Alexander and Lodowick

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Historical Records

Henslowe's Payments (Henslowe's Diary)

F. 23 / Greg 1.45

Res at elexsander & ladwicke the 14 of Janewary the }

fyrst tyme yt wasse playde 1597 in ꝑte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .} v^li

Performance Records (Henslowe's Diary)

F. 25^v / Greg 1.50

Under the heading, "Jn the name of god amen begininge the 25 of novembʒ 1596 as foloweth the lord admerall players":

ye 14 of Jenewary 1597					ne . .			Res at elexsander & lodwicke . . . . . . . . . .		lvs

F. 26 / Greg 1.51

ffebreary
1597
		11		ne..		tt at elexander & lodwicke. . . . . . . . . .		03|05|00 — 17 — 00
		12				tt at elexander & lodwicke. . . . . . . . . .		01|14|09 — 13 — 00
begynyng in leant
Marche 1597
		5				tt at elexsander & lodwicke. . . . . . . . . .		01|15|00 — 13 — 00
[not pd]		[10]9				tt at lodwicke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		01|16|07 — 04 — 00
		20				tt at elexsander & lodovicke. . . . . . . . . .		01|17|00 — 04 — 02
[Easter] tewsday		29				tt at elexsander & lodwicke. . . . . . . . . .		01|16|07 — 04 — 00
Aprelle 1597
		5				tt at elexander & lodwicke. . . . . . . . . . .		01|02|00 — 03 — 05

F. 26^v / Greg 1.52

Aprelle 1597
		12				tt at elexsander & lodwicke. . . . . . . . . .		00|14|03 — 00 — 01
		27				Res at elexsander & lodwick. . . . . . . . .		[1]02|14|00 — 00 — 00
Maye 1597
		9				tt at lodwicke & elexand. . . . . . . . . . . . .		00|14|00 — 00 — 00
whittsone
T		17				tt at elexsander & lodwicke. . . . . . . . . .		03|00|00 — 03 — 04
		28		mr pd		tt at elexsander & lodwicke. . . . . . . . . .		03|13|01 — 10 — 00

F. 27 / Greg 1.53

June 1597
S petterss daye			29				tt at elexsander & lodwick. . . . . . . . . .		01|02|00 — 14 — 00

F. 27^v / Greg 1.54

July 1597
		15					tt at elexsander & lodwicke. . . . . . . . . .		00|08|00 — 13 — 00

Payments to Playwrights (Henslowe's Diary)

F. 45^v/ Greg 1.86:

Lente vnto the company the 16 of maye 1598 to buye}

v boocks of martine slather called ij ꝑtes of hercolus} vij^ll

& focas & pethagoras & elyxander & lodicke w^ch laste}

boock he hath not yet delyuerd the some of . . . . . . . . . .}

F. 47^v / Greg 1.90

pd vnto marteyne slawghter the 18 of July}

for a boocke called elexsander & lodwicke} xx^s

the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .}

F. 54^v / Greg 1.104

Lent vnto Jewbe the 31 of marche 1598}

to bue divers thinges for elexander & lode} v^li

wicke the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .}

Henslowe's Inventory of Playbooks

Greg, Papers, 121

A Note of all suche bookes as belong to the Stocke, and such as I have bought since the 3^d of March 1598

Elexsander and Lodwicke.

Theatrical Provenance

The Admiral's men played "Alexander and Lodowick" at the Rose playhouse from January through (at least) July in 1597. They considered it a valuable commodity as late as May 1598, at which time they purchased the playbook from Martin Slater in a job lot including also " Hercules| (both parts), " Phocas," and "Pythagoras." In a subsequent separate transaction, the company paid Slater another 20s for the book (18 July 1598). Henslowe listed the playbook among those inventoried in March 1598/99. In that same month (March (1599), the company purchased "divers thinges" for the play, evidently for a revival.

Probable Genre(s)

Romance

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

One available trove of narrative for the play was the many editions of The Seven Wise Masters of Rome, a frame story in print in England by 1493 (STC 21297) and still in print in 1602 (STC 21299.5; 21299.7).

In that story, a Roman emperor named Poncianus sends his son to seven masters to be educated in the art of government. The emperor later remarries, and his new wife asks that the son return home. On his return, she attempts to seduce him, but he rejects her. In revenge, she tells the father that the son tried to rape her. Furious, the ruler orders the boy to be hanged. The seven masters defend him, each telling a story per day, and the stepmother counters with a story of her own. The boy tells the final story about a falsely accused son. Persuaded of his son’s virtue, the ruler orders the stepmother to be executed. The son's tale is the story of Alexander and his friend, Lodowick.

According to the version in the 1506 edition (STC 21298), ...

There was also a popular ballad of Alexander and Lodowick, called "The Two faithfull Friends" (EBBA [1]). The blurb on the ballad is as follows:

The pleasant History of Alexander and Lodwicke , who were so like one ano ther, that none could know them asunder: wherein is declared how Lodwike married the Princesse of Hungaria in Alexanders name, and how each night he layd a naked sword betweene him and the Princesse , because he would not wrong his friend. To the tune of Flying Fame .

References to the Play

Information welcome.

Critical Commentary

Greg II acknowledged the possibility of Martin Slater's authorship of "Alexander and Lodowick" but was not convinced. Curious whether a lawsuit between Slater and three players who had left Pembroke's men in 1597 to join the Admiral's men (William Bird, Thomas Downton, and Gabriel Spencer) might have been about the plays Slater had sold to the Admiral's men in May 1598, Greg said he would "like to have the breviate" of the case for evidence on questions including Slater's possible authorship (pp. 310-11).

Gurr attributes the play to Martin Slater (p. 94), perhaps because he was paid an extra 20s. for "Alexander and Lodowick" in a separate and later payment in March 1599.

For What It's Worth

Slater's career as player and theatrical businessman is relatively well documented, but the role of dramatist is conjectural. Even so, the conjecture is appealing. As we become more aware of the appetite for new plays across the theatrical industry, it seems reasonable that more than one player-businessman was also a playwright.

Works Cited

Gurr, Andrew. Shakespeare's Opposites: The Admiral's Company 1594-1625. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; 21 November 2019.