The Shakespearean Authorship Trust’s emblem is taken from the title page of Henry Peacham’s Minerva Britanna (1612). An unknown hand holding a quill pen appears from behind a curtain of a proscenium arch theatre.
History
Founded on 6 November 1922 in Hackney, London, our original name was the Shakespeare Fellowship. The name changed to The Shakespearean Authorship Society in 1959, and we are now The Shakespearean Authorship Trust, a registered charity. Our objective is the advancement of learning with particular reference to the social, political, and literary history of England in the 16th and 17th centuries and the authorship of the literary works that appeared under the name of William Shakespeare.
Mission
The aims, as set out in 1922, are:
To seek, and if possible establish, the truth concerning the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays and poems.
To organise and encourage research, to promote the discussion of the authorship question, and to provide means of publishing contributions to its solution.
To maintain and add to a reference library of works relating to the subject.