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The Great Cryptogram: Francis Bacon's Cipher in the So-called Shakespeare Plays, Vol 2
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
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About the author
Ignatius L. Donnelly
50 books37 followersU.S. Congressman, populist writer and science writer.
His most known theories are on Atlantis, Shakespearean authorship and Catastrophism.
Ignatius Loyola Donnelly ran in multiple elections for governor of Minnesota and was Republican congressman from 1863–1868.
In 1892, Donnelly wrote the preamble of the People's Party's Omaha Platform for the presidential campaign of that year. He was nominated for Vice President of the United States in 1900 by the People's Party.
His most known theories are on Atlantis, Shakespearean authorship and Catastrophism.
Ignatius Loyola Donnelly ran in multiple elections for governor of Minnesota and was Republican congressman from 1863–1868.
In 1892, Donnelly wrote the preamble of the People's Party's Omaha Platform for the presidential campaign of that year. He was nominated for Vice President of the United States in 1900 by the People's Party.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 3, 2024
A good work for the exposing Shakespeare as a fictional character and a bad work for supporting the liar who wrote the Shakespearean plays and poems. The Shakespearean revolution was an attempt to lead the common man away from Bible and towards repackaged erotic fictions of the pagan era.
August 9, 2022
" I will a round, unvarnished tale deliver." (othello 1)
Great Cryptogram, Part 2 is an astonishing book! The title refers to Shakespeare's First Folio, 1623-- not only as a retrospective of his plays, but as a repository of a hidden, encoded narrative written by Sir Francis Bacon, who stood at the very centre of political & cultural life.
In this many-layered book, Donnelly sets out to share his adventures in decoding by introducing his own trial-and-error path to the discovery of the cipher-key and then demonstrating his methodology. The result is the cipher revealed, like diary entries, as dramatic as the plays themselves.
A facsimile reprint of Henry IV, parts 1 and 2 from the First Folio 1623 is included for us to follow as Donnelly demonstrates the decoding key. Wonderful to have the facsimile within reach, though not all that easy to read its classic font; there are as well publishing imperfections, such as missing page numbers & crowding of text. Add to this, the flexi-spelling of the time, brackets in odd places, unusual hyphenates, italics and capitals haphazardly sprinkled about. But what a surprise!
It turns out that these textual errors are actually glyphs, the very elements of the encryption--once carefully placed to archive secrets. The key depends on the number of words on the page, the number of hyphenates, of words in brackets, of words italicized, capitalized, etc. Once calculations are made, the hidden story emerges. And what an enlightening story it is!
While the play-text is read horizontally from left to right, the cipher-text (once deciphered) may be read in any direction. This amazing tapestry is made possible by the intentional eccentricities of the First Folio, designed specifically by the author -- not only a divine poet & playwright but a consummate code master & mathematician as well!
A small problem: even with glyphs discovered and the cipher revealed, Donnelly's method seems complicated and labor-intensive. He himself feels that an elegant key with a comprehensive application has been lost and that the stories, except for a few, are hopelessly buried.
We know there is a key--for in The Tempest is found an acrostic message to "Tobey" : SIT THE DIAL AT NBW, F. BACON, TOBEY. (A literary compass?)
Still, without the First Folio of 1623, or at least a facsimile of the same, there is no code. And no decoding. But if publishers made true reprints of the 1623 edition with its font, its singular marks & errors as it was designed, curious geeks & scholars would have the freedom to play with the original and maybe information would begin to flow.
I think Great Cryptogram is just waiting for a virtual replica of Bacon's scrivenery--a brilliant game app, a communal tool for independent & joint Folio research designed to unfold the hidden journals of the Bard! A giant jigsaw puzzle.
Now that would be a game worth playing!
(Note: This edition is a reprint of the 1888 publication: Kessinger Publishing.)
Great Cryptogram, Part 2 is an astonishing book! The title refers to Shakespeare's First Folio, 1623-- not only as a retrospective of his plays, but as a repository of a hidden, encoded narrative written by Sir Francis Bacon, who stood at the very centre of political & cultural life.
In this many-layered book, Donnelly sets out to share his adventures in decoding by introducing his own trial-and-error path to the discovery of the cipher-key and then demonstrating his methodology. The result is the cipher revealed, like diary entries, as dramatic as the plays themselves.
A facsimile reprint of Henry IV, parts 1 and 2 from the First Folio 1623 is included for us to follow as Donnelly demonstrates the decoding key. Wonderful to have the facsimile within reach, though not all that easy to read its classic font; there are as well publishing imperfections, such as missing page numbers & crowding of text. Add to this, the flexi-spelling of the time, brackets in odd places, unusual hyphenates, italics and capitals haphazardly sprinkled about. But what a surprise!
It turns out that these textual errors are actually glyphs, the very elements of the encryption--once carefully placed to archive secrets. The key depends on the number of words on the page, the number of hyphenates, of words in brackets, of words italicized, capitalized, etc. Once calculations are made, the hidden story emerges. And what an enlightening story it is!
While the play-text is read horizontally from left to right, the cipher-text (once deciphered) may be read in any direction. This amazing tapestry is made possible by the intentional eccentricities of the First Folio, designed specifically by the author -- not only a divine poet & playwright but a consummate code master & mathematician as well!
A small problem: even with glyphs discovered and the cipher revealed, Donnelly's method seems complicated and labor-intensive. He himself feels that an elegant key with a comprehensive application has been lost and that the stories, except for a few, are hopelessly buried.
We know there is a key--for in The Tempest is found an acrostic message to "Tobey" : SIT THE DIAL AT NBW, F. BACON, TOBEY. (A literary compass?)
Still, without the First Folio of 1623, or at least a facsimile of the same, there is no code. And no decoding. But if publishers made true reprints of the 1623 edition with its font, its singular marks & errors as it was designed, curious geeks & scholars would have the freedom to play with the original and maybe information would begin to flow.
I think Great Cryptogram is just waiting for a virtual replica of Bacon's scrivenery--a brilliant game app, a communal tool for independent & joint Folio research designed to unfold the hidden journals of the Bard! A giant jigsaw puzzle.
Now that would be a game worth playing!
(Note: This edition is a reprint of the 1888 publication: Kessinger Publishing.)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews