A letter from
Philip Henslowe
( c . 1555-1616, theatre manager and entrepreneur)
to
Edward Alleyn
(1566-1626, actor, entrepreneur and
philanthropist),
26 Sept 1598 , mentioning that
Jonson
has killed
Gabriel Spencer
(1576-1598, actor).
on 24 Sept. in Hoxton
. The document comprises
two folios; on page 1 is the letter; pages 2 and 3 are blank; and page 4 has the
address and miscellaneous scribbling including a sketch of a man's head.
Eugene Giddens
[fol. 1]
sonne
Edward alleyn I haue
Received your leatter the which you sent vnto me
by the careyer wher in I vnderstand of both your good healthes which
I praye to god to contenew & forther I vnder stand you haue considered of the
wordes which you and I had betwen vs consernynge the beargarden &
acordinge to your wordes you and I and all other frendes shall haue as mvch as we
cane do to bring yt vnto a good eand therefore I wold willingeley that you weare at
the bancate for then with our losse I shold be the meryer therfore yf
you thincke as I thinck [
<e>
] yt weare fytte that
we weare both her to do what we mowgh [
<t>
] &
not as two frends but as two Ioyned in one therfore ned I love not to mack many
great glosses & protestaciones to you as others do but as a poor frend you shall
commande me as I hoope I shall do you therfore I desyre Rather to haue your company
& your wiffes then your leatters for ower laste talke which we
had abowte mr pascalle assuer you I do-not for geatte now to leat you vnderstand
newes I will teall you some but yt is for me harde & heavey sence you weare
with me I haue loste one of my company which
hurteth me greatley that is gabrell for he is slayen in
f
hoges den
fylldes by the hands of benge [
<men>
]
Jonson
bricklayer therfore I wold fayne haue alittell of your cownsell yf I cowld thus
with hartie comendations to you & my daughter & lyckwise
to all the Reast of our frends J eande from london the 26 of septmber 1598
Your assured frend to my power
Phillippe Henslowe
[fol. 2v]
To my welbeloude sonne mr Edward alleyne at mr
authure langworthes at the brille in susex giue this
Bibliography
Guiney
(1918), 271
Hill (1919), 81-2
JAB, 5
H&S, 1.18n
Henslowe's Diary, 285-6
Henslowe Papers (fascimile)
Edward Alleyn
: Elizabethan Actor,
Jacobean Gentleman, ed. Aileen Reid and Robert Maniura (Dulwich,
1994), a catalogue for the exhibition marking the 375th anniversary of the
College's foundation, and especially the biographical essay by S.P. Cerasano,
11-31
Nungezer, 336-7
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.
Alleyn was born in the parish of St Botolph, Bishopsgate, on 1 Sept. 1566. He was well-established as an actor by 1592, and regarded as a leading actor (and even a celebrity) by the middle of the decade. He married Joan Woodward, step-daughter to Henslowe, in 1592. He seems increasingly to have become an entrepreneur rather than a player; in particular, he took a complete break from playing between 1597-1600, and seems to have ceased playing completely in about 1604: his last recorded role was as the Genius of the City in the Magnificent Entertainment for King James (1604), and Heywood's Apology for Actors ( c . 1608) describes him as recently retired. Alleyn founded Dulwich College, as the 'College of God's Gift', in 1619. He died in 1626.
Spencer was a member of the earl of Pembroke 's Men in 1597, and may previously have been one of the Lord Chamberlain 's Men. When Pembroke 's Men disbanded after the Isle of Dogs controversy, Spencer joined Henslowe's Admiral's Men, and his name first appears in the Diary on 11 Oct. 1597. His duel with Ben Jonson took place in Hoxton fields; he was buried at St Leonard's, Shoreditch on 24 Sept. 1598.
In the early modern period, Hoxton or Hogsden was a semi-rural village to the north of the City , with many open fields, and hence a popular area for recreation. Literary references suggest that it was seen as suburban (verging on the provincial), and unsophisticated. (Chalfant, 96).