single sheet (June)
Mr Allen wheras you saie you
sent me a letter the last weeke I Receuyd non neither heard any such thing
at my diparting from you ⸢you⸣ said I shuld not
neede to come till after twelftday: and therfor no cause to saie out of sight out of
mynde and wheras you saie all my freind vowes are as yeasly forgotten as promises
you do your self wrong to Charg me vniustly I vowe nothing to you ‸⸢but god will⸣ I told you I had delt for
the offic for you
which I haue don assone as the partie is sett the souner the
better for me Therfore I tell you plaine if it came not from you whom I haue
ever Lovid I shuld disdaine to answere such Comaunding matter
‸⸢without cause⸣ if it please god to take awey mr Bowes I cannt helpe it but be
sorry: you knowe I suddenly devisd awey to helpe if your lord wold do it
Therfor I forstowd it not: I was not acqueinted howe my Lord of Nottingham
wold geve over the staffe my lord told you what to do therfor blame
your self suddenly you may do it still As I said before I told you I wold
gett yow a <...> place if the
partie and you could agree so do I tell you still I told you the derest
price and the lowest or neare theraboutes I assur you if I had not lovid
you I wold wold not haue taken so much paynes and made such a vile Iorney not for the
thing But to finish if otherwise you can better helpe your self do it I
will loose my Labore: But if you cannot I will performe this you shall haue
the place agreing and paieing for it And I wilbe reddy as a frend to helpe the best
I can and I will hast to you as much as I knowe may serve the torne it shall not be
many dais but I wilbe with you: it semeth you wer not your owne man when you write
this and I as mellinco⸢lly⸣ to answer such a letter to on I
haue lovid so well and so litle regarded But I shalbe wiser on day; love and kindnes
may make me breake my hart But Imperious speches doth nothing with me
I pray you comend me to mrs Alleyn and the whole company
Your trewe ffrend ffrend(signed) Arthur Langworth
For an abstract of this record and details of its transcription in other printed sources, see the related EMLoT event.
Record title: Arthur Langworth's Letter to Edward Alleyn
Repository: Dulwich College
Shelfmark: MS II
Repository location: Dulwich
This letter and another of 4 June 1598 -- see Philip Henslowe's Letter to Edward Alleyn -- illustrate the significance that both Henslowe and Alleyn attached to gaining the office of master of the Bears, and the pressure they were putting on acquaintances at Court and elsewhere to help them secure the favour of those who might help them. Although the letter is undated, the reference to Bowes' illness points to early June 1598 as the date.
The letter is fully transcribed by Greg in Henslowe Papers, pp 99-100.
For an image of the original manuscript, see Ioppolo, Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project.
June 1598; English; single sheet; 193mm x 325mm; good condition, repaired; mounted on a modern guard and bound with other documents in a 19th-c. brown cloth binding with gold tooling, title on spine: 'DULWICH | COLLEGE. | ALLEYN | PAPERS. | VOL.II. | BEAR | GARDEN | 1598-1626.' Endorsed on the verso: 'To my very Loving ffrend mr Edward Alleyn hast this.' Foliated 2 in pencil by Warner; cited on pp 66–7 of his Catalogue.