On the revealing page 136 in "Loves Labour's lost."
In the previous chapter it was pointed out that using letters for
numbers, Bacon's name is represented by 33.
B A C O N .
2 1 3 14 13 = 33
and that the long word possesses the numerical value of 287.
H O N O R I F I C A B I L I T U
8 14 13 14 17 9 6 9 3 1 2 9 11 9 19 20
D I N I T A T I B U S
4 9 13 9 19 1 19 9 2 20 18 = 287
In the Shakespeare folio, Page 136, shewn in Plate 20 and Plate 21, on
Pages 86-7, ON LINE 33, we read "What is Ab speld backward with the horn
on his head?"
The answer which is given is evidently an incorrect answer, it is "Ba,
puericia with a horne added," and the Boy mocks him with "Ba most seely
sheepe, with a horne: you heare his learning."
The reply should of course have been in Latin. The Latin for a horn is
cornu. The real answer therefore is "Ba corn-u fool."
This is the exact answer you might expect to find on the line 33, since
the number 33 indicates Bacon's name. And now, and now only, can be
explained the very frequent use of the ornament representing a Horned
Sheep, inside and outside "Baconian" books, under whatever name they may
be known. An example will be found at the head of the present chapter on
page 103. The uninitiated are still "informed" or rather "misinformed"
that this ornament alludes to the celebrated Golden Fleece of the
Argonauts and they little suspect that they have been purposely fooled,
and that the real reference is to Bacon.
It should be noted here that in the Quarto of "Loues Labor's lost,"
see Plate 22, Page 105, if the heading "Loues Labor's lost" be counted
as a line, we read on the 33rd line: "Ba most seely sheepe with a
horne: you heare his learning." This would direct you to a reference
to Bacon, although not so perfectly as the final arrangement in the
folio of 1623.
Proceeding with the other lines in the page, we read:--
"Quis quis, thou consonant?"
This means "Who, who"? [which Bacon] because in order to make the
revelation complete we must be told that it is "Francis" Bacon, so as
to leave no ambiguity or possibility of mistake. How then is it
possible that we can be told that it is Francis Bacon? We read in
answer to the question:
[Illustration: Plate XXII. Facsimile from "Loues Labor Lost," First
edition 1598]
"Quis quis, thou consonant?
The last of five vowels if you repeat them, the
fifth if I.
I will repeat them a, e, I.
The Sheepe, the other two concludes it o, u."
Now here we are told that a, e, I, o, u is the answer to Quis quis, and
we must note that the I is a capital letter. Therefore a is followed by
e, but I being a capital letter does not follow e but starts afresh, and
we must read I followed by o, and o followed by u.
[Illustration: Plate XXIII. Facsimile of a Contemporary Copy of a Letter
of Francis Bacon.]
Is it possible that these vowels will give us the Christian name of
Bacon? Can it be that we are told on what page to look? The answer to
both these questions is the affirmative "Yes."
The great Folio of Shakespeare was published in 1623, and in the
following year, 1624, there was brought out a great Cryptographic book
by the "Man in the Moon." We shall speak about this work presently;
suffice for the moment to say that this book was issued as the key to
the Shakespeare Folio of 1623. If we turn to page 254 in the
Cryptographic book we shall find Chapter XIV. "De Transpositione
Obliqua, per dispositionem Alphabeti."
[Illustration: Plate XXIV. FACSIMILES FROM PAGE 255 OF "GU TAVI SELENI
CRYPTOMENYTICES," PUBLISHED 1624. [The Square Table is much enlarged].]
This chapter describes how, by means of square tables, one letter
followed by another letter will give the cypher letter. On the present
page appears the square, which is shown in Plate 24, which enables us to
answer the question "Quis quis."
By means of this square we perceive that "a" followed by "e" gives us
the letter F, that "I" followed by "o" gives us the letter R, and that
"o" followed by "u" gives us the letter A. The answer therefore to Quis
quis (which Bacon do you mean) is Fra [Bacon]. _See_ Plate 23, Page 107.
[Illustration: Plate XXV. FACSIMILE FROM PAGE 2O2b OF "TRAICTE DES
CHIFFRES OU SECRETES MANIERES D'ESCRIRE," PAR VlGENÈRE.]
But what should induce us to look at this particular chapter on page 254
of the Cryptographic book for the solution? The answer is clearly given
in the wonderful page 136 of the 1623 Folio of Shakespeare.
As has been pointed out the numerical value of the long word
Honorificabilitudinitatibus is 287, and the numerical value of Bacon is
33. We have found Bacon from Ba with a horn, and we require the
remainder of his name, accordingly deduct 33 from 287, and we get the
answer 254 which is the number of the required page in the Cryptographic
book of 1624. But the wise Author knew that someone would say "How does
this apply to the 1598 Quarto published twenty-six years before the
great Cryptographic book appeared?" On Plate 24, Page 108, taken from
page 255 of the Cryptographic book of 1624, it is shewn that the
following lines are attached to the square
"Quarta Tabula, ex Vigenerio, pag. 202.b, etc."
=Square table taken from Vigenerio, page 202.b.
This reference is to the work entitled, "Traicte des chiffres ou
secretes manieres d'escrire": par Blaise de Vigenere, which was
published in Paris in 1586. Spedding states (Vol. I. of "Bacon's Letters
and Life," p. 6-8) that Francis Bacon went in 1576 to France, with Sir
Amias Paulet, the English Ambassador. Bacon remained in France until
1578-9, and when in 1623 he published his "De Augmentis
Scientiarum"--(the Advancement of Learning) he tells us that while in
Paris he invented his own method of secret writing. _See_ Spedding's
"Works of Bacon," Vol. 4, p. 445.
The system which Bacon then invented is now known as the Biliteral
Cypher, and it is in fact practically the same as that which is
universally employed in Telegraphy under the name of the Morse Code.
A copy of Vigenere's book will be found in the present writer's Baconian
library, for he knew by the ornaments and by the other marks that Bacon
must have had a hand in its production.
Anyone, therefore, reading the Quarto edition of "Loues Labor's lost,"
1598, and putting _two_ and _two_ together will find on p. 202.b of
Vigenere's book, the Table, of which a facsimile is here given, Plate
25, Page 109. This square is even more clear than the square table in
the great Cryptographic book.
Thus, upon the same page 136 in the Folio, or on F. 4 in the Quarto, in
addition to Honorificabilitudinitatibus containing the revealing
sentence "Hi ludi F Baconis nati tuiti orbi"--"These plays F Bacon's
offspring are entrusted to the world," we see that we are able to
discover on line 33 the name of Bacon, and by means of the lines which
follow that it is Fra. Bacon who is referred to.
Before parting with this subject we will give one or two examples to
indicate how often the number 33 is employed to indicate Bacon.
We have just shewn that on page 136 of the Folio we obtain Bacon's name
on line 33. On page 41 we refer to Ben Jonson's "Every man out of his
Humour." In an extremely rare early Quarto [_circa_ 1600] of that play
some unknown hand has numbered the pages referring to Sogliardo
(Shakespeare) and Puntarvolo (Bacon) 32 and 32 repeated. Incorrect
pagination is a common method used in "revealing" books to call
attention to some statements, and anyone can perceive that the second 32
is really 33 and as usual reveals something about Bacon.
On page 61 we point out that on page 33 of the little book called "The
Great Assizes holden in Parnassus" Apollo speaks. As the King speaks in
a Law Court only through the mouth of his High Chancellor so Apollo
speaks in the supposititious law action through the mouth of his
Chancellor of Parnassus, who is Lord Verulam, i.e. Bacon. Thus again
Bacon is found on Page 33. The writer could give very numerous examples,
but these three which occur incidentally will give some idea how
frequently the number 33 is used to indicate Bacon.[8]
The whole page 136 of the Folio is cryptographic, but we will not now
proceed to consider any other matters contained upon it, but pass on to
discuss the great Cryptographic book which was issued under Bacon's
instructions in the year following the publication of the great Folio of
Shakespeare. Before, however, speaking of the book, we must refer to the
enormous pains always taken to provide traps for the uninitiated.
If you go to Lunaeburg, where the Cryptographic book was published, you
will be referred to the Library at Wolfenbuttel and to a series of
letters to be found there which contain instructions to the engraver
which seem to prove that this book has no possible reference to
Shakespeare. We say, seem to prove, for the writer possesses accurate
photographs of all these letters and they really prove exactly the
reverse, for they are, to those capable of understanding them, cunningly
devised false clues, quite clear and plain. That these letters are
snares for the uninitiated, the writer, who possesses a "Baconian"
library, could easily prove to any competent scholar.
[Illustration: 106 _Surnames_. Plate XXVI.]
Before referring to the wonderful title page of the Cryptographic book
which reveals the Bacon-Shakespeare story, it is necessary to direct the
reader's attention to Camden's "Remains," published 1616. We may
conclude that Bacon had a hand in the production of this book, since
Spedding's "Bacon's Works," Vol. 6, p. 351, and Letters, Vol. 4, p. 211,
informs us that Bacon assisted Camden with his "Annales."
In Camden's "Remains," 1616, the Chapter on Surnames, p. 106, commences
with an ornamental headline like the head of Chapter 10, p. 84, but
printed "_upside down_." A facsimile of the heading in Camden's book is
shewn in Plate 26, page 113.
This trick of the upside down printing of ornaments and even of
engravings is continually resorted to when some revelation concerning
Bacon's works is given. Therefore in Camden's "Remains" of 1616 in the
Chapter on Surnames, because the head ornament is printed upside down,
we may be perfectly certain that we shall find some revelation
concerning Bacon and Shakespeare.
Accordingly on p. 121 we find as the name of a village "Bacon Creping."
There never was a village called "Bacon Creping." And on page 128 we
read "such names as Shakespeare, Shotbolt, Wagstaffe." In referring to
the great Cryptographic book, we shall realise the importance of this
conjunction of names.
On Plate 27, Page 115, we give a reduced facsimile of the title page,
which as the reader will see, states in Latin that the work is by
Gustavus Selenus, and contains systems of Cryptographic writing, also
methods of the shorthand of Trithemius. The Imprint at the end, under a
very handsome example of the double A ornament which in various forms is
used generally in books of Baconian learning, states that it was
published and printed at Lunaeburg in 1624. Gustavus Selenus we are told
in the dedicatory poems prefixed to the work is "Homo lunae" [the man in
the Moon].
[Illustration: Plate XXVII. Facsimile Title Page.]
[Illustration: Plate XXVIII. Left-Handed Portion, much enlarged, of
Plate XXVIII.]
[Illustration: 202.--Royal Eagle. Facsimile from p. 93 of Boutell's
English Heraldry, 1899. If this is compared with the bird in
Plate XXVIII. it will at once be seen that the later is an Eagle
in full flight.]
[Illustration: Plate XXIX. Right-Hand Portion, much enlarged, of
Plate XXVII.]
[Illustration: Plate XXX. Top Portion of Plate XXVII., much enlarged.]
[Illustration: Plate XXXI. Bottom Portion of Plate XXVII., much
enlarged.]
Look first at the whole title page; on the top is a tempest with flaming
beacons, on the left (of the reader) is a gentleman giving something to
a spearman, and there are also other figures; on the right is a man on
horseback, and at the bottom in a square is a much dressed up man taking
the "Cap of Maintenance" from a man writing a book.
Examine first the left-hand picture shewn enlarged, Plate 28, Page 118.
You see a man, evidently Bacon, giving his writing to a Spearman who is
dressed in actor's boots (see Stothard's painting of Falstaff in the
"Merry Wives of Windsor" wearing similar actor's boots, Plate 32, Page
127). Note that the Spearman has a sprig of bay in the hat which he
holds in his hand. This man is a Shake-Spear, nay he really is a correct
portrait of the Stratford householder, which you will readily perceive
if you turn to Dugdale's engraving of the Shakespeare bust, Plate 5,
Page 14. In the middle distance the man still holding a spear, still
being a Shake-Speare, walks with a staff, he is therefore a Wagstaffe.
On his back are books--the books of the plays. In the sky is seen an
arrow, no, it is not sufficiently long for an arrow, it is a Shotbolt
(Shakespeare, Wagstaffe, Shotbolt, of Camden's "Remains"). This Shotbolt
is near to a bird which seems about to give to it the scroll it carries
in its beak. But is it a real bird? No, it has no real claws, its feet
are Jove's lightnings, verily, "it is the Eagle of great verse."
Next, look on Plate 29, Page 119, which is the picture on the right of
the title page. Here you see that the same Shake-spear whom we saw in
the left-hand picture is now riding on a courser. That he is the same
man is shewn by the sprig of bay in his hat, but he is no longer a
Shake-spear, he is a Shake-_spur_. Note how much the artist has
emphasised the drawing of the spur. It is made the one prominent thing
in the whole picture. We refer our reader to "The Returne from
Pernassus" (see pp. 47-48) where he will read,
"England affordes those glorious vagabonds
That carried earst their fardels on their backes
Coursers to ride on through the gazing streetes."
Now glance at the top picture on the title page (see Plate 27, Page
115,) which is enlarged in Plate 30, Page 122. Note that the picture is
enclosed in the magic circle of the imagination, surrounded by the masks
of Tragedy, Comedy, and Farce (in the same way as Stothard's picture of
the "Merry Wives of Windsor," Plate 32, Page 127).
[Illustration: Plate XXXII. Scene from "The Merry Wives of Windsor,"
painted by Thomas Stothard.]
The engraving represents a tempest with beacon lights; No; it represents
"The Tempest" of Shakespeare and tells you that the play is filled with
Bacon lights. (In the sixteenth century Beacon was pronounced Bacon.
"Bacon great Beacon of the State.")
We have already pointed out that "The Tempest," as Emile Montegut shewed
in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_ in 1865, is a mass of Bacon's revelations
concerning himself.
At the bottom (see Plate 27, Page 115, and Plate 31, Page 123), within
the "four square corners of fact," surrounded with disguised masks of
Tragedy, Comedy, and Farce, is shewn the same man who gave the scroll
to the Spearman, see Plate 29, Page 118 (note the pattern of his
sleeves). He is now engaged in writing his book, while an Actor, very
much overdressed and wearing a mask something like the accepted mask of
Shakespeare, is lifting from the real writer's head a cap known in
Heraldry as the "Cap of Maintenance." Again we refer to our quotation
on page 48.
"Those glorious vagabonds....
Sooping it in their glaring Satten sutes."
Is not this masquerading fellow an actor "Sooping it in his glaring
Satten sute"? The figure which we say represents Bacon, see Plate 28,
wears his clothes as a gentleman. Nobody could for a moment imagine that
the masked creature in Plate 31 was properly wearing his own clothes.
No, he is "sooping it in his glaring Satten sute."
The whole title page clearly shows that it is drawn to give a
revelation about Shakespeare, who might just as well have borne the
name of Shotbolt or of Wagstaffe or of Shakespur, see "The Tempest,"
Act v., Scene I.
"The strong bass'd promontorie
Have I made shake, and by the spurs pluckt up."
There are also revealing title pages in other books, shewing a spear and
an actor wearing a single spur only (see Plate 35, Page 153).
It will be of interest to shew another specially revealing title page,
which for upwards of a hundred years remained unaltered as the title
page to Vol. I. of Bacon's collected works, printed abroad in Latin. A
different engraving, representing the same scene was also published in
France. These engravings, however, were never reproduced or used in
England, because the time for revelation had not yet come. Bacon is
shewn seated (see Plate 33, Page 131). Compare his portrait with the
engraving of the gentleman giving his scroll to the Spearman in the
Gustavus Silenus frontispiece, Plate 27, Page 115, and Plate 28, Page
118. Bacon is pointing with his right hand in full light to his open
book, while his left hand in deepest shadow is putting forward a figure
holding in both its hands a closed and clasped book, which by the cross
lines on its side (the accepted symbol of a mirror) shows that it
represents the mirror up to Nature, i.e., Shakespeare's plays.
Specially note that Bacon puts forward with his LEFT hand the figure
holding the book which is the mirror up to Nature. In the former part of
this treatise the writer has proved that the figure that forms the
frontispiece of the great folio of Shakespeare's plays, which is known
as the Droeshout portrait of Wm. Shakespeare, is really composed of two
LEFT arms and a mask. The reader will now be able to fully realise the
revelation contained in Droeshout's masked figure with its two left arms
when he examines it with the title page shown, Plate 33, Page 131.
[Illustration: Plate XXXIII. Facsimile Title Page.]
Bacon is putting forward what we described as a "figure"; it is a "man"
with false breasts to represent a woman (women were not permitted to act
in Bacon's time), and the man is clothed in a goat skin. Tragedos was
the Greek word for a goat skin, and Tragedies were so called because the
actors were dressed in goat skins. This figure therefore represents the
Tragic Muse. Here in the book called _De Augmentis Scientiarum_, which
formed one part of the Great Instauration, is placed an engraving to
show that another part of the Great Instauration known as Shakespeare's
Plays was issued LEFT-HANDEDLY, that is, was issued under the name of a
mean actor, the actor Shakespeare. This title page is very revealing,
and should be taken in conjunction with the title page of the
Cryptographic book which under the name of Gustavus Silenus, "_Homo
lunae_," the "Man in the Moon," was published in 1624 in order to form a
key to certain cyphers in the 1623 Folio of Shakespeare's Plays.
These two title pages were prepared with consummate skill in order to
reveal to the world, when the time was ripe, that
BACON IS SHAKESPEARE.