Henry V

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Historical Records

Performance Records

Playlists in Philip Henslowe's diary

Fol. 14 (Greg, I. 27)

ye 28 of novembʒ 1595	. . . . . . ne . . .	Rd at harey the v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iijli vj
ye 2 of desembʒ 1595		Rd at harey the v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxvs
ye 8 of desembʒ 1595	——————	Rd at hary the v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxxiijs
ye 16 of desembʒ 1595		Rd at hary the v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxivs
ye 28 of desembʒ 1595		Rd at harye the v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lvjs
ye 5 of Jenewary 1595	140-1[0]1-0d	Rd at harey the v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvjs

Fol. 14^v (Greg, I. 28)

ye 19 of Jenewary 1595	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	Rd at harye the v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxs
ye 5 of febreary 1595		Rd at harye the 5	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviijs

Fol. 15^v (Greg 1.30):

ye 24 of aprell 1596	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	Rd at hary the v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvs
ye 26 of maye 1596		Rd at hary the v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiijs

Fol. 21^v (Greg 1.42)

ye 17 of June 1596	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	Rd at hary the v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvijs
ye 10 of July 1596		Rd at harye the v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiiijs
ye 15 of July 1596		Rd at hary v	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxijs

Theatrical Provenance

This "Henry V" was performed at the Rose playhouse by the Admiral's men throughout the season of 1595-6; its thirteen performances earning a 30s return to Henslowe on average.

Probable Genre(s)

History Harbage

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

No doubt the play was based on historical information in the standard histories of the day, the most ubiquitous of which was Holinshed's Chronicles.

References to the Play

None known.

Critical Commentary

This "Henry V" as an old play

Malone "suppose[d]" that the Admiral's play was The Famous Victories of Henry the fifth: Containing the Honorourable Battell of Agin-court, which was registered at Stationers' Hall on 14 May 1594 and published in 1598 with a title-page advertisement of ownership by the Queen's men. Malone was thus giving Famous Victories a revival some ten years after its debut (which occurred perhaps in 1585; William Knell is said to have played the part of Prince Hal [McMillin and MacLean, p. 196]).

Collier declared that the "harey the v" first played on 28 November 1595 "was a new play." But then he confused the issue by referring to p. 26 in his edition of the diary, where he said there was "a notice of the representation of another play, called Henry V" on 14 May 1592. Collier is here (apparently) referring to the play Henslowe recorded as "harey the vj" on fifteen dates in the spring of 1592 as having been performed by Lord Strange's men (see Collier, p.. 26, n.1). Although noting that Malone took "no notice of this play," Collier himself was the one making the error, if subsequent editors of the diary may be trusted: Greg and Foakes transcribe the title of the play performed by Lord Strange's men at the Rose on 14 May 1592 as "harey the 6" (Greg, I, 14; Foakes, p. 18). Having thus (apparently) introduced an errant reading of Henslowe's 14 May 1592 manuscript, Collier considered which of Henslowe's entries might be for The Famous Victories of Henry V (the play published with attribution to the Queen's men) or Shakespeare's Henry V. He then considered the possibility that one or more of these "Henry" plays "was Shakespeare's Henry V," but he didn't make a case for that identification. His final position appears to be that Henslowe's Henry V was not the Queen's Famous Victories, so it had to be Shakespeare's Henry V, i.e., it could not be a third, discrete play on the subject of Henry V (p. 61, n.1).

Fleay, BCED thought that "Henry V" was "[p]robably a mended version of The Famous Victories of Henry 5, that is, the play belonging to the Queen's men (2.#176, p. 304).

Greg II identified the play in Henslowe's diary as The Famous Victories of Henry V, which had belonged to the Queen's men. To account for the migration of the script from Queen's to the Admiral's, he created a narrative in which "the Admiral's men appropriated and revised the play and stayed the publication till 1598 when Creede printed it from the original MS." (#82, p. 178).

Gurr

This "Henry V" as a new play

Wiggins, Catalogue #1021

For What It's Worth

If this play was indeed a discrete dramatization of the exploits of King Henry V of England, its receipts may provide insight into the profit the Queen's men had expected of their Famous Victories of Henry V" in the 1580s and the Chamberlain's men were to expect of their Henry the V in 1599.

Works Cited

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