DVS Archive - Articles and Papers

The following is a selection of articles and papers from the De Vere Society Newsletter. The aim of this selection is to show the range of research which our members are involved in. The lively discussions that often follow the publication of our newsletter have convinced us that the sheer variety of articles is a great stimulation to fellow Oxfordians.

It is our policy to publish whole series of articles drawn from particular newsletters in a steady programme over the next few months. We start with a series of articles drawn from the June and September 2003 Newsletters. Each article is available as a pdf file.

Articles June 2003

Dr Noemi Magri
Places in Shakespeare: Belmont and thereabouts
The purpose of the present paper is to show that Belmont is a real place, though differently called in Italian: its identification has been made possible by the precise geographical information and a specific historical reference given in the play: it is not geography of the imagination, and the
historical allusion refers to a contemporary event: it is not Shakespeare’s creation.

Eddi Jolly
Voyages de Shakespeare en France et en Italie
An overlooked masterpiece: A consideration of Lambin
This paper was given at the AGM held at Birkbeck College, London, May 2003.

Eddi Jolly
‘My mistress’ eyes . . .’
A consideration of Sonnet CXXX

Articles September 2003

Kevin Gilvary
Language Features and Chronology
Can Style help establish the Chronology of Shakespeare’s works?
This paper was given at the AGM held at Birkbeck College, London, May 2003

Richard C W Malim
Did Oxford know Ronsard?

Charles M. Willis
Shakespeare and George Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie
Charles Willis describes his forthcoming study which includes many,
previously unpublished, archive documents.

Richard Malim
The answers may be correct but the questions are wrong
Book review: ‘In Search of Shakespeare’
by Michael Wood; London, BBC (2003)

Dr Noemi Magri
Oxford and the Greek Church in Venice
In a short letter, Dr Noemi Magri corrects some errors by Alan Nelson in 'Monstrous Adversary' relating to Oxford's visit to the Greek Church in Venice.

Autumn Meeting of the De Vere Society
Kevin Gilvary reports on the meeting at Henley-on-Thames on 20 September 2003

Articles January 2004

Oxford the Actor
by Richard Malim
Responsible critics such as Professors Bate and Wells have sought to dismiss the authorship claims of Oxford by suggesting that he had no 'hands-on' connection with the stage. Indeed Professor Bate seems to suggest that this element provides incontrovertible evidence of the authorship of William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon.

‘Monstrous Adversary’ by Alan Nelson
Observations by Kevin Gilvary, Philip Johnson & Eddi Jolly
"Since 1920, Oxford has been touted by amateur historians and conspiracy theorists as the true author of the poems and plays of William Shakespeare. It has become a matter of urgency to measure the real Oxford against the myth created by his apologists, and uncritically embraced by television documentaries, by playwrights and by the popular press..." Quoted by the publishers on the back cover from the author’s introduction (omitting the final "even by justices of the United States Supreme Court")

The Real William Shaksper
by Alan Robinson Esq
The facts known about Shaksper’s life are sparse but very little analysis has been done even of these. Many deductions and inferences can be made with a fair chance of arriving close to the truth.

Philip Johnson
The Best is Silence
What happens when Stratfordians come across evidence that militates against the man from Stratford? Philip Johnson , who gave this paper at the London meeting of the DVS in May 2003, shows how biographers simply omit unpleasant details.

Articles April 2004

Richard Malim
Shakespeare’s Melancholics
Richard Malim considers the neglected work of a professional psychiatrist.

Articles July 2004

Edward de Vere: This is Your Life
By Kevin Gilvary
The text of an address given at the headquarters of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London, which hosted the Summer 2004 DVS meeting, the principal objective of which was to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of the Earl of Oxford.

DVS Quartercentenary Commemoration of the death of Edward de Vere
A summary of the June 2004 meeting of the DVS by Philip Johnson

‘The Elizabethan Courtier Poets: Their Poems and Their Contexts'
by Steven W. May, (Pegasus Press, 1999)
Book Review by Tom Veal

The Authorship Debate on BBC Radio 4
Transcribed by Philip Johnson
Respected Radio presenter, John Humphreys, chairs a discussion between Peter Dawkins and Kate McLuskie, Saturday 15 May 2004

Why I am an Oxfordian
By Kevin Gilvary
Newsletter Editor Kevin Gilvary reviews the opininions of the members of the De Vere Society.

Edward’s Presents
by Sally Llewellyn
An Oxfordian Play on London’s Bankside.

Philip Johnson
The Authorship Debate - The Way Forward
William Rubenstein, Professor of History at the University of Wales Aberystwyth laid down the challenge to Members of the De Vere Society by posing three main questions that have yet to be addressed by Oxfordians: to identify the “grand possessors” – who released the plays? to find De Vere’s Continental links – who sent him books and letters? to explore the ‘humanist’ element in the plays. Philip Johnson reviews Rubenstein's talk.

Articles October 2004

W.Ron Hess
The Sonnets and Euphuism
At the SOS Atlanta Conference, W Ron Hess presented a radical ‘old’ interpretation of the Sonnets.

Articles 2006

DVS Newsletter April 2006
Complete Newsletter in PDF form.