For many years there has been a dispute as to the true authorship of the plays attributed to "William Shakespeare." The orthodox view, of course, is that they were written by a man named William Shakspere (sic) who was born in 1564 in the small town of Stratford-on-Avon and died there in 1616. However, skeptics claim that the known facts concerning William Shakspere make it exceeding unlikely that he was the true author. (These skeptics include many prominent writers and intellectuals, such as Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, and Henry James.)
             In the nineteenth century (when relatively little research had been done on the question) most of those who doubted that Shakspere was the author of the plays suspected that the true author was the famous philosopher (and politician) Francis Bacon. However, that has changed as additional information has surfaced: Nowadays, most of those who doubt that the plays were written by the Stratford man believe that they were written by Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.
             The fullest and most persuasive presentation of the arguments in favor of De Vere's authorship of the plays (and against Shakspere's) can be found in the excellent book, The Mysterious William Shakespeare, by Charlton Ogburn. (That book is available from Amazon.com. For additional, up-to-date information, one should consult the Shakespeare-Oxford Society (website address: http://www.shakespeare-oxford.com) which puts out an informative journal, and which also holds annual meetings where scholarly articles on the topic are presented.
             Some of the arguments presented by Ogburn against Shakspere's authorship are:
             He did not, during his lifetime, claim to be the author.
             None of his friends or neighbors in Stratford ever referred to him as a playwright, poet, or literary figure of any sort. Neither did any of his relatives.
             His parents and wife were illiterate, as were his children.
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