CLICK HERE FOR THE PAPERBACK AND HARDCOVER VERSIONS of ANONYMOUS AGNOSTIC ANTICHRISTS
CLICK HERE FOR THE KINDLE VERSION
PASSIONATE PILGRIMS,
a short non-fiction companion piece to the novel,
CLICK HERE FOR THE KINDLE AND PAPERBACK VERSIONS
December 5th, 2023 was the release of Anonymous Agnostic Antichrists, my 13th book, to time with the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare's First Folio of 1623. A record of the first sale of the First Folio was on December 5th 1623, but we do not know when it was published, although my feeling is that the first sale happened on the day it was released.
Anonymous Agnostic Antichrists is a novel about the creation of the Shakespeare Canon, the plays and poetry with Shakespeare's name on them:
Anonymous because the plays and poetry were written so, as was common in those days, for various reasons. The theatrical entrepreneur Shakespeare had his name slapped first on the poetry then the plays to protect the creators.
Agnostic in that the Canon embraced ambiguity, uncertainty, doubt, the authors expressing this philosophical outlook from play to play, poem to poem.
Antichrists in that for the first time in history, the Shakespeare Canon celebrated the Human experience over the Divine, and so is not only a rejection of Christianity but all forms of religious dogma.
The story follows primarily the main man behind the works, Thomas North and his mysterious origins, although North was by no means alone. 13 other authors will have their stories told as well in the book, and that does not include most likely another 10 who were involved.
For the creation of the plays and poetry was a multi-generational effort, one which happened organically from the 1550's to the 1620's. Plays were not usually written as solitary efforts in the 16th and 17th centuries but in collaboration and co-authoring. Collaboration in the sense of two or more writing the original play, co-authoring in that one or more authors revised older plays. The revision process happened over a long period of time as well, rewrites in the 1580's, 1590's, 1600's and so on. Plays were not static, authorship was fluid and ever movable, difficult to decipher who exactly wrote what.
But the ringleader of them all, The Chief of this English Renaissance Punk Band, a band that changed its members throughout the decades much like a rock band today does, was Thomas North. What we know of as the Shakespeare Canon today though would be nothing without his collaborators, the likes of who will be found in Anonymous Agnostic Antichrists:
Much thanks to Dennis McCarthy for his 15 years of hard work on uncovering the true Bard - Thomas North. What seemed to be a centuries long unsolvable mysterious with hundreds and hundreds of different theories, candidates, and books has actually now been solved, thanks to what Dennis has done. Please check out his book Thomas North: the Original Author of Shakespeare's Plays, and his work in general to see the case for North. In addition, Michael Blanding has made the argument for North all the more real with his own amazing findings and his equally excellent book, North by Shakespeare. June Schlueter is the third North scholar to help in the cause and without her help, the credibility of Dennis' passion would be lacking. To these three we owe a tremendous amount and time will show this to be undeniably true. Much, much, much thanks, Dennis, Michael, and June.
While Anonymous Agnostic Antichrists is my own, a work of fiction, and proposing, through a story, a different theory than theirs, my book would not be what it is without their monumental efforts.
The image at the top of this page, and for the cover of the book, is Fool's Cap Map of the World from the 16th century (possibly late 1580's). The artist is unknown, and the intention for the map's creation is also a mystery. The painting below is Venus and Adonis by Titian, which was enormously influential on the narrative poem, Venus and Adonis of 1593, the first time William Shakespeare's name appeared in print. It is also the painting used for the cover to the companion piece, Passionate Pilgrims.
- Derek Hunter
CLICK HERE FOR THE KINDLE VERSION
PASSIONATE PILGRIMS,
a short non-fiction companion piece to the novel,
CLICK HERE FOR THE KINDLE AND PAPERBACK VERSIONS
December 5th, 2023 was the release of Anonymous Agnostic Antichrists, my 13th book, to time with the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare's First Folio of 1623. A record of the first sale of the First Folio was on December 5th 1623, but we do not know when it was published, although my feeling is that the first sale happened on the day it was released.
Anonymous Agnostic Antichrists is a novel about the creation of the Shakespeare Canon, the plays and poetry with Shakespeare's name on them:
Anonymous because the plays and poetry were written so, as was common in those days, for various reasons. The theatrical entrepreneur Shakespeare had his name slapped first on the poetry then the plays to protect the creators.
Agnostic in that the Canon embraced ambiguity, uncertainty, doubt, the authors expressing this philosophical outlook from play to play, poem to poem.
Antichrists in that for the first time in history, the Shakespeare Canon celebrated the Human experience over the Divine, and so is not only a rejection of Christianity but all forms of religious dogma.
The story follows primarily the main man behind the works, Thomas North and his mysterious origins, although North was by no means alone. 13 other authors will have their stories told as well in the book, and that does not include most likely another 10 who were involved.
For the creation of the plays and poetry was a multi-generational effort, one which happened organically from the 1550's to the 1620's. Plays were not usually written as solitary efforts in the 16th and 17th centuries but in collaboration and co-authoring. Collaboration in the sense of two or more writing the original play, co-authoring in that one or more authors revised older plays. The revision process happened over a long period of time as well, rewrites in the 1580's, 1590's, 1600's and so on. Plays were not static, authorship was fluid and ever movable, difficult to decipher who exactly wrote what.
But the ringleader of them all, The Chief of this English Renaissance Punk Band, a band that changed its members throughout the decades much like a rock band today does, was Thomas North. What we know of as the Shakespeare Canon today though would be nothing without his collaborators, the likes of who will be found in Anonymous Agnostic Antichrists:
- Thomas Middleton
- John Webster
- Richard Barnfield
- Thomas Watson
- Robert Greene
- Christopher Marlowe
- Thomas Kyd
- John Fletcher
- Michael Drayton
- Thomas Sackville
- Edmund Spenser
- Edward Dyer
- Ben Jonson
Much thanks to Dennis McCarthy for his 15 years of hard work on uncovering the true Bard - Thomas North. What seemed to be a centuries long unsolvable mysterious with hundreds and hundreds of different theories, candidates, and books has actually now been solved, thanks to what Dennis has done. Please check out his book Thomas North: the Original Author of Shakespeare's Plays, and his work in general to see the case for North. In addition, Michael Blanding has made the argument for North all the more real with his own amazing findings and his equally excellent book, North by Shakespeare. June Schlueter is the third North scholar to help in the cause and without her help, the credibility of Dennis' passion would be lacking. To these three we owe a tremendous amount and time will show this to be undeniably true. Much, much, much thanks, Dennis, Michael, and June.
While Anonymous Agnostic Antichrists is my own, a work of fiction, and proposing, through a story, a different theory than theirs, my book would not be what it is without their monumental efforts.
The image at the top of this page, and for the cover of the book, is Fool's Cap Map of the World from the 16th century (possibly late 1580's). The artist is unknown, and the intention for the map's creation is also a mystery. The painting below is Venus and Adonis by Titian, which was enormously influential on the narrative poem, Venus and Adonis of 1593, the first time William Shakespeare's name appeared in print. It is also the painting used for the cover to the companion piece, Passionate Pilgrims.
- Derek Hunter
