hakespeare Matters, the Shakespeare Fellowship's 32-page quarterly newsletter, publishes the latest in ground-breaking scholarship and news in Shakespeare Authorship studies. Now edited by Roger Stritmatter, PhD, the publication includes on its editorial staff four PhD's in literary studies -- Dr. Daniel Wright of Concordia University (English), Dr. Felicia Londré of the University of Missouri at Kansas City (Theatre History), Dr. Anne Pluto (English) of Leslie College and Dr. Roger Stritmatter, Instructor of English at Coppin State College in Baltimore, MD.

Although most of our contributors are Oxfordians, the editors welcome submissions by independent scholars and researchers, regardless of their conclusions about authorship. The only requirement for publication is that the essay should yield significant insight into the nature of the Shakespearean ouevre or era. Our second issue, for example, contains an enlightening essay on Shakespeare's moral philosophy by John Baker.

Shakespeare Matters is proud of the active tradition of open intellectual exchange which takes place in our pages; each issue typically contains as many as 3-6 letters to the editor from our informed and active readership. Several letters in our second issue illustrate this feature of the publication, including one from the former head of Reader Services for the prestigious Huntington Library, who writes to dispute some aspects of Ms. Burris' first article.

We also get lots of fan mail: "When Shakespeare Matters arrives in my mail box," wrote one member recently, "everything stops in my house while I read it cover-to-cover. Forty years ago my husband's cousin ( who lives in Stratford, England) told me Shaxper didn't write the plays, and I've been studying the subject ever since....Thank you for all your hard work."

Please query us if you have a submission or article concept.

If you're wondering about subscribing, here are some samples:

    • Our first issue (Fall 2001), which is available here, contains groundbacking new research on the much-disputed Ashbourne "Shakespeare" portrait. Charles Wisner Barrell argued in Scientific American (1940) that this portrait, now owned by the Folger Shakespeare library, was actually a long-lost portrait of Edward de Vere by the Dutch Master Cornelius Ketel. Please click on the newsletter to view or download the 955 kb .pdf file. (You'll need Adobe acrobat running on your system).
    • In our second issue, amateur art historian Barbara Burris pursues the thread of her research on the Ashbourne with further revelations. The article demonstrates that the costume of the Ashbourne sitter invalidates the Shakespeare Quarterly (44:1, 55-72) claim of William L. Pressly identifying the sitter as London Mayor Hugh Hammersley (who was mayor, circa 1627). The sitter's clothing, claims Burris, definitively dates the portrait to 1576-83, the period during which Ketel painted Oxford.
    • In another article from our second issue Mark K. Anderson and Roger Stritmatter detail a stunning new logical proof, based on a long-neglected 1593 pamphlet by the Cambridge pedant Gabriel Harvey, identifying Edward de Vere as the author of Venus and Adonis, by "William Shakespeare" (1593). It seems that Harvey had the inside gossip. Maybe he was reading Shakespeare Matters.
    • Complete copies of the newsletter are available to both our online subscribers and any full membership subscribers who wish to view them (send an email to newsletter@shakespearefellowship.org for an ID and password). These are all PDF format files of each issue, and depending on your Internet connection can take up to 10-15 minutes to downloard. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (3.0 or higher) to access them. These online issues also have a note on each page stating that they are provided to Fellowship subscribers for their sole use and are not intended for further distribution or sale.
    • Our Summer 2003 issue featured an article by Dr. Paul Altrocchi that highlighted his ongoing research into the early traditions of "Shakespeare." The article (now available to all visitors to this site) presents a brand new reference to Shakespeare---a handwritten annotation in a 1590 edition of William Camden's Britannia---that was discovered by Altrocchi while researching an article on Camden. Why does this early annotation refer to the Stratford man only as "our Roscius" -- i.e. an actor, and not a literary figure?

      Our first issue is available to everyone who visits the Fellowship site:

      Fall 2001 (PDF)

      All issues through Fall 2004 are now available to subscribers. The password has been updated. Current subscribers, please email for the password.

      Winter 2002 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Spring 2002 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Summer 2002 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Fall 2002 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Winter 2003 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Spring 2003 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Summer 2003 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Fall 2003 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Winter 2004 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Spring 2004 (PDF) Available only to subscribers

      Summer 2004 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Fall 2004 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Winter 2005 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Spring 2005 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Summer 2005 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Fall 2005 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Winter 2005 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Spring 2006 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Summer 2006 (PDF ) Available only to suscribers.

      Fall 2006 (PDF ) Available only to suscribers.

      Winter 2007 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Spring 2007 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Summer 2007 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Fall 2007 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Winter 2008 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Spring 2008 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Fall 2008 (PDF) Available only to subscriber.

      Winter 2009 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      Spring 2009 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.

      • Summer 2009 (PDF) Available only to subscribers

      Fall 2009 (PDF) Available only to subscribers.


  • To subscribe to Shakespeare Matters, please visit our membership page.

    Members of the newsletter Editorial Board should click here to access the Editorial Board page.