f [1] (26 September) (London)
ssonne Edward alleyn I haue
Receuyd 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 vnderstand 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 over frendes
shall haue as mvch as we cane do to bring yt vnto a good eand therfore 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 yt weare fytte that we weare both her
to do what we mowgh<.> & not as two
frends but as two Ioyned in one therfor ned I love not to mack many great glosses
& protestaciones to you as others do but as a poore frend you shall comande me
as I hoope I shall do you therfore I desyer Rather to haue your company & your
wiffes ther your leatters for
ower laste talke which we had abowte mr pascalle assuer you I do not forgeatte 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 <.>
hogesden fylldes by the hands of
benge<...> Ionson
bricklayer therfore I wold
fayne haue alittell of your cownsell yf I cowld thus with hartie
comendations to you & my dawghter & lyckwise to all the Reast of our frends
I eande from london the 26 of september
1598
Your assured frend
to my power
(signed) Phillippe Henlowe
As Henslowe reports here, the Admiral's player, Gabriel Spencer (1576-98), was slain on 22 September by Ben Jonson in a duel in Hoxton fields. Spencer is known to have been with Pembroke's Men in 1596, moving with others from that company to the Admiral's Men at the Rose by 1597. See further Andrew Gurr, Shakespeare's Opposites: The Admiral's Company 1594-1625 (Cambridge, 2009), 287. For Jonson, see Ian Donaldson, 'Jonson, Benjamin [Ben] (1572–1637), poet and playwright,' ODNB, accessed 20 December 2022.
The 'mr pascalle' referred to has been identified as William Pascal, gentleman sewer and an officer of the lord chamberlain of the household; see Foakes, Henslowe's Diary, pp 174-5, and Greg, Henslowe Papers, p 48, n to line 12.
For an abstract of this record and details of its transcription in other printed sources, see the related EMLoT event.
Record title: Philip Henslowe's Letter to Edward Alleyn
Repository: Dulwich College
Shelfmark: MS I
Repository location: Dulwich
This letter from Henslowe to Edward Alleyn, his son-in-law and partner in the Bear Garden enterprise, may express his disappointment at losing out on their hoped-for royal appointment to the mastership of the bears, bulls and mastiff dogs. Despite their intensive lobbying efforts, the appointment had been recently granted to Sir John Dorrington, a gentleman pensioner from Nottinghamshire (TNA: C66/1485 records the letters patent for Dorrington's appointment on 11 August 1598). At the time Alleyn was in what proved to be temporary retirement from the stage, staying with their mutual friend, Arthur Langworth of The Brill, Ringmere, in Sussex; see the Introduction: Entertainment Entrepreneurs.
For an image of the original manuscript, see Ioppolo, Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project.
26 September 1598; English; bifolium; 310mm x 210mm; addressed on f 2v: 'To my welbeloude ssonne | mr Edward alleyne at | mr arthure langworthes | at the Brille in | susex giue | this'. The items from MS I have been removed from their 19th-c. binding and are now mounted between guard sheets and gathered into fascicles stored in brown cloth-covered file boxes; Box C carries on its spine the title: 'ALLEYN PAPERS MS I | Theatre 1559-1662 |.' There are 12 fascicles in MS I C and this item is C/35. Foliated 35–6v in pencil by Warner; cited on p 15 of his Catalogue.