is career in
London a property nearly, if not quite, as great as any made by his
profession at the time. In addition to profits from the sale of his
plays to managers (he probably derived no income from their
publication), and his salary as an actor, Shakespeare enjoyed an ample
income from his shares in the Blackfriars and Globe theaters, of which
he became joint owner with the Burbage brothers and other fellow-actors
in 1597 and 1599. Professor Wallace has discovered a document which
helps, though very slightly, to enable us to judge what his income {15}
from these sources may have been.[8] In 1615-1616 the widow of one of
the proprietors of the two theaters, whose share, like Shakespeare's,
was one-seventh of the Blackfriars, one-fourteenth of the Globe,
brought suit against her father. She asked for L600 damages for her
father's wrongful detention of her year's income, amounting to L300
from each theater.

But damages asked in court are always high, and include fees of lawyers
and other items. The probability is that Shakespeare's yearly income
from these sources was never over L500. To this, though the figures
cannot be ascertained with any degree of certainty, we might add L100
for salary and L25 for plays yearly. The total would amount to fully
L600 a year from 1599 on till 1611, about which date Shakespeare
probably retired to Stratford. If we reckon by what money will buy in
our days, we may say that Shakespeare's yearly income at the height of
success was $25,000, in round numbers. This is certainly a low
estimate, and does not include extra court performances and the like,
from which he must certainly have profited.

+Shakespeare's Life in London+.--What with the composition of two plays
a year, continual rehearsals, and performances of his own and other
plays, Shakespeare's life must have been a busy one. Tradition,
however, accords him an easy enjoyment of the pleasures of the time;
and his own sarcastic remarks against Puritans in his plays may
indicate a hatred of puritanical restraint. He must have joined in
many a merry feast with the other actors and writers of the day, and
with court gallants. The inventory of property left by him {16} at his
death indicates that while he had accumulated a good estate, he had
also lived generously.

+Stratford Affairs and Shakespeare's Return+.--While William
Shakespeare was thus employed in London in building up name and fortune
for himself, his fathe