ALS in German, signed “Freud,” one page both sides, 9 x 11, personal "Prof. Dr. Freud" letterhead, November 7, 1935. Handwritten letter to Percy Allen on the theory that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was the true author of Shakespeare's works. In full (translated): "I can only confirm what Mr. Bransom has told you of my correspondence with him. I wrote to him that Lear could only be understood psychologically on the assumption that Oxford is the author, and that I believe Edward de Vere to have been the creator of all the other genuine Shakespeare plays. At that time I had read the books of Looney, Ward and Rendall, and I am glad to learn from you what other books have been published relating to the Oxford-Shakespeare problem, and what progress has been made with the Oxford case.
I am, of course, aware that numerous riddles still await solution and appreciate the difficulties which are in the ways of indirect proof. The value of identifications can easily be overrated, identifications being often misleading and distracting. Very strict scrutiny is necessary, and one must keep one’s critical faculties alive; one must be ready to meet sharp criticism, and to work against one’s own inclinations. Further, I will not withhold my own impression that the contents of your book, Anne Cecil Elizabeth and Oxford, appeared to me to be almost entirely fantasy. Like so many others, I have been accustomed to think of the Virgin Queen as incapable of bearing a child.
With regard to the editions of your contributions, which concern Anne Cecil, Elizabeth, and Oxford, may I ask you to send me two of your books, The Case for Edward de Vere, and The Oxford-Shakespeare Case Corroborated. The pleasurably to be settled account I will let my son meet, as he lives in London.
As to whether you should mention my favourable opinion, at the meeting on the 24th. I have no reason for withholding my consent, but I do not think it will better the case, for I cannot claim to be an authority on these matters." Housed in an elaborate black Moroccan folder (probably made by bookbinder Joanne Sonnichsen) in a plastic sleeve in a black buckram clamshell box. In very good to fine condition, with intersecting folds, light soiling, and creasing to the right edge. Accompanied by a full letter of authenticity from PSA/DNA. Accompanied by a TLS by his daughter, Anna Freud, to Dr. Jerome Oremland, in part: "Thank you very much for your letter with the very interesting enclosure. I shall be very glad to see you and see the pictures which you have brought."
Freud was an ardent reader of Shakespeare throughout his life, and were central to the development of his psychoanalytic theories—according to the Freud Museum, 'Shakespeare’s plays are part of the raw material from which Freud constructed psychoanalysis.' For example, the psychoanalytic theory of the Oedipus complex is based in part on his interpretation of Hamlet. His later conviction that Shakespeare could not have been the author of the canon assigned to him was largely influenced by the theory of J. Thomas Looney (mentioned here) that Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, was the real author. Freud based this mainly on psychological reasons. He felt that (for example), echoing Hamlet's family situation, de Vere's father died when he was still young and his mother remarried hastily. King Lear, mentioned here, was another of Freud's favorite plays. The letter's recipient, Percy Allen, was a British journalist and an ardent supporter of Oxford University as the author of Shakespeare's works, although his theory that de Vere had a child with Queen Elizabeth I was not very helpful to Freud: here, he expresses his belief that the 'Virgin Queen' was infertile. A fascinating, firsthand explication of Freud's theories on Shakespeare and his writings—something that remains the subject of academic intrigue even today.
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