"Quarta Tabula, ex Vigenerio, pag. 202.b, etc." =Square table taken from Vigenerio, page 202.b.
This reference is to the work entitled, "Traicte des chiffres ou secretes manieres d'escrire": par Blaise de Vigenere, which was published in Paris in 1586. Spedding states (Vol. I. of "Bacon's Letters and Life," p. 6-8) that Francis Bacon went in 1576 to France, with Sir Amias Paulet, the English Ambassador. Bacon remained in France until 1578-9, and when in 1623 he published his "De Augmentis Scientiarum"--(the Advancement of Learning) he tells us that while in Paris he invented his own method of secret writing. _See_ Spedding's "Works of Bacon," Vol. 4, p. 445.
The system which Bacon then invented is now known as the Biliteral Cypher, and it is in fact practically the same as that which is universally employed in Telegraphy under the name of the Morse Code.
A copy of Vigenere's book will be found in the present writer's Baconian library, for he knew by the ornaments and by the other marks that Bacon must have had a hand in its production.
Anyone, therefore, reading the Quarto edition of "Loues Labor's lost," 1598, and putting _two_ and _two_ together will find on p. 202.b of Vigenere's book, the Table, of which a facsimile is here given, Plate 25, Page 109. This square is even more clear than the square table in the great Cryptographic book.
Thus, upon the same page 136 in the Folio, or on F. 4 in the Quarto, in addition to Honorificabilitudinitatibus containing the revealing sentence "Hi ludi F Baconis nati tuiti orbi"--"These plays F Bacon's offspring are entrusted to the world," we see that we are able to discover on line 33 the name of Bacon, and by means of the lines which follow that it is Fra. Bacon who is referred to.
Before parting with this subject we will give one or two examples to indicate how often the number 33 is employed to indicate Bacon.
We have just shewn that on page 136 of the Folio we obtain Bacon's name on line 33. On page 41 we refer to Ben Jonson's "Every man out of his Humour." In an extremely rare early Quarto [_circa_ 1600] of that play some unknown hand has numbered the pages referring to Sogliardo (Shakespeare) and Puntarvolo (Bacon) 32 and 32 repeated. Incorrect pagination is a common method used in "revealing" books to call attention to some statements, and anyone can perceive that the second 32 is really 33 and as usual reveals something about Bacon.