Arthur Golding and his influence on William Shakespeare

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Arthur Golding and his influence on William Shakespeare

The following link is a 1940 book review of a 1937 extensive biography of Arthur Golding An Elizabethan Puritan by Louis Thom Golding.

Charles Wisner Barrell’s book review itself is quite extensive and it is entitled Arthur Golding: The Uncle of Edward de Vere, And the Intimate Part He Played in the Development of Shakespeare’s Creative Genius

Thesis: The actual identity of William Shakespeare has long been debated and in question. Some serious researchers have suspected that Shakespeare’s writings were really written by Edward, Earl of Oxford … Arthur Golding was the earl’s personal tutor from an early age, and ‘Oxford’ was no dummy: graduating from Cambridge with a degree at age 14. Regardless of whom Shakespeare really was, the actual writer of Shakespeare’s plays was a reader of Arthur Golding and heavily influenced to the point that Shakespeare’s writing contains things only found in Arthur’s writings.

BTW – the book being reviewed is long out of print but can be found on Amazon.com — I have it. It is an amazing story for genealogists because it covers much of Arthur’s daily life and family history — full of intrique, law suits (constantly!), being hounded by Queen Elizabeth I to pay a ‘past due’ loan, and much more.

Here also is a list of Arthur’s main publications during his life: view list.


You are welcome to add to or to correct this story by contacting: Bill Golden, Norfolk1956@gmail.com

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