3 February, 1596 - Fortunatus

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 3 of febreary 1595 ... R at the 1 p of forteunatus ... iij^ll 

In modern English: 3^rd February, [1596] ... Received at The First Part of Fortunatus ... £3

Today, the Admiral's Men performed a play not previously been recorded at the Rose. The First Part of Fortunatus is best described as half-lost, because it may still survive today but in truncated form. Whatever, its exact nature, it retold the German legend of Fortunatus, a man who acquires infinite wealth but lives to regret it. It is a cautionary tale against selling one's soul for temporary pleasure, very much in the manner of Dr Faustus.

Is this a lost play?

There are lots of puzzles about this play, and it's best to approach them in chronological order.

1. In 1509, an anonymous German prose novel called Fortunatus first told the story in print.
2. Today's 1596 diary entry is the first evidence for the existence of The First Part of Fortunatus. Henslowe does not mark it "ne", which suggests that it was an old play newly revived.
3. There is no actual evidence for the existence of a second part (except for the very fact that Henslowe called the other play The First Part - but he only calls it that in the very first diary entry; the rest he simply calls it Fortunatus).
4. In 1599, Henslowe paid the playwright Thomas Dekker  £6 for “a book called The Whole History of Fortunatus". This appears to be a new play or a revision of the old one(s).
5. On 20 February, 1600, a publisher registered his intention to publish "a comedy called Old Fortunatus in his New Livery". This, one assumes, was Dekker's play.
6. Dekker's play was published the same year under the title The Pleasant Comedy of Old Fortunatus.

The mystery is whether Dekker wrote a whole new play about Fortunatus, or whether he took an old (two-part?) play from the Rose and transformed it into a new one, thus preserving elements of the original text. The second theory seems more likely because Dekker's play falls neatly into two halves, the first ending with Fortunatus's death, the second being about his sons.

The story

Fortunatus receives the magic purse from
Lady Fortune (from the 1509 novel)

If The First Part of Fortunatus did indeed tell the story of Fortunatus up to his death, then it would have begun with Fortunatus as an old man who meets a mysterious woman named Fortune in a wood. Fortune offers him a choice of six gifts: wisdom, strength, health, beauty, long life, or riches. Fortunatus chooses riches and is given a magic purse that never runs out of money. As you may predict, this was the wrong choice.

Fortnatus then goes on an epic journey around the world, having many adventures. Ultimately, he ends up in Babylon, where the Sultan shows him a magic hat that can take its wearer anywhere in the world; Fortunatus steals it.

Fortunatus steals the magic hat from the Sultan
of Babylon (from the 1509 novel)

Fortunatus has had a great deal of fun with his magical gift, but, just like Dr Faustus before him, death approaches and he realizes that he made the wrong choice, Fortunatus returns to Fortune and asks her to take back the purse in return for bestowing wisdom on his sons so that they will not make the same mistakes. But Fortune refuses, and when Fortunatus dies, his sons inherit the magic hat and purse.

Whether or not this is exactly what was staged at the Rose today, the Fortunatus play was a great success, filling the theatre with playgoers!

FURTHER READING

The First Part of Fortunatus information

• Cyrus Hoy, Introductions, Notes, and Commentaries to Texts in 'The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker', vol. 1 (Cambridge University Press, 1980), 71-3
• David McInnis, "Fortunatus, Part 1", Lost Plays Database (2011)
• Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 843

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!