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In Search of Shakespeare: A Reconnaissance Into the Poet's Life and Handwriting
STATED FIRST EDITION. (A} PRINTING.1985 HJB softcover(trade paperback), Charles Hamilton (The Hitler Fakes That Fooled the World). Everyone wants to pluck out the heart of Shakespeare's mystery, and Charles Hamilton believes that he has done so. There is an engaging zest about his account of his "obsession," his search to find records in the poet's hand.
271 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
6 people want to read
About the author
Charles Hamilton Jr.
18 books1 followerAmerican author, handwriting expert and paleographer.
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February 12, 2019
I came to this book with a couple of things in mind. That Shakespeare may have been murdered has long gnawed at me as I ponder his last meeting with Ben Jonson, drinking and talking with Michael Drayton, and Hamilton speculates that the bard was suffering already from arsenic administered by his daughter Judith in order to prevent him rewriting his will. This is inflammatory stuff but the thesis, supported by the sealed tomb of the playwright, preventing inspection, only fuels the fire of suspicion.
The other thing that piqued my interest is the supposition that the dearth of examples of Shakespeare’s handwriting is based on miscalculations of historians or that much of the literary material of the playwright had been burned or intentionally discarded to prevent being brought up on charges of sedition. A Catholic writing for the popular stage was a dangerous thing, especially since followers of the old faith could be executed, and Shakespeare, John Heminges, Henry Condell, Richard Burbage, et al were making lots of money producing theatre for the masses, and possibly could be brought up on charges of writing material against the Queen. I have always thought that William Shakespeare was doing his best to keep a very low profile.
Charles Hamilton takes the position as a "manuscript expert," analytically stating his observations of Shakespeare’s handwriting as "facts," beginning with a controversial proposition that Shakespeare’s will is in the playwright’s own hand. Additionally the author claims that the playwright’s application for a coat of arms is in his own had, and that several interlinear emendations in Francis Bacon’s manuscripts are his as well as he was a ghostwriter for Bacon.
Was Shakespeare Murdered?! Enquiring minds want to know… Hamilton puts forth the idea, based on available knowledge, that Shakespeare’s son-in-law Thomas Quiney, married the bard’s daughter Judith Shakespeare for what monies he could profit from the joining, knowing that Shakespeare was a wealthy Stratford resident, land owner, and getting along in years. According to the author Quiney was a philanderer and was in sexual relations with several other women in and around Stratford. In his reasoning, Judith murdered her father by slowly feeding him arsenic, causing delirium, fever, increasing shaking in the hand and ultimately death, all so he could not rewrite his will.
Hamilton’s assertion that Shakespeare's will is in his own hand, is the foundation stone for the rest of the book. And the author lays out a convincing scenario for how the bard’s will and in particularly his increasingly eroding handwriting came about. If the bard was feeling ill and wrote his own will, then the script reflects his signature handwriting, and the seemingly inserted lines and mismatched script the result of a decling mental and physical condition due to arsenic poisoning.
Others have studied the characteristics of Shakespeare's handwriting, and the textual details of his will, and the suspected additions to the manuscript of Sir Thomas More, and seen similarities. Hamilton is the only one who believes that the bard wrote his own will however. Hamilton goes out on a limb but never without reasonable supposition. If we accept that William Shakespeare wrote his own will, and that the differences of the handwriting and the signatures is due to a declining physical condition then much of what Hamilton offers is enlightening.
All in all the book is a fascinating look at the supposed handwriting of William Shakespeare, and in this light the further suppositions of possible murder are supported well by a good amount of textual material.
The other thing that piqued my interest is the supposition that the dearth of examples of Shakespeare’s handwriting is based on miscalculations of historians or that much of the literary material of the playwright had been burned or intentionally discarded to prevent being brought up on charges of sedition. A Catholic writing for the popular stage was a dangerous thing, especially since followers of the old faith could be executed, and Shakespeare, John Heminges, Henry Condell, Richard Burbage, et al were making lots of money producing theatre for the masses, and possibly could be brought up on charges of writing material against the Queen. I have always thought that William Shakespeare was doing his best to keep a very low profile.
Charles Hamilton takes the position as a "manuscript expert," analytically stating his observations of Shakespeare’s handwriting as "facts," beginning with a controversial proposition that Shakespeare’s will is in the playwright’s own hand. Additionally the author claims that the playwright’s application for a coat of arms is in his own had, and that several interlinear emendations in Francis Bacon’s manuscripts are his as well as he was a ghostwriter for Bacon.
Was Shakespeare Murdered?! Enquiring minds want to know… Hamilton puts forth the idea, based on available knowledge, that Shakespeare’s son-in-law Thomas Quiney, married the bard’s daughter Judith Shakespeare for what monies he could profit from the joining, knowing that Shakespeare was a wealthy Stratford resident, land owner, and getting along in years. According to the author Quiney was a philanderer and was in sexual relations with several other women in and around Stratford. In his reasoning, Judith murdered her father by slowly feeding him arsenic, causing delirium, fever, increasing shaking in the hand and ultimately death, all so he could not rewrite his will.
Hamilton’s assertion that Shakespeare's will is in his own hand, is the foundation stone for the rest of the book. And the author lays out a convincing scenario for how the bard’s will and in particularly his increasingly eroding handwriting came about. If the bard was feeling ill and wrote his own will, then the script reflects his signature handwriting, and the seemingly inserted lines and mismatched script the result of a decling mental and physical condition due to arsenic poisoning.
Others have studied the characteristics of Shakespeare's handwriting, and the textual details of his will, and the suspected additions to the manuscript of Sir Thomas More, and seen similarities. Hamilton is the only one who believes that the bard wrote his own will however. Hamilton goes out on a limb but never without reasonable supposition. If we accept that William Shakespeare wrote his own will, and that the differences of the handwriting and the signatures is due to a declining physical condition then much of what Hamilton offers is enlightening.
All in all the book is a fascinating look at the supposed handwriting of William Shakespeare, and in this light the further suppositions of possible murder are supported well by a good amount of textual material.
Displaying 1 of 1 review