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We have been a very quiet list lately, so I am going to do something I seldom try and stir the pot a bit. The Toronto Globe and Mail, the Times of London, and the Independent (UK) are all reporting a new runner in the "who wrote Shakespeare" stakes, Sir Henry Neville. Apparently his candidacy for the Bard's honours is the subject of a new book by Bridget James and William Rubenstein. What gives me pause is the statement that "there is direct, long-ignored evidence in a document discovered in 1867 that Sir Henry practised faking Shakespeare's signature. The document, in Sir Henry's handwriting and with his name at the top, features 17 attempts at practising various forms of Shakespeare's signature." Does anyone know anything about this document? I am always a little suspicious of Shakepeare-related "evidence" that turns up in the mid-19th century. For some reason I have not been able to link to the story in the Times or the Independent on-line, but the link for the Globe story is: <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051005/SHAKESPEARE05/TPInternational/TopStories> Abigail -- Abigail Ann Young (Dr), Associate Editor/ Records of Early English Drama/ Victoria College/ 150 Charles Street W/ Toronto Ontario Canada Phone (416) 585-4504/ FAX (416) 813-4093/ [log in to unmask] List-owner of REED-L <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed-l.html> http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed.html => REED's home page http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/stage.html => our theatre resource page http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~young => my home page