Egerton MS 1994 is a manuscript collection of

English Renaissance plays English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, now in the

Egerton Collection The Egerton Collection is a collection of historical manuscripts held in the British Library. The core of the collection comprises 67 manuscripts bequeathed to the British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human ...

of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

. Probably prepared by the actor William Cartwright around 1642, and later presented by him to

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, the collection contains unique copies of several Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline dramas, including significant works like ''

Edmund Ironside Edmund Ironside (30 November 1016; , , ; sometimes also known as Edmund II) was King of the English from 23 April to 30 November 1016. He was the son of King Æthelred the Unready and his first wife, Ælfgifu of York. Edmund's reign was marre ...

'' and ''

Thomas of Woodstock Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester (7 January 13558 or 9 September 1397) was the fifth surviving son and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Early life Thomas was born on 7 January 1355 at Woodstock Pal ...

''. The collection contains fourteen plays and an anonymous

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...

: * '' The Elder Brother'', by John Fletcher and

Philip Massinger Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English dramatist. His plays, including '' A New Way to Pay Old Debts'', '' The City Madam'', and '' The Roman Actor'', are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and soci ...

— folios 2–29 * '' Dick of Devonshire'', attributed to

Robert Davenport Robert Davenport may refer to: * Robert Davenport (dramatist) (fl. 1623–1639), English dramatist * Robert Davenport (Australian politician) (1816–1896), pioneer and politician in the Colony of South Australia * Robert Davenport (cricketer) (185 ...

Thomas Heywood Thomas Heywood (early 1570s – 16 August 1641) was an English playwright, actor, and author. His main contributions were to late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre. He is best known for his masterpiece ''A Woman Killed with Kindness'', a ...

— ff. 30–51 * ''The Captives'', by Thomas Heywood — ff. 52–73 * ''The Escapes of Jupiter'', by Thomas Heywood — ff. 74–95 * ''

'' — ff. 96–118 * ''

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

'' — ff. 119–35 * ''The Fatal Marriage or A Second Lucretia'' — ff. 136–60 * ''

'' — ff. 161–85 * '' The Lady Mother'', by

Henry Glapthorne Henry Glapthorne (baptised, 28 July 1610 – c. 1643) was an English dramatist and poet, baptized in Cambridgeshire, the son of Thomas Glapthorne and Faith ''née'' Hatcliff. His father was a bailiff of Lady Hatton, the wife of Sir Edward Cok ...

— ff. 186–211 * A masque — ff. 212–23 * ''The Two Noble Ladies and the Converted Conjurer'' — ff. 224–44 * ''Nero'' — ff. 245–67 * '' The Poor Man's Comfort'', by

Robert Daborne Robert Daborne (c. 1580 – 23 March 1628) was an English dramatist of the Jacobean era. His father was also Robert Daborne, heir to family property in Guildford, Surrey and other places, including London, and a wealthy haberdasher by tra ...

— ff. 268–92 * ''Love's Changelings' Change'' — ff. 293–316 * ''The Launching of the Mary'', attributed to Walter Mountfort — ff. 317–49. ''Thomas of Woodstock'' was one of

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

sources for his ''

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

'', and ''Edmund Ironside'' has been attributed to Shakespeare by some commentators. Some of the plays, like ''The Two Noble Ladies'' and the two Heywood works, are judged to be autograph scripts, in the handwriting of the authors. (''The Escapes of Jupiter'' consists of excerpts from Heywood's ''The Golden Age'' and ''The Silver Age''.) The untitled masque in the collection has strong commonalities with the work of

George Chapman George Chapman ( – 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman is seen as an anticipator of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century. He is ...

; it borrows a long passage from '' The Tragedy of Byron'', suggesting Chapman influence rather than authorship.J. D. Jump, "The Anonymous Masque in MS. Egerton 1994," ''Review of English Studies'', vol. 11 No. 42 (April 1935), pp. 186-91. ''The Launching of the Mary'' is a "first draft, written at different times, with different inks, and on different paper." The play was written at sea but subsequently supplied to a professional playing company when its author, Walter Mountfort, had returned to London. The anonymous works in the collection have been the subject of attribution studies, and disagreements. ''Dick of Devonshire'' has been assigned to Davenport, but also to Heywood.

References

{{reflist 17th-century manuscripts 17th-century plays Egerton Collection English Renaissance plays