​DONNELLY, IGNATIUS, an American prose-writer; born in Philadelphia, Nov. 3, 1831. Among his writings are: An "Essay on the Sonnets of Shakespeare"; "Atlantis, the Antediluvian World" (1882); and "Ragnarok" (1883). In "The Great Cryptogram" he endeavors to prove that Francis Bacon was the author of Shakespeare's plays. His best known novel is "Cæsar's Column." He died in Minneapolis, Minn., Jan. 2, 1901.