Editing Shakespeare's sonnets (section)

====Mr. W. H., the dedicatee====
The identity of Mr. W.H., "the only begetter of ''Shakespeare's Sonnets''", is not known for certain. His identity has been the subject of a great amount of speculation: That he was the author's patron, that he was both patron and the "faire youth" who is addressed in the sonnets, that the "faire youth" is based on Mr. W.H. in some sonnets but not others, and a number of other ideas.<ref>Rollins, H. E., ''A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare: The Sonnets.'' Lippincott & Co. 1944. pp. 174–185</ref><ref name="duncan-jones" />{{rp|51–55, 63–68}}<ref>Schoenbaum, S. S. ''Shakespeare's Lives.'' Oxford University Press. 1991. p. 566. {{ISBN|978-0198186182}}</ref>

[[File:WilliamHerbert3rdEarlofPembroke.jpg|thumb|William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke]]
[[File:Miniature of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, 1594. (Fitzwilliam Museum) cropped.png|thumb|upright|[[Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton]]]]

[[William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke|William Herbert]], the [[Earl of Pembroke]], is seen as perhaps the most likely identity of Mr. W.H. and the "young man". He was the dedicatee of the [[First Folio]]. Thorpe would have been unlikely to have addressed a lord as "Mr",<ref name=schoenbaum270>{{cite book
|last=Schoenbaum
|first=S.
|title=William Shakespeare: a compact documentary life
|year=1977
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|location=New York
|isbn=0-19-502211-4
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/williamshakespea00scho/page/270 270–271]
|edition=1st
|ol=21295405M
|url=https://archive.org/details/williamshakespea00scho/page/270
}}</ref> but there may be an explanation, perhaps that form of address came from the author, who wanted to refer to Herbert at an earlier time—when Herbert was a "younger man".<ref>Burrow, Colin, ''William Shakespeare: Complete Sonnets and Poems'', Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 98.</ref> There is a later dedication to Herbert in another quarto of verse, Ben Jonson's ''Epigrammes'' (1616), in which the text of Jonson's dedication begins, "MY LORD, While you cannot change your merit, I dare not change your title … " Jonson's emphasis on Pembroke's title, and his comment, seem to be chiding someone else who had the audacity to use the wrong title, as perhaps is the case in Shakespeare's dedication.<ref name="duncan-jones" />{{rp|60}}

[[Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton|Henry Wriothesley]] (the [[Earl of Southampton]]), with initials reversed, has received a great deal of consideration as a likely possibility. He was the dedicatee of Shakespeare's poems ''[[Venus and Adonis (Shakespeare poem)|Venus and Adonis]]'' and ''[[The Rape of Lucrece]]''. Southampton was also known for his good looks.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

Other suggestions include:
* A simple printing error for Shakespeare's initials, "W.S." or "W. Sh". This was suggested by [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Jonathan Bate]], and [[Donald Wayne Foster|Donald W. Foster]].<ref>Bate, Jonathan. ''The Genius of Shakespeare'' (1998) 61–62.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Foster |first1=Donald W. |title=Master W.H., R.I.P. |journal=[[Modern Language Association#Activities|PMLA]] |date=January 1987 |volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=42, 49}}</ref>
* [[William Hall (printer)|William Hall]], a printer who had worked with Thorpe.<ref>Lee, Sidney, Sir. ''A Life of William Shakespeare'' (1898). Cambridge University Press, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1108048194}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> It is noted that "ALL" following "MR. W. H." spells "MR. W. HALL". Using his initials W.H., Hall had edited a collection of the poems of [[Robert Southwell (Jesuit)|Robert Southwell]] that was printed by [[George Eld]], the printer of the 1609 Sonnets.<ref>Collins, John Churton. ''Ephemera Critica.'' Westminster, Constable and Co., 1902; p. 216.</ref>
* Sir [[William Hervey, 1st Baron Hervey|William Harvey]], Southampton's stepfather.<ref name=schoenbaum270/><ref>{{Cite book
|last=Appleby
|first=John C
|title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|location=Oxford, England
|year=2008
|chapter=Hervey, William, Baron Hervey of Kidbrooke and Baron Hervey of Ross (d. 1642)}}
</ref>
* [[William Haughton (playwright)|William Haughton]], a contemporary dramatist.<ref>{{Cite book
|last=Berryman
|first=John
|author-link=John Berryman
|title=Berryman's Shakespeare: essays, letters and other writings
|editor=Haffenden, John
|editor-link=John Haffenden
|publisher=Tauris Parke
|location=London
|year=2001
|page=xxxvi
|isbn=978-1-86064-643-0}}
</ref><ref name=neil1867>{{cite magazine
|title=Moffat, N.B., Shakespeare's birthday, 1867.
|last=Neil|first=Samuel|author-link=Samuel Neil
|date=27 April 1867
|magazine=[[Athenaeum (British magazine)|Athenæum]]
|location=London
|issue=2061
|volume=1867
|page=552
|hdl = 2027/uc1.l0063569123
|hdl-access = free
|via = [[HathiTrust]]
}}</ref>
* [[Joan Shakespeare|William Hart]], Shakespeare's nephew and male heir.<ref>{{Cite book
|last=Neil|first=Samuel
|title=Shakespere: a critical biography
|publisher=Houlston and Wright
|location=London
|year=1863
|pages=105–106
|oclc=77866350}}</ref>
* Who He. It has been argued that the dedication is deliberately ambiguous, possibly standing for "Who He", a conceit also used in a contemporary pamphlet. It might have been created by Thorpe to encourage speculation and discussion (and hence, sales).<ref>Colin Burrow, ed. ''The Complete Sonnets and Poems'' (Oxford UP, 2002), pp. 98, 102–103.</ref>
* [[Willie Hughes]]. The 18th-century scholar [[Thomas Tyrwhitt]] proposed "William Hughes", based on puns on the name in the sonnets (notably [[Sonnet 20]]). This idea is expressed in [[Oscar Wilde]]'s short story "[[The Portrait of Mr. W. H.]]", and that the sonnets were written to a young actor who played female roles in Shakespeare's plays.<ref>[[Hyder Edward Rollins]], The Sonnets, New Variorum Shakespeare, vol. 25 II, Lippincott, 1944, pp. 181–184.</ref>