s Personal Life-Story (London: Rider

        & Company, 1986), p. 64.

[Light-of-Truth]

A. Phoenix,

Thank you for a new way to understand Sonnet 8.

This line is Line 110 of the Sonnets:

Who all in one,one pleasing note do sing:

It adds up to 158 Short cipher, the Simple cipher of ELIZABETH TUDOR.

So these two lines are Lines 110 and 111 of the Sonnets:

Who all in one,one pleasing note do sing:
Whose speechlesse song being many,seeming one,

Usually going from 11 to 111 is significant in the Sonnets Pyramid. We see above two ones on Line 110, then the third one at the end of Line 111.

Typically we can see a 157 or 287 when finding 11 and 111. The next line, Line 112 and the last line of Sonnet 8 is:

Sings this to thee thou single wilt proue none.

That line adds up to 201 Short cipher. TWO HUNDRED ONE is 157 Simple, 168 Reverse, 58 Short, and 287 Kaye ciphers, the same four ciphers as WILLIAM TUDOR I.

Once again in the Sonnets we have an 11 and 111, this time with the word "one" three times and the next line holds both Seal numbers.

The last word of Line 109 is "mother" (Resembling sier,and child,and happy mother,), then Line 110 adds up to 158 Short cipher which is the Simple cipher of ELIZABETH TUDOR. That reminds me of where Line 32 ends with the word "mother" and line 33 asks "For where is she so faire whose vn-eard wombe" which takes us to Sonnet 33 where the first 14 letters add up to 158 Simple, 192 Reverse, 59 Short, and 340 Kaye ciphers the exact same four ciphers of ELIZABETH TUDOR. The 11 letter Simple cipher of Sonnet 33 is 111.

What an amazing web of numbers and words that tell a story did Bacon weave.

 

[Christie Waldman]

Thank you, A. Phoenix and Light-of-Truth.