The Master of Shakespeare by AWL Saunders Volume I; The Sonnets.

A fascinating and compelling discovery from 8 years research into Fulke Greville’s claim to have been the "master of Shakespeare" and the author of Anthony and Cleopatra.

Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke (1554-1628)

Fulke Greville was an aristocrat, courtier, statesman, sailor, soldier, spymaster, literary patron, dramatist, historian and poet. He was educated at Shrewsbury and Jesus College, Cambridge. He worked for Sir Francis Walsingham as an ‘intelligencer’ where he traveled extensively throughout Europe. He became a great favorite of Queen Elizabeth, was Clerk to the Council of Wales, Treasurer of the Navy, and from 1614-1621 he was Chancellor of the Exchequer.

After the death of his father in 1606, Fulke became Recorder of Stratford-upon-Avon and he held that post until 1628. Greville was famous for his friendship with, and biography of Sir Philip Sidney, and his long tempestuous love affair with Philip’s sister, Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke.

Greville is regarded as a generous patron of many of the leading writers of the day including Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe, Samuel Daniel and three Poets Laureate; Edmund Spenser, Ben Jonson and Sir William Davenant. Greville was a member of all the leading literary circles of the day: The Areopagus, the Wilton House Circle, The Southampton Circle, the University Wits (associate) and The School of Night. He is also famous for his claim to have been the ‘Master of Shakespeare’ and the author of a ‘lost’ play called Antony and Cleopatra.

CONTENTS

Preface   The Shakespeare Controversy   Introduction   What the Critics Said About Fulke Greville.
1. The First Folio Profiles   2. The Biographical Profiles   The Earl of Southampton,   Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote,   Samuel Daniel,   Sir William Davenant,   Queen Elizabeth,   Mary Herbert; Countess of Pembroke,   Helene of Tournon,   Diana de Montemayor,   The Three ‘Puffs’ Profiles;   Phaeton,   Mr. William Apis lapis,   Aetion the Eagle Man   3. The Origin of the Sonnets printed by Thomas Thorpe in 1609   4. General Stylistic Profiles of the Sonnets   Spurgeon’s Image-Cluster Profiles;   The Garden Cluster,   The Sea Cluster,   The Animal Cluster,   The Body Cluster,   The Sickness Cluster   The Subterranean Cluster,   The Four Characters of the Sonnets;   Profiles of the Author of ‘Shake-Speare’s Sonnets,   Profiles of the Fair Friend,   Profiles of the Dark Lady,   Profiles of the Rival Poet   5. The Quadrilateral Affair   Sonnet 126: The Death of the Phoenix,   Sonnet 125: I Bore the Canopy,   Sonnet III: The Dyer’s Hand Sonnet   6. Conclusion   7. Epilogue
Appendix I: The Phoenix and the Turtle   Appendix II: Greville and the Baconians   Appendix III: Greville and the Stratfordians
Notes Select Bibliography   Index

"The Master of Shakespeare is very intriguing, beautifully written and researched and a very convincing and attractive addition to the debate… Many, many congratulations, it was a great and exciting read.”

Sir Derek Jacobi

“The Master of Shakespeare is a marvellous book and I urge everyone to read it.”

Sir Derek Jacobi speaking at the John Silberrad Memorial Lecture,
Globe Theatre 1/11/07