Record of a loan from
Philip Henslowe
( c . 1555-1616, entrepreneur and
theatre-manager
to
Jonson
, 3 Dec. 1597 , in Henslowe's diary. The entire
diary entry has been struck out, presumably upon receiving
Jonson
's 'Booke', or
play.
Eugene Giddens
[fol. 37v]
lent vnto Bengemen Johnsone the
2
3 of desember1597 vpon a Booke which
he was to writte for vs befor crysmas next after the date herof which
he showed the plotte vnto the company I saye lente in Redy money vnto hime the some
of
xxs
Bibliography
Henslowe's
Diary, ed. Greg, 70, 82
JAB, 2
H&S 11.307
Henslowe's Diary, 73,
85
Henslowe Papers
(facsimile)
Henslowe was originally a dyer by trade, and was unusual among theatre managers of the day in never having been an actor. He built the Rose Theatre in Southwark in 1587, presumably as an extension of his earlier financial enterprises, which included starch making and money-lending. His career as a theatre manager appears to have taken off in 1592, when his stepdaughter married Edward Alleyn the actor. Henslowe's primary connection to his theatres was financial and administrative rather than artistic; he took a percentage of the ticket sales, and his account books for 1593-1603 (known as his 'Diary') also record payments for licences, costumes, and to playwrights. His 'Inventory' (of costumes, properties etc.) of 1598 also survives.