12 January, 1593 - Sir John Mandeville

Here's what Lord Strange's Men performed at the Rose playhouse on this day, 424 years ago...

Henslowe writes: R at mandevell the 13 of Jenewary 1593 ... ix^s

In modern English: Received at Mandeville, 12^th January, 1593 ... 9 shillings

Mandevillian monster from

the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493)

Today, Lord Strange's Men revived Sir John Mandeville, a play that is now lost. Although Mandeville is today most famous for his fantastical travel narratives, scholars think the play was most likely a chivalric and comic romance, in which Sir John won the hand of a fair lady above his station. You can read more about it in the entry for 24th February, 1592.

The company last performed Sir John Mandeville only a week ago, when it had received a miserable box office of only 12 shillings. Today's returns were even worse though; indeed they're among the worst ever recorded at the Rose. It is hard to understand why the company revived this play so soon.

Henslowe links

• Transcript of this page of the Diary (from W.W. Greg's 1904 edition)
• Facsimile of this page of the Diary (from the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project)

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