PETER FAREY's
Marlowe Page
(Dedicated to the proposition that, had it not been for
the 'sudden and fearful end of his life' on 30th May 1593,
Christopher Marlowe would have equalled Shakespeare)
NEWSFLASH - 2007 HOFFMAN PRIZE
I am both surprised and delighted to be able to report that on 14th December last year an essay of mine entitled "Hoffman and the Authorship" was declared joint winner of the prestigious Calvin & Rose G. Hoffman Prize for "a distinguished publication on Christopher Marlowe". As previous winning entries have nearly always been by senior professional scholars, and about subjects other than the Shakespeare authorship, it is particularly gratifying that this time it was just by an amateur enthusiast, and on the subject most dear to the heart of the person whose bequest made this prize possible, Calvin Hoffman.
The essay itself runs to over twenty thousand words, and contains much that has
been posted here in one form or another already, but for anyone who is still
interested I have posted a copy of it here:
HOFFMAN AND THE AUTHORSHIP
CONTENTS:
A short explanation of who I am, and of how I came to develop this site.
THE WORKS OF CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
Although the works of Marlowe can be found on the internet, it is not easy to obtain
complete versions on a single file, and with modern spelling. I have now managed to
complete modernized editions of all of his known works in HTML Here are the links for the plays:
Tamburlaine the Great, part 2
Edward II
The Jew of Malta
Doctor Faustus
Dido Queen of Carthage
The Massacre at Paris
Lucan's First Book
Ovid's Elegies
The Passionate Shepherd to his Love
The complete works in the original spelling may be found at the Tufts University website. Note: they are usually off-line from 10 to 12 (GMT) every morning.
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE - Some Biographical Facts
An attempt to give as accurate an account as possible of what we actually know about Marlowe's life, with links to transcripts of all of the main documents mentioned.THE SPELLING OF MARLOWE'S NAME
People often express some puzzlement over the number of different ways in which the name 'Christopher Marlowe' was spelt at various times, and wonder if we are in fact right to assume that they all refer to the same person. This short paper considers that question. Various transcripts and publications relevant to the biography of Christopher Marlowe. The information given in Charles Nicholl's book about Christopher Marlowe, "The Reckoning" is examined, the reasoning challenged, and a different conclusion, based upon the same facts, is reached.MARLOWE'S SUDDEN AND FEARFUL END
A thorough examination of the various accounts of Marlowe's apparent death at Deptford. The circumstances are reconsidered, and several theories reassessed. Only one theory satisfactorily answers all questions raised. The men were there with the sole purpose of faking Marlowe's death, and it would indeed have been surprising had there NOT been a dead body lying there at the end of the day. The inquest into Marlowe's death should have been held by two coroners - the Queen's Coroner, William Danby, and one of the coroners for the county of Kent. How is it, therefore, that William Danby not only officiated on his own, but found out about it in the first place?(NEW) WAS MARLOWE'S INQUEST VOID? (2)
Whilst no evidence has been found that Danby was also one of the coroners for Kent - and if he had been it should have been stated in the report of the inquest - this would have explained his officiating on his own (but also why Deptford Strand would have been the best place in the country for the suggested faked death to have been staged).THE STRATFORD MONUMENT - A Riddle and its Solution
Taking the words "read if thou canst" on the monument as an invitation to solve a riddle, we discover that there is indeed a hidden meaning there, and that it is not only Shakespeare who is commemorated. An examination of the possibility that Christopher Marlowe was not in fact killed in 1593, but that his death was faked: a survival which would have permitted him to play a major part in writing those works we know of as William Shakespeare's.LE DOUX'S COFFRE, BUT WHOSE PAPERS?
One of the more important assumptions in "A Deception in Deptford" is challenged.
A few links for those who are interested in Christopher Marlowe, but don't know where else on the internet to start looking.
An essay in which I use a stylometric approach to determine whether the order in which the Sonnets were printed is likely to have been the same order as the one in which they were written.
INDEX OF MAIN ITEMS
As always, comments will be welcomed at peter.f@rey.prestel.co.uk
All rights reserved. The copying of these papers, whether in electronic, printed, or any other form, is permitted only in the case of a single copy made by an individual for his or her personal study. Making copies in greater numbers or for any other purpose is prohibited, unless with the prior permission of the author in writing.
© Peter Farey, 1997-2008