CHAPTER ONE. THE REPERTORY

[1] The material for the succeeding pages comes from an analysis of Philip Henslowe’s _Diary_, ed. W. W. Greg (London, 1904-1908), the dates being based on Greg’s correction of Henslowe. Mention must be made of the new edition of Henslowe’s _Diary_, prepared by R. A. Foakes and R. T. Rickert (Cambridge, 1961), which appeared while the present work was in press. The editors offer slight correction of the primary evidence and some fresh interpretations of its significance.

[2] Chambers, _Elizabethan Stage_, IV, pp. 322-325.

[3] Henslowe, I. The list of plays from November 10, 1595-January 17, 1596 may be found on page 27. Fuller descriptions of the plays mentioned by name may be found in Volume II, pp. 167-168, 175-177.

[4] Performances: Nov. 24-25, _Hercules_, I and II; Nov. 26, _Longshank_; Nov. 27, _New World’s Tragedy_; Nov. 28, _Henry V_ (new); Nov. 29, _The Welshman_; Dec. 1, _A Toy to Please_; Dec. 2, _Henry V_; Dec. 3, _Barnardo and Fiametta_; Dec. 4, _Wonder of a Woman_; Dec. 6, _Crack Me This Nutte_.

[5] _Belin Dun_ was performed regularly from June 10 to November 15, 1594, and regularly from March 31 to June 25, 1597, yet there was an isolated performance on July 11, 1596. See Henslowe, II, p. 164.

[6] Chambers, _Elizabethan Stage_, II, pp. 143ff.; Henslowe, II, pp. 118-119, 124-127.

[7] Chambers, _Elizabethan Stage_, II, pp. 165-172, 177-180. From 1597 to 1603 nine men, Chettle, Day, Dekker, Drayton, Hathway, Haughton, Munday, Smith, and Wilson, furnished sixty-four of the eighty-eight plays which were finished and produced.

[8] These are: _Phaethon_, _Earl of Godwin and His Three Sons_ I and II, _King Arthur_ I, _Black Bateman of the North_, _Madman’s Morris_, _Pierce of Winchester_, _Civil Wars of France_ I and II, _Fount of New Fashions_, _Brute_, _The Spencers_, _The Page of Plymouth_, _Troy’s Revenge or Polyphemus_, _Cox of Collumpton_, _Fortunatus, atient Grissel_, _Seven Wise Masters_, _Strange News out of Poland_, _Cupid and Psyche_, _Six Yeomen of the West_, _Cardinal Wolsey_, _Thome Strowd_ III, _The Conquest of the West Indies_, _Judas_, _Malcolm King of Scots_, _Love Parts Friendship_, _Jephthah_.

[9] Henslowe, II, p. 112.

[10] F. G. Fleay, _A Chronicle History of the London Stage_, p. 117.

[11] Sir Henry Herbert, _The Dramatic Records of Sir Henry Herbert_, ed. J. Q. Adams (New Haven, 1917), pp. 66-67.

[12] _The Virgin Martyr_ involved the addition of a scene, _The Tragedy of Nero_ was allowed for printing, _Come See a Wonder_ is listed for “a company of strangers,” and “the company at the Curtain” is in dispute.

[13] 1604-1605: 10 plays presented, 7 by Shakespeare; 1611-1612: 23 plays, 2 by Shakespeare, 5 by others, 16 unidentified; 1612-1613: 20 plays, 8 by Shakespeare, 12 by others; 1618: 3 plays, 2 by Shakespeare, 1 by another poet; 1633: 22 plays, 4 by Shakespeare, 18 by others; 1636: 19 plays, 3 by Shakespeare, 16 by others; 1638: 7 plays, 1 by Shakespeare, 6 by others; 1638-1639: 17 plays, 2 by Shakespeare, 15 by others. See Chambers, _Elizabethan Stage_, IV, pp. 171-183; Mary S. Steele, _Plays and Masques at Court_ (New Haven, 1926).

[14] Chambers, _Elizabethan Stage_, IV, pp. 350-351. Periods during which plague forced the closing of the theaters between 1599 and 1608 were: March--December, 1603, c. October 5--December 15, 1605, July--December, 1606, July--November 19, 1607, August--December, 1608.

[15] Days without performances because of Lenten observance are not counted.

[16] Chambers, _William Shakespeare_, II, p. 332.

[17] Henslowe, II, pp. 83, 124-125, 149.

[18] The eight plays are Suckling’s _Aglaura_ (1638), Cartwright’s _The Royal Slave_ (1636), and Habington’s _Cleodora_ (1640), which were presented for Their Majesties by courtiers seeking favor (see Steele, pp. 265, 268; Herbert, p. 58); Carlell’s _The Deserving Favourite_ (1629) and Mayne’s _City Match_ (1639) (see Steele, pp. 263, 274, 277); _Two Merry Milkmaids_ (1620), which may or may not have been presented publicly (Steele, p. 206); Middleton and Rowley, _A World Tost at Tennis_ (1620), which was conceived as a masque, but apparently presented publicly (Steele, p. 227); and _As Merry as May Be_ (1602-1603).

[19] Herbert, p. 32. Also see pp. 19, 19 n., 36.

[20] _Ibid._, pp. 22, 35, 54; also Bentley, II, p. 675.

[21] J. C. Adams, _The Globe Playhouse_ (Cambridge, 1942), pp. 59-89; T.W. Baldwin, _The Organization and Personnel of the Shakespearean Company_ (Princeton, 1927), pp. 332-338; Alfred Harbage, _Shakespeare’s Audience_ (New York, 1941), p. 33.

[22] Chambers, _Elizabethan Stage_, IV, pp. 166-175. From Elizabeth the Lord Chamberlain’s men received £30 (3.6 per cent) in 1599-1600, £30 (3.6 per cent) in 1600-1601, £40 (4.8 per cent) in 1601-1602, and £20 (2.4 per cent) in 1602-1603. The percentages indicate that portion of their income derived by the players from the Court. (Based upon Baldwin’s low estimate of £840 annual income.)

[23] Frances Keen, “The First Night of _Twelfth Night_,” _T.L.S._, December 19, 1958, 737.