ABSTRACT
It is obvipus that anyone who sets out deliberately to deny that the Stratford actor, W i l l i a m Shakspere, wrote the works commonly ascribed to h i m and to substitute the name of some other person as the true author, must challenge Shakspere's ability to perform the task. Unless this were done the case for any other claimant, even i f not entirely ruled out, would lose much of its force. It was therefore a sine qua non that, as a starting point for his exposition, every one of the theorists should make an attack on the actor's qualifications for writ ing the immortal works.
