Bacon's Signature Ciphers in Shakespeare -39- What's your name?

-39-

8)  There is certainly no assertion that a Bacon numerical signature will always be found in the following line each time the question of a character’s name or identity comes up. But it has done so several times. In Anthony and Cleopatra (page 365) there is a suggestive finding, when we have:

Cleo. What’s thy name?

Pro. My name is Proculeius.

Cleo.  Anthony

http://sceti.library.upenn.edu/sceti/printedbooksNew/index.cfm?TextID=firstfolio&PagePosition=872

Here, neither the name “Proculeius” nor the letter count of this line or the line directly across equals a significant number. However, the following line with Cleopatra speaking “Anthony”, which is the only word on that line, is across from the line in the next column which is

“It shall content me best: Be gentle to her”.

 This line does have a count of 33, again the simple count for “Bacon”. And being opposite the name of Anthony we have the name of Francis’ brother “Anthony Bacon”. This Anthony, who likewise had superb language skills, has received some speculation as being a collaborator with Francis in writing plays. Coupled with the earlier reference, mentioned in part 3, to Anthony as the mythical Phoenix in “Thou Arabian bird!”, and in this same play, this would make another unlikely coincidence, if that’s what it is. Now in this case the line count of 33 is found in the adjacent column directly across from the name Anthony. We know now that this is not so strange since the very first cipher example of the Bacon-Tobey Acrostic went across three successive columns. And we’ll see more of this.

9)  Then previously in this same play of Anthony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Scene 13, pg 357, a similar result is found near the bottom of the first column. Again, we have an asking of a name:

Cleo. What’s your name?

The line following that of Cleopatra’s also does not seem to have the potential as a hidden signature:

“Thid.  My name is Thidias.”

 But directly across from “What’s your name?” in the next column is “And plighter of high hearts. O that I were” which has a letter count of 33. Again, the meaning of the sentence is not the pertinent factor when we’re looking for numerical signatures. Just in front of this line, and in the previous column where we find “What’s your name” is the second syllable of “Land-lord”, so just “lord”, one of Bacon’s most common titles and how others often referred to him. Together they can be read as “lord 33” and so “Lord Bacon”. Whether this might be a planned cipher or just a suggestive coincidence we cannot know for sure. But it’s associated with an identity question as well as a significant letter count and title for Bacon.

Here’s a link to the page:

http://sceti.library.upenn.edu/sceti/printedbooksNew/index.cfm?TextID=firstfolio&PagePosition=864