Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 37.djvu/28

 suggest Wilkins. Massinger's share in the ‘Bloody Brother’ is act i. and act v. 1; in ‘Thierry and Theodoret’ it is act i. 2, act ii. 1, 3, and act iv. 2.

4†. ‘The Knight of Malta.’ Massinger's share is act iii. 2, 3, iv. 1, and perhaps a part of v. 2. As Burbage and Field acted together in this play, it was probably produced after the latter had joined the king's men in 1616.

5†. ‘The Queen of Corinth’ (written about 1617). Massinger wrote act i. and act v. Field perhaps aided Fletcher in this piece.

6. ‘Barnavelt,’ by Fletcher and Massinger (first printed in Bullen's ‘Old Plays,’ vol. ii. 1881), played August 1619. Massinger's share is i. 1, 2, ii. 1, iii. 2, 3, 5, iv. 4, 5, v. 1 (down to ‘Enter Provost’); thirty-four parallel passages connect it with Massinger's undoubted work.

7. ‘Henry VIII,’ in the form which has come down to us, was probably not written earlier than 1617. It is doubtless by Massinger and Fletcher (Transactions of the New Shakspere Soc. 1884).

8. ‘The Two Noble Kinsmen,’ 4to, 1634, is in the present writer's opinion entirely by Massinger and Fletcher (ib. for 1882). Massinger's share is i., ii. 1, iii. 1, 2, iv. 3, v. 1 (except the opening eighteen lines), 3, 4. The numerous parallel passages connecting this play with the rest of Massinger's work, and the characterisation, especially of the female characters, are decisive as to Massinger's participation.

9†. ‘The Custom of the Country.’ It is mentioned in Sir Henry Herbert's ‘Office-Book,’ 22 Nov. 1628, as an old play. It is founded on Cervantes's ‘Persiles and Sigismunda,’ and is partly a literal translation from the Spanish novel; even the original names are retained in the drama. Massinger's share is ii. 1, 2, 3, 4, iii. 4, 5, iv. 1, 2, v. 1, 2, 3, 4.

10. ‘The Elder Brother,’ printed as by Fletcher only, 4to, 29 March 1637, and by him and Beaumont in 1651, was probably revised generally by Massinger; it is preserved in a contemporary manuscript, Egerton MS. 1994. Massinger's share is i. 1, 2, v. 1, 2. The plot is like that of Calderon's ‘De una causa dos efectos.’

11†. ‘The Sea Voyage’ was licensed 22 June 1622. Massinger's share is ii. 1, 2, iii. 1 (from ‘Enter Rosellia’), v. 1, 2, 3, 4.

12†. ‘The Double Marriage,’ probably produced about 1620. Massinger's share is i. 1, iii. 1, iv. 1, 2, v. 2 (to ‘Enter Pandulpho’), v. 3.

13†. ‘The Beggar's Bush,’ performed at court at Christmas 1622. Massinger's share is i. 1, 2, 3, v. 1 (latter part of the scene), and 2 (first part of the scene). There are few of the parallel passages characteristic of Massinger, and those only in the scenes here ascribed to him.

14†. ‘The False One,’ probably produced about 1620. Massinger's share is acts i. and v.

15†. ‘The Prophetess,’ licensed 14 May 1622. Massinger's share is ii., iv., v. 1, 2. The plot is based on Plutarch and Lucan.

16†. ‘The Little French Lawyer,’ probably written not later than 1620. A duel between Villiers, the favourite's brother, and Mr. Rich took place in 1619. The seconds also fought, and this is spoken of as a new custom, and explained by Mr. Rich ‘having new come out of France.’ Massinger's part is i., iii. 1, v. 1 (from ‘Enter Cleremont’). There are traces of his hand in other scenes, but the above are the only ones that have parallel passages connecting them with Massinger (fifteen in number). The plot is from the ‘Spanish Rogue,’ ii. 4.

17†. ‘The Lovers' Progress,’ licensed as ‘Cleander,’ 9 May 1634. It is probably an alteration of the ‘Wandering Lovers,’ licensed 6 Dec. 1623. Massinger's share is i. 1, 2 (to ‘Enter Malfort’), ii. 2, iii. 4 and 6 (the last two speeches), acts iv. and v. Founded on Daudiguier's ‘Lysandre et Caliste.’

18†. ‘The Spanish Curate,’ licensed 24 Oct. 1622. Massinger's part is i., iii. 3, iv. 1, 4, v. 1, 3. Founded on Cespedes's ‘Gerardo, the Unfortunate Spaniard’ (English translation by Leonard Digges, 1622).

19†. ‘The Fair Maid of the Inn,’ licensed 22 Jan. 1626. The idea is taken from Cervantes's ‘La illustre Fregona,’ but only in a general way. Massinger's share is i., iii. 2, v. 3. Mr. Fleay gives a great part of the play to Jonson, but adduces no evidence.

20. ‘A Very Woman, or the Prince of Tarent;’ published by Moseley, 1655, in one volume with the ‘Guardian’ and the ‘Bashful Lover;’ licensed 6 June 1634. It was entered as Massinger's on the ‘Stationers' Registers,’ 9 Sept. 1653, but is partly by Fletcher. Massinger's share is i., ii. 1, 2, 3 (down to ‘Enter Pedro’), iv. 1 and 3. The lost plays—the ‘Woman's Plot,’ acted 1621–2, and the ‘Spanish Viceroy,’ acted 20 Dec. 1624, without Herbert's license—may possibly be early versions of this piece.

In the following plays there are no traces of Fletcher's hand, and the names of Massinger's collaborators are determined with less certainty: 21. ‘The Second Maiden's Tragedy,’ licensed by Sir George Buck 31 Oct. 1611, and acted by the king's men. Mas-