Scenario of a play set in Thrace and Macedon (Folger MS X.d.206)
Historical Records
Folger Shakespeare Library MS fragment
The outline of the plot of Acts 1-3 exists as a MS fragment, Folger MS X.d.206, "formed of six sheets folded once and sewed to make a quire of twelve leaves, each leaf measuring 11 3\4 inches in height by 7 1/2 inches in breadth" (Adams 21). The first 6 pages contain the plot, the rest of the quire is blank:
Theatrical Provenance
Unknown. Sir Edward Dering (1598-1644) is identified as the author by the Folger Shakespeare Library, but the grounds for this identification are not known. Adams refers merely to "the author" in his transcription and discussion of the manuscript fragment. Dering was an "antiquary and religious controvesialist", Cambridge educated, and in 1627 was the fifth baronet created by Charles I (ODNB). He was known to be interested in drama and "produced a shortened version of Shakespeare's Henry IV for private performance" (ODNB).
Probable Genre(s)
Tragi-comedy (Adams)
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
<Enter any information about possible or known sources. Summarise these sources where practical/possible, or provide an excerpt from another scholar's discussion of the subject if available.>
References to the Play
<List any known or conjectured references to the lost play here.>
Critical Commentary
Date
The Folger bought the manuscript from Maggs, who assigned it a date of 1600 (cat. 434 [1923], lot 576). Adams notes that:
The date assigned by the catalogue to the manuscript, 'about 1600', is also incorrect; for the author's marginal note, 'Speede in Greece', citing his source for the 'Nationall propriety's' of Thrace, refers to John Speed's A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World, first published, it seems, in 1627. (20-21)
The c.1630 date assigned by this LPD entry follows the Folger's own catalogue.
For What It's Worth
<Enter any miscellaneous points that may be relevant, but don't fit into the above categories. This is the best place for highly conjectural thoughts.>
Works Cited
<If you haven't done so already, also add here any key words that will help categorise this play. Use the following format, repeating as necessary:>
Site created and maintained by David McInnis, University of Melbourne; updated 14 March 2011.