EDITIONS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK. For Dekker's Shoemaker's Holiday, Honest Whore, Roaring Girl, and Old Fortunatus, the references in this work are to the Mermaid Edition. For all of Dekker's other plays except Patient Grissil, the references are to Dekker's Dramatic Works, edition of 1873. For Patient Grissil, and all of Dekker's non-dramatic works, the references are to Grosart's edition in the Huth Library. The references to Webster are to Dyce's two-column edition of 1857, except that in the White Devil I have followed the division of acts and scenes used in the Mermaid Edition. In some cases I have modernized the spelling, but have made no other changes. ERRATUM. In parallel passages for Westward Ho III. 3, Webster, passage (a) read 'most cunning' for 'more cunning.' CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. The collaborated plays of Webster and Dekker are three in number. They consist of the two so-called 'citizen-comedies,' Westward Ho and Northward Ho -realistic pictures of bourgeois life-and a crude, rather uninteresting chronicle-play, called The Famous History of Sir Thomas Wyatt. A careful study as to the probable dates of these plays has already been made by Mr. E. E. Stoll. According to this, Sir Thomas Wyatt was probably written in 1602, Westward Ho in the latter part of 1604 or beginning of 1605, and Northward Ho probably in 1606, certainly near that date. 1 These dates are important, because they mean that at the time of this collaboration Dekker was a mature writer, with a long list of successful plays behind him; Webster was only a beginner. Before 1602 Dekker had written The Shoemaker's Holiday, Old Fortunatus, and Satiro-mastix, 2 besides a number of plays which have been lost. 3 Between this date and 1605 he had added Canaan's Calamity, The Wonderful Year, edition The Bachelor's Banquet, The Magnificent Entertainment given see wilson to King James, and the first part of The Honest Whore.1 Webster, on the other hand, at that date had written nothing which has survived; and there is no record of any play wholly from his hand. Henslowe mentions 1 John Webster, by E. E. Stoll, pp. 13-18. 2 Introduction to Mermaid Ed. of Dekker, pp. XV-XXIV. Ibid., p. XVI. * Ibid., pp. XXVI-XXX. a |