Wise Man of West Chester, The: Difference between revisions
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==Critical Commentary== | ==Critical Commentary== | ||
The presiding critical question about ''The Wise Man of West Chester'' is whether the title is a variant of the extant ''John a Kent and John a Cumber'' by Anthony Munday. Malone, who first saw Henslowe's manuscript (loaned to him by Dulwich College shortly before 1790), did not make the identification; however, he did transcribe the title as "the wise men of chester" ([http://www.archive.org/stream/playsandpoemswi18rowegoog#page/n311/mode/2up Malone, 3.304]). Collier also did not make the identification. In fact, he noted that it "was a new play" ([http://www.archive.org/stream/diaryphiliphens00hensgoog#page/n82/mode/2up Collier, 45]). F. G. Fleay appears to be the one to specify a link between the two plays in ''A Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama, 1559-1642'' (1891). | The presiding critical question about ''The Wise Man of West Chester'' is whether the title is a variant of the extant ''John a Kent and John a Cumber'' by Anthony Munday. Malone, who first saw Henslowe's manuscript (loaned to him by Dulwich College shortly before 1790), did not make the identification; however, he did transcribe the title as "the wise men of chester" ([http://www.archive.org/stream/playsandpoemswi18rowegoog#page/n311/mode/2up Malone, 3.304]). Collier also did not make the identification. In fact, he noted that it "was a new play" ([http://www.archive.org/stream/diaryphiliphens00hensgoog#page/n82/mode/2up Collier, 45]). F. G. Fleay appears to be the first one to specify a link between the two plays in ''A Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama, 1559-1642'' (1891). | ||
:'''Fleay''' entered ''The Wise Man of West Chester'' in his list of anonymous plays, saying nothing more after referring the reader to the entry for ''John a Kent and John a Cumber'' except that the Admiral's players bought the script from Alleyn on 19 September 1601 ([http://www.archive.org/stream/abiographicalch02fleagoog#page/n313/mode/2up Fleay, 2.303]). At the entry for Munday's play, he gave the date of the manuscript as 1595, emphasizing that the date was not necessarily "the date of production"; then, he stated: "I have no doubt that it [''John a Kent''] is the same as ''The Wiseman of West Chester'' produced by the Admiral's men at the Rose 2nd Dec. 1594" ([http://www.archive.org/stream/abiographicalch02fleagoog#page/n125/mode/2up Fleay, 114]). | :'''Fleay''' entered ''The Wise Man of West Chester'' in his list of anonymous plays, saying nothing more after referring the reader to the entry for ''John a Kent and John a Cumber'' except that the Admiral's players bought the script from Alleyn on 19 September 1601 ([http://www.archive.org/stream/abiographicalch02fleagoog#page/n313/mode/2up Fleay, 2.303]). At the entry for Munday's play, he gave the date of the manuscript as 1595, emphasizing that the date was not necessarily "the date of production"; then, he stated: "I have no doubt that it [''John a Kent''] is the same as ''The Wiseman of West Chester'' produced by the Admiral's men at the Rose 2nd Dec. 1594" ([http://www.archive.org/stream/abiographicalch02fleagoog#page/n125/mode/2up Fleay, 114]). | ||
:Greg | :'''Greg''' thought Fleay was "almost certainly right" in making the identification. He too pointed out the 1595 date of the manuscript (''John a Kent''), adding that it could not "be the original" because ''Wise Man'' had been in production for some months. He suggested then that the manuscript might be a revision. He apparently wanted to account for the item in inventory, "Kentes woden leage," which logically belonged to ''The Wise Man of West Chester'' if it had a character named Kent or from Kent. However, inconveniently, the Munday play in the manuscript extant has no episode in which John a Kent makes use of a wooden leg ([http://www.archive.org/stream/henslowesdiary02hensuoft#page/172/mode/2up Greg, II.172]). | ||
:'''St. Clare Byrne''', editor of the Malone Society Reprint of ''John a Kent and John a Cumber'', acknowledged the scholarly interest in linking Munday's play with ''The Wise Man of West Chester'' as well as ''Randal Earl of Chester''. She thought the relationship of the plays, through serial revision, was "by no means impossible" but saw "no secure basis for speculation" (x). | |||
Ashton | Ashton | ||
Gurr (Playgoers; Sh Opposites)<br> | Gurr (Playgoers; Sh Opposites)<br> | ||
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<div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Malone, Edmond. ''The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare''. 21 vols. London: R. C. and J. Rivington, 1821. </div> | <div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Malone, Edmond. ''The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare''. 21 vols. London: R. C. and J. Rivington, 1821. </div> | ||
<div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Collier, John Payne, ed. ''The Diary of Philip Henslowe, from 1591 to 1609''. London: Shakespeare Society, 1845.</div> | <div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Collier, John Payne, ed. ''The Diary of Philip Henslowe, from 1591 to 1609''. London: Shakespeare Society, 1845.</div> | ||
<div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">St. Clare Byrne, Muriel, ed. ''John a Kent and John a Cumber''. Malone Society Reprint, 1923.</div> | |||
Ashton | Ashton | ||
Gurr (Playgoers; Sh Opposites)<br> | Gurr (Playgoers; Sh Opposites)<br> |
Revision as of 17:30, 31 January 2012
Historical Records
Henslowe's Diary
F.10v (Greg I.20)
ye 2 of desember 1594 | ................ | ne | ..... | Rd at the wise man of chester | ................ | xxxiijs |
ye 6 of desember 1594 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at wiseman of weschester | ................ | xxxiiijs |
F. 11 (Greg I.21)
ye 29 of desember 1594 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wissman of weschester | ................ | iijli ijs |
ye 16 of Jenewarye 1594 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wiseman of weaschester | ................ | iijli |
ye 23 of Jenewary 1594 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wiseman of wescheaster | ................ | iijli vjs |
ye 4 of febreary 1594 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wysman of weschester | ................ | iijli iiijs |
ye 12 of febreary 1594 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at wisman of weschester | ................ | liijs |
F.11v (Greg I.22)
ye 19 of febrey 1594 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at wisman of weschester | ................ | xxxxvjs |
ye 28 of febreary 1594 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wisman of weschester | ................ | xxxixs |
ye 25 of Aprrell 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wissman | ................ | xxxixs |
ye 26 of Aprrell 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wisseman of weschester | ................ | iijli |
ye 6 of may 1596 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at wiseman | ................ | xxxxs |
ye 15 of may 1596 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at wisse man of weschester | ................ | xxxxiiijs |
F.12v (Greg I.24)
ye 26 of maye 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at weschester | ................ | xxxjs |
ye 4 of June 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wisman of weschester | ................ | xxijs |
ye 11 of June 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wissman of weschester | ................ | xxxxvijs |
ye 26 of aguste 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wisman of wescheaster | ................ | xxxixs |
ye 9 of septmber 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wise man | ................ | xxxxiiijs |
F.13 (Greg I.25)
ye 29 of septmber 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wiseman | ................ | xvs |
ye 6 of october 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wisman | ................ | xvijs |
ye 19 of october 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wisman | ................ | xvijs |
— mr pd— | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at weschester | ................ | xxs |
F.14 (Greg I.27)
ye 29 of desember 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wisman of weschester | ................ | xxijs |
................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wissman of weschester | ................ | xviijs |
F.14v (Greg I.28)
ye 4 of febreary 1595 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wissman of weschester | ................ | xxijs |
F.15v (Greg I.30)
ye 17 of aprrell 1596 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wisman of weschester | ................ | xxxs |
ye 30 of aprrell 1596 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at wisman | ................ | xs |
F.21v (Greg I.42)
ye 8 of June 1596 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at the wisman of weschester | ................ | xxs |
ye 7 of July 1596 | ................ | ..... | ..... | Rd at wisman of weschester | ................ | xvjs |
F.27 (Greg I.53)
[July 1597] | ..... | 8 | .................... | tt at wismane of weschester | ............... | 01— | 00— | 01-00-03 |
F.27v (Greg I.54)
[July 1597] | ..... | 12 | .................... | tt at wismane of weschester | ............... | 00— | 18— | 00-01-00 |
- (marginal note: "marten slather went for the company of my lord admeralles men the 18 of July 1597")
[July 1597] | ..... | 18 | .................... | tt at wisman | ............... | 01— | 10— | 00-00-00 |
F.93v (Greg I.148)
- pd at the apoyntment of the 19 of septmber
- 1601 for the playe of the wysman of weschester
- vnto my sonne E Alleyn the some of ............... xxxxs
Theatrical Provenance
The Wise Man of West Chester was performed at the Rose playhouse beginning on 2 December 1594 by the Admiral's players; its initial entry carries Philip Henslowe's enigmatic "ne." Its purchase in 1601 makes it second among the nine playbooks sold by Edward Alleyn to the company in the early years of the Fortune playhouse.
Probable Genre(s)
Pseudo-History (Harbage, identifying it as John a Kent and John a Cumber [see Critical Commentary, below]); Magician play
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
None known (unless it is John a Kent and John a Cumber [see Critical Commentary, below])
References to the Play
None known (unless it is John a Kent and John a Cumber [see Critical Commentary, below]).
Critical Commentary
The presiding critical question about The Wise Man of West Chester is whether the title is a variant of the extant John a Kent and John a Cumber by Anthony Munday. Malone, who first saw Henslowe's manuscript (loaned to him by Dulwich College shortly before 1790), did not make the identification; however, he did transcribe the title as "the wise men of chester" (Malone, 3.304). Collier also did not make the identification. In fact, he noted that it "was a new play" (Collier, 45). F. G. Fleay appears to be the first one to specify a link between the two plays in A Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama, 1559-1642 (1891).
- Fleay entered The Wise Man of West Chester in his list of anonymous plays, saying nothing more after referring the reader to the entry for John a Kent and John a Cumber except that the Admiral's players bought the script from Alleyn on 19 September 1601 (Fleay, 2.303). At the entry for Munday's play, he gave the date of the manuscript as 1595, emphasizing that the date was not necessarily "the date of production"; then, he stated: "I have no doubt that it [John a Kent] is the same as The Wiseman of West Chester produced by the Admiral's men at the Rose 2nd Dec. 1594" (Fleay, 114).
- Greg thought Fleay was "almost certainly right" in making the identification. He too pointed out the 1595 date of the manuscript (John a Kent), adding that it could not "be the original" because Wise Man had been in production for some months. He suggested then that the manuscript might be a revision. He apparently wanted to account for the item in inventory, "Kentes woden leage," which logically belonged to The Wise Man of West Chester if it had a character named Kent or from Kent. However, inconveniently, the Munday play in the manuscript extant has no episode in which John a Kent makes use of a wooden leg (Greg, II.172).
- St. Clare Byrne, editor of the Malone Society Reprint of John a Kent and John a Cumber, acknowledged the scholarly interest in linking Munday's play with The Wise Man of West Chester as well as Randal Earl of Chester. She thought the relationship of the plays, through serial revision, was "by no means impossible" but saw "no secure basis for speculation" (x).
Ashton
Gurr (Playgoers; Sh Opposites)
Shapiro & Ioppolo (date)
Knutson
Mac Jackson
For What It's Worth
Works Cited
Ashton
Gurr (Playgoers; Sh Opposites)
Shapiro & Ioppolo (date)
Knutson
Mac Jackson
Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; updated 16 January 2012].