David J. Hanson had the good fortune to be a student of one of the greatest scholars of the 20th century, Mark Van Doren. While at Columbia University, and under Van Doren’s tutelage, he deepened his love and understanding of the Western intellectual canon, spending most of his life immersed in a study of the liberal arts and becoming a scholar of the classics in his own right.
Learning of the mystery concerning the authorship of the plays and sonnets commonly attributed to William Shakespeare, David spent the latter part of his life studying “Shake-speare’s” work from a historical, ethical, and political perspective. He published two books and wrote several essays on “Shake-speare,” and was a well-regarded expert on the plays, not to mention on the question of authorship, which he argued belonged to Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford (1550 –1604).
David founded The De Vere Foundation in 1991 to further his research concerning the question of the author’s true identity and aid in the discovery of the play’s missing manuscripts. When he was not drilling for oil, Hanson worked diligently in his search for the answer to the mystery surrounding the plays. It was his great passion in life; a passion that carried him into just short of his 90th year.
Based on many facts and not a little compelling evidence, David became convinced that the manuscripts were the buried treasure surrounding the mystery of Oak Island, a small, remote island off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Nova Scotia thought he had a case too because David was one of the few people to receive a Treasure Trove license from the Island to search for treasure there.
National Geographic learned of David’s research, too, and sought to get the rights to film a documentary based on his findings, but for legal and political reasons, it never came to fruition. Instead, the reality show, The Mystery of Oak Island, was born. While Hanson was thrilled with the show, he declared one day while watching the program, “They will never find it!”
On what he based that statement, we will never know.
David established The De Vere Foundation in 1991 to further his research concerning the question of “Shake-speare’s” true identity and to aid in the discovery of the play’s missing manuscripts. During his professional life in the oil business, when not drilling for oil, David was working diligently in his search for the answer to the mystery surrounding the plays. It was his great passion in life; a passion that inspired him unto his last days.
The De Vere Foundation continues to further the research and publications of David J. Hanson and hopes one day to help solve a mystery that has intrigued scholars and lovers of “Shake-speare” for so long. Does Hanson’s research provide the keys to solving the mystery?
That is the question.
