The Shakespeare Fellowship
Encyclopedia
The Shakespeare Fellowship is an organization devoted to promoting Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
, as the true author of the works of William Shakespeare
.
Two organizations by this name have existed. The first, originally devoted to the study of the Shakespeare authorship but endorsing no particular candidate, was founded in England in 1921 by J. Thomas Looney
, Sir George Greenwood, and others. It maintained worldwide membership, chiefly in the UK and the United States.
In the United States, the Shakespeare Fellowship was incorporated in 1945. Oxfordian author and attorney Charlton Greenwood Ogburn
provided legal assistance in incorporating the organization. Oxfordian scholar and journalist Charles Wisner Barrell
was secretary and treasurer of the group during the 1940s, and also was editor of two of the group's publications, the Shakespeare Fellowship Newsletter (1939-1943) and the Shakespeare Fellowship Quarterly (1944-1948).
In the United States, the organization was superseded for many years beginning in 1957 by the Shakespeare Oxford Society. In 2001 the Shakespeare Fellowship was revived in the U. S. as a non-profit educational foundation.
The group publishes a quarterly journal, Shakespeare Matters, maintains an active website, and sponsors an annual essay contest on the Shakespearean question.
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, lyric poet, sportsman and patron of the arts, and is currently the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....
, as the true author of the works of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
.
Two organizations by this name have existed. The first, originally devoted to the study of the Shakespeare authorship but endorsing no particular candidate, was founded in England in 1921 by J. Thomas Looney
J. Thomas Looney
John Thomas Looney . was an English school teacher who is best known for having originated the Oxfordian theory, which claims that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was the true author of Shakespeare's plays.-Life:Looney was born in South Shields...
, Sir George Greenwood, and others. It maintained worldwide membership, chiefly in the UK and the United States.
In the United States, the Shakespeare Fellowship was incorporated in 1945. Oxfordian author and attorney Charlton Greenwood Ogburn
Charlton Greenwood Ogburn
Charlton Greenwood Ogburn was a practicing lawyer who was drawn into the Shakespearean authorship question when Charles Wisner Barrell approached him for assistance in his lawsuit against Folger Shakespeare Library Director Giles Dawson for libel in response to comments made after Barrell...
provided legal assistance in incorporating the organization. Oxfordian scholar and journalist Charles Wisner Barrell
Charles Wisner Barrell
Charles Wisner Barrell was an American film maker and supporter of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship....
was secretary and treasurer of the group during the 1940s, and also was editor of two of the group's publications, the Shakespeare Fellowship Newsletter (1939-1943) and the Shakespeare Fellowship Quarterly (1944-1948).
In the United States, the organization was superseded for many years beginning in 1957 by the Shakespeare Oxford Society. In 2001 the Shakespeare Fellowship was revived in the U. S. as a non-profit educational foundation.
The Shakespeare Fellowship (2001)
The goals of the new Fellowship include bringing the Shakespeare authorship debate to a world-wide audience via the Internet and stimulating a wide-ranging dialogue on the relevance of Shakespeare to the 21st century. The group is dedicated to these specific objectives:- To promote and endow research and education in the Shakespearean authorship question, with special emphasis on the theory first proposed by J. Thomas Looney identifying Edward de Vere, Seventeenth Earl of Oxford (1550-1604), as the true author of the Shakespeare canon;
- To promote and endow the reading, performance, study, and enjoyment of the works of Shakespeare;
- To encourage and support the revision of literary history inaugurated by Looney in 1920, making the case for de Vere's authorship available to students, teachers and all who are interested in literature and history;
- To promote and endow research and education in the European Renaissance in general: its culture, philosophy, history, literature, politics and music, with a particular emphasis on the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth I;
- To further the debate over the relevance of Shakespeare in the 21st century;
- And to establish and promote a variety of related activities -- a quarterly newsletter, regional speakers' bureaus, conferences, and other educational and scholarly initiatives addressing the authorship issue and the recognition of Edward de Vere as Shakespeare.
The group publishes a quarterly journal, Shakespeare Matters, maintains an active website, and sponsors an annual essay contest on the Shakespearean question.
External links
- http://www.shakespearefellowship.org
- http://www.sourcetext.com/sourcebook/
- New York Times article mentioning the Shakespeare Fellowship