The Dramatic Records of Sir Henry Herbert. Edited by Joseph
Quincy Adams. (Yale University Press and H. Milford. 10s. 6d. net.)—Students of the seventeenth-century stage will find this book useful and interesting. It contains all the extracts which Malone and Chalmers printed more than a century ago from the office-book for 1622-42, now-lost, of Sir Henry Herbert, who was Master of the Revels from 1623 to his death in 1673. The extracts are properly arranged'nd annotated, and are supplemented by miscellaneous documents for 1622-42 and 1660-70 which were printed either by Halliwell.Phillipps in a very small edition or by Peter Cunningham. Sir Henry Herbert was the brother of George Herbert the poet and of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, and a kinsman of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, who was Lord Chamberlain. He took his duties as Censor very seriously. He tells us that on January Ath, 1634, the king went over his censored copy of a comedy by Davenant, which was played at Court later in the month, and approved of most of Herbert's deletions, though "allowing of `faith' and ' slight ' to be assevera- tions only and no oaths." Herbert was stricter than the King in expunging bad language from a play-book, as well as any doubtful political allusions. One new play, which was submitted to him as late as June, 1642, was " burnt for the ribaldry and offence that was in it " ; possibly it reflected the Londoner's liking for the Parliament. The Master of the Revels, backed by the Lord Chamberlain and the Star Chamber, was of course an autocrat.
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