There is some controversy about who wrote the plays attributed to William Shakespeare. Two names that come up often with skeptics are Edward de Vere and Francis Bacon. During the mid 19th century, Bacon was the most popular candidate. Now it is Edward de Vere. Was William Shakespeare the author of those masterpieces of the English language? It is impossible for Shakespeare to be the author, with his low background and little education. The two …showed first 75 words of 2315 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2315 total…Shaksper neither did nor could." Sources Kathman, Dave. "The Shakespeare Authorship Page." Shakespeare Authorship home page. http://www.bcpl.net/~tross/ws/will.html (23 March 1998) Leary, Penn. "Are There Ciphers in Shakespeare?" http://home.att.net/~tleary/ (23 March 1998) ------, ed. Second Cryptographic Shakespeare. http://home.att.net/~tleary/penn9 (26 March 1998) Sobran, Joseph. "Shakespeare Revealed in Oxford's Poetry." De Vere Society Newsletter. Jan. 1996 Twain, Mark. Is Shakespeare Dead? http://www.lm.com/~joseph/shake3.html (26 March 1998)