Abraham Ortelius, Abraham Ortelius his epitome of the theatre of the worlde, 1603 - p.1. The known world.

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Date:1603

Description:The world known to Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

English sailors, led by Francis Drake, first circumnavigated the world in 1578-1580. By this time the Dutch already had trading stations in India (Goa) and beyond. Shakespeare would have been familiar with travellers' tales heard in the inns and alehouses of London, where exploits, such as those of Othello which won Desdemona's heart, were topical subjects for conversation. In Twelfth Night Maria comments about Malvolio 'he does smile his face into more lines than is in the new map of the Indies' indicating that even ordinary folk were aware of recently published maps of the explorers.

See: Twelfth Night 3,3, lines 74-75; and Othello, 1,3, lines 131-144


Full title: Abraham Ortelius his epitome of the theatre of the worlde. Now latlye renewed and augmented. The mappes all newe grauen by Michael Coignet. London, printed for Ieames Shawe, 1603.


Timeline

The timeline shows resources around this location over a number of years.

1570s
Henri Estienne, A mervaylous discourse upon... Katherine de Medici…, 1575 - title page
Henri Estienne, A mervaylous discourse upon... Katherine de Medici…, 1575 - title page

Shakespeare may have owned this book. Shakespeare purchased New Place, the largest ...

1590s
Church of England, Booke of Common Prayer, 1596 - binding view
Church of England, Booke of Common Prayer, 1596 - binding view

A much-used book, possibly owned by Shakespeare. This prayer book, whose dimensions ...

1610s
William Shakespeare, Quartos, A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1600 [1619] - Theseus goes hunting, p.F4v.
William Shakespeare, Quartos, A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1600 [1619] - Theseus goes hunting, p.F4v.

Duke Theseus’ hounds in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Theseus’s ...

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Donor ref:SR 87 [8,131] (32/10448)

Source: The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust - Library

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