As is true for much of the information about English history, the best information about Revels is usually in scholarly books that can be difficult to find. Also, primary sources are typically found at the British Library in London, and in museums in various parts of England. Much of what we know about Revels comes from the official records of the Office of the Revels. Most of the records that have survived to the present are from the time in office of Sir Henry Herbert. The records were not secured by the government of England, but instead were passed down through Herbert's family. Occasionally during the 18th and 19th centuries there was an opportunity for scholars to view and transcribe the record books. In the early 20th century, some information that had been passed down within the family for generations was sold to the British Library and to museums. This resulted in a few early 20th century scholars gaining access to the materials and writing books about the Office of the Revels. These include:

• Adams, Joseph Quincy, The Dramatic Records of Sir Henry Herbert, 1917.
• Chambers, E.K., Notes on the History of the Revels Office under the Tudors, 1906.
• Feuillerat, Albert, Documents Relating to the Office of the Revels in the Time of Queen Elizabeth, 1908.
• Feuillerat, Albert, Documents Relating to the Revels at Court in the Time of King Edward VI and Queen Mary, 1914.
• Gildersleeve, Virginia Crocheron, Government Regulation of the Elizabethan Drama, 1908.

Some of the important more recent books about Revels are:

• Bawcutt, N.W., ed., The Control and Censorship of Caroline Drama: The Records of Sir Henry Herbert, Master of the Revels 1623-73 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996).
• Dutton, Richard, Mastering the Revels: The Regulation and Censorship of English Renaissance Drama (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1991).
• Streitberger, William R., Edmond Tyllney, Master of the Revels and Censor of Plays (New York: AMS Press, 1986).
• Streitberger, William R., Jacobean and Caroline Revels Accounts, 1603-1642, Malone Society Collections, XIII, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986).
• Streitberger, William R., Court Revels, 1485-1559 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994).

There is also some information available online. The book:

• Astington, John H., English Court Theatre 1558-1642 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).

has an significant excerpt online discussing the Office of the Revels. The excerpt covers pages 8-27.

This web page at the Bartelby.com site presents information about the Master of the Revels, obtained from The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes. Volume VI. The Drama to 1642, Part Two. A.W. Ward, A.R. Waller, W.P. Trent, J. Erskine, S.P. Sherman, and C. Van Doren eds. (Cambridge, England: University Press, 1907).

This web page at the University of Reading site discusses censorship by the Master of the Revels.

There is also an article about the Master of the Revels by Shakespeare scholar Amanda Mabillard, who writes for about.com.

Return to the www.revels.info home page