Bear a Brain, or Better Late Than Never

Thomas Dekker (1599)

Historical Records

F. 63 (Greg I.110)

Lent vnto Robart shawe the 1 of aguste

1599 to paye m^r deckers for a boocke

beare a braine

called [bettr latte then never] the some 

of xxxx^s in fulle payment lent vnto m^r

deckers at that time xx^s so all is ... iij^li

Theatrical Provenance

Bear a Brain, or Better Late than Never was acquired by the Admiral's Men in the summer of 1599, as the Globe was being built across Maid Lane.

Probable Genre(s)

Comedy (Harbage)

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

None known.

References to the Play

None known.

Critical Commentary

Greg repeats F. G. Fleay's identification of Bear a Brain with Look About You (along with offering synonyms for the title including "have care," and "look about you"). Greg then offers objections to the connection based mainly on his rejection of Dekker as author of Look About You. Greg prefers to identify the payment for Bear a Brain with The Shoemakers Holiday, but he cannot find a good reason to do so (II.Item #179, pp. 204-5).

Knutson suggests that the payment in full of 60s, 20s. of which was designated by Henslowe as a loan, may indicate that the play was secondhand (119).

For What It's Worth

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Keywords

Thomas Dekker, Look About You

Works Cited

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Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; updated 31 October 2009.