atic ▁author ship . ▁Never ▁published ▁in ▁its ▁historical ▁period , ▁the ▁play ▁existed ▁only ▁in ▁a ▁manuscript , ▁which ▁is ▁now ▁MS . ▁V . a . 1 2 8 ▁in ▁the ▁collection ▁of ▁the ▁Fol ger ▁Shakespeare ▁Library ▁in ▁Washington , ▁D . C . ▁ ▁A ▁play ▁titled ▁The ▁Fair y ▁Knight ▁was ▁lic ensed ▁for ▁performance ▁by ▁Sir ▁Henry ▁Herbert , ▁the ▁Master ▁of ▁the ▁Re vel s , ▁on ▁ 1 1 ▁June ▁ 1 6 2 4 . ▁In ▁his ▁records , ▁Herbert ▁attributed ▁the ▁play ▁to ▁John ▁Ford ▁and ▁Thomas ▁De k ker . ▁Sch ol ars ▁and ▁critics ▁have ▁widely ▁rejected ▁any ▁application ▁of ▁this ▁assignment ▁of ▁author ship ▁to ▁the ▁extent ▁text ; ▁in ▁the ▁words ▁of ▁Ger ald ▁E ades ▁Bent ley , ▁" nothing ▁in ▁the ▁manuscript ▁sounds ▁like ▁Ford ▁or ▁De k ker .... " ▁Many ▁doubt ▁that ▁the ▁play ▁lic ensed ▁by ▁Herbert ▁in ▁ 1 6 2 4 ▁is ▁the ▁same ▁as ▁the ▁manuscript ▁play ; ▁the ▁critical ▁literature ▁often ▁describes ▁the ▁Ford / D ek ker ▁Fair y ▁Knight ▁as ▁a ▁lost ▁work . ▁ ▁Fred son ▁Bow ers ▁advanced ▁a ▁hypothesis ▁that ▁Thomas ▁Rand olph ▁wrote ▁the ▁existing ▁Fair y ▁Knight . ▁Bow ers ▁developed ▁his ▁hypothesis ▁in ▁his ▁modern ▁edition ▁of ▁the ▁play , ▁published ▁in ▁ 1 9 4 2 ; ▁he ▁argued ▁that ▁Rand olph ▁wrote ▁the ▁play ▁for ▁a ▁performance ▁at ▁West min ster ▁School ▁around ▁ 1 6 2 3 ▁or ▁