J. Thomas Looney
Encyclopedia
John Thomas Looney. was an English
school teacher who is best known for having originated the Oxfordian theory
, which claims that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
(1550–1604) was the true author of Shakespeare's plays.
. His father, also called John Thomas, had a shop at 91 West Holborn in the centre of the town. Both his parents were Methodists
. His family claimed descent from the Earls of Derby
. He grew up in a strong evangelical environment, and determined to become a minister at the age of 16. While studying at the Chester
Diocesan College, he lost his faith. He later embraced the theories of the positivist philosopher Auguste Comte
, becoming a proponent of the Comtean "Religion of Humanity
" and a leader in its short-lived church, in which he pioneered outdoor preaching. The Church of Humanity gave special prominence to Shakespeare, naming a month after him in the Positivist calendar
, and placing a bust of him in its place of worship.
Looney worked as a school teacher in Gateshead
. He is listed in Ward's Directory for 1899–1900 as a teacher living at 119 Rodsley Avenue, Gateshead. He later resided at 15 Laburnum Gardens, Low Fell
.
After the failure of the Comtean church, Looney devoted himself to research into the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. He developed his theory during World War I
, depositing his claim to priority in a sealed document at the British Museum in 1918. In 1920 he published his work, whose short title is Shakespeare Identified, through Cecil Palmer
in London
. Looney, who resisted his publisher's suggestion that he use a pseudonym, argued that the real author of Shakespeare's plays was Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford
, who fitted Looney's deductions that Shakespeare was, among much else, a nobleman of Lancastrian
sympathies, with a fondness for Italy
and a leaning towards Catholicism
. Looney believed his argument followed the systematic methods prescribed by positivism.
In 1922 he joined with George Greenwood
to establish The Shakespeare Fellowship
, the organization which subsequently carried forward public discussion of the authorship question up to the 1940s. Looney acquired a number of followers and supporters, most notably Sigmund Freud
, who read Looney's book in 1923. Even at the end of his life, in 1939, Freud repeats his view in the final revision of An Outline of Psychoanalysis.
Two of his followers, Percy Allen
and B.M. Ward
developed the Prince Tudor theory
, which claimed that Oxford and Queen Elizabeth I were lovers and had a son together. Looney was strongly opposed to the theory. He wrote that it was "extravagant & improbable" and "likely to bring the whole cause into ridicule."
Looney was a member of The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle Upon Tyne after 1911 and paid handsome tribute to the library; its unique system of operation, he said, "ensured an ease and rapidity of work which would be impossible in any other institution in the country". Looney presented the "Lit and Phil" with his edition of Edward de Vere's poems in December 1927.
He died at Swadlincote
, near Burton-on-Trent, where he lodged after being forced to abandon his home in Gateshead
because of the heavy German bombing of the area. He was survived by his daughter Evelyn.
's book The Man Shakespeare, which uses the plays to find evidence of Shakespeare's beliefs and interests. Looney states that it is possible to use this method to identify the type of person who must have written the works. He considered that lower class characters were portrayed as buffoons and that the author had no sympathy for the middle-classes. He was, however, dedicated to old-fashioned feudal ideals of nobility and service. He also believed in a highly structured, dutiful and ordered society.
For Looney the plays expressed a distinct political vision that combined elements of feudalism and modern scepticism towards traditional religion. He also believed that events and characters in the plays must correspond to the life of the author. Studying the biographies of Elizabethan aristocrats, he became convinced that Edward de Vere's career and personal experience could be mapped onto the action of the plays. Since de Vere died in 1604, many years before a number of Shakespeare's works appeared, Looney argued that there is an abrupt change in publication history and in the style of plays apparently written after 1604. Unusually, Looney argued that The Tempest
was not the work of Oxford/Shakespeare, but of another author. It had been mistakenly added to the canon. He also suggested that the evidence of other writers hands in late plays such as Pericles, Prince of Tyre
implied that the author had died, leaving them unfinished. Such works were completed and published by others, as were the sonnets, the dedication page of which implied to Looney that the author was deceased.
Looney expanded his views in later publications, especially his 1921 edition of de Vere's poetry. Looney suggested that de Vere was also responsible for the literary works of Arthur Golding
, Anthony Munday
and John Lyly
.
, for example, takes issue with the de Vere theory (and others) in his book "Shakespeare: The World as Stage
," where he points out that de Vere died in 1604, while Shakespeare's plays continued to appear until 1612. Oxfordians, on the other hand, believe that many of the plays regarded as "late plays" or "collaborations" were actually reworkings of Oxford's earlier plays, or were revised by other writers after Oxford's death.
According to Steven May, who produced the standard edition of Edward de Vere's poetry:
By contrast, Warren Hope
and Kim Holston, in recounting Looney's methodology, state:
Commenting on the similarity between Looney's methods, and that of Shakespeare scholars in the tradition of Edward Dowden
, David Chandler wrote:
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
school teacher who is best known for having originated the Oxfordian theory
Oxfordian theory
The Oxfordian theory of Shakespearean authorship proposes that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford , wrote the plays and poems traditionally attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon. While a large majority of scholars reject all alternative candidates for authorship, popular...
, which claims that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, lyric poet, sportsman and patron of the arts, and is currently the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....
(1550–1604) was the true author of Shakespeare's plays.
Life
Looney was born in South ShieldsSouth Shields
South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...
. His father, also called John Thomas, had a shop at 91 West Holborn in the centre of the town. Both his parents were Methodists
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
. His family claimed descent from the Earls of Derby
Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end of the reign of Henry III and died in 1279...
. He grew up in a strong evangelical environment, and determined to become a minister at the age of 16. While studying at the Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
Diocesan College, he lost his faith. He later embraced the theories of the positivist philosopher Auguste Comte
Auguste Comte
Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte , better known as Auguste Comte , was a French philosopher, a founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism...
, becoming a proponent of the Comtean "Religion of Humanity
Religion of Humanity
Religion of Humanity was a secular religion created by Auguste Comte, the founder of positivist philosophy. Adherents of this religion have built chapels of Humanity in France and Brazil.-Origins:...
" and a leader in its short-lived church, in which he pioneered outdoor preaching. The Church of Humanity gave special prominence to Shakespeare, naming a month after him in the Positivist calendar
Positivist calendar
The positivist calendar was a calendar reform proposal by Auguste Comte in 1849. After revising the earlier work of Marco Mastrofini, Comte's proposed calendar was a solar calendar which had 13 months of 28 days, and an additional festival day commemorating the dead, totalling 365 days.This extra...
, and placing a bust of him in its place of worship.
Looney worked as a school teacher in Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
. He is listed in Ward's Directory for 1899–1900 as a teacher living at 119 Rodsley Avenue, Gateshead. He later resided at 15 Laburnum Gardens, Low Fell
Low Fell
Low Fell is a fell in the English Lake District. It overlooks the lake of Loweswater to the south and to the north is bordered by its neighbour Fellbarrow. It is usually climbed from the villages of Loweswater or Thackthwaite. The fell is largely occupied by grassed enclosures, although there are...
.
After the failure of the Comtean church, Looney devoted himself to research into the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. He developed his theory during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, depositing his claim to priority in a sealed document at the British Museum in 1918. In 1920 he published his work, whose short title is Shakespeare Identified, through Cecil Palmer
Cecil Palmer
Cecil Howard Palmer was an English cricketer who played nine first-class matches around the turn of the 20th century: eight for Hampshire and one for Worcestershire...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Looney, who resisted his publisher's suggestion that he use a pseudonym, argued that the real author of Shakespeare's plays was Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, held for several centuries by the de Vere family from 1141 until the death of the 20th earl in 1703. The Veres were also hereditary holders of the office of master or Lord Great Chamberlain from 1133 until the death of the 18th Earl in 1625...
, who fitted Looney's deductions that Shakespeare was, among much else, a nobleman of Lancastrian
House of Lancaster
The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...
sympathies, with a fondness for Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and a leaning towards Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
. Looney believed his argument followed the systematic methods prescribed by positivism.
In 1922 he joined with George Greenwood
George Greenwood
Sir George Greenwood , was a British lawyer, politician, cricketer, animal welfare reformer and Shakespearean scholar.-Life and work:...
to establish The Shakespeare Fellowship
The Shakespeare Fellowship
The Shakespeare Fellowship is an organization devoted to promoting Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, as the true author of the works of William Shakespeare....
, the organization which subsequently carried forward public discussion of the authorship question up to the 1940s. Looney acquired a number of followers and supporters, most notably Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
, who read Looney's book in 1923. Even at the end of his life, in 1939, Freud repeats his view in the final revision of An Outline of Psychoanalysis.
Two of his followers, Percy Allen
Percy Allen (writer)
Percy Allen was an English journalist, writer and lecturer most notable for his advocacy of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship, and particularly for his creation of Prince Tudor theory, which claimed that the Earl of Oxford fathered a child with Queen Elizabeth I.-Early writings:Allen...
and B.M. Ward
Bernard Mordaunt Ward
Bernard Mordaunt Ward was an author and third-generation British soldier most noted for his support of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship and writing the first documentary biography of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.-Biography:He was born in Madras, India into a military family,...
developed the Prince Tudor theory
Prince Tudor theory
The Prince Tudor theory is a variant of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship, which asserts that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was the true author of the works published under the name of William Shakespeare...
, which claimed that Oxford and Queen Elizabeth I were lovers and had a son together. Looney was strongly opposed to the theory. He wrote that it was "extravagant & improbable" and "likely to bring the whole cause into ridicule."
Looney was a member of The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle Upon Tyne after 1911 and paid handsome tribute to the library; its unique system of operation, he said, "ensured an ease and rapidity of work which would be impossible in any other institution in the country". Looney presented the "Lit and Phil" with his edition of Edward de Vere's poems in December 1927.
He died at Swadlincote
Swadlincote
Swadlincote is a town and unparished area in South Derbyshire, about southeast of Burton-upon-Trent and about south of Derby. It is the main town of South Derbyshire and the seat of South Derbyshire District Council....
, near Burton-on-Trent, where he lodged after being forced to abandon his home in Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
because of the heavy German bombing of the area. He was survived by his daughter Evelyn.
Theory
Looney's book begins by outlining many of the familiar anti-Stratfordian arguments about Shakespeare of Stratford's supposedly poor education and unpoetic personality. He also criticises the methods adopted by many previous anti-Stratfordians, especially the Baconian tendency to search for ciphers. Looney considers it unlikely that an author who wished to conceal his identity would leave such messages. He then goes on to identify the influence of Frank HarrisFrank Harris
Frank Harris was a Irish-born, naturalized-American author, editor, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day...
's book The Man Shakespeare, which uses the plays to find evidence of Shakespeare's beliefs and interests. Looney states that it is possible to use this method to identify the type of person who must have written the works. He considered that lower class characters were portrayed as buffoons and that the author had no sympathy for the middle-classes. He was, however, dedicated to old-fashioned feudal ideals of nobility and service. He also believed in a highly structured, dutiful and ordered society.
For Looney the plays expressed a distinct political vision that combined elements of feudalism and modern scepticism towards traditional religion. He also believed that events and characters in the plays must correspond to the life of the author. Studying the biographies of Elizabethan aristocrats, he became convinced that Edward de Vere's career and personal experience could be mapped onto the action of the plays. Since de Vere died in 1604, many years before a number of Shakespeare's works appeared, Looney argued that there is an abrupt change in publication history and in the style of plays apparently written after 1604. Unusually, Looney argued that The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
was not the work of Oxford/Shakespeare, but of another author. It had been mistakenly added to the canon. He also suggested that the evidence of other writers hands in late plays such as Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio...
implied that the author had died, leaving them unfinished. Such works were completed and published by others, as were the sonnets, the dedication page of which implied to Looney that the author was deceased.
Looney expanded his views in later publications, especially his 1921 edition of de Vere's poetry. Looney suggested that de Vere was also responsible for the literary works of Arthur Golding
Arthur Golding
Arthur Golding was an English translator of more than 30 works from Latin into English. While primarily remembered today for his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses because of its influence on Shakespeare's works, in his own time he was most famous for his translation of Caesar's Commentaries, and...
, Anthony Munday
Anthony Munday
Anthony Munday was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. The chief interest in Munday for the modern reader lies in his collaboration with Shakespeare and others on the play Sir Thomas More and his writings on Robin Hood.-Biography:He was once thought to have been born in 1553, because...
and John Lyly
John Lyly
John Lyly was an English writer, best known for his books Euphues,The Anatomy of Wit and Euphues and His England. Lyly's linguistic style, originating in his first books, is known as Euphuism.-Biography:John Lyly was born in Kent, England, in 1553/1554...
.
Assessments
Looney's book started a whole new avenue of speculation, and has many followers today. In general, alternative authorship theories are dismissed by the great majority of English professors and Shakespeare scholars, who accept the traditional attribution to Shakespeare of Stratford. Bill BrysonBill Bryson
William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on science. Born an American, he was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life before moving back to the US in 1995...
, for example, takes issue with the de Vere theory (and others) in his book "Shakespeare: The World as Stage
Shakespeare: The World as Stage
Shakespeare: The World as Stage is a biography of William Shakespeare by author Bill Bryson. The 199-page book is part of Harper Collins' series of biographies, "Eminent Lives"...
," where he points out that de Vere died in 1604, while Shakespeare's plays continued to appear until 1612. Oxfordians, on the other hand, believe that many of the plays regarded as "late plays" or "collaborations" were actually reworkings of Oxford's earlier plays, or were revised by other writers after Oxford's death.
According to Steven May, who produced the standard edition of Edward de Vere's poetry:
'The motifs and stylistic traits that Looney and his followers have claimed through the years to be unique to the verse of both the Earl of Oxford and Shakespeare are in fact commonplaces of Elizabethan poetry employed by many other contemporary writers. The Oxfordians have failed to establish any meaningful connection between Oxford's verse and Shakespeare's. Stripped of this argument, the Earl is no more likely to have written Shakespeare's works than any other Elizabethan poet.'
By contrast, Warren Hope
Warren Hope
-Biography:Hope was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1944, and educated in the public schools there. After graduating from Philadelphia's Central High School, Hope served in the United States Air Force, and then attended the Community College of Philadelphia. Hope eventually received a BA,...
and Kim Holston, in recounting Looney's methodology, state:
'Having found someone who met all the conditions he had originally established, Looney devotes a chapter to a comparison of Oxford's verse with the early work of Shakespeare, a tour de force of literary and historical analysis which in some ways anticipates the procedures of the "new criticism."'
Commenting on the similarity between Looney's methods, and that of Shakespeare scholars in the tradition of Edward Dowden
Edward Dowden
Edward Dowden , was an Irish critic and poet.He was the son of John Wheeler Dowden, a merchant and landowner, and was born at Cork, three years after his brother John, who became Bishop of Edinburgh in 1886. Edward's literary tastes emerged early, in a series of essays written at the age of twelve...
, David Chandler wrote:
Stratfordians have often smiled patronizingly at the naïveté of Looney's methods but have generally failed to acknowledge that the early twentieth century produced a lot of perfectly "orthodox" Shakespearean criticism, colored by Dowden, which they would find equally naïve. In the cultural situation of the early twentieth century, Looney is quite understandable. He took the case against the Stratford man, put forward by the Baconians and widely accepted, and combined its conclusions with the post-Dowden desire to read the plays as representing an intimate, credible, psycho-drama. For the problem which he posed himself he found the best possible solution – at least it is surely undeniable that no one since has come up with a better one. The popularity of the Oxfordian thesis is of a piece with the continuing popularity of Dowden's Shakspere [Shakspere: A Critical Study of his Mind and Art, (1875)], perhaps the most successful study of the dramatist ever published. Either both are discredited by being popular, or neither is. In fact, as any teacher of English Literature knows, the most profound influence the academy ever exerted over general reading habits was the diffusion of the idea that a writer can be recognized in his work. Of course this may be explained as a result of the professional study of English Literature commencing at a period when "Romantic" ideas regarding authorship held sway, but Kathman and other critics of Oxfordianism still need to accept that the academic tradition which authorizes them as commentators on culture issues also promoted precisely that Oxfordian, biographical approach which they condemn. They cannot have it both ways."
Publications
- Looney, J. Thomas. "Shakespeare" identified in Edward De Vere, the seventeenth earl of Oxford. London: C. Palmer, New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co. (1920)
- Looney, J. Thomas, ed. The poems of Edward De Vere, seventeenth earl of Oxford. London: C. Palmer (1921)