Harry of Cornwall

Anon. (1592)Property "Paratext" (as page type) with input value "{{{paratexts}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.Property "Contributor" (as page type) with input value "{{{contributors}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.Property "Partnering Institution" (as page type) with input value "{{{partneringInstitutions}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process. == Historical Records ==

Historical Records


Performance Records


Philip Henslowe recorded the following performances of "Harry of Cornwall" in his book of accounts (familiarly known as "Henslowe's diary") in the spring of 1592:

Fol. 7 (Greg I, 13)

Res at harey of cornwell the 25 of febreary 1591 ………………. xxxijs
Res at harey of cornwell the 23 of marche 1591 ………………. xiijs vjd

Fol. 7 v (Greg I, 14)

Res at harey of cornwell the 29 of aprell 159[1]2 ….……………. xxvjs
Res at harey of cornwell the 18 of maye 1592 ….……………. xxvjs



Correspondence


Edward Alleyn and Philip Henslowe exchanged letters in 1592-3 while Alleyn was touring with Lord Strange's men and Henslowe was holding the business (and household) together during plague closures in London. Alleyn had married Joan Woodward, Henslowe's stepdaughter, on 22 October 1592; and in the following letter addressed to her (undated, but assigned by Greg, Papers, 35-6 and Foakes, 276-7 to 1 August 1593), he gives information on his touring itinerary so that her letters will reach him: "send to me by the cariers of shrowsbery or to west/ chester or to york to be keptt till my lord/ stranges players com" (Foakes. 276). Alleyn then mentions an upcoming performance of "Harry of Cornwall" at Bristol, where he and the company currently are:

… and thus sweett hartt
wt my harty comenda[tions] to all or frends I sess
from bristo this wensday after saynt Jams his day
being redy to begin the playe of hary of cornwall …
Greg, Papers, 35-6




Theatrical Provenance


Lord Strange's men performed "Harry of Cornwall" at the Rose in 1592 and on the road at Bristol in August 1593. Unfortunately, the civic records from Bristol make no mention of that performance, though they do record the presence of the company at that time.


Probable Genre(s)


History (Harbage)


Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues




References to the Play




Critical Commentary




For What It's Worth




Works Cited


Knutson, Roslyn L. "Edward II in Repertory" in Edward II: A Critical Reader, The Arden Shakespeare (London: Bloomsbury), 2017. 119-44.
——— "Marlowe in Repertory, 1587-1593" in Kirk Melnikoff and Roslyn L. Knutson, eds., Christopher Marlowe, Theatrical Commerce and the Book Trade. Cambridge: CUP, 2018. 26-40.



Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; updated 11 July 2020.