World Runs on Wheels, or All Fools but the Fool

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Historical Records

Payments

To playwrights in Philip Henslowe's diary


Fol. 53 (Greg I.101)

ll - s - d Lent vnto thomas dowton the 22 of Janewary }
42-12-00 1598 to Leand vnto mr Chapman in earneste } vli
of a Booke called the world Rones a wheeles }
the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . }


Fol. 53v (Greg I.105)

Lent vnto mr Chapman the 13 of febreary }
1598 in part of payment of his boocke called } xxs
the world Ronnes a wheeles . . . . . . . . . . . . }


Fol. 63 (Greg I.109)

Lent vnto Robart shawe the 2 of June 1599 }
to paye vnto mr chapman for his Boocke } xxs
called the worlde Runes a whelles some of }


Lent vnto wm Borne & Jewbey the 21 of }
June 1599 to lend vnto mr chapman } xxxxs
vpon his Boock called the world Ronnes }
a whelles the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . }


Lent vnto thomas dowton the 2 of July 1599 }
to paye mr chapman in full payment for } xxxs
his Boocke called the world Rones a wheeles }
& now all foolles but the foole some of }

Theatrical Provenance

The Admiral's men anticipated a new play called "The World Runs on Wheels" in January of 1599, and by the time the script was completed it had become "All Fools but the Fool," which they probably introduced at the Rose when their autumn season began, perhaps following the Feast Day of Saints Simon and Jude (October 28).


Probable Genre(s)

Comedy Harbage


Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

One clue to the initial narrative concept is the proverbial title, "World Runs on Wheels," which implies a story about everything running "on track," so to speak; however, there isn't an obvious rollover to the new title about fools, which implies considerable foolery given the preponderance of real fools to the one clever one.

References to the Play

None known.


Critical Commentary

Malone lists "The World runs vpon Wheels," by Chapman, without further comment (p. 308). Collier, pointing our first that Malone had entered the play on the wrong date(1597/8 instead of 1598/9) observes that the title phrase is "proverbial," and notes a 1623 tract entitled "The World runs on Wheels" (p. 143, n.1); on the 1599 entry of 2 July, Collier notes considers whether Chapman meant to change the title from "Wheels" to "All Fools," and implies that the All Fools printed in 1605 could be this play (p. 154, n.1). Fleay.BCED identifies "The World runs on Wheels" as All Fools, and notes the July 1599 entry as evidence that Chapman had a "habit of changing" titles "and the absolute certainty in this instance of his refashioning an Admiral's play for the boys at Blackfriars" (1.#6, p. 57); in the entry for All Fools Fleay points out that it is "of course, a remodelled form of The World runs on Wheels of July 1599"; he credits the publication of All Fools to Chapman's fear "that the Admiral's men would publish the earlier and inferior version" (1.p. 58 #10). Greg II (2/#165, p. 200) offers less enthusiasm than Collier for identifying "The World runs on Wheels" with All Fools by calling attention to the Taylor tract of 1623 and providing a fuller title: "The world runnes on Wheeles: Or Oddes betwixt Cars and Coaches."

Gurr


Wiggins, Catalogue #1189

For What It's Worth

Works Cited

Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson; Last updated by Rlknutson on 3 August 2022 21:27:28