when the system was in full working, the moiety of the gallery money, which remained after the deduction of the rent, was assigned for the purpose of these repayments. During the period 1597-1604 Henslowe's entries in his diary are mainly in the nature of a running account of these advances and of the receipts set off against them; for 1594-7 similar entries occur irregularly, but the principal record is a daily list, such as Henslowe had already kept during his shorter associations with Strange's, the Queen's, and Sussex's companies in the course of 1592-4, of each performance given, with the name of the play and of the amount accruing to Henslowe himself in the form of rent. This list renders possible a very interesting analysis, both of the repertory of the company and of some at least of the financial conditions of their enterprise.
The entries start with the heading, 'In the name of God Amen begininge the 14 of Maye 1594 by my lord Admeralls men'. After three days, during which The Jew of Malta, Cutlack, and The Ranger's Comedy, all of which are found in the later repertory of the company, were given, they stop abruptly.[1] To about the same date may be assigned a fragmentary account, headed 'Layd owt for my Lorde Admeralle seruantes as ffoloweth 1594', and recording expenditure for coming and going to Court and to Somerset House, the residence of the Lord Chamberlain, 'for mackinge of our leater twise', and 'for drinckinge with the jentellmen', all evidently concerned with the initial business of forming and licensing the company.[2] On 5 June the account of performances is resumed with a fresh heading, 'In the name of God Amen begininge at Newington my Lord Admeralle men and my Lorde Chamberlen men as ffolowethe 1594'.[3] Henslowe's takings only averaged 9s. for the first ten days, probably on account of the distance of Newington Butts from London.[4] The takings for the three days in May averaged 41s., and it may perhaps be inferred that these May performances were at the Rose, and that some fear of renewed plague on the part of the authorities led to their being relegated to a safer quarter. The tentative character of these early performances is shown by the fact that the Admiral's were still sharing a theatre with the Chamberlain's. To the repertory of the latter it seems safe to assign three of the seven plays produced, Titus Andronicus, Hamlet, and The Taming of A Shrew, and probably also a fourth, Hester and Ahasuerus, as there is no later sign of this amongst the Admiral's plays. This leaves
