Numbers in bold brackets [] indicate original page numbers.
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF EDWARD DE VERE AND "SHAKESPEARE"
[415] THE biographical parts of this work are not intended in any sense as a biography of Oxford, nor as an adequate representation either of himself or of the different people whose lives were mixed with his. Everything is treated from the point of view of the main argument, which is concerned primarily with the identification of the author of Shakespeare's plays and in a secondary way with the correction of a false and incomplete conception of the Earl of Oxford that has become established. In the statement of our argument we have been able to preserve only a very general adhesion to chronological order. Events that may have been separated by many years have sometimes had to be stated together owing to their relation to some specific point of evidence. A certain amount of overlapping of the periods and much repetition of facts have therefore been unavoidable. As a necessary corrective we now offer the following summarized statement of events in the order in which they occurred.
Early Period.
1550. Birth of Edward de Vere, Seventeenth Earl of Oxford (April 2nd).
1556. Birth of Anne Cecil (December 5th). 1558. Accession of Queen Elizabeth.
1562. Death of Oxford's father: Oxford becomes a royal ward and an inmate of Cecil's house in The Strand. Arthur Golding (his uncle), translator of Ovid, becomes his private tutor.
[416] 1568. Oxford's mother died (having previously married Sir Charles — or Christopher — Tyrell. Date of marriage unknown).
1569. Oxford seeks military service and is refused.
1571. Cecil becomes Lord Burleigh.
Oxford comes, of age: marries, Anne Cecil.
1573. Arthur Golding enrolled in "Inner Temple Records."
Hatton writes to Queen Elizabeth of Oxford (as "the boar"). ,
"Oxford's, men" indulge in wild escapade suggestive of Prince Hal and his men on the identical road (between Gravesend and Rochester).
Oxford asks for naval employment and is refused.
Oxford has apartments in the Savoy: a literary centre.
1574. Oxford runs away to the continent and is brought back.
1575. Oxford visits Italy: Milan, Venice, and Padua. (Particulars suggestive of "Taming of the Shrew" and "The Merchant of Venice").
1576. Returns via Paris. Writes from Paris particulars suggestive of "Othello."
Temporary estrangement from Lady Oxford.
Remarkable episode recorded in Wright's History of Essex identifying Oxford with Bertram in "All's Well."Middle Period.
1576. Begins Bohemian association with literary men and play-actors.
1576-8. Publication of many early lyrics.
Letter to Bedingfield.
Rivalry with Philip Sidney.
1579. Oxford's, quarrel with Sidney.
Publication of Edmund Spenser's "Shepherd's [417] Calender" containing probable reference to Oxford's rivalry with Sidney: "Willie and Perigot."
1580. Anthony Munday, playwright and theatre manager, discloses that he is the servant of the Earl of Oxford. Munday's plays contain passages not written by himself: passages which "might have rested in the mind of Shakespeare."
1580-4. Oxford's company (The Oxford Boys) tour in the provinces.
Lyly, Oxford's private secretary, entrusted with their management.
1584. Oxford's company visits Stratford-on-Avon.
1584-7. The "Oxford Boys" established in London. They perform plays written by Oxford.
Oxford Boys perform "Agamemnon and Ulysses."
1586. Trial of Mary Queen of Scots — Oxford takes part.
Death of Sir Philip Sidney.
1587. Mary executed.
Sidney's funeral.
1588. Death of Lady Oxford.
The Earl of Oxford takes part in the sea-fight against the Spanish Armada.
Oxford begins his life of privacy and retirement.Final Period.
1590. Spenser publishes "Teares, of the Muses" with probable reference to Oxford (as Willie) "sitting in idle cell."
Beginning of William Shakspere's career.
Supposed date of first sonnets.
Proposed marriage of De Vere's daughter, Elizabeth, to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, to which proposal the first of the sonnets have been attributed.
1591 or 2. Oxford's second marriage (complete retirement).
1592-1601. Great Blank in Oxford's record.
[418] 1592. Date assigned to "Love's Labour's Lost" (containing representations of contemporary men)
1593. Birth of Oxford's, son Henry (Feb. 24th).
Dedication of "Venus" to Southampton.
1594. Dedication of "Lucrece" to Southampton.
1597-1604. Great period of Shakespearean publication.
1597. The great issue of Shakespeare's plays begins.
1598. The name "Shakespeare" first printed on the plays.
1600. Rush of Shakespearean publications (6 in the year).
1601. Rising under the Earl of Essex.
1601. The Earl of Oxford emerges from his retirement .to take part in the trial of the Earls of Essex and Southampton.
1602. Date assigned to "Hamlet."
A notable gap: Southampton in The Tower; Blank in accounts of 'the Treasurer of the Chamber.
Oxford's servants play at the "Boar's Head Tavern.
Pirated edition of "Merry Wives" published.
1603. "Hamlet" unauthentically published.
Death of Queen Elizabeth — no tribute from "Shakespeare" or Oxford.
Oxford officiates at coronation of James I.
Southampton liberated — arranges performance of "Love's Labour's Lost" for the new Queen.
Last of "Shakespeare's" sonnets written.
1604. Authentic publication of "Hamlet."
Date assigned to "Othello."
Death of Edward de Vere.
Last of authentic Shakespearean issues for 18 years.
William Shakspere's supposed retirement to Stratford (according to some Stratfordian authorities).
Southampton's connection with William Shakspere ceases.[419] Posthumous Matters.
1605-1608. Suspension of Shakespearean publication.
1608-1608. Slight revival.
Publication of three plays and the Sonnets, all published unauthentic ally.
1612. Second Lady Oxford dies.
Date assigned for William Shakspere's complete retirement from London.
1616. Death of William Shakspere.
1622. Separate publication of "Othello."
1623. The First Folio "Shakespeare" published.
1624. Death of the Earl of Southampton.
1632. The Second Folio Shakespeare published.
Publication of Lyly's plays by the same firm. There appears f or the first time in these plays a set of excellent lyrics which had been omitted from all previous editions of Lyly's work.
1635. Death of Sir Horace Vere (April 2nd).