Abraham Ortelius, Abraham Ortelius his epitome of the theatre of the worlde, 1603 - binding view.

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Date:1603

Description:Binding for everyday use in Shakespeare's time.

Elizabethan books were usually sold unbound, the price being set by a Stationers' Company ordinance, or regulation, of 1586 at 1d. [one old penny] per sheet of a standard type, or three farthings [0.75 of an old penny] a sheet for broadsides and pamphlets. Special illustrated books had no set price and fine folios sold for as much as a pound [twenty shillings, one shilling = 12 old pence]. Booksellers often also acted for binders who would bind a book for a few pence for an octavo volume or three or four shillings for a fine folio.

This typical, contemporary binding of leather covering strong, paper-pulp boards has protected the book for its four-hundred years. Perhaps the book accompanied its early owners on their travels on the grand-tour of Europe, or beyond.

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] (32/10457)

Source: The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust - Library

Copyright information: Copyrights to all resources are retained by the individual rights holders. They have kindly made their collections available for non-commercial private study & educational use. Re-distribution of resources in any form is only permitted subject to strict adherence to the usage guidelines.