Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, Londinium, c. 1572 - detail of descriptive panel

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Date:1572 - 1580 (c.)

Description:A printer describes his map of Shakespeare's London.

The French printer of this map of London used a corner to describe the city and the River Thames. Although it is in Latin this description would have been easily understood by educated Elizabethans, including those like Shakespeare, who had attended a grammar school.

Translation: This is the city of London, capital of the whole kingdom of England, sited by the river Thames. Some think it was founded by Caesar, others by the Trinobantes, celebrated for its noble trade of many nations, decorated with houses, adorned with temples, noble arches, men of all the arts and teachings, of noble breeding. In short, an abundance of all things and resources of wonderful distinction. The Thames itself brings in the wealth of the whole world to the town, in laden ships, up a river navigable for sixty miles by a deep channel.

Full title: Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, Londinium, [from Civitates orbis terrarum. Coloniae Agrippinae, 1572 - c.1580](hand-coloured)


Timeline

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

1570s
Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, Londinium, c. 1572  - detail - decorative title panel
Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, Londinium, c. 1572 - detail - decorative title panel

'Londinium': ancient capital of Shakespeare's England. London had been founded ...

1590s
John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597]
John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597]

London Bridge, looking upstream in Shakespeare's time. London's medieval bridge ...

1610s
Jodocus Hondius, America, 1619 Map of the Americas - whole map, hand-coloured.
Jodocus Hondius, America, 1619 Map of the Americas - whole map, hand-coloured.

The Americas in the reign of James I, Shakespeare’s patron. Courtiers of ...

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Source: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust - Library

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