gedy, his Richard the
2, Richard the 3, Henry the 4, King John, Titus Andronicus, and his
Romeo and Juliet." Barnfield in the same year harps on the
"honey-flowing vein" of the author of _Venus_ and _Lucrece_, and
"honey-tongued" is again the opening epithet of John Weever's epigram
"Ad Gulielmum Shakespeare" (1599), in which "_Romeo_" and "_Richard_"
share the praises with the narrative poems. From this time on,
publishers of the plays recognize Shakespeare's reputation by generally
placing his name on the title-page: a form of compliment which the
author probably did not appreciate when it was extended, as in the case
of _The Passionate Pilgrim_ (1599), to pirated works, some of which were
meant to be private, and others were not by him at all.

Reminiscences or references to his works are frequent in contemporary
literature. Among these are several passages in two plays, _The Return
from Parnassus_, acted in St. John's College, Cambridge, about 1601. In
one passage, Kempe, the famous actor, speaks slightingly of the acting
qualities of the plays by university pens and continues, "Why here's our
fellow Shakespeare puts them all down, ay, and Ben Jonson
too,"--another identification of the actor and the dramatist
Shakespeare. Another character in these plays prefers Shakespeare to
Chaucer, Gower, and Spenser. Less enthusiastic though sincerely
appreciative is John Webster, who, in the address to the Reader prefixed
to _The White Devil_, 1612, acknowledges his indebtedness to his
predecessors, Chapman, Jonson, Beaumont, and Fletcher and to "the right
happy and copious industry of Master Shakespeare, Master Dekker, and
Master Heywood." Though of widely varying significance and interest, the
numerous allusions to Shakespeare or to his plays give further testimony
to his growing reputation.

[Page Heading: Contemporary Allusions]

While it is probable that the sale of Shakespeare's poems brought him in
some financial return, he is not likely to have profited from the
publication of his plays. The playwright at that time sold his product
to the manager or company, and thereby gave up all rights. To the end of
the sixteenth century managers usually paid from L5 to L11 for a new
play, adding a bonus in the case of success, and sometimes a share of
the proceeds of the second performance. During the first decade of
Shakespeare's activity as a dramatist, then, we may calculate that he
obtained for about twenty-one plays an av