Try this link for the Australian version of the story.
The book that pushes the deathmask theory is about to be distributed in the
US by International Publishers Marketing. Here's some of their publicity
The Life and Times of
William
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare’s literary work has
fascinated
and entertained people throughout the world
for centuries. His
life, however, has always
been shrouded in mystery. Now an
eminent
Shakespearean scholar presents a complete picture
of his life and
times and reveals the man himself.
In this extraordinary study, Professor
Hildegard
Hammerschmidt-Hummel sets the great English
playwright firmly in
his time and reveals his deep
involvement in the dramatic political events of
the
reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. After ascending
the throne, Queen
Elizabeth I made Anglicanism, a
version of the Protestant confession, the
official
State religion and announced her aim to abolish
Catholicism
within her lifetime. Brutal persecution
of priests and believers in the Old
Religion followed
and they were forced to go underground or into
exile.
This background of religious ferment meant
that, due to their potentially
explosive content,
nearly half of Shakespeare’s works could not
be
published during his lifetime, only becoming public
seven years after
his death. Hammerschmidt-
Hummel demonstrates how this political
backdrop
is the key to understanding so many of the secrets
and puzzles of
Shakespeare’s life and work.
Who were Shakespeare’s friends and
enemies?
What did he do during his ‘lost years’? How did he
manage to
become the most influential writer in
England in such a short time? What did
his
contemporaries think and write about him? Why
did he suddenly start
writing tragedies? Is Hamlet,
the tragedy of a great Prince in a rotten
State, a
reflection of the dramatic and tragic events at the
end of the
Elizabethan age? And why did
Shakespeare fail to write one word of homage
to
the Queen during her 45-year reign? Professor
Hildegard
Hammerschmidt-Hummel answers these
and other key questions in this
comprehensive and
groundbreaking biography of William
Shakespeare.
PROFESSOR HILDEGARD HAMMERSCHMIDT-HUMMEL
lectures in
English Literature and Cultural studies
at the University of Mainz, Germany.
For three
years she was head of the Department for Culture
at the
Consulate-General of Germany in Toronto.
Her major publications include the
study Das
Geheimnis um Shakespeares ‘Dark Lady’ (The Secret
of
Shakespeare’s ‘Dark Lady: Uncovering a Mystery),
1999, in which she
identifies the mistress of
Shakespeare’s sonnets; What did Shakespeare
Look
Like? Authentic Portraits and the Death Mask:
Methods and Results of
the Tests of Authenticity),
2000; Die verborgene Existenz des
William
Shakespeare. Dichter und Rebell im katholischen
Untergrund (The
Secret Life of William Shakespeare:
Poet and Rebel in the Catholic
Underground), 2001,
which resolves the question of Shakespeare’s
religion;
the three-volume work that appeared in
2003, Die Shakespeare-Illustration
(1594–2000).
Bildkünstlerische Darstellungen zu den Dramen
William
Shakespeares (Shakespearian Illustrations
[1594–2000]. The Work of Artists on
Shakespeare’s
Plays), containing more than 3000 illustrations;
William
Shakespeare. Die authentischen Bildnisse
(William Shakespeare. The Authentic
Portraits), 2004;
and the earlier German version of her
Shakespeare
biography, William Shakespeare. Seine Zeit – Sein
Leben – Sein
Werk (2003), which heavily draws on
new historical and pictorial sources she
has brought
to light during a lifetime of Shakespearean study.
Jacket
image: A silhouette of the true image
of Shakespeare, a bust scientifically
authenticated
by Professor Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel
as being
sculpted during his lifetime. The full image
will be revealed on the front
cover of this book on
publication in March 2006.