Roger Stritmatter
Encyclopedia
Roger A. Stritmatter is an associate professor
of Humanities
at Coppin State University
and the general editor of Brief Chronicles
, an open access
journal covering the Shakespeare authorship question
. He was a founder of the modern Shakespeare Fellowship, an organization that promotes Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
, as the true author of the works of William Shakespeare
.[citation needed] He is one of the leading modern-day advocates of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship
, and has been called the “first professional Oxfordian scholar”.
He was educated at Evergreen State College (B.A., 1981), the New School for Social Research (M.A., 1988). In 2001 he was awarded a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on the basis of a dissertation that assumed the authorship of Edward de Vere and accepted the work of Oxfordians J. Thomas Looney
, B. M. Ward, and Charlton Ogburn, Jr., as sources on a par with peer-reviewed academic scholarship
. It comprised a study of 1,043 marked passages found in de Vere's Geneva Bible
, which is now owned by the Folger Shakespeare Library
. Stritmatter identified 246 of those (23.6 percent) as Shakespearean influences, which is presented as evidence for the Oxfordian theory.
In 2007, Stritmatter and writer Lynne Kositsky
published a treatise in the Review of English Studies proposing that William Strachey
’s eyewitness account of the 1609 Sea Venture
shipwreck on the island of Bermuda
, A True Reportory of the Wracke and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates, Knight
, was misdated and largely plagiarized, and arguing that sources earlier than Strachey's letter account for Shakespeare's imagery and wording. The narrative, dated 1610 but not published until 1625, is generally accepted as a source for Shakespeare’s The Tempest
, and a composition date later than the first recorded performance of the play would disqualify it as a possible source for the play.
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
at Coppin State University
Coppin State University
Coppin State University is a historically black college located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland...
and the general editor of Brief Chronicles
Brief Chronicles
Brief Chronicles is an interdisciplinary academic journal dedicated to examining the Shakespeare authorship question and more generally topics in early modern authorship studies. It was established in 2009 and is included in the MLA International Bibliography and World Shakespeare Bibliography...
, an open access
Open access
Open access refers to unrestricted access via the Internet to articles published in scholarly journals, and also increasingly to book chapters or monographs....
journal covering the Shakespeare authorship question
Shakespeare authorship question
Image:ShakespeareCandidates1.jpg|thumb|alt=Portraits of Shakespeare and four proposed alternative authors.|Oxford, Bacon, Derby, and Marlowe have each been proposed as the true author...
. He was a founder of the modern Shakespeare Fellowship, an organization that promotes 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....
, as the true author of the works of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
.[citation needed] He is one of the leading modern-day advocates of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship
Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship
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...
, and has been called the “first professional Oxfordian scholar”.
He was educated at Evergreen State College (B.A., 1981), the New School for Social Research (M.A., 1988). In 2001 he was awarded a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on the basis of a dissertation that assumed the authorship of Edward de Vere and accepted the work of Oxfordians J. Thomas Looney
J. Thomas Looney
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 was the true author of Shakespeare's plays.-Life:Looney was born in South Shields...
, B. M. Ward, and Charlton Ogburn, Jr., as sources on a par with peer-reviewed academic scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
. It comprised a study of 1,043 marked passages found in de Vere's Geneva Bible
Geneva Bible
The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into the English language, preceding the King James translation by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of the 16th century Protestant movement and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John...
, which is now owned by the Folger Shakespeare Library
Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materials from the early modern period...
. Stritmatter identified 246 of those (23.6 percent) as Shakespearean influences, which is presented as evidence for the Oxfordian theory.
In 2007, Stritmatter and writer Lynne Kositsky
Lynne Kositsky
Lynne Kositsky is an award-winning Canadian author of poetry and young adult historical fiction. Kositsky, who was born in Montreal and grew up in London, England, now lives in the Niagara region of Ontario...
published a treatise in the Review of English Studies proposing that William Strachey
William Strachey
William Strachey was an English writer whose works are among the primary sources for the early history of the English colonisation of North America...
’s eyewitness account of the 1609 Sea Venture
Sea Venture
The Sea Venture was a 17th-century English sailing ship, the wrecking of which in Bermuda is widely thought to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest...
shipwreck on the island of Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, A True Reportory of the Wracke and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates, Knight
True Reportory
True Reportory is the short-title of a 24,000 word narrative of early colonial literature, "A true reportory of the wracke, and redemption of Sir Thomas Gates Knight; vpon, and from the Ilands of the Bermudas: his comming to Virginia, and the estate of that Colonie then, and after, vnder the...
, was misdated and largely plagiarized, and arguing that sources earlier than Strachey's letter account for Shakespeare's imagery and wording. The narrative, dated 1610 but not published until 1625, is generally accepted as a source for Shakespeare’s 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,...
, and a composition date later than the first recorded performance of the play would disqualify it as a possible source for the play.
Selected works
- The Marginalia of Edward de Vere's Geneva Bible: Providential Discovery, Literary Reasoning, and Historical Consequence. University of Massachusetts PhD Dissertation, February 2001.
- "A Law Case in Verse: Venus and Adonis and the Authorship Question." University of Tennessee Law Review 72:1 (Fall 2004): 171-219.
- With Lynne Kositsky, "Shakespeare and the Voyagers Revisted" Review of English Studies 58:236 (September 2007): 447-472.