The Bassanos

In the 1530s, five Bassano brothers, who were outstanding wind players and instrument makers, emigrated from Venice to England. Dr Lasocki?s authoritative new book, the first to be devoted to the family, is a minutely researched account of these brothers, their sons (and a daughter) and their grandsons. The first half of the book discusses the everyday affairs of the family - their relationships, religion, property, law suits, finances, and standing in society. Two chapters, one written by Roger Prior, are devoted to Emilia Bassano, whose identification as the ?dark lady? of Shakespeare?s sonnets is supported by a wealth of evidence. The second half of the book discusses the family?s musical activities. At the English Court the Bassanos made up a recorder consort that lasted 90 years; they also played in the flute/cornett and shawm/sackbutt consorts. As instrument makers their fame was spread throughout Europe. The book?s appendixes present information on the Venetian branch of the family and the musical activities of the English branch since 1665.

In the 1530s, five Bassano brothers, who were outstanding wind players and instrument makers, emigrated from Venice to England. Dr Lasocki‘s authoritative new book, the first to be devoted to the family, is a minutely researched account of these brothers, their sons (and a daughter) and their grandsons. The first half of the book discusses the everyday affairs of the family - their relationships, religion, property, law suits, finances, and standing in society. Two chapters, one written by Roger Prior, are devoted to Emilia Bassano, whose identification as thedark lady of Shakespeare‘s sonnets is supported by a wealth of evidence. The second half of the book discusses the family‘s musical activities. At the English Court the Bassanos made up a recorder consort that lasted 90 years; they also played in the flute/cornett and shawm/sackbutt consorts. As instrument makers their fame was spread throughout Europe. The book‘s appendixes present information on the Venetian branch of the family and the musical activities of the English branch since 1665.

William Shakespeare is viewed today as the quintessential English writer who has continued to influence art, poetry, philosophy and even science for over four centuries. His graphic imagery of Venice, Padua and Verona carefully braided with poignant tragic wreckages of real life circumstances, shrewdly infused with the ancient Kabbalah and transcendent Platonism was nothing short of genius. That is, if he ever put pen to paper! These chronicles reveal documentary evidence to confirm who really penned the Shakespearean canon. For centuries these works have been accoladed as the very basis of English literature, yet the author might not have been English at all! Amidst the mischief, mayhem and murder, these chronicles answer all the questions, including one of the greatest discoveries of all time - who owned the finest collection of Venetian, Italian and Byzantinian jewellery in the world - The Cheapside Hoard.

Amelia Bassano Lanier is proved to be a strong candidate for authorship of Shakespeare's plays: Hudson looks at the fascinating life of this woman, believed by many to be the dark lady of the sonnets, and presents the case that she may have written Shakespeare's plays.

Emilia Bassano was identified as the Dark Musical Lady of the Shakespeare Sonnets by A.L.Rowse in 1973. This book presents previously unpublished evidence to prove that Rowse's identification was correct. Emilia, an early feminist poet and musician, was the daughter of the youngest of six Venetian brothers, all professional musicians, brought to London by HenryVIII in 1540 to ensure a musical wedding for Anne of Cleves. Peter Bassano, the author and a descendent of Emilia's uncle, Anthony, suggests that Shakespeare was the father of Emilia's son, Henry. Shortly after the child's birth in May 1593 Shakespeare took a trip to Northern Italy with three of Emilia's musician cousins travelling through towns well known to Shakespeare lovers as the setting of his early plays. The book does not agree with the views of John Hudson and Peter Matthews that Emilia wrote the Shakespeare canon. He believes that Shakespeare was Shakespeare but that Emilia was hugely influential on Shakespeare's writing, particularly in his outspoken heroines. He suggests that Emilia and Shakespeare met at Bisham Abbey when Emilia had written and performed in the entertainment to welcome the Queen. Bassano believes that A Lover's Complaint published as an appendix to the Sonnets, is entirely appropriate and relates to three protagonists that he identifies in the main text. He identifies Emilia as the author of two additional works, the text for William Byrd's 1589 Songs of Sundrie Natures and 1592 masque, Speeches to Welcome the Queen to Bisham. There are strong concordances with Shakespeare's works and Emilia's. One of her sonnets in the Byrd collection, 'Of Gold all burnished like the sun' was parodied by Shakespeare in the famous Sonnet 130 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun'. The conclusions in this book are diametrically opposed to the conclusions in the 2020 book by Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells, All the Sonnets of Shakespeare. The author makes the suggestion that Tennessee Williams is a descendant of Shakespeare.