My very good Brother, yf my helthe hadd beene to my mynde I wowlde have beene before this att the Coorte, aswell to haue giuen yow thankes for yowre presence, at the hearinge of my cause debated as to haue moued her Magestye for her resolutione. As for the matter, how muche I am behouldinge to yow I neede not repeate, but in all thankfulnes acknowlege, for yow haue beene the moover & onlye follower therofe for mee, & by yowre onlye meanes, I have hetherto passed the pykes of so many adversaries. Now my desyre ys, sythe them selues whoo have opposed to her Magestyes ryghte seeme satisfisd, that yow will make the ende ansuerable, to the rest of yowre moste friendlye
procedinge, for I am aduised, that I may
passe my Booke from her Magestie, yf a warrant may be procured to my cosen
Bacon and Ser[g]iant Harris to perfet yt. Whiche beinge doone, I know to whome
formallye to thanke, but reallye they shalbe, and are from me, and myne, to be
sealed vp in an aeternall remembrance to yowre selfe. And thus wishinge all
happines to yow, and sume fortunat meanes to me, wherby I myght recognise soo
diepe merites, I take my leaue this 7th of October from my House at Hakney.
1601.
Yowre most assured and louinge
Broother.
(signed) Edward Oxenford
Addressed (in Oxford’s hand): To
the ryghte honorable & my very good Broother Sir Robert Cecill on[e] of her
Magestyes pryvie Councel and principall Secretarie giue thes at the Coorte.
[seal]
Endorsed: 1601 7 October: Erle of
Oxenford to my Master.
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
- A 1572 Oxford Letter and the Player’s Speech in Hamlet. August 11, 2020. “The player’s speech has been a source of consternation among Shakespeare scholars for above 200 years. Why was Aeneas’ tale chosen as the subject?”
- Gutenberg, proto-Hack Writers and Shakespeare. May 26, 2020. “A less well known effect of the Reformation was that many young Catholic men who had taken religious orders in order to receive an education began to lead lives at large from monastic discipline. Like Erasmus and Rabelais they took up the pen.”
- Shakespeare’s Funeral Meats. May 13, 2020. “Famous as this has been since its discovery, it has been willfully misread more often than not. No mainstream scholar had any use for a reference to Hamlet years before it was supposed to have been written.”
- Shakespeare Scholarship in the Internet Age. August 12, 2018. “I love to be presented with a legitimate challenge to any of my work. This does not change the fact that such challenges are followed by an unpleasant sinking feeling. Had I missed something?”
- Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
- Check out the Letters Index: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
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