Bacon's Signature Ciphers in Shakespeare -11- Bacon-Tobey-3

 

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This is simpler that the first part, but it stands out because 1) it’s a readable phrase “two alike”, 2) it’s directly next to and parallel in the next column to the first part, and 3) it perfectly represents the relationship of Francis Bacon and his friend Tobie Matthew. Bacon, in a letter to  Conde Condomar, who was the Spanish ambassador to England from 1613 to 1622, wrote, in Latin, “Prefectio domini Tobiae Matthaei, qui mihi est tanquam alter ego, ..” the second part translating as “who to me is like a second I”. And this is why a biography on Matthews was titled The Life of Sir Tobie Matthew, Bacon’s Alter Ego.

http://archive.org/stream/lifesirtobiemat00caltgoog#page/n9/mode/2up

So the phrase “two alike” fits the two contiguous names “F Bacon Tobey” perfectly. The possibility that this has occurred by chance in a Shakespeare play where Bacon is a leading possible hidden author would seem to be extraordinary. And still, the acrostic message doesn’t even appear to end there. On the following column, beginning just a few lines up from the start of the other two acrostic passages in the previous columns, was found another meaningful sequence, which is the following:

 

PROSPERO      Well demanded, wench.
      My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durst not,
      So dear the love my people bore me, nor set
      A mark so bloody on the business, but
      With colours fairer painted their foul ends.
      In few, they hurried us aboard a bark,
      Bore us some leagues to sea; where they prepared
      A rotten carcass of a boat, not rigg'd,
      Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats
      Instinctively had quit it: there they hoist us,
      To cry to the sea that roar'd to us, to sigh
      To the winds whose pity, sighing back again,
        Did us but loving wrong.

 

Bacon's Signature Ciphers in Shakespeare -10- Bacon-Tobey-2

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But the name Tobey stands out by its being contiguous with F Bacon. The importance of Tobey, to those unfamiliar with Bacon’s life, is that his closest friend was Tobie Matthew. So finding the two names together, even with the word ‘Obey’ to complete the name, is quite unusual and should alert anyone looking for authorship clues that this may be an intentional assertion by Bacon.  Also, the spelling is not far from what Bacon himself had used for his friend:  “I confess and declare that, as I remember, a good while after the cause ended, I received an hundred pounds, either by Mr. Tobye Matthew, or from Yong himself.”


It was to this Tobie Matthew that Bacon was in the practice of sending some of his works for review. For instance in one letter still extant, Bacon wrote:  “I have sent you some copies of The Advancement [of Learning] which you desired; and a little work of my recreation which you desired not [that he had not asked for]”. It was also to this Tobie Matthew that Shakespearian Professor James Shapiro went to for a quote showing how the language and ideas in the Shakespeare plays had entered popular discourse. He quotes Tobie Matthew paraphrasing Falstaff:  “Sir Francis Veer is coming towards the Low Countries, and Sir Alexander Ratcliff and Sir Robert Drury with him. ‘Honor pricks them on, and the world thinks that honor will quickly prick them off again’ ”. This is in reference to the play The First Part of Henry the Fourth where Falstaff says “Honor pricks me on. Yea, but how if honor prick me off when I come on?” See pg. 18 in A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, 1599, Shapiro, 2005.

So far this would appear like a slightly unorthodox acrostic. But if the intent is to ‘conceal the message rather than proclaim it’ then an unorthodox form may be needed. This is because, as The Friedmans also pointed out “[anagrams and acrostics] abounded in the literature of the times.”[p.101] and “nor should we be surprised if these devices concern the authorship of the works, for they have often been used to this end. We should even be tolerant of variable and erratic spelling.”  At some points they insisted on a fixed pattern in order to determine validity. Yet at other times they accepted some ambiguity and agreed that any uncertainty could potentially be overcome. In their arguments of faulty patterns they did not look at this type that mix first letters with a contiguous first syllable or short word (like ‘Obey’). What they plainly didn’t like were samples with unclear, seemingly random, selection of letters, or those making up a group of letters and then used as an anagram. If an acrostic was used that followed some strict rule of letter insertion then it would be much more easily detectable and harder to deny if he were confronted with it. The above Bacon-Tobey acrostic should be examined on its own merits.

But that’s not the end of this particular acrostic. What Walker found next was in the next over parallel column where on the line exactly next to the one “Begun to tell me what I am, but stopp’d” we find what appears as the beginning of another acrostic of first letters and a first syllable:

PROSPERO     I pray thee marke me:

I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated

To closeness, and the bettering of my mind

with that, which but by being so retir’d

Ore-priz’d all popular rate:in my false brother

Awak’d an evill nature, and my trust

Like a good parent, did beget of him

Bacon's Signature Ciphers in Shakespeare -9- Bacon-Tobey-1

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 Why they say “only” is strange. Certainly, just because an acrostic is ‘short’ doesn’t mean that it ‘must’ be by chance. But it would much more likely to be said to be by chance as by intention, unless other factors, like repetition were involved.

 They explain that “There is, admittedly, an element of uncertainty; but if there exists, within a sizeable portion of the text, a firm and inflexible system, this uncertainty may be offset by the impressive length of the acrostic message itself. ..it is never too late, if the message is long enough.”[p. 141]

1)   The first of our potential Baconian ciphers we’ll call the Bacon-Tobey acrostic.  It was discovered and written about by Baconian Mather Walker. He researched it quite deeply. What I’m presenting are his basic findings that most pertained to my purpose along with some additional points I found supporting it. 

 The Bacon-Tobey acrostic is found on the second and third pages of The Tempest in the First Folio. The Friedmans did not examine this possible Baconian acrostic. Here is the first part, from page 2, 1^st column:

PROSPERO      Sit down;
      For thou must now know farther.
 MIRANDA      You have often
      Begun to tell me what I am, but stopt     [stopp’d]
      And left me to a bootless Inquisition,
      Concluding, Stay: not yet.
PROSPERO      The hour's now come;
      The very minute bids thee ope thine ear;
      Obey and be attentive. Canst thou remember

Here’s the full page. Be sure to click on 8x in the upper right hand corner to get a larger view:

http://sceti.library.upenn.edu/sceti/printedbooksNew/index.cfm?TextID=firstfolio&PagePosition=20

Here we note that it does not follow the strict rule of a fixed chosen pattern to the pertinent letters. Critics will naturally focus on this. Also, as the Friedmans pointed out, the name of Bacon, especially with the last syllable ‘Con’ will likely be found in any lengthy text. Still, his name stands out with the first initial of his first name Francis, followed immediately by his last name.  This by itself, though, would be a very weak point of evidence as a hidden signature. The next portion strengthens it. Immediately following is Tobey, again not all with initial line letters.

Bacon's Signature Ciphers in Shakespeare -8- Arabian Bird

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The Anthony Bacon acrostic was found in a bundle of letters either written to him or from him. Note that the spelling isn’t exact for either his first or last name but that there is no doubt as to the person indicated. As the Friedmans acknowledge “it should also be stressed that spelling in these days was erratic”. An interesting observation here is how in the first line Anthony Bacon is compared to the mythical bird the “Phoenix”, also known as the “Arabian bird”. In the Shakespeare play of Anthony and Cleopatra, on page 352, we find the line:

Agri.  Oh Anthony, oh thou Arabian Bird!



http://sceti.library.upenn.edu/sceti/printedbooksNew/index.cfm?TextID=firstfolio&PagePosition=859 



 



 

‘Anthonio’ and Phoenix are also mentioned together in Twelfth Night, pg. 272. The only other Shakespeare character I found directly associated with the Arabian bird was the female protagonist Imogen in Cymbeline, unless one counts the baby Elizabeth in Henry VIII.

 

Ben Jonson, the playwright (and longtime friend of Francis Bacon) also used acrostics. He used a very obvious one in his play The Alchemist and another obvious acrostic in his poem To Doctor Empiric.

 

There are many less obvious acrostic patterns than the basic first letter of each line examples. Some use the last letter of each line. Some use the first letter of the first line, then the second letter of the second line, then the third, fourth, etc. Another has used this and in addition used the last letter of the first line, the second to the last letter of the second line, and on. Another variation is to reverse the letters, that is, starting at the bottom of the poem or text. Another variation described in the Wikipedia article is of one that used the first letter of each Chapter in a book -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnerotomachia_Poliphili

 

The Friedmans said that “There may be any number of varieties of acrostic” but also, in their  view “...but each has one property in common. In every acrostic, the rules for selecting the letters of the secret text are invariable, and the selection follows a fixed pattern; moreover, the selected letters are chosen in a particular order, and the rules for setting them out in the form of a text are rigid and inflexible.”[p. 98]

They then cite the pitfalls of some of the Baconian acrostics he examined. Mostly they focus on what was called a ‘string cipher’ or acrostic variation that was part acrostic and part anagram and that may include abbreviations and Latinization. They fault these saying: “The letters and syllables are not always taken from the beginnings of lines, and each ‘signature’ is so short that it can only plausibly be explained as the outcome of chance.” [p. 129] 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Bacon's Signature Ciphers in Shakespeare -7- Anthony

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Another example is of Francis Bacon’s brother Anthony by an anonymous writer. It seems to be part French and part Italian. His name is rewritten in capitals to the left of each line, each of which is translated into English:

A. Anglais phenix de celeste origine,

           (English phoenix of celestrial origin – French translation)

N. Ne pour orner et la terre et les cieus:

             (Born to adorn the earth and the heavens – French translation)

T. Ton renom bruit jusques aux envieux:

             (Thy renown clamours down even to the jealous – French translation)

H. Honneur te sert, et vertu te domine:

             (Honorable you serve and virtually you dominate – French translation)

O. Ornement seul de sagesse et doctrine,

             (Ornament of wisdom and doctrine – French translation)

I. Jour, et clairte de tout coeur genereux:

             (light and clarity to all generous hearts – French translation)

N. Nous ne scaurions regarder de nos yeux

             (When we no longer look at you with our eyes – French translation)

E. Eternite qui devant toi chemine.

             (you will still walk though eternity – French translation)

B. Bacon fior di virtu, raro e perfetto

             (Bacon flower of virtue, rare and perfect) (Google Italian translation)

A. Animo pronto, angelico intelletto,

             (Hearts that are ready, the angelic intellect)  (Google Italian translation)

C. Chiaro lume d'honor e caritade,

             (Clear light of honor and charity)  (Google Italian translation)

O. Ornamento e bella di nostra etade,

             (And beautiful ornament of our age,)   (Google Italian translation)

N. Natural real di fidelta pieno     (unsure translation – unusual or incorrect spelling)

E. Essempio d'ogni bon sempre sereno.

             (Example of every good always calm) - (Google Italian translation)

Note: I reproduced the order of lines as I found them in an online Shakespeare forum but the author I got it from may have transposed the “I” and “N” lines.

Anthony seems to have worked closely with his brother Francis both in the area of Intelligence and in their literary interests. 

Bacon's Signature Ciphers in Shakespeare -6- Acrostics

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Fun with Baconian Ciphers

Part 3

Now we begin with a review of the basics of acrostics. The following extracts are from Wikipedia:

An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. Acrostics are common in medieval literature, where they most commonly serve to highlight the name of the poet or his patron, or to make a prayer to a saint. They are most common in verse works but can also appear in prose. Often the ease of detectability of an acrostic can depend on the intention of its creator. In some cases an author may desire an acrostic to have a better chance of being perceived by an observant reader. Acrostics may also be used as a form of steganography [the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspects the existence of the message, a form of security through obscurity], where the author seeks to conceal the message rather than proclaim it. This might be achieved by making the key letters uniform in appearance with the surrounding text, or by aligning the words in such a way that the relationship between the key letters is less obvious. This is referred to as null ciphers in steganography, using the first letter of each word to form a hidden message in an otherwise innocuous text. Using letters to hide a message, as in acrostic ciphers, was popular during the Renaissance, and could employ various methods of enciphering, such as selecting other letters than initials based on a repeating pattern (equidistant letter sequences), or even concealing the message by starting at the end of the text and working backwards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrostic

The Friedman’s, in their The Shakespeare Ciphers Examined, had this to say of acrostics: “Acrostic devices have the advantage that, unlike ciphers which depend on accidents of page-numbering or particular kinds of type, they leave no doubt that the author of the open text must also have been responsible for any hidden message—once it is established that one exists.” ”If, therefore, any genuine messages of this kind exist, they must be taken as conclusive.” About Elizabethan acrostics they write “Certainly, they were very popular at the time. Walsh, in his Hand-Book of Literary Curiosities, comments that the business of composing acrostics ‘was carried to its most ridiculous and wasteful excess by the Elizabethan poets’.”  They give some examples. One has the name of spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham’:

Shall Honour, Fame, and Titles of Renowne,
In Clods of Clay be thus inclosed still?
Rather will I, though wiser Wits may frowne,
For to inlarge his Fame extend my skill.
Right, gentle Reader, be it knowne to thee,
A famous Knight doth here interred lye,
Noble by Birth, renowned for Policie,
Confounding Foes, which wrought our Jeopardy.
In Forraine Countries their Intents he knew,
Such was his zeal to do his Country good,
When Dangers would by Enemies ensue,
As well as they themselves, he understood.
Launch forth ye Muses into Streams of Praise,
Sing, and sound forth Praise-worthy Harmony;
In England Death cut off his dismall Dayes,
Not wronged by Death, but by false Trechery. 

Grudge not at this imperfect Epitaph;
Herein I have exprest my simple Skill,
As the First-fruits preceding from a Graffe:
Make then a better whosoever will. 

The RED-BOLD was added for this example and was not part of the original form.

Bacon's Signature Ciphers in Shakespeare -5- The Hidden Bard

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Another site that can be used is this one:

http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/facsimile/book/SLNSW_F1/140/?work=LLL

A third site can be found here:

http://isebeta.uvic.ca/Library/facsimile/book/SLNSW_F1/

Most of the time readers will not need to visit any of these sites since I used screen shots for most examples. Sometimes they are a problem to add to this blog and if that becomes a problem then links may have to suffice. And a few times it may be necessary to visit the site itself to review the evidence discussed.

First, a note to those unfamiliar with Elizabethan spelling. The letter ‘s” often looks like an “f” to us. And when it’s italicized it can be quite elongated. The letter “j” can look like the letter “i” to us, as in the word “iest” at the end of the first line above. The letter “v” is often spelt with the letter “u”. And the capital letter “U” may be spelt with a “V”. And a “w” is often spelt with two “v”s. Most of the time these strange spellings won’t be an issue in understanding this paper.

The ‘common sense’ meaning in the play selection of the last blog post is for the actors to swear to study to know what otherwise they would remain ignorant of. And what are these things which else they should not know? Things that are ‘hid’ and ‘bard’. Notice the spelling isn’t ‘barred’, but ‘bard’ like the spelling for a poet of epic tales. Interestingly also is that the phrase “hid & bard” sounds like “hidden bard”. Of course, this completely goes against ‘common sense’ and may just be a complete coincidence, even though it’s found in a context arguing for the searching of hidden things. Skeptics will naturally scoff loudly and insultingly at the very thought of it possibly suggesting this secondary meaning. However, from the alternate authorship perspective it does look suspicious.

So here’s my point for readers to keep in mind – Bacon worked on his philosophical works for decades and so he had a mindset of the natural world as a kind of maze that needed clues for it to be “decrypted”. If this mindset was an everyday mental world for him, then, if he wrote the Shakespeare works, not only would we see the numerous ideas and language of his in them, as has already been shown elsewhere by Baconian researchers, but it’s also quite possible that he would leave such clues in them to be someday ‘decrypted’ for the world to learn of his hidden authorship. At least one Baconian has suggested that he may have done this as a kind of ‘test’ for scholars or ‘wits’ of the future to use the inductive method to reveal his authorship in which he had otherwise covered his tracks “keeping the author out of sight” so that it could be ‘plausibly denied’ if challenged in his time, which might occur with writing something like the deposition scene in Richard II (which some think could have cost Shakespeare his freedom or even his life) or other controversial political or scientific ideas of his day.

With this understanding in mind we’ll now introduce some basics and then begin our look at some such possible authorship ‘clues’ he may have left behind in the Shakespeare works. I will be numbering the cipher candidates as well as the significant allusions or connections mentioned.