A Contrary Proof

A Proof By Contradiction That No Grammatical and Meaningful Statements, Comparable to Jonson's, Occur within the Inscription Appearing on the Stratford Monument

PROOF: Let it be supposed that such a statement does exist. An examination of the letters available will therefore contain a 'probable word' from the statement that has been proposed to exist. Probable words can be examined by the following method, which is also referred to on the main page under 'Decryption'.

[1] Number the letters appearing in the inscription; e.g., S=1; T=2; A=3; Y=4; P=5; … T=220, and enter these numbers in columns headed by the letter to which

they apply. See accompanying table where this task has been completed.

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	V	W	Y
3	26	44	37	9	30	11	15	38	95	70	52	10	18	5	111	13	1	2	25	14	4
6	148	114	60	12	39	17	23	56	115	171	84	46	24	69		34	7	21	43	49	16
31	200	141	122	19	150	196	41	75	142	172	88	54	29	97		100	8	22	55	74	27
36		161	124	35		205	50	78		185	109	79	42	203		120	20	33	58	102	143
45			135	53			64	82		191	133	86	51			152	28	40	87	106	172
62			139	61			65	103			147	90	57			155	32	48	112	126
66				89			68	113			153	116	85			181	47	63	119	180
71				98			77	123				131	108			198	59	67	188	217
94				101			81	166				160	128			211	72	73	193
99				110			93	182				195	136				83	76	201
117				121			105	192					146				92	80	212
132				125			107	194					154				96	91
151				130			127	215					162				129	104
169				134			138	218					208				144	118
177				140			158										163	137
187				149			168										165	145
197				156			174										190	157
204				159			176										209	164
				167			179										216	173
				175			214											178
				186														183
				189														184
				206														199
				210														202
				213														207
																		219
																		220

[2] Choose a likely, or probable word from the letters available.

[3] Select two alternate letters from the chosen word; e.g., the 1st and 3rd, or the 2nd and 4th, etc.

[4] Form a complete set of paired numbers: one taken from each column of the two letters chosen.

[5] From these pairs, select only those with two even numbers or two odd numbers; eliminate those remaining.

[6] Add the numbers in each pair and divide their sum by 2.

[7] Look down the column headed by the letter appearing between the two alternate letters chosen in [3] above. Does the result obtained in [6] appear in this column? Note how many times it occurs, if at all.

[8] If the result does not appear in that column, then it is proven that the chosen word cannot occur as part of an Equidistant Letter Sequence.

[9] If the result does appear, then for each time it occurs, write out the three relevant numbers in numerical order; that is, the pair from [6] together with their result.

[10] As a check, subtract the 2nd number from the 1st and the 3rd number from the 2nd. They must be the same.

[11] The new number arrived at by subtraction represents an Equidistant Letter Sequence of the probable word (if it consisted of only three letters) or an ELS of part of the probable word if it is longer than three letters.

[12] If the probable word chosen does consist of three letters, form a grille with the same number of columns as the ELS number in [10]. The word will occur in that grille and it can be inspected for its part in a sentence similar to that provided by Jonson's decrypted avowal.

[13] If the probable word chosen consists of more than three letters, the same procedure as in [12] can be followed, but with the purpose of discovering if the remaining letter(s) of the probable word is (or are) present, and correctly joined to the three letters that have already been discovered.

[14] To obviate the tedium of compiling grilles, Professor A. W. Burgstahler,PhD Harvard and Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of Kansas has generously made available a set of grilles on which probable words will occur if they exist. An exhaustive search of these grilles has, however, revealed nothing with even the remotest connection to the objections that have been raised against Jonson's encryption; viz: that Edward de Vere was really Shakespeare and he should be tested as such, in order to place the matter beyond doubt. [ Go to for completed grilles].

[15] By assuming that it is possible to generate alternative and meaningful sentences from the Stratford Monument's inscription, and describing the method for achieving this outcome, it has been demonstrably shown to be impossible.

Conclusion: By the process of proof by contradiction and exhaustion, it can be confidently asserted that the message on the Cardano grille is unique. William Shakespeare was therefore Edward de Vere's penname, since Jonson's avowal complies with the stated conditions for a genuine decryption, as set down by William and Elizebeth Friedman (The Shakespearian Ciphers Examined, Cambridge, 1957) and later endorsed by the eminent historian of cryptograpy, David Kahn (former editor of Cryptologia) in his book, The Codebreakers The Story of Secret Writing New York, 1996.

mailto:dlroper@shakespearians.com

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	V	W	Y
3	26	44	37	9	30	11	15	38	95	70	52	10	18	5	111	13	1	2	25	14	4
6	148	114	60	12	39	17	23	56	115	171	84	46	24	69		34	7	21	43	49	16
31	200	141	122	19	150	196	41	75	142	172	88	54	29	97		100	8	22	55	74	27
36		161	124	35		205	50	78		185	109	79	42	203		120	20	33	58	102	143
45			135	53			64	82		191	133	86	51			152	28	40	87	106	172
62			139	61			65	103			147	90	57			155	32	48	112	126
66				89			68	113			153	116	85			181	47	63	119	180
71				98			77	123				131	108			198	59	67	188	217
94				101			81	166				160	128			211	72	73	193
99				110			93	182				195	136				83	76	201
117				121			105	192					146				92	80	212
132				125			107	194					154				96	91
151				130			127	215					162				129	104
169				134			138	218					208				144	118
177				140			158										163	137
187				149			168										165	145
197				156			174										190	157
204				159			176										209	164
				167			179										216	173
				175			214											178
				186														183
				189														184
				206														199
				210														202
				213														207
																		219
																		220

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	V	W	Y
3	26	44	37	9	30	11	15	38	95	70	52	10	18	5	111	13	1	2	25	14	4
6	148	114	60	12	39	17	23	56	115	171	84	46	24	69		34	7	21	43	49	16
31	200	141	122	19	150	196	41	75	142	172	88	54	29	97		100	8	22	55	74	27
36		161	124	35		205	50	78		185	109	79	42	203		120	20	33	58	102	143
45			135	53			64	82		191	133	86	51			152	28	40	87	106	172
62			139	61			65	103			147	90	57			155	32	48	112	126
66				89			68	113			153	116	85			181	47	63	119	180
71				98			77	123				131	108			198	59	67	188	217
94				101			81	166				160	128			211	72	73	193
99				110			93	182				195	136				83	76	201
117				121			105	192					146				92	80	212
132				125			107	194					154				96	91
151				130			127	215					162				129	104
169				134			138	218					208				144	118
177				140			158										163	137
187				149			168										165	145
197				156			174										190	157
204				159			176										209	164
				167			179										216	173
				175			214											178
				186														183
				189														184
				206														199
				210														202
				213														207
																		219
																		220

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	V	W	Y
3	26	44	37	9	30	11	15	38	95	70	52	10	18	5	111	13	1	2	25	14	4
6	148	114	60	12	39	17	23	56	115	171	84	46	24	69		34	7	21	43	49	16
31	200	141	122	19	150	196	41	75	142	172	88	54	29	97		100	8	22	55	74	27
36		161	124	35		205	50	78		185	109	79	42	203		120	20	33	58	102	143
45			135	53			64	82		191	133	86	51			152	28	40	87	106	172
62			139	61			65	103			147	90	57			155	32	48	112	126
66				89			68	113			153	116	85			181	47	63	119	180
71				98			77	123				131	108			198	59	67	188	217
94				101			81	166				160	128			211	72	73	193
99				110			93	182				195	136				83	76	201
117				121			105	192					146				92	80	212
132				125			107	194					154				96	91
151				130			127	215					162				129	104
169				134			138	218					208				144	118
177				140			158										163	137
187				149			168										165	145
197				156			174										190	157
204				159			176										209	164
				167			179										216	173
				175			214											178
				186														183
				189														184
				206														199
				210														202
				213														207
																		219
																		220