Nobleman, The
Historical Records
Stationers' Register
15 February 1611 [i.e. 1612] (S.R.I, 3.478 (CLIO)
Edward Blunte Entred for his Copy vnder th'[h]andes of Sir GEORGE BUC[KE] and Th'wardens, A Play booke being a Tragecomedye called, The Noble man written by CYRILL TOURNEUR . . . . . . vjd
09 September 1653 (S.R.II, 1.429 CLIO)
- Master Mosely Entred also . . . the severall playes following . . xxs vjd
- ...
- The Nobleman or Great man, by Cyrill Tourneur.
Accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber
Item 47b (Cook 55-6):
Item paid to Iohn Heminges vppon the Cowncells warrant dated att Whitehall xx0 Die Maij 1613 for presentinge before the Princes Highnes the Lady Elizabeth and the Prince Pallaytne Elector fowerteene severall playes viz one playe called ‡ Pilaster, One other called the Knott: of Fooles, One other Much adoe abowte nothinge, The ‡ Mayeds Tragedy, The merye Dyvell of Edmonton, The Tempest, A Kinge and no Kinge The Twins Tragedie The Winters Tale, Sr Iohn Falstafe, The Moore of Venice, The Nobleman, Caesars Tragedye And one other called Love Lyes a bleedinge, All wch Playes weare played wthin the tyme of this Accompte, viz pd the some of . . . . . . iiijxxxiijli vjs viiijd
Music, BL Add. MS 10444 (c.1624)
Music for a play, called "The Nobleman", appears in British Library Add. MS 10444, no.55, transcribed by Nicholas L'Estrange:
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| BL Add. MS 10444, fo.55v. | BL Add. MS 10444, fo.82r. |
British Library Add. MS. 10444, reproduced with permission
King's Men repertory list (1641)
On 7 August 1641, the Earl of Essex (now Lord Chamberlain) required the Stationers' Company to forbid the printing of King's Men plays without the company's consent (the desire to protect their plays having been occasioned by the onset of plague and the consequent closure of the theatres from 5 August til the end of November 1641) (Bentley 1.65).
The list of plays specified includes "The Nobleman."
(See the list in full here)
Warburton's list
"The Nobleman T.C. Cyrill Turnuer" appears as one of the last plays noted by John Warburton (1682-1759) in his list of the unprinted MS plays allegedly in his collection until destroyed by Warburton’s cook (Greg, "The Bakings of Betsy" 231):
- The Tragd. of Jobe Good
- The Nobleman T.C. Cyrill Turnuer
- A Play by Will Shakespear
- Bugbear C. Jon. Geffrey
- Orpheus C.
- Tis Good Sleeping in A Whole Skin W. Wager
- Farry (sic) Queen
See the full list from British Library Lansdowne MS. 807 here.
Theatrical Provenance
The play was one of 20 performed by the King’s Men at court through the winter holiday season of 1612-13 -- a bittersweet time for the court. Prince Henry died suddenly of a fever on 6 November 1612, yet the marriage of Princess Elizabeth to the Elector Palatine took place as scheduled on Valentine’s Day, 1613.
Probable Genre(s)
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References to the Play
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Critical Commentary
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For What It's Worth
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