Gaslight Digest Monday, April 26 1999 Volume 01 : Number 065


In this issue:


   Re: Here we go again---hoax!
   Re: Here we go again
   Re: Here we go again---hoax!
   Re: Today in History - April 23
   Re: Today in History - April 23
   Re: Today in History - April 23
   Re:  Today in History - April 23
   Ngaio
   Re:  Today in History - April 23
   Re: Ngaio
   Re:  Re: Today in History - April 23
   Re:  Today in History - April 23
   OT: Writing helps you breathe
   Re:  Re: Today in History - April 23
   Re:  Re:  Today in History - April 23
   Re:  Re:  Re: Today in History - April 23
   Re: Ngaio
   Re: OT: Writing helps you breathe
   Re:  Re: OT: Writing helps you breathe
   Re:  Re: OT: Writing helps you breathe
   Chat: Writing helps you breathe
   Today in History - April 26
   Thurber: "Lady Macbeth Murder Mystery"
   Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 23>
   Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 23>
   Re:  Today in History - April 26
   Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship
   Re:  Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 23>
   Sherlockian studies
   Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 23>
   Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 23>
   Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 23>
   Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship
   Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 23>

-----------------------------THE POSTS-----------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 13:13:48 -0500
From: Chris Carlisle <CarlislC(at)psychiatry1.wustl.edu>
Subject: Re: Here we go again---hoax!

Actually, James, unless you have a REALLY bad email system
that automatically opens attachments (I don't know of any
system that will run an .exe file, thank goodness, but there
are some that open attachments), there aren't any known
cases of getting viruses or trojan horses from just OPENING
and reading email.

Kiwi

>>> James Rogers <jetan(at)ionet.net> 04/23/99 12:38PM >>>
At 12:23 PM 4/23/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Please see www.kumite.com for this and other hoaxes.
>
>This one has been around as an acknowledged hoax for a few months.  The CIC
one is real, however, so everyone should
>be very careful of what they download.  BTW, folks, be
>certain to verify ANYTHING you receive that includes the words
>"send this to everyone you know on the Internet", as this
>phrase appears in nearly all hoaxes, including the Craig
>Shergold and Chocolate Chip Cookie ULs.
>
>Kiwi Carlisle
>

                Well, I don't think just downloading an e-mail can infect
anything. As I recall one has to actually execute or open an attachment, no?

                                 James

===0===



Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 11:40:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jack Kolb <KOLB(at)UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Here we go again

This has been shown to be spurious, Bob.  IBM points this out in a notice on
one of its web sites (I didn't save the information).  Cheers, Jack.

>My sister e-mailed the following message to me a few minutes ago; it comes
>from the company she works for (Ace Hardware):
>
><<
>If you receive an email titled "It Takes Guts to Say 'Jesus'" DO
>NOT open it. It will erase  everything on your hard drive.
>This is a new, very malicious virus and not many people know about
>it. This information was announced yesterday morning from IBM;
>please share it with everyone that might access the internet.<<
>
>Bob C.
>_________________________________________________
>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
>
>Robert L. Champ
>rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
>Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
>
>Whatever things are pure, whatever things are
>lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
>there is any virtue and if there is anything
>praiseworthy, meditate on these things
>                                 Philippians 4:8
>
>rchamp7927(at)aol.com       robertchamp(at)netscape.net
>_________________________________________________
>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
>
>
>

===0===



Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 14:16:31 -0500 (CDT)
From: James Rogers <jetan(at)ionet.net>
Subject: Re: Here we go again---hoax!

At 01:13 PM 4/23/99 -0500, Kiwi wrote:
>Actually, James, unless you have a REALLY bad email system
>that automatically opens attachments (I don't know of any
>system that will run an .exe file, thank goodness, but there
>are some that open attachments), there aren't any known
>cases of getting viruses or trojan horses from just OPENING
>and reading email.
>
   Well, that was what I thought, but I constantly hear horror stories about
this....usually from folks who employ Netscape as an e-mail program, which I
gather makes executing an .exe a bit "easier". I am fortunate in that my
e-mail program is far too primitive to expose me to any such risk.

                              James

===0===



Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 18:16:37 +0300
From: cbishop(at)interlog.com (Carroll Bishop)
Subject: Re: Today in History - April 23

>             1826
>                  Missolonghi falls to Egyptian forces.


.... I imagine some of us are on this list because a certain
William Shakespeare was born on April 23.   Where, after all,
would English -- or American --literature be without
Shakepeare?  I don't like to think of such a vacuum in our
cultural (and human) past.  I can't imagine my personal past
without Shakespeare, nor would I want to.

     And (it seems appropriate to mention it) -- this is St. George's
Day in the church calendar.  I guess that's the Roman Catholic Church
as well as the Anglican, but I'm not at all sure of that.  Anyway,
surely Shakespeare knew this?  Did he choose his birthdate?  Very
swagger of him if he did, and very right.

Henry V, Act III. Scene 1: ll. 31-34 (this is the "Once more unto the
breach, dear friends, once more" speech -- which some of us will always
hear in the staccato voice of Laurence Olivier):

      .....The game's afoot!
      Follow your spirit; and upon this charge
      Cry "God for Harry!  England and Saint George!"

I've been looking at various dictionaries and encyclopedias I
have at hand, and find that Saint George and his connection to the
slaying of the dragon may well go back to Perseus.  I think he is also
one of the principal saints in the hagiography of the Greek and Russia
Orthodox Church, as well as England's patron saint.

I was amused to find "the game's afoot" in this Henry V speech of
Will Shakespeare's --  I've been attributing the phrase
to Sherlock Holmes, who was of course quoting Shakespeare.


Carroll Bishop (cbishop(at)interlog.com)

===0===



Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 19:01:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re: Today in History - April 23

Carroll's post reminds me of the essay by Thurber, "The Lady MacBeth
Mystery," in which an unsuspecting mystery fan takes home a copy
of _MacBeth_, reads it, and then critiques it from the point of view
of a mystery aficianado. A very funny piece, and altogether telling
about the extent to which the name and work of Shakespeare suffuse
the culture of English=speaking countries.

I agree that, no matter where we place ourselves in relation to literature
in English after Shakespeare, we are all indebted to him in ways we
can, sometimes, hardly appreciate because we do not know know
those ways--the phrase "the game's afoot" being one example of the many
remnants of Shakespeare that still exist in our ordinary language.

Even more importantly, Shakespeare set an extraordinarily high standard
for literature in English.  He showed what the language was capable of,
and gave us example after example of its power and beauty. Without him,
English literature as we know would not exist (and how many writers in
English can you name about whom you can say that?).

I join with Carroll, then, in her Gaslighters's toast to the master of
the tongue we daily find reason to love and relish--a writer in many
ways more relevant to today's audience that he was to his original one.

Bob C.


_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity

Whatever things are pure, whatever things are
lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy, meditate on these things
                                 Philippians 4:8

rchamp7927(at)aol.com       robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

===0===



Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 19:40:26 +0300
From: cbishop(at)interlog.com (Carroll Bishop)
Subject: Re: Today in History - April 23

Oh!  Aha!  The game IS afoot!  (Thank you Robert Champ.)  I kept looking
at the name "George" and noticing it began "geo", and finally found in
good old Basic Webster that "George" means earthworker or husbandman
in original Greek -- ge= earth (Gaia) and ourgos= work (as in dramaturge
and demiurge).  Well, I find that exciting!  I find the hidden/open
meanings of words exciting.  That's our ancestry, folks.  Call it
Gaslit, call it Modern, call it Renaissance, call it what you will....
it's us and we're it, just like Shakespeare.  There's treasure in
them words....and St. George "slays" the dragon who hides the
treasure....

I wonder if Leonard Cohen is also an April 23 birthday boy.  ("Magic
is afoot.")  I suppose that's too much to ask for.



Carroll

===0===



Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 20:13:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: Zozie(at)aol.com
Subject: Re:  Today in History - April 23

Dame Edith Ngaio March, one of New Zealand's most popular authors, creator of
Scotland Yard inspector Broderick Allen, born 1899.

Does anyone know her work?  Must have been beyond our period of reading, but
I have never heard of her or Allen.

clueless,
phoebe

Phoebe Wray
Zozie(at)aol.com

===0===



Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 17:22:08 -0700
From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com>
Subject: Ngaio

>Dame Edith Ngaio March, one of New Zealand's most popular authors, creator of
>Scotland Yard inspector Broderick Allen, born 1899.
>Does anyone know her work?

Yes!--Ngaio Marsh--very popular English house mysteries and many others in
a similar vein as Agatha Christie.  Very enjoyable reading.

Deborah

Deborah McMillion
deborah(at)gloaming.com
http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html

===0===



Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 18:32:34 -0600 (MDT)
From: "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca>
Subject: Re:  Today in History - April 23

On Fri, 23 Apr 1999 Zozie(at)aol.com wrote:
> Dame Edith Ngaio March, one of New Zealand's most popular authors, creator of
> Scotland Yard inspector Broderick Allen, born 1899.
> Does anyone know her work?  Must have been beyond our period of reading, but
> I have never heard of her or Allen.
> clueless,
> phoebe

Try Inspector Roderick Alleyn, and PBS 'Mystery!", where episodes by Ngaio
Marsh (the name is Maori, I believe - she was from, or lived in, New
Zealand) are frequently shown.
Peter Wood

===0===



Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 19:38:56 -0500
From: Ann Hilgeman <eahilg(at)seark.net>
Subject: Re: Ngaio

A&E Mystery has shown many of Dame Ngaio's Roderick Alleyn mysteries.
They're very Golden Age and many of them have theatrical settings.

Ann Hilgeman

===0===



Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 22:35:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: Zozie(at)aol.com
Subject: Re:  Re: Today in History - April 23

In a message dated 4/23/99 10:12:31 PM, Carroll wrote:

<< I don't like to think of such a vacuum in our
cultural (and human) past.  I can't imagine my personal past
without Shakespeare, nor would I want to.>>

I can't either... a German friend of mine once asked what our theatre might
be like if we didn't all have to be as good as Shakespeare?  It is a vastly
profound legacy.  No disputing that.  Anyone in the mood to dispute the
authorship?  OT or offlist, of course.

There is Chickamatsu in Japan, whose works did for Japan what Shakespeare's
did for the West.

My best moments in theatre involve the Shaxpere plays, as a performer and a
dirtector.  Whoever he was, he left us an enormous gift.

phoebe

Phoebe Wray
zozie(at)aol.com

===0===



Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 22:46:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Kelly <kelly(at)bard.edu>
Subject: Re:  Today in History - April 23

correction for bibliographical convenience
Dame Ngaio Marsh
Roderick
Alleyn


ta

R
On Fri, 23 Apr 1999 Zozie(at)aol.com wrote:

> Dame Edith Ngaio March, one of New Zealand's most popular authors, creator of
> Scotland Yard inspector Broderick Allen, born 1899.
>
> Does anyone know her work?  Must have been beyond our period of reading, but
> I have never heard of her or Allen.
>
> clueless,
> phoebe
>
> Phoebe Wray
> Zozie(at)aol.com
>

===0===



Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 01:39:19 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: OT: Writing helps you breathe

Some writers are a bit long-winded, but the fact is--at least according
to a study (a phrase I sometimes think of as the modern equivalent of
"once upon a time"), writing enhances breathing and even keeps your
joints from getting sore. Here's the lowdown:

Simply writing about stress can relieve the symptoms of
  asthma and arthritis, researchers say. A study by North Dakota State
  University in Fargo found that 20-minute writing sessions each day for
  three days led to a 19 percent improvement in breathing by asthmatics
  and a 28 percent reduction in pain by rheumatoid arthritics, and the
  improvement was long-lasting. "These people have all sorts of skeletons
  in their closets. They're dealing with emotional turmoil," said another
  researcher in reviewing the study. "Writing helps people come to terms
  with these events. It's remarkable what happens." (UPI)


And that, ladies and gentleman, is why writers seldom wheeze.

Bob C.

_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity

Whatever things are pure, whatever things are
lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy, meditate on these things
                                 Philippians 4:8

rchamp7927(at)aol.com       robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

===0===



Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 07:39:49 +0300
From: cbishop(at)interlog.com (Carroll Bishop)
Subject: Re:  Re: Today in History - April 23

>.  Anyone in the mood to dispute the
>authorship?  OT or offlist, of course.

You mean it wasn't Tom Stoppard, Phoebe?
  >
>My best moments in theatre involve the Shaxpere plays, as a performer and a
>director.  Whoever he was, he left us an enormous gift.
>
>phoebe
>
>Phoebe Wray
>zozie(at)aol.com

I'd love to hear about your best moments in theatre, and also your
worst moments in theatre, Phoebe.  On or offlist.  What does OT mean?


Carroll

===0===



Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 08:00:19 -0400 (EDT)
From: Zozie(at)aol.com
Subject: Re:  Re:  Today in History - April 23

Ahhh! Of course -- stupid of me: Ngaio Marsh... Must have been blinded by
something else when I asked the question.  We all do have a few things on our
minds these days.

Thanks to all who pointed this out.

phoebe

===0===



Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 08:14:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: Zozie(at)aol.com
Subject: Re:  Re:  Re: Today in History - April 23

In a message dated 4/24/99 11:34:50 AM, Carroll wrote:

<<What does OT mean?>>

Off-topic -- just meant to flag it, so anyone not interested could delete.

phoebe

===0===



Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 08:38:27 -0500
From: Chris Carlisle <CarlislC(at)psychiatry1.wustl.edu>
Subject: Re: Ngaio

And it's RODERICK, not Broderick.  BTW, if anyone is
wondering, one pronounces Ngaio as "NIE-oh".

Kiwi Carlisle
carlislc(at)psychiatry.wustl.edu

>>> Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com> 04/23/99 07:22PM >>>
>Dame Edith Ngaio March, one of New Zealand's most popular authors, creator of
>Scotland Yard inspector Broderick Allen, born 1899.
>Does anyone know her work?

Yes!--Ngaio Marsh--very popular English house mysteries and many others in
a similar vein as Agatha Christie.  Very enjoyable reading.

Deborah

Deborah McMillion
deborah(at)gloaming.com
http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html

===0===



Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 08:48:40 -0500
From: Chris Carlisle <CarlislC(at)psychiatry1.wustl.edu>
Subject: Re: OT: Writing helps you breathe

Humph.  That completely ignores the immune system's contribution to both asthma 
and arthritis.  I've been told by more than one doctor (including the head of a 
famous asthma center here in St. Louis), that asthma causes stress itself, and 
that in their
experience, though stress makes asthma worse, it cannot be
called a prime cause.

So, the cycle goes thus...person develops asthma symptoms due to say, high 
ozone levels or a pulmonary infection.  The person is then short of breath and 
feels quite wretched.  If the person has an asthma care plan worked out with 
his or her doctor, she or he will probably start taking prednisone, which also 
causes stress.  If not, inhaler use will increase, which can make one feel 
quite jittery.  AND it's harder to do anything at all active (such as
walking down the hall) while asthma is acting up.   So the
patient becomes stressed as well as ill.  If an external (not
illness-related) event comes along to add stress, then of
course the patient will feel worse.

Sooo...while writing about one's stress may relieve asthma,
please don't think the stress is the ultimate cause.  A lot of
asthmatics in the past had to carry an unfair stigma of "it's
all in your mind".  Let's not start that nonsense up again!

Kiwi Carlisle
carlislc(at)psychiatry.wustl.edu

===0===



Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 13:05:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: Zozie(at)aol.com
Subject: Re:  Re: OT: Writing helps you breathe

In a message dated 4/26/99 1:52:37 PM, Kiwi wrote:

<<Sooo...while writing about one's stress may relieve asthma,
please don't think the stress is the ultimate cause.  A lot of
asthmatics in the past had to carry an unfair stigma of "it's
all in your mind".  Let's not start that nonsense up again!
>>


hear! hear!  I write every day,  and can't say it's helped my asthma much.
But maybe the gulps of coffee I take now and then do.

lightly,
phoebe

Phoebe Wray
zozie(at)aol.com

===0===



Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 13:44:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re:  Re: OT: Writing helps you breathe

I hope it was understood that I sent that post 1) because there are
a good many writers on the list and 2) because I thought the piece was
unintentionally quite funny.  There is nothing as absurd as
taking a "study" that may have reached a startling result as an
indication of a general truth.  Yet the media do this all the time, no
matter how crazy the message.

Haven't we all read and heard of some study that tells us about the
terrible effects that some food  has on our systems, only to see,
several years later, a retraction of the study, and then, lo and behold,
another study that proves this same food is highly beneficial for some
particular ailment.  Or, to the contrary, someone will come out with
a study that a particular food, which everyone has always supposed
was good for you, has no positive effect at all.

This is the kind of reportage that makes science a laughing-stock,
and yet people continue to be snookered by every story about a serious
danger or an unsuspected cure that comes along.

Bob C.

On Mon, 26 Apr 1999 Zozie(at)aol.com wrote:

>
> In a message dated 4/26/99 1:52:37 PM, Kiwi wrote:
>
> <<Sooo...while writing about one's stress may relieve asthma,
> please don't think the stress is the ultimate cause.  A lot of
> asthmatics in the past had to carry an unfair stigma of "it's
> all in your mind".  Let's not start that nonsense up again!
> >>
>
>
> hear! hear!  I write every day,  and can't say it's helped my asthma much.
> But maybe the gulps of coffee I take now and then do.
>
> lightly,
> phoebe
>
> Phoebe Wray
> zozie(at)aol.com
>


_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity

Whatever things are pure, whatever things are
lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy, meditate on these things
                                 Philippians 4:8

rchamp7927(at)aol.com       robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

===0===



Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 11:04:46 -0700
From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com>
Subject: Chat: Writing helps you breathe

> only to see, several years later, a retraction of the study,

Sometimes several months

>This is the kind of reportage that makes science a laughing-stock

I'm not sure I would really consider this 'science' though.  These kinds of
studies are often not conducted in true scientific manner and many, those
of the 'pseudo sciences" that say taking some herb or plant will cure this
are that are definitely in more of the guessing games section.

One of the best guides to help think past this kind of guessing is the
Univ. of Berkeley's WELLNESS GUIDE.  It balances AMA medical science,
naturopathic and quack advice very well, not coming out on the side or
against anyone.  Very real, very practical and very commonsense.

Of course, pulling it back to the 19th century it only takes a few years to
put some of those 'cures' in perspective, too.  I believe the Victorian
list was having a discussion on the prevalent "little blue pills" a while
back that were a general curative for many ills.  This was a mixture of
calomel which I read about when I was in a historical New Orleans pharmacy.
It was used in great quantity for Cholera.  After reading about the
catastrophic side effects of taking quantities of calomel I think dying of
cholera would have been preferrable from dying from the cure which
sometimes took whole sections of your face and jaw away.

Deborah


Deborah McMillion
deborah(at)gloaming.com
http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html

===0===



Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 12:16:31 -0600
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - April 26

             1865
                  Joseph E Johnston surrenders the Army of Tennessee to Sherman 
at Durham Station, N.C.  Union
                  troops kill John Wilkes Booth.
            1915
                  Second Lieutenant Rhodes-Moorhouse becomes the first airman 
to win the Victoria Cross
                  after conducting a successful bombing raid.

      Born on April 26
            1785
                  John James Audubon, bird watcher and artist
            1812
                  Alfred Krupp, German arms merchant
            1875
                  Syngman Rhee, South Korean statesman
            1894
                  Rudolf Hess, Nazi leader, Hitler deputy who flew to England 
to negotiate an
                  Anglo-German treaty.  [A cousin of my wife once served in the 
honor guard over his cell.]
            1900
                  Charles Richter, earthquake seismologist whose scale bares 
his name

===0===



Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 15:10:52 +0300
From: cbishop(at)interlog.com (Carroll Bishop)
Subject: Thurber: "Lady Macbeth Murder Mystery"

Thanks to Robert Champ, who told me about this funny Thurber piece.  I
recommend it highly (2 pages).  It's located at this URL:

http://www.oberlin.edu/~njones/English123/ThurberMacbeth.html

Carroll

===0===



Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 14:01:42 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 23>

Phoebe, in writing about Shakespeare, wrote the challenge:

> Anyone in the mood to dispute the
>authorship?  OT or offlist, of course.

     I've been debating whether to introduce a Shakespearean authorship page to
Gaslight.  I already have a bibliography prepared of Gaslight sources: all
articles and books on the subject.  It was a subject which greatly interested
our Victorian ancestors, and should provide some amusement for those of us who
think they can solve a mystery if given a chance.

     I would be happy to proceed with etexting some materials for an upcoming
month if there is sufficient interest.

                                   Stephen D
                          mailto:Sdavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca

===0===



Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 14:27:06 -0600 (MDT)
From: "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca>
Subject: Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 
23>

On Mon, 26 Apr 1999 sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA wrote:

> Phoebe, in writing about Shakespeare, wrote the challenge:
>> Anyone in the mood to dispute the authorship?  OT or offlist, of course.

> I've been debating whether to introduce a Shakespearean authorship page to
> Gaslight.  I already have a bibliography prepared of Gaslight sources: all
> articles and books on the subject.  It was a subject which greatly interested
> our Victorian ancestors, and should provide some amusement for those of us who
> think they can solve a mystery if given a chance.
> I would be happy to proceed with etexting some materials for an upcoming
> month if there is sufficient interest.
> Stephen D.

I had, at one time, a layman's interest in this pseudo-question; it's
unresolvable because there is no known method of proving or disproving it
unless and until a holograph manuscript turns up. As to the cipher
solutions that have been advanced, I recommend reading David Kahn's "The
Codebreakers".
Why anyone should *want* to prove or disprove the alleged authorship of
Shakespeare's plays is an interesting question in itself, and the
solutions I have seen tell me more about the political and sociological
views of the proponents than I am really interested in learning.
When there is so much really interesting work to be done on the
Sherlockian Canon, why bother about Shakespeare?
 Where *was* 221B Baker Street?
 What is the correct chronology of the sixty recorded cases of
 Sherlock Holmes?
 How many wives did Dr. Watson marry?
 and (one which I am currently investigating): Where was the
village of "Eyford" in "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb"?
 Of course, there are innumerable questions as to the Canonical
railway trains, none of which can be found in Bradshaw's Guide (or so I
have read) but that is another subject.
Peter Wood

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Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 16:41:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: Zozie(at)aol.com
Subject: Re:  Today in History - April 26

And it is Ma Rainey's birthday today -- born 1886, started performing at 14.
The original, the lovely blues...

phoebe

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Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 13:53:32 -0700
From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com>
Subject: Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship

>When there is so much really interesting work to be done on the
>Sherlockian Canon, why bother about Shakespeare?

Here here--Thank you.

I've never been interested in the whole did Shakespeare really write all
those plays, or Bacon, or Queen Elizabeth's mad half-brother that was kept
hidden.  The plays are enough.


> Where *was* 221B Baker Street?
> What is the correct chronology of the sixty recorded cases of
> Sherlock Holmes?
> How many wives did Dr. Watson marry?

Far more interesting!  And Victorian.

Deborah


Deborah McMillion
deborah(at)gloaming.com
http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html

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Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 16:47:58 -0400 (EDT)
From: Zozie(at)aol.com
Subject: Re:  Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 
23>

In a message dated 4/26/99 8:08:23 PM, Stephen wrote:

<< I would be happy to proceed with etexting some materials for an upcoming
month if there is sufficient interest.>>

So long as we don't come to fisticuffs, lead on!

phoebe

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Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 15:52:10 -0500
From: Chris Carlisle <CarlislC(at)psychiatry1.wustl.edu>
Subject: Sherlockian studies

>>> "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> 04/26/99 03:27PM >>>

>When there is so much really interesting work to be done on the
>Sherlockian Canon, why bother about Shakespeare?
> Where *was* 221B Baker Street?

etc., and not forgetting,
Where *was* Dr. Watson really wounded (besides in Afganistan)?
The wound seems to move about at will throughout the Canon.

Kiwi Carlisle
carlislc(at)psychiatry.wustl.edu

P.S.  I've always found the "Shakespeare could not have
written Shakespeare" school excessively snobbish, and their
arguments really unconvincing.

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Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 16:59:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 
23>

One of the most entertaining essays I've read on this subject was by
Mark Twain, who hotly contested Shakespeare's authorship.  One of his
more ingenious "proofs" was to quote Prospero's fine speech "Our revels
now are ended" and follow it immediately afterwards with Shakespeare's
epitaph ("Good friends, for Jesus' sake forbear").  The effect of this
juxtaposition, Twain rightly says, is the equivalent of taking a bite out
of a piece of pie and discovering that someone has layered the bottom
part of the crust with gravel.  It is Twain's contention that the epitaph
was the only poem the real Shakespeare ever wrote.

Personally, I see no reason to disbelieve that the author of the play was
Shakespeare from Stratford-on-Avon, though perhaps I would answer the
question, "Why," by quoting Constantine, "It is impossible, therefore I
believe." <grin>

Bob C.


_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity

Whatever things are pure, whatever things are
lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy, meditate on these things
                                 Philippians 4:8

rchamp7927(at)aol.com       robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

===0===



Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 17:43:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: TFox434690(at)aol.com
Subject: Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 
23>

Stephen

I would much enjoy reading works on the Bard and our group's comments. I vote
yes.

tfox

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Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 16:04:37 -0600 (MDT)
From: "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca>
Subject: Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 
23>

On Mon, 26 Apr 1999, Robert Champ wrote:
> One of the most entertaining essays I've read on this subject was by
> Mark Twain, who hotly contested Shakespeare's authorship.  One of his
> more ingenious "proofs" was to quote Prospero's fine speech "Our revels
> now are ended" and follow it immediately afterwards with Shakespeare's
> epitaph ("Good friends, for Jesus' sake forbear").  The effect of this
> juxtaposition, Twain rightly says, is the equivalent of taking a bite out
> of a piece of pie and discovering that someone has layered the bottom
> part of the crust with gravel.  It is Twain's contention that the epitaph
> was the only poem the real Shakespeare ever wrote.

Mark Twain's comment is wholly justifiable *if* one accepts that the
inscription on Shakespeare's memorial tablet was written by Shakespeare,
and of this we have no guarantee whatsoever. Epitaphs on tombstones
tended to be written by either the heir(s), the sexton, or the monumental
mason who carved the inscription, and the results to be seen in many a
churchyard bear this out - did we not discuss epitaphs some time ago?
By way of illustration, two famous English ones follow, the first from the
tomb of a man impaled by a falling icicle:
 "Bless my IIIIIII's (?eyes?),
 Here he lies,
 In a sad pickle,
 Killed by an icicle."
and the second from the South of England:
 "Here lies the body of a Hampshire grenadier,
 Who met his death by drinking of small beer.
 Soldiers take heed by his untimely fall
 And when you're hot drink strong or not at all."

"Who wrote Shakespeare's epitaph?" might be more capable of solution, as
presumably if it was from the hand of some local person, other specimens
of similar style might be in the Stratford churchyard. Has anyone ever
looked into this?
Peter Wood

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Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 15:31:04 -0700
From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com>
Subject: Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship

>"Who wrote Shakespeare's epitaph?" might be more capable of solution, as
>presumably if it was from the hand of some local person, other specimens
>of similar style might be in the Stratford churchyard. Has anyone ever
>looked into this?

There are many intersting studies on gravestone art and styles, and even
epitaphs.  GRAVEN IMAGES by Alan Ludwig is a good one on New England
tombstone art and traces likel styles by mastercraftsmen, many who remain
as nameless as some of the exquisite Italian frescoes.

In studying epitaphs it would seem more problematical since in New England
studies, 'styles' are very popular to the poignant "Not Lost But Gone
Before" style to the humorous ones Peter sites.  "Who wrote Shakespeare's
epitaph" would be a fascinating study tracing the stones of the period and
the epitaph makers.  But you're right Peter--I thought of this when I saw
the post on Mark Twain's argument.  It was often the monumental mason who
came up with the standard 'popular' ones of the day and unless the family
or will specified otherwise it was pretty much the luck of the draw.  It
would also be interesting to know if there are any other stones with "Good
friends for Jesus' sake forbear" on them from this period.  The earliest
stones I have in my book (but this is NEW England) don't have this
specifically but certainly some of this ilk.

Deborah

Deborah McMillion
deborah(at)gloaming.com
http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html

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Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 19:09:05 +0300
From: cbishop(at)interlog.com (Carroll Bishop)
Subject: Re: Disputing Shakespeare's authorship <WAS: Today in History - April 
23>

Well why not?  But I'm sure it was Tom Stoppard -- or God.  Scales slightly
tipped toward the latter, but they're being held down by Harold Bloom's
thumb, cheeky devil.



Carroll

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End of Gaslight Digest V1 #65
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