part in the play

Hermione, after a long silence in marble, says in the left-hand column, " Tell me," which means " Count me " (just as they count M.P.'s in the House of Commons) .
A count of the letters in her Speech gives roman letters . . Deduct' tetters in the italic word and roman words in brackets
Add italic words in Names of the Actors
362
75 287
303 16
287
234 15
219
68
287
4 SECEET SHAKESPEAREAN SEALS
First Page of the Histories
King John
1st col. All the roman type words, including those in brackets . . . . . . . . • . 287
Last Page oe the Histories King Henry VIII.
Koman and italic words in the play (omitting those in brackets) . . . . . . . . . . 410
Deduct italic words in Epilogue . . . . . . 123
287
Troylus and Cressida
This is an interpolated play. We have no suggestion to offer as to why this was done.
But there are only two pages in this play with page numbers — viz., the second page numbered 79, and the following page numbered 80. On this basis of paging, the Prologue page should be page . . . . . . 77
Except two in brackets, the Prologue contains italic words to the total of . . . . . . . . . . 210
287
Last Page of Troylus and Cressida
In the left column Troylus says, " Tell me." A count from " Enter Troylus " gives a total words of . . . . 287
The writer probably gave his unknown decipherers the above fairly easy calculation, as the other one was difficult — viz., all the words in the two columns, long and short, italic and roman . . . . . . 549
The number of pages in the play . . . . . . 30
The word Finis . . . . . . . . . . 1
580
Deduct the correct page number if Troylus had followed on as a History play . . . . . . _ 293
287
EEVELATIONS OF ROSICEUCIAN ARCANA 5
First Page of the Tragedies
Coriolanus
It will have been noticed that Troylus is out of place. It was not classed as a History or a Tragedy. Certainly it is called a " Tragedie." But the first of the Folio Tragedies, as bound and paged, is Coriolanus.
In the 1st col. on page 1, there are (except those in brackets) roman words . . . . . . . . . . 318
Deduct correct page of Tragedy of Coriolanus if Troylus had been paged as the first of the Tragedies . . . . 31
287
There is another interesting count of the 2nd Citizen's words, which also gives 287. From the use of expressions such as " one word," " I shall tell you," alternative solutions were provided.
Last Page of the Tragedies
Gymbeline
The construction of the Impresa on this last page of all was clever.
From wrong page number . . . . . . . . 993
Deduct total words, both roman and italic, in the two columns . . . . . . . . 415
And the correct page number . . . . 291 706
287
SONNETS Let us now take the Shakespeare's Sonnets, 1609. On the first page the number 287 is neatly tucked away:
1st line
roman letters
.. 35
2nd „
33 33 * ' • •
.. 32
3rd „
.. 32
4th „
.. 33
5th „
.. 38
6th „
.. 47
7th „
.. 32
8th „
33
.. 38
287
6 SECRET SHAKESPEAREAN SEALS
Big initial letters do not appear to be counted, so the large F is omitted from the total of the first line.
On the last page the number is produced in two different ways :
(a) The numerical equivalent in Kaye value of the word
"Sonnets" 126
Sonnet number . . . . . . . . . . 154
Letters in "Finis" and K.A., being the seven large
letters on the page . . . . . -. • • 7
287
(b) The Sonnet number . . . . ^^ . • ; ^^ . . . 154 The numerical equivalent of the word " Finis " in the
Kaye value . . . . . . ■ . • • 133
287
The writer of these Sonnets would seem to have been careful to ensure that the sigil should be found at the end page. It will be noticed that the printer's mark is made unusually prominent, as if to indicate that the Kaye method of count would give the requisite sigil number. We describe the Kaye cipher in a later chapter.
Bound up with the Shakespeare's Sonnets is a poem entitled " A Lover's Complaint."
The sigil is given on the last page of this poem as follows: The numbers of the last three verses :
The words in the verses on the last page
Deduct the letters in the words " The Lovers "
287
The title is " A Lover's," but it is altered on the last page to " The Lovers," doubtless with a view to the above deduction.
From the second edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets, dated 1640, six sonnets were oroitted.
45
46
47
—
138
158
296
9
EEVELATIONS OF ROSICRUCIAN AECA^A 7
Their numbers in the first edition were :
18 19 43 56 75 76
287
The second edition gives the curious Marshall engraving of the Shake- speare portrait (a variation of the Droeshout), having questioning words below it.