In the latest issue of academic journal Notes and Queries, March 2006,
is a short article called:

An Unnoticed Early Reference to Shakespeare

"In a recent article in the Dictionary of Literary
Biography Douglas Bruster noted that in the
second edition of Thomas Vicars's manual of
rhetoric, Cheiragogia, Manuductio ad artem
rhetoricam (1624, first edition 1621), the
author introduced a list of outstanding English
poets.2

...

What Bruster fails to mention, and what
seems to have escaped the attention of scholars
of English literature so far, is that in the
third edition of the manual, published in 1628,
Vicars added a short passage in which he
punningly alludes to Shakespeare's name.
The reference is included directly after his
mention of the other English poets, and runs as
follows: `To these I believe should be added
that famous poet who takes his name from
``shaking'' and ``spear'', John Davies, and
my namesake, the pious and learned poet
John Vicars.'5

Fred Schurink
University of Newcastle upon Tyne

Now: check it out: "the famous poet who TAKES HIS NAME"

If someone is going under the name they were born and baptised with,
it cannot be said of that person that they TAKE A NAME. They are given
a name. Only if one adopts a nom-de-plume can one be said to take a name.

Thus, here, #247, is further proof that Bacon is Shakespeare.

(Actually, ok, this only proves that Shakespeare was a pseudonym, strictly
speaking....but then its 1621/24 and the text speaks of the famous
poet in the present tense...which narrows the field down to Our Man.)