Topic: Literary Hoax

The 1623 First Folio is presented as a sophisticated literary hoax orchestrated by Francis Bacon and playwright Ben Jonson to create the "Shakespeare" myth. Although the book contains 36 plays, the introduction avoids explicitly identifying the Stratford man as the author, instead using ambiguous hints. This publication effectively transformed a collection of plays into a mythic national treasure, serving as a primary vehicle for long-term social engineering.