18] In July, 1592,
Henry Lanman, described as "of London, gentleman, of the age of 54
years," deposed: "That true it is about 7 years now shall be this next
winter, they, the said Burbage and Brayne, having the profits of plays
made at the Theatre, and this deponent having the profits of the plays
done at the house called the Curtain near to the same, the said
Burbage and Brayne, taking the Curtain as an esore[119] to their
playhouse, did of their own motion move this deponent that he would
agree that the profits of the said two playhouses might for seven
years space be in divident between them."[120]

[Footnote 118: Brayne _v._ Burbage, 1592, printed in full by Wallace,
_The First London Theatre_, pp. 109-52. See especially pp. 126, 148.]

[Footnote 119: Easer?]

[Footnote 120: Wallace, _op. cit._, p. 148; cf. p. 126.]

[Illustration: THE SITE OF THE CURTAIN PLAYHOUSE

From _An Actual Survey of the Parish of St Leonard in Shoreditch taken
in the year 1745_ by Peter Chasserau, Surveyor. The key to the map
gives "93" as Curtain Court, probably the site of the old playhouse,
"87" as New Inn Yard, and "94" as Holywell Court, both interesting in
connection with Burbage's Theatre. (Redrawn from the original for this
volume.)]

From this statement it is evident that Henry Lanman was the sole
proprietor of the Curtain as far back as 1585, and the presumption is
that his proprietorship was of still earlier date. This presumption is
strengthened by the fact that in a sale of the Curtain estate early in
1582, he is specifically mentioned as having a tenure of an "edifice
or building" erected in the Curtain Close, that is, that section of
the estate next to the Field, on which the playhouse was built.[121]
Since Lanman is not mentioned as having any other property on the
estate, the "edifice or building" referred to was probably the
playhouse. The document gives no indication as to how long he had held
possession of the "edifice," but the date of sale, March, 1582,
carries us back to within four years of the erection of the Curtain,
and it seems reasonable to suppose, though of course we cannot be
sure, that Lanman had been proprietor of the building from the very
beginning.[122]

[Footnote 121: Tomlins, _op. cit._, pp. 29-31.]

[Footnote 122: Of this Henry Lanman we know nothing beyond the facts
here revealed. Possibly he was a brother of the distinguished actor
John Lanman (the name is variously spelled Lanman, Laneman