A Knack to Know an Honest Man

Anonymous, published 1596 · tragicomedy · Adult Professional;Professional

26chunks

12,840words

3topics

54 %unassigned

Metadata

Title	A Knack to Know an Honest Man
Author	Anonymous
Publication year (edition)	1596
Genre (British Drama)	tragicomedy
Genre group (comparison)	tragicomedy — from the British Drama label · Annals: tragicomedy
Play type	Adult Professional;Professional
Work / edition / TCP / DEEP	work 139 · edition 270 · TCP A04889 · DEEP 214
Edition role	Representative edition — used in the analysis
First performance / composition (Annals)	1594 [Oct 23]
First performance (BritDrama)	1594 [Oct]
Company (BritDrama)	Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men
Company (Annals)	Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men
Printer	Scarlet, Thomas
Publisher	Burby, Cuthbert
Format	Quarto
STC	15028
Greg	139a
Genre (Annals)	Tragicomedy
Genre (BritDrama)	Tragicomedy
BritDrama no.	969
Title page	A PLEASANT CONCEITED COMEdie, called, A knacke to know an honest Man.
Title-page performance note	As it hath beene sundrie times plaied about the Citie of London.
Corpus build	corpus-v3-2026-09-08 · nodes 1614 · witness single

Topic composition (share of words)

unassigned

54.0 %

T1 Death, grief and revenge

34.1 %

T5 Christian faith, sin and salvation

8.0 %

T37 Riches, poverty and covetousness

3.9 %

Chunks in order

#	nodes	words	topic	typ.	opening
1	0–66	510	unassigned		HEre walk Menalchus on this grassy plain, And while the wanton lambs feed on these downs, And hide them in the…
2	67–135	489	unassigned		Ho Gnatto open. Open, what should I open, the cupboard. No knave the door. No knave the door, what rascals tha…
3	136–200	501	T1 Death, grief and revenge	0.71	Thou dost demean too much intemperance, Thou foolish man arise, do not slain the badge of age And wisdom by mi…
4	201–254	487	T1 Death, grief and revenge	0.84	A lawful plea which may not be denied, Thy suit is granted, register it down. Now let our guard beset the city…
5	255–322	499	T37 Riches, poverty and covetousness	0.83	Here leave me father, walk no further forth, Leave me supposed dead, revived by thee, Hid thou my name, and co…
6	323–391	501	T5 Christian faith, sin and salvation	0.79	I pray thee please the cynic, fit his vain. Fellow behold, I will effect thy will. What profit hast thou by th…
7	392–456	492	unassigned		Fortunio, now my wedding days be past I have that husband which contents me best. Words sounding death, may I …
8	457–517	502	unassigned		Unbend thy musket soldier in the lock. Press me his thumbs, and make the slave confess, O I confess Lelio was …
9	518–564	497	unassigned		Whence grows thy resolution so austere? From honesty, my friends, which governs me, First Lelio 'mongst our ch…
10	565–618	498	unassigned		Why, by being always drunk thou shalt learn never to be sober. O the virtue of a drunkard is much, he speaks l…
11	619–692	531	T5 Christian faith, sin and salvation	0.79	Why Annetta, I have dealt in honesty, I have discoursed my master's mind at large, And therein showed the duty…
12	693–752	484	unassigned		Hence sorrow, boding messenger be gone, Rage's now shall over rule discretion, Gather thy friends Marchetto fo…
13	753–815	490	unassigned		We are the sons of hapless Brishio. And these rank churls whom erst your father tide, By many great deserts un…
14	816–874	496	unassigned		Now Lelio I have laid the burden of my war on thee: Thou art the champion of my weal or woe: Deceive not my fi…
15	875–926	493	unassigned		This is the place now fellows, stand close a while, If any shall attempt to scale these walls, Assault him, an…
16	927–991	515	unassigned		Whether will love and duty lead me now? To whom shall I submit in these extremes. If to my father, than my Lor…
17	992–1053	499	unassigned		High thee good Gnatto, bring us to the house, If yet my brothers bide with Seruio: I'll to the Duke and move F…
18	1054–1114	491	unassigned		See where he comes, occasion favours thee. God bless my sons, rise rise, & speak to me: Have you not some Vene…
19	1115–1179	495	T1 Death, grief and revenge	0.80	My business passed I will revisit thee. In what a world of troubles am I tossed, To Venice Lelio, rid thy fath…
20	1180–1242	490	T1 Death, grief and revenge	0.78	What else but bands belong to guilty men, Why should my greatness cover my miss deeds? Or poor men suffer for …
21	1243–1301	482	T1 Death, grief and revenge	0.78	Well Sir, whosoever claim you, I seize thee for my prisoner. Who will present thee to the Senators. Ah gentle …
22	1302–1366	490	T1 Death, grief and revenge	0.79	I cry in all men's ears with eager words, That many seek their danger by despair, That many die for murders ye…
23	1367–1428	487	T1 Death, grief and revenge	0.72	He to redeem his father did return. The issue of his forwardness was zeal: And Seruioes' service was but treac…
24	1429–1490	488	T1 Death, grief and revenge	0.83	By breach of prison they have forfeited. No my Lord, for they were unjustly punished. I pardon thee Fortunio f…
25	1491–1552	459	T1 Death, grief and revenge	0.75	Shall this conclusion stand, you noble peers? We ratify the same by our consent. Bring forth the prisoners, Br…
26	1553–1613	474	unassigned		God wrought these things, we do applaud his works See how by mute embrace these friends embrace, Mark how they…

Grace · generated by 13_site.py from run runs_Qwen_Qwen3-Embedding-0.6B_masked_hdb10, seed 42. Texts: EEBO-TCP / EarlyPrint (CC BY-NC 3.0). Metadata: DEEP, Wiggins & Richardson.