author
Francis Asbury Smith
1837–1915
A New York lawyer, Civil War veteran, and judge, he is best remembered today for a spirited book defending Shakespeare's authorship. His work brings a courtroom style of argument to one of literature's longest-running debates.
1 Audiobook
The Critics Versus Shakspere A Brief for the Defendant
by Francis Asbury Smith
About the author
Born in 1837 and dying in 1915, Francis Asbury Smith was an American lawyer and jurist whose career included service in the Civil War before he went on to practice law in New York. Sources on him are limited, but they consistently describe him as a lawyer and later a judge.
As a writer, he is chiefly associated with The Critics Versus Shakspere: A Brief for the Defendant, published in the early 20th century. In that book, he approached the Shakespeare authorship controversy like a legal case, arguing in favor of the traditional view that William Shakespeare wrote the works attributed to him.
That blend of legal reasoning and literary debate gives Smith a distinctive place among lesser-known American authors. While he was not a major literary celebrity, his surviving work still appeals to readers interested in Shakespeare, authorship questions, and the sharp, argumentative prose of a practiced attorney.