of ther handes to yette'. By 28 July a further amount of £120 15s. 4d. had been incurred, making a total of £166 17s. 7d. for 1597-8.[1] During the same period he entered weekly receipts from the company to a total of £125. These must have gone to an old debt, for he did not balance them with the payments for the year, but carried on the whole debit of £166 17s. 7d. to 1598-9. Apparently, however, he was not satisfied with the way in which expenditure was outstripping income, for he headed a new receipts account, 'Here I begyne to receue the wholle gallereys frome this daye beinge the 29 of July 1598', and the weekly entries become about double what they were during 1597-8. On the other hand, there is also a considerable increase in the rate of expenditure. It is an ingenious and, I think, sound conjecture of Dr. Greg's, that throughout 1594-1603 Henslowe was taking half the gallery money for rent, and that, at different times, he also took either the other half, or another quarter only, to recoup himself for his advances.[2] The outgoings entered during 1598-9 reach £435 7s. 4d., but some items for March and April 1599 are probably missing, owing to a mutilation of the manuscript.[3] The receipts for the same period were £358 3s. On 13 October 1599, about a fortnight after the beginning of the 1599-1600 season, a balance was struck. Henslowe credited the company with the £358 received from the gallery money, and debited them with £632 advanced by him. This includes £166 17s. 7d. for 1597-8, £435 7s. 4d. for 1598-9, and £29 15s. 1d., which may reasonably be taken as the sum of the missing entries for March and April 1599. The balance of £274 remained as a debt from the company. They did not, however, set their hands to a reckoning until the end of the next year, on 10 July 1600. During 1599-1600 a fresh account had been running, on which Henslowe's receipts were £202 10s. and his payments £222 5s. 6d. At the reckoning the company's indebtedness is calculated at £300, and is admitted by the formula, 'which some of three hundred powndes we whose names are here vnder written doe acknowledge our dewe debt & doe promyse payment'. To this their signatures are appended. There is, however, an unexplained discrepancy of £6 4s. 6d., as the
- ↑ Henslowe made the total £167 7s. 7d., but evidently the error was detected, as only £166 17s. 7d. was carried forward.
- ↑ Henslowe, ii. 133. Apparently Henslowe reverted to the plan of deducting three-quarters only, at the beginning of 1599-1600, but only for a fortnight, as the receipts from 20 Oct. are headed, 'Heare I begane to receue the gallereys agayne which they receued begynynge at Myhellmas wecke being the 6 of October 1599'.
- ↑ I have disregarded an error of 15s. made by Henslowe.
