> > > okay, just to provide some background info for those who don't know... the man everyone hears
> > > about when they're taught about Shakespeare (born in Stratford-on-Avon, actor in London, all
> > > that) was actually named William Shaksper... if I need to refer to that man, I'll say
> > > Shaksper...
> >
> > Hey. There are, what, 6 signatures of Shakespeare remaining that are thought to be
> > authentic, no? And several of them have variant spelling on the last name; it isn't
> > consistent. All the works date from a time when orthography really was not standardized.
>
> actually, there are records of the man who was born in Statford-on-Avon, a part of the London
> acting group, all that stuff.... and in every single one, his name is spelled Shaksper.

Apart from the First Folio... :o)






In the de-Vere-is-Shakespere book I'm reading as a result of this conversation, it says that the cry of "non-standard spelling" is irrelevant, because the *pronunciation* didn't change, so there is a difference between "Shakespeare" and "Shakspere".

They spell it "Shakspere", though, not "Shaksper", who would be somebody else again.

Paul