Knaves, Parts 1 and 2

Anon. (1613 or earlier)

Historical Records

From the Chamber Accounts:

Itm paid to Willim Rowleye vppon the Cowncells Warr' dated att Whitehall vij° Die Iunij 1613 for himself and the rest of his fellowes the Princes servauntes, and players for presentinge before his Highnes, Cownte Pallatyne Elector, and the Ladye Elizabeth two severall playes, viz' One called the first parte of the knaues on the seccond daye of March last past, And one other playe called the seccond p^te of the knaues on the v^th Daye of the same moneth the some of xiij^li vj^s viij^d (Cook and Wilson, 54-5; see also Chambers, ES, 4:180)

Theatrical Provenance

The Duke of York's Men, later Prince Charles's (I) Men

The author is unknown; William Rowley was paid for the court performance because he represented his company as payee, not because he was the author (Bentley, 5:1024).

Probable Genre(s)

Comedy.

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

Although a lost play by Rowley was entitled A Knave in Print, or One for Another, Bentley states that "there is no adequate reason" to connect it with The Knaves, given the lack of evidence for Rowley's authorship of the latter (5:1024).

James J. Marino suggests that the two Knaves plays may have been revivals of the two Knack plays of the 1590s, A Knack to Know a Knave and A Knack to Know an Honest Man (92).

References to the Play

None known.

Critical Commentary

None known.

For What It's Worth

(information welcome)

Works Cited

Cook, David and F.P. Wilson, eds. "Dramatic Records in the Declared Accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber, 1558-1642". Malone Society Collections 6 (1961). Print.

Marino, James J., "Adult Playing Companies, 1613-1625", in The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theatre, ed. Richard Dutton (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). 88-103. Print.

Site created and maintained by David Nicol, Dalhousie University; updated 11 May, 2011