Henslowe writes: 26 | tt at Nabucadonizer ... | 0 | 09
In modern English: 26th [January, 1597] ... total at Nebuchadnezzar ... 9 shillings
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| Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the tree, from Speculum Humanae Salvationis, a 15th- century French manuscript |
Today, the Admiral's Men performed Nebuchadnezzar, their Biblical drama about the Babylonian king whose dreams were interpreted by the prophet Daniel. You can read more about this play in the entry for 18 December, 1596.
Another change has happened in Henslowe's accounting system today: instead of beginning each entry with "R" for "received", he now begins them with "tt", which means "totalis", Latin for "total". As I discussed in the entry for 24 January, the significance of this change is uncertain.
The company continues to revive Nebuchadnezzar frequently, but its box office remains dismal. One cannot help but suspect it will soon be for the chop.
FURTHER READING
Information on "tt"
- R.A. Foakes, ed. Henslowe's Diary, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2002), xxxviii-xxxix
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)
Comments?
Did I make a mistake? Do you have a question? Have you anything to add? Please post a comment below!
One is driven to wonder why they kept putting it on. Was it always in winter? Did they put out the 2nd XI, for experience?
ReplyDeleteIt's a mystery; there always seem to be a few plays like this: frequently staged, despite small audiences. One interesting theory is that certain plays were exceptionally "playable", that is, easy to perform; see this blog entry: https://hensloweasablog.blogspot.com/search/label/French%20Doctor Or perhaps even a small audience brought in a lot of money by Elizabethan standards, so that what looks like an unpopular play could still be a lot better than nothing.
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