Our knowledge of some of Shakespeare's Mends and ac- quaintances,
though not of the poet himself, is enlarged by Mr. E. A. B. Barnard's patient study in New Links with Shakespeare (Cambridge University Press, '10s. 6d.). From some deeds preserved at Hanley CoUrt, Worcester, and now in the Birmingham Shakespeare Library, the author has extracted fresh details about Henry Condell, the poet's partner in the Globe Theatre and co-editor of the First Folio. Condell's signature occurs on a conveyance of a small estate near Broadway in 1617. He was a wealthy and respected citizen of London, with a country house at Fulham, and died in 1627-8. Other chapters deal with the Broadway area, with Sir Charles Percy, Humphrey Dyson, the First Polio, and kindred topics. Indirectly, all this evidence strengthens the belief in the accepted view of Shakespeare as a well-known figure in the theatrical world of his day, a successful manager as well as a great playwright, and not in the least likely to lend his name to any lawyer or peer who wanted literary fame at second-hand.
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