Review of David McInnis’s Edition of Old Fortunatus

Most modern students of early modern plays have their own responses to the questions “can this cockpit hold/ The vasty fields of France?  or may we cram/ Within this wooden O the very casques/ That did affright the air at Agincourt?”  An early response is this: “For this small circumference must stand/ For the imagined surface of much land,/ Of many kingdoms…/ Our muse entreats/ Your thoughts to help poor art and to allow/ May serve as Chorus to her scenes.”  The first lines are of course from William Shakespeare’s Henry V, as printed in the 1623 Folio; neither they nor the figure of the Chorus appear in the 1600 Quarto of the play.  The second passage is probably less recognizable, although it feels strikingly familiar when placed beside the other one.  It is one of the reasons to suspect that a version of Henry V’s swelling prologue appeared in its early performances.  It is from Thomas Dekker’s Old Fortunatus, printed in 1600, played in something like this form the previous year, drawing on a story as widely diffused as any secular tale in early modern Europe, with roots that reach back to a 1509 German version and before, and offshoots that extend to central Europe through the seventeenth century.  We know Henry V better now, but in its day Old Fortunatus had better legs, a longer start, and more staying power.

David McInnis’ wonderful new edition of this “wonderful play”…