Its genesis is to be found in the Shakespeare idolatry expressed by so many nineteenth-century commentators, which produced a counter-reaction summed up in the book by R. M. Theobald (Hon Sec of the Bacon Society), Dethroning Shakspere (1888). Enthusiastic bardolators had ascribed to him a remarkable knowledge of Greek, Latin and other languages; wide reading; expert knowledge of the law; a huge vocabulary, introducing many new words into English, and so on. The Baconians objected that virtually nothing was known of Shakespeare’s life or education, that he was illiterate, a mere actor, a thief, and a plagiarist (he has come in for a lot of gratuitous abuse).

Bra artikel i TLS om de gamla teorierna om vem som egentligen skrev Shakespeares verk. (Den tar dock inte upp den senaste i raden, lika osannolik som de föregående, tesen om diplomaten Sir Henry Neville, som Svenska Dagbladet något oväntat, och tack vare skicklig marknadsföring från förlaget, gjorde till förstasidesnyhet häromveckan.)