discovery that Oxford was the author of works attributed to George Gascoigne, and in 1926 he published a reprint edition of Gascoigne's A Hundreth Sundrie Flowres, which included an introduction advancing the theory that it was in fact compiled and edited by Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Oxford supposedly also contributed some poems and revealed his authorship using an acrostic that spelled out "Edward de Vere" in the poem "The absent lover (in ciphers) disciphering his name, doth crave some spedie relief as followeth". Ward claimed that the motto on the title page, which was signed to 22 of the 100 poems, was Oxford's; that the signature Si Fortunatus Infoelix was the posy of Christopher Hatton, a commoner, and thereby identified Hatton's contributions; and that the initials F.I. in The Poesies of George Gascoigne (1575) stood for the principal letters in Hatton's supposed motto. All of his conjectures were disproved by academic Shakespeareans, but Ward's Gascoigne theory is still put forth by some modern Oxfordians, while others have disavowed it. Oxford as Shakespeare Taking to heart Looney's call for research to prove Oxford was Shakespeare, around 1923 Ward began digging in archives for evidence of Oxford's authorship. In 1928, he published a biography of Oxford aimed at rehabilitating the earl's reputation. Prevented by his publishing house from openly supporting the Oxfordian theory in the book, he was content to provide tacit support, portraying Oxford as a remarkable Renaissance man: a highly educated and well-travelled courtier, soldier, scholar, poet, playwright, patron of the arts, theatrical entrepreneur – in short, the perfect fit for the portrait of the author as determined by Looney's biographical reading of Shakespeare's works. He also detailed his authorship speculations in what he called "interludes" interspersed between the documented sections of the biography. For the rest of the 20th century Ward's was the only documentary biography of Oxford available until Alan Nelson's Monstrous Adversary: The Life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was published in 2003. Ward's biography has been criticized by historians for suppressing details of Oxford's life and putting aspects of his career and relationships in a favourable light. He exaggerated Oxford's military and literary accomplishments, and ignored or recast his faults. Nelson characterised Ward as "more hagiographer than historian" Ward also helped his friend Percy Allen to develop the "Prince Tudor theory", the claim that Oxford had a son with Queen