A book by Don Elfenbein
One reader of www.sirbacon.org, Don Elfenbein of Morgantown, West Virginia, has recently self-published, through Lulu Press, a short print-on-demand book entitled The Play That Solves the Shakespeare Authorship Mystery: The Allegory of Francis Bacon’s Natural History in The Tempest.
Click here to read the PDF version.
This essay gathers together and documents a number of incontrovertible but little-noticed facts that speak Shakespeare’s true name loudly and clearly.
Written for general readers and scholars alike, the essay systematizes and extends the investigations of the pioneering researchers who first published, more than a century ago, the provocative contention that The Tempest allegorizes a body of Baconian thought. It demonstrates that fourteen elements of this play having to do with the magus Prospero, the spirit Ariel, and the witch Sycorax resemble and represent fourteen of Bacon’s natural-philosophical ideas, several of which are peculiar to him. Those ideas include not only the general methodological prescriptions for which Bacon is famous but also his unique and largely forgotten conjectures about the inner workings of nature.
These numerous and striking parallels between elements of the play and elements of Bacon’s philosophy, the author argues, together constitute persuasive proof that Bacon wrote this celebrated drama.
Don is a researcher and former law professor who has been interested in the Baconian theory since the 1970s. He is eager to discuss his study with anyone who is interested in examining it and perhaps offering him comments, corrections, or suggestions.
A printed copy of the essay can be ordered from the Lulu Press bookstore:
The Play That Solves the Shakespeare Authorship Mystery
Don’s email address is don.elfenbein@gmail.com.
UPDATE: June 1, 2023:
PDF – THE PLAY THAT SOLVES THE SHAKESPEARE AUTHORSHIP MYSTERY
