Delia Bacon was an American author and playwright who is best know today for her theory that William Shakespeare's plays were actually written by a group of British men, including Francis Bacon (no relation), Sir Walter Raleigh and others. In 1857, with Hawthorne's help, book The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakespeare Unfolded was finally published. Hawthorne generously wrote a foreward for the book, in which he stated that he did not believe her theory. In her book Delia alleged that Shakespeare could not have written the plays because he was ignorant and unschooled. The book was harshly criticized and a commercial failure. Later on, Mark Twain claimed to be impressed by it, and Walt Whitman, Henry James and others came to believe her theories, but it was too late.
