Valentine and Orson (Admiral's)
Richard Hathaway and Anthony Munday (1598)
Historical Records
Payments to Playwrights (Henslowe’s Diary)
F. 47v (Greg 1.90)
- lent vnto Robart shaw & Jewbey the 19 of July
- 1598 for a Boocke called vallentyne & orsen
- in fulle paymente the some of vll to paye
- hathe waye & mondaye . . . . . . vll
Theatrical Provenance
The play was acquired on July 19 1598 by the Admiral’s Men for performance at the Rose.
Probable Genre(s)
Romance (Harbage)
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
A prose version of this medieval romance narrative by Henry Watson, The Hystory of the two valyaunte brethren Valentyne and Orson, sonnes vnto the Emperour of Grece was published in 1510 and reprinted in 1555 and 1565. After the Admiral's play, it was reprinted c. 1615-1620, in 1637, and again in 1649. (The sole extant copy of the earliest seventeenth-century edition is missing its title page.)
References to the Play
Content welcome.
Critical Commentary
Greg: "A play called Valentine and Orson was entered S. R. 23 May 1595, and again 31 Mar. 1600, both times as acted by the Queen's men. It is possible that Hathway and Munday re-wrote this old piece. The Queen's play may have been acquired by Alleyn in 1591, but the entry of 1595 and the absence of any trace of the play in Strange's lists, are against this assumption. It is more probable that the Queen's men sold the MS. in 1 594, and that the case is similar to that of Henry V." (Greg 2:195)
For What It's Worth
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Works Cited
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