In Histriomastix, his 1632 polemic against the drama, William Prynne records the tale that actual devils once appeared on the stage during a performance of Faustus, "to the great amazement of both the actors and spectators". The powerful effect of the early productions is indicated by the legends that quickly accrued around them. On 22 November 1602, the diary of Philip Henslowe recorded a £4 payment to Samuel Rowley and William Bird for additions to the play, which suggests a revival soon after that date. The Admiral's Men performed 24 times in the three years between October 1594 and October 1597. Two different versions of the play were published in the Jacobean era several years later. It was probably written in 1592 or 1593, shortly before Marlowe's death. The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to simply as Doctor Faustus, is an Elizabethan tragedy by Christopher Marlowe, based on German stories about the title character Faust. The spelling "Histoy" is agreed to be a typographical error. Frontispiece to a 1620 printing of Doctor Faustus showing Faustus conjuring Mephistophilis.
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