Letters: Earl of Oxford to Sir Robert Cecil; June 12, 1603.

[Click here for modernized spelling.]

My very good L[ord] I know that yowe are soo charged wythe publeke affayres, that yow can haue lyttell lesure or none at all, to vndertake a priuat cause, especiallye concerninge an other. this therfore whiche yow doo for me I doo conceyve yt in yowre particular fauour, and so I take yt and yow shall fynde me therfore ever thankfull. thes shalbe therfore to desyre yowre L[ordship] that wythe my very good L[ord] and friend my L[ord] Admirall, that yow will procure me a full end, of thys sute wherin I haue spent so longe a tyme, and passed the greatest part of myne age. the cause ys ryght, the kynge Iuste, and I doo not dowt but yowre L[ordship]s boothe myne honorable friendes, accordinge to yowre woordes I shall fynd yow in deedes therfore in a full confidence of yowre L[ordship]s most frendlye favours, I will leaue to hynder yowre moore serious busnises. this 12 of Iune.

Yowre L[ordship]s most assured friende and Broother in Lawe

 

(signed) Edward Oxenforde. (knot)

 

Addressed (in Oxford's hand): To the ryght honorable my very good Lord the Lord of Essingedone. [seal torn away]

 

Endorsed: 12 Iune 1603. Erle of Oxenford to my Lord.

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?”
• Edward de Vere, Shakespeare and Tycho Brahe.  June 9, 2020. “When Brahe was encouraged by his friends and associates to publish a book on the November 1572 supernova for which he is now famous, his answer belonged to his times.”
• Malvolio’s Crow's Feet and “the new Mappe”. October 14, 2019. “Percy Allen’s candidate is not mentioned by any of these parties. The traditionalists, of course, could not consider it possible because it would suggest far too early a date for the play.”
• The Battle Over Shakespeare's Early and Late Plays. September 24, 2018. “The answers to the post-Oxford dilemma, of course, are three.”
• 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 English Renaissance Letter Index for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.