Quote family: The works Shakespeare were not written by Shakspeare but by another man of the same name

Sun Aug 17 15:34:04 UTC 2014

Or Pornopunno, as some call it.

JL

On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 11:30 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Quote family: The works Shakespeare were not written by
>               Shakspeare but by another man of the same name
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Thanks, Garson. I'd always heard it attributed to Mark Twain (not his real
> name).
>
> Your notice also advances the cause of Punnoporno Critique,
>
> JL
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 11:26 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: Quote family: The works Shakespeare were not written by
> >               Shakspeare but by another man of the same name
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Interesting! Here's an apparent use in 1860:=0A=
> > "This [argument about a planet discovery] rivals the new discovery about
> > Sh=
> > akespeare--that the well know plays and poems were not by William
> > Shakespea=
> > re, but by another person of the same name!"=0A=
> > The Spectator, January 14, 1860 p. 38 col. 1 GoogleB=0A=
> >
> >
> http://books.google.com/books?id=3DQi8_AQAAIAAJ&pg=3DPA38&dq=3D%22but+by+an=
> >
> other+*+of+the+same+name%22&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3DscfwU-CGLciI8gH3xoGYDA&ved=
> >
> >
> =3D0CCIQuwUwATgK#v=3Donepage&q=3D%22but%20by%20another%20*%20of%20the%20sam=
> > e%20name%22&f=3Dfalse=0A=
> > =0A=
> > Stephen Goranson=0A=
> > http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/=0A=
> > =0A=
> > ________________=0A=
> > =0A=
> > =0A=
> > Garson:=0A=
> > =0A=
> > Jonathan Lighter wrote:=0A=
> > > "Shakespeare" means many things besides "wanker." That's why=0A=
> > > his works are acclaimed. (Or, as seems likely, works written by=0A=
> > > someone else of the same name.)=0A=
> > =0A=
> > JL alludes to an old joke that has been applied to Homer and=0A=
> > Shakespeare. Here are two exemplars:=0A=
> > =0A=
> > 1) The Homeric Poems were not written by Homer, but by another person=0A=
> > of the same name.=0A=
> > =0A=
> > 2) The plays of Shakespeare were not written by Shakspeare but by=0A=
> > another man of the same name.=0A=
> > =0A=
> > I was asked to explore the history of this family of quips which has=0A=
> > been connected to Mark Twain, G. K. Chesterton, Lewis Carroll, Israel=0A=
> > Zangwill, Jerome K. Jerome, Aldous Huxley and others.=0A=
> > =0A=
> > Here are the earliest citations I've found at this point.=0A=
> > =0A=
> > The spelling "Shakspeare" was used for "Shakespeare" in the following=0A=
> > two excerpts which made it harder to locate in the GB database.=0A=
> > =0A=
> > [ref] 1868 December, The National Quarterly Review, Volume 19, Number=0A=
> > 35, Article 2: Early Christian Literature, Start Page 23, Quote Page=0A=
> > 33, Edward I. Sears, Editor and Proprietor, New York. (Google Books=0A=
> > Full View) link [/ref]=0A=
> > =0A=
> >
> >
> http://books.google.com/books?id=3DXiUAAAAAYAAJ&q=3D%22not+written%22#v=3Ds=
> > nippet&=0A=
> > =0A=
> > [Begin excerpt]=0A=
> > This admission of the learned bishop's, that the Apocrypha was not=0A=
> > written by the apostle John but by an inspired man of that name,=0A=
> > reminds us forcibly of the Frenchman's criticism on the authorship of=0A=
> > the plays usually attributed to Shakspeare, wherein after a careful=0A=
> > review of the evidence pro and con, he comes to the conclusion that=0A=
> > they were not written by Shakspeare but by another man of the same=0A=
> > name!=0A=
> > [End excerpt]=0A=
> > =0A=
> > =0A=
> > [ref] 1870 May 21, Harper's Bazaar, Volume 3, Meditations Among the=0A=
> > Tombs of the Washingtons by Gail Hamilton, Quote Page 322, Column 4,=0A=
> > Harper & Brothers, New York. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref]=0A=
> > =0A=
> >
> http://books.google.com/books?id=3DDR6NP-RgCfUC&q=3D%22not+written+by%22#v=
> > =3Dsnippet&=0A=
> > =0A=
> > [Begin excerpt]=0A=
> > What have we gained when we have reached the conclusion that the
> plays=0A=
> > of SHAKSPEARE were not written by SHAKSPEARE, but by another man of=0A=
> > the same name?=0A=
> > [End excerpt]=0A=
> > =0A=
> > Below is the earliest instance I've found in this family of humorous=0A=
> > remarks based on Homer.=0A=
> > =0A=
> > [ref] 1874, The Shotover Papers, Or, Echoes from Oxford, Volume 1,=0A=
> > (Special Commemoration Number), Arrowlets, Quote Page 112, (No date=0A=
> > was specified for this issue; the previous issue 6 was dated May 30,=0A=
> > 1874; the next issue 8 was dated October 17 1874) Publisher J.=0A=
> > Vincent, High Street, Oxford, England. (Google Books Full View) link=0A=
> > [/ref]=0A=
> > =0A=
> >
> >
> http://books.google.com/books?id=3DVKk-AQAAMAAJ&q=3D%22not+written%22#v=3Ds=
> > nippet&=0A=
> > =0A=
> > [Begin excerpt]=0A=
> > The other day the witty D.C.L. listened gravely to a long debate
> among=0A=
> > the dons at the High Table about the authorship of the Homeric Poems,=0A=
> > and wound up the discussion thus: "I am much interested in the
> subject=0A=
> > now before us, and I have come to the conclusion on hearing your=0A=
> > arguments that the Homeric Poems were not written by Homer, but by=0A=
> > another person of the same name."=0A=
> > [End excerpt]=0A=
> > =0A=
> > Here is an example in 1840 of a discussion concerning multiple Homers=0A=
> > without humorous overtones. It is this type of theory that prompted=0A=
> > the comical remarks.=0A=
> > =0A=
> > [ref] 1840 September, The London Quarterly Review, Volume 66, Article=0A=
> > 2, (Book Review of "The Plains of Troy" by Henry W. Acland), Start=0A=
> > Page 189, Quote Page 194, Column 1, American Edition Published by=0A=
> > Jemima M. Mason, New York. (Google Books Full View)=0A=
> > =0A=
> >
> >
> http://books.google.com/books?id=3DalQAAAAAYAAJ&q=3D%22same+name%22+#v=3Dsn=
> > ippet&=0A=
> > =0A=
> > [Begin excerpt]=0A=
> > In the next place, according to the opinion of divers great=0A=
> > scholars--not Germans--for example, Mr. Payne Knight, Bishop=0A=
> > Thirlwall, and others--the man who wrote the Odyssey was not the same=0A=
> > man who wrote the Iliad, but another of the same name, who lived a=0A=
> > long time after Homer I,. and wrote so exceedingly like him that=0A=
> > almost all the world have confounded them together, like two single=0A=
> > gentlemen rolled into one; and lastly, the same scholars, and many=0A=
> > others, hold it clear that the man who wrote that book of the
> Odyssey,=0A=
> > in which the above quoted passage occurs, was neither Homer I., nor=0A=
> > Homer II., but another man again, whom we may properly call Homer
> III.=0A=
> > [End excerpt]=0A=
> > =0A=
> > Garson=0A=
> > =0A=
> > ------------------------------------------------------------=0A=
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org=0A=
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
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