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 mr deckers for a boocke
- beare a braine
called [bettr latte then never] the some
of xxxxs in fulle payment lent vnto mr
deckers at that time xxs so all is ... iijli
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.