New light on Dekker’s Fortunati

Abstract

To scholars of English literature, best-known rendering of story of Fortunatus and his magical purse and wishing hat is Thomas Dekker's The Pleasant Comedie of Old Fortunatus, published 1600. (1) But Old Fortunatus was not first English Fortunatus play; indeed, Fortunatus has an interesting, if elusive, history. Henslowe's Diary contains six entries concerning receipts performances of Fortunatus, dated February 3, 10, and 20, 1595, April 14, 1596, and May 11 and 24, 1596, first of these recording play as the j p of (The First Part of Fortunatus). There are three additional entries November 1599 (9, 24, 30) payments to Dekker, as playwright, the hole hystory of ffortunatus (The Whole History of Fortunatus), last of these specifying in full payment. Two other entries concerning payments to Dekker follow, first on [sic] November 31, 1599 for altrenge of boocke of wholl history of (for altering of book of The Whole History of Fortunatus), second on December 12, 1599 payment for eande of fortewnatus corte (for end of Fortunatus court). (2) The text that we know today, The Pleasant Comedie of Old Fortunatus, is text Dekker prepared court performance--the altered Whole History of Fortunatus--which, according to its title page, was performed by Admiral's Men before Queen during Christmas season 1599. There is also a Fortunatus play, German, a volume published Leipzig 1620. Compiled by Frederick Menius, Engelische Comedien und Tragedien, addition to two Pickelherring plays and six interludes, collects eight plays--Esther and Haman, The Prodigal Son, Fortunatus, A King's Son of England and a King's Daughter of Scotland, Sidonia and Theagenes. Nobody and Somebody, Julio and Hyppolita, and A Very Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus--all performed by English actors towns and at courts Germany. (3) Menius, who was public notary at Wolgast Pomerania from 1617 to 1621, may have seen English actors perform there, Philip Julius, Duke of Pomerania, nephew to Heinrich Julius of Braunschweig, hosted several troupes of englische Komodianten at Wolgast court between 1606 and 1623. Menius apparently took pride volume: not only did he publish plays but he did so a form that would enable them to be easily acted (dass sie gar leicht darauss Spielweiss widerumb angerichtet ... konnen), and he made point that none of plays collection had been previously published (i.e., German). But Fortunatus had been previously performed; indeed, on Continent it appears to have been a staple of English actors' repertory. A letter from Archduchess Maria Magdalena to her brother, Archduke Ferdinand (later Emperor Ferdinand II), documents a performance during Fasching 1608 Graz, Austria, (4) when a visiting English troupe presented ten plays: play about prodigal son, about a pious lady of Antwerp, Doctor Faustus, about a Duke of Florence who fell love with a nobleman's daughter, about nobody and somebody, Fortunatus's purse and wishing hat (von des fortunatus peitl und Wunschhietel), play about Jew, another play about 2 brothers King Ludwig and King Friderich of Hungary, about a King of Cyprus and a Duke of Venice, and about rich man and Lazarus. (5) Prior to that performance, winter of 1606/1607, a Fortunatus play was performed Kassel, along with other plays Graz repertory and two plays that appear 1620 collection. (6) And on July 11, 1626, a Fortunatus play (von Fortunato Wunschhutlein) was presented Dresden, which, over nine months, saw English actors perform numerous plays, including four others that are also 1620 volume. (7) The performances Kassel, Graz, and Dresden were almost certainly of play published 1620; hence we need to ask what relationship is between that text and Dekker's The Pleasant Comedie of Old Fortunatus. …

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