single membrane
Articles of agreement made concluded and agreed vppon and
which are on the parte and behalfe of Phillipp Henslowe
Esquier and Iacob Meade
Waterman to be
perfourmed touchinge & concerninge the Company of players which they haue lately
raised videlicet
Imprimis the saide Phillipp Henslowe and Iacob Meade doe for them their
executors and administrators Covenante promise and graunt by theis
presentes to and with Nathan ffeilde gentleman That they the saide
Phillipp Henslowe and Iacob Meade or one of them shall and will duringe the space of
Three yeares at all tymes (when noe restraynte of playinge shalbe) at their or some
of their owne proper costes and charges fynde and provide ‸⸢a⸣ sufficient ‸⸢howse or ⸣ howses for
the saide Company to play in And also shall and will at all tymes duringe the saide
tearme disburse and lay out all suche some & somes of monny as ffower or ffive
Shareres of the saide Company chosen by the saide Phillipp and Iacob
shall thinck fittinge for the furnishinge of the said Company with playinge apparrell
towardes the settinge out of their newe playes And further that the saide Phillipp Henslowe and Iacob
Meade shall and will at all tymes duringe the saide tearme when the saide Company
shall play in or neare the Cittie of London furnish the saide Company of players aswell with suche stock
of apparrell & other properties as the said Phillipp Henslowe hath
already bought As also with suche other stock of apparrell as the saide
Phillipp Henslowe and Iacob Meade shall hereafter provide and buy for the said
Company duringe the saide tearme And further shall and will at suche tyme and tymes
duringe the saide tearme as the saide Company of Players shall by meanes of any
restraynte or sicknes goe into the Contrey deliuer and furnish the saide Company
with fitting apparrell out of both the saide stockes of
apparrell And
further
the saide Phillipp Henslowe and Iacob Meade doe for them their executors and
administrators covenante and graunt to and with the
saide Nathan ffeilde by theis presentes in manner and fourme
followinge that is to say That they the saide Phillipp Henslowe and Iacob Meade or
one of them shall and will from tyme to tyme duringe the saide tearme d<.>sburse and
lay out suche somme or sommes of monny as shalbe thought fittinge
by ffower or ffive of the Shareres of the saide Company ‸⸢to be chosen by the saide Phillipp & Iacob or one of <......>⸣ to be paide for any play
which <.>he<.> shall buy or condicion or agree for;
Soe alwaies as the saide Company doe and shall truly repaye vnto the saide Phillipp
and Iacob their executores or assigne<..> all suche somme & sommes of monny as they shall
disburse for any play vppon the second or third daie wheron the same play shalbe
plaide by the saide Company witho<.>t fraude or longer delay A<..> further
<...> Phillipp
Henslowe and Iacob Meade shall and will at all tymes vppon request made by the Maior
parte of the Sharers of the sai<.......>any
<...> remove and putt out of the saide Company any of the saide
Company of players if the saide Phillipp Henslowe and Iacob Meade <.....> fyn<..........>
<...> to be iust and that ther be noe hope of conformety in the
partie complayned of And further that they the saide Phillipp Henslowe
and I<...> tymes vppon request made by the saide Company
or the maior parte therof pay vnto them all suche somes of monny as shall
come vnto th<...>fectures for
rehearsalles or suche like paymentes And also shall and will
vppon the request of the said Company or the maior parte of th<...> persons by whom any forfecture shalbe made as aforesaid
and after or vppon the recovery and receipte th<.........>eir
charges disbursed about <.>he
<...> first deducted and allowed) shall and will make
satisfaccion of the remaynd<..> therof vnto the said Co<........>ny without fraude or guile And <...>
Henslowe and Iacob Meade <...> and agree that ther shalbe due <........> given <...> be appoynted thervnto <...> half of the gal<...>s
<........>
towardes
<...> of the <...> poundes
abouementioned
<.........> to be <...>said by
the said Phillipp and Iacob <...>
Collier provided readings of some of the damaged sections but Greg, writing just over sixty years later, questioned Collier's additions: 'It is clear, I think, that although Collier printed certain words which cannot now be made out, he could not really read more than is now legible. Several of his readings can be shown to be impossible, while some of his blanks can be easily filled up' (Henslowe's Papers, p 25). For this reason, only Greg’s readings, with his conjectures enclosed in angled brackets, are provided in our textual notes.
Record title: Articles of Agreement between Philip Henslowe and Jacob Meade
and their Acting Company
Repository: Dulwich College
Shelfmark: Mun 52
Repository location: Dulwich
The document is undated but the key name of Nathan Field provides an important clue. Field (1587-1619/20) was an actor and playwright, first surfacing on record as a boy actor with the Children of the Chapel Royal at Blackfriars playhouse, London (1600-8). His second acting company, the Children of the Queen's Revels, merged with Lady Elizabeth's Men by 1613; see Articles of Grievance by Players against Philip Henslowe. Lady Elizabeth's Men are known to have performed Jonson's Bartholomew Fair at Henslowe's new Hope playhouse in 1614, so the dating of these articles of agreement, with Field as a principal, is most likely sometime during 1613-14. By November 1616 Field had left the company to join the King's Men at the Globe and Blackfriars, becoming a shareholder by 1619. See further M.E. Williams, 'Field, Nathan (bap. 1587, d. 1619/20), actor and playwright,' ODNB, accessed 16 November 2022, and Siobhan Keenan, Acting Companies and their Plays in Shakespeare's London (London, 2014), 33-51.
For an image of the original manuscript, see Ioppolo, Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project.
undated; English; parchment; single membrane; 150mm-180 mm x 375 mm; lower edge torn and repaired, much decay owing to damp, stained and illegible in places, damaged section maximum 55mm x 65 mm with significant loss of text; no endorsement.