The Biographical Edward de Vere

Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, makes no careers; his life has been written principally by amateur scholars, some of whom are excellent researchers, some of whom are not. Charlton Ogburn's The Mysterious William Shakespeare gathered together the greatest amount of information; Joseph Sobran's Alias Shakespeare was temperate and concise; and many scholars have added valuable information to the picture of Oxford.

Since Chasing Shakespeares was published, a major biography of Oxford has appeared. Mark Anderson, a journalist, spent ten years researching Shakespeare by Another Name. It's thoroughly researched, largely from traditional Shakespearean sources--of its 600 pages, a full 150 are footnotes--and there is an enormous amount of new evidence, drawn together by Anderson into a coherent and believable history of how Shakespeare might have become Shakespeare. Read this book.

• Audio extracts from SBAN
• Sample chapter
• Reviews
• Where to order

"Anti-Oxford"

Among the Stratfordians, there is a fashion for denigrating Oxford. The currently leading anti-Oxford biography is Alan Nelson's Monstrous Adversary. Nelson has gathered together, and in many cases translated, every known document relating to Oxford. His scholarship is impeccable but his interpretation is not (see, for example, Peter Dickson's review here).

Look at the biographical information on the comparative timeline.

Biographical Stratford • Jonson's eulogy • Oxford's death • Biographical Oxford
Shakespeare's library • Shakespeare's travels • Shakespeare's experience
Dating the plays • Authorship timeline • "Theory of casual references"