Henry I: Difference between revisions

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'''Harbage''' ("Palimpsest") points out that "[s]ince the long reign of King Stephen intervened between those of the two Henrys, ''Henry the First and Henry the Second'' seems an extremely unlikely title for a play; and as Moseley in 1653 was saving fees by entering two plays as one, it is fairly obvious that he was doing so in the present instance". Harbage is less sceptical than Bentley about the authenticity of Warburton's list of play manuscripts, deducing from Warburton's reference only to "Henry ye 1st" that "the ''Henry the Second'' manuscript had evidently become separated from its fellow" (310). He thinks that "Shakespeare's name could have become attached to the manuscript of ''Henry the First'' merely because it was evident that it was an adaptation of a play dating from Shakespeare's time" (311). He also keeps open the possibility that Davenport was reworking an old Admiral's play somehow in his possession, by observing that "[i]t was an old Admiral's play, ''The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington'', 1598, by Chettle and Munday, that Davenport used so freely in his writing his ''King John and Matilda'' at about the same time as ''Henry the First'' was licensed" (311). However, in an apparent contradiction, Harbage subsequently suggests that Davenport drew on Drayton's ''Heroical Epistles'' (republished 1619) as a source for the King John and Matilda material, which, if correct, may invalidate the supposition about the Admiral's play (317n).
'''Harbage''' ("Palimpsest") points out that "[s]ince the long reign of King Stephen intervened between those of the two Henrys, ''Henry the First and Henry the Second'' seems an extremely unlikely title for a play; and as Moseley in 1653 was saving fees by entering two plays as one, it is fairly obvious that he was doing so in the present instance". Harbage is less sceptical than Bentley about the authenticity of Warburton's list of play manuscripts, deducing from Warburton's reference only to "Henry ye 1st" that "the ''Henry the Second'' manuscript had evidently become separated from its fellow" (310). He thinks that "Shakespeare's name could have become attached to the manuscript of ''Henry the First'' merely because it was evident that it was an adaptation of a play dating from Shakespeare's time" (311). He also keeps open the possibility that Davenport was reworking an old Admiral's play somehow in his possession, by observing that "[i]t was an old Admiral's play, ''The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington'', 1598, by Chettle and Munday, that Davenport used so freely in his writing his ''King John and Matilda'' at about the same time as ''Henry the First'' was licensed" (311). However, in an apparent contradiction, Harbage subsequently suggests that Davenport drew on Drayton's ''Heroical Epistles'' (republished 1619) as a source for the King John and Matilda material, which, if correct, may invalidate the supposition about the Admiral's play (317).  
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==For What It's Worth==
==For What It's Worth==



Revision as of 23:10, 1 February 2015

Davenport, Robert and Shakespeare, William (attrib.) (1624)


Historical Records

Dramatic Records of Sir Henry Herbert


1624, April 10. "For the king's company. The Historye of Henry the First, written by Damport [Davenport]; this 10 April, 1624,---1l. 0. 0."
(Adams 27-28)




Stationers' Register

09 September 1653 (S.R.II, 1.429 CLIO)

Master Mosely Entred also . . . the severall playes following . . xxs vjd
...
Henry the first, & Hen: the 2d, by Shakespeare & Davenport.



Warburton's list

"Henry I" appears as the 2nd play 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 Honr. Loves by Will. Rowley
Henry ye 1st. by Will. Shakespeare & Rob. Davenport
The fair favourit
Minervas Sacrifise Phill. Masenger
Duke Humphery Will. Shakespear


See the full list from British Library Lansdowne MS. 807 here.


Theatrical Provenance

King's?


Probable Genre(s)

History


Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

<Enter any information about possible or known sources. Summarise these sources where practical/possible, or provide an excerpt from another scholar's discussion of the subject if available.>


References to the Play

<List any known or conjectured references to the lost play here.>


Critical Commentary


Malone thought this might simply be a remodelling of Chettle, Dekker and Drayton's "Famous Wars of Henry I and the Prince of Wales" (1598). He mistakenly recorded its entry in the Stationers' Register "by some knavish bookseller" as taking place in 1660 (the date that "King Stephen", "Duke Humphrey", and "Iphis and Ianthe, or Marriage without a Man" were entered) (Malone 319).

Fleay (BCED 1.104) arrived at the same conclusion as Malone vis-a-vis the older "Famous Wars" play, in what Bentley describes as one of Fleay's "cherished associations of titles" (3.231).

Bentley was sceptical about the reliability of Warburton's list as evidence, but confident that Moseley "certainly had a manuscript, and he must have had some reason for assigning it as he did." He casts doubts over the attribution however, noting that "[t]here is no evidence that Davenport began to write early enough to have collaborated with Shakespeare, and if he had, it is difficult to imagine a reason why the company should have waited eight years after Shakespeare's death to get a licence" (3.230). Nor, he adds, is it likely that the play was originally by Shakespeare and later revised by Davenport --- Herbert's licensing fee is on par with his usual fee for an entirely new play (3.231). Bentley also pours cold water over Malone and Fleay's lumping of titles by querying why "the King's men in 1624 would have needed to make use of such an old and obscure piece" and asking why "they would have had one of Henslowe's manuscripts" at all (3.231).

In the context of Moseley's entries, Gary Taylor refers to "Henry I" and "Henry II" as if a single play: "The 1653 entry also attributes to Shakespeare The Merry Devil of Edmonton (as did Charles I), and to Shakespeare and Davenport the lost Henry the First and Henry the Second, which Davenport wrote or adapted in the 1620s..." (20, n43).

Harbage ("Palimpsest") points out that "[s]ince the long reign of King Stephen intervened between those of the two Henrys, Henry the First and Henry the Second seems an extremely unlikely title for a play; and as Moseley in 1653 was saving fees by entering two plays as one, it is fairly obvious that he was doing so in the present instance". Harbage is less sceptical than Bentley about the authenticity of Warburton's list of play manuscripts, deducing from Warburton's reference only to "Henry ye 1st" that "the Henry the Second manuscript had evidently become separated from its fellow" (310). He thinks that "Shakespeare's name could have become attached to the manuscript of Henry the First merely because it was evident that it was an adaptation of a play dating from Shakespeare's time" (311). He also keeps open the possibility that Davenport was reworking an old Admiral's play somehow in his possession, by observing that "[i]t was an old Admiral's play, The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington, 1598, by Chettle and Munday, that Davenport used so freely in his writing his King John and Matilda at about the same time as Henry the First was licensed" (311). However, in an apparent contradiction, Harbage subsequently suggests that Davenport drew on Drayton's Heroical Epistles (republished 1619) as a source for the King John and Matilda material, which, if correct, may invalidate the supposition about the Admiral's play (317).


For What It's Worth

<Enter any miscellaneous points that may be relevant, but don't fit into the above categories. This is the best place for highly conjectural thoughts.>


Works Cited

Harbage, Alfred. "Elizabethan-Restoration Palimpsest". Modern Language Review 35 (1940): 287-319.
Malone, Edmond. “Additions: Historical Account of the English Stage”. The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare, with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators: Comprehending A Life of the Poet, and An Enlarged History of the Stage, by the Late Edmond Malone. With a new Glossarial Index. Vol.3: Prolegomena. London, 1821. 295-359. GoogleBooks
Taylor, Gary. "A History of The History of Cardenio". The Quest for Cardenio: Shakespeare, Fletcher, Cervantes, & the Lost Play. ed. David Carnegie and Gary Taylor. Oxford: OUP, 2012. 11-61.


Site created and maintained by David McInnis, University of Melbourne; updated 02 Feb 2015.