17 FEBRUARY 1967, Page 13

SIR,—Since anti-Stratfordians are notorious for pounc- ing on the slightest

mis-statement on the part of their opponents, it is a pity that Mr Seymour-Smith, in the course of his analysis of the latest Marlowe non- sense, has one sentence that is not strictly correct: 'both Robert Greene and Henry Chettle referred to Shakespeare as such before Marlowe's death.' Greene certainly refers to Shakespeare, by an unmistakable pun, accompanied by quotation, but he does not name him. Chettle mentions no name at all, and the identification of what is generally (but not univers- ally) taken to be his reference to Shakespeare is in- ferential.

J. C. MAXWELL

Balliol College, Oxford