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John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597] - detail of capsized rowing boat

A ‘taxi-boat’ in difficulties on the river Thames in Shakespeare's time. Small rowing boats were the most common method of crossing the river Thames. These ferries acted as taxis and would ...

John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597] - detail, a 'taxi' boat passes freight-carrying-boats at anchor

River transport in Shakespeare's London. In London the main means of crossing the river, apart from the only bridge, was by small rowing boat ferries, which acted as ‘taxi-boats’. These ...

John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597] - lower left corner, dedicating the engraving to The Lord Mayor.

Dedication of the view of London bridge as Shakespeare knew it. Norden dedicated his engraving to the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Richard Saltonshall, as this corner of the engraving shows. Transcript: To ...

John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597] - lower right corner of the engraving, panel descibing the bridge.

London's bridge described in Shakespeare's time. John Norden's engraving of London Bridge carries a description. Here we learn that along its length lay 102 homes, built alongside and over the 30 foot ...

John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597] - Southern bank details including a crane, and heads on spikes above the gateway.

The south end of London Bridge, close to Shakespeare’s Globe. The southern end of London Bridge led directly into the parish of St. Mary Overy. This was a busy area for industry as is indicated ...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1634 - Decorative printer's borders around a plot summary, Book 5, p.32 detail.

A printer's heading ornament in a Shakespeare sourcebook. The finely engraved illustrations in this edition of Ariosto contrast with the simple printer’s border with decorative ornaments above ...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1634 - Ariodante and Dalinda, illustration pl.V, p.31.

Illustration for the story on which Shakespeare based a comedy sub-plot. The tale of Ariodante, and Ginevra impersonated by Dalinda is the subject of a fine engraving in the 1634 edition of Harington's ...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1634 - binding view.

A contemporary expensive decorative binding on a Shakespeare source text The fine gold tooling, and leather spine label are original to this volume, indicating a wealthy first owner who commissioned ...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1634 - portrait of Ariosto, prelim.p. 1r. title page, detail.

An Italian who inspired Shakespeare and his contemporaries. The work of Italian poet and dramatist Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) had considerable influence over in English writing in Shakespeare's time, ...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1634 - shipwreck illustration , pl. XLI, p. 341

Shipwrecks and storms at sea were often in the news in Shakespeare's London. The storms of the Mediterranean sea were notorious. Shakespeare included them in his plays of The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth ...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1634 - shipwreck, pl.XLI.

Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. Ariosto’s storms at sea are a possible source for Shakespeare's The Tempest or Pericles. Shipwrecks and storms often feature in Ariosto’s work, and such ...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1634 - Sir John Harington, title page, detail.

A courtier: Sir John Harington, Shakespeare's contemporary. Sir John Harington, son of Henry VIII's treasurer, was godson to Queen Elizabeth I. He was educated at Eton College and Cambridge before ...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1634 - title page, prelim.p.1r.

An English translation of a Shakespeare source. Shakespeare also knew the work of the Italian Renaissance poet Ludovico Ariosto. Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso was published in Italy in 1516, and ...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1634 -p. 32, Book 5, a source for a sub-plot.

The source for Hero and Claudio in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Ariosto’s story of Ariodante and Genevra, as well as Matteo Bandello’s Novelle, was the main source for the Hero ...

Michael Drayton, Poems, 1610 - title page, A1r.

Drayton: the other Warwickshire poet well-known in Shakespeare's time. Michael Drayton was born in 1563 at Hartshill in Warwickshire and often visited Clifford Chambers, a village close to Stratford. ...

Michael Drayton, Polyolbion, 1613 - 13th Song, p. 213

Warwickshire, and Shakespeare's ‘merrie meeting’. According to John Ward, writing in the 1660s, Shakespeare had a 'merrie meeting' with Drayton, and the playwright Ben Jonson in 1616, ...

Michael Drayton, Polyolbion, 1613 - Map of Warwickshire, plate between p. 212 & p. 213.

Contemporary writers in Shakespeare’s County. William Shakespeare's native county of Warwickshire in the English Midlands was illustrated in the long poem, Polyolbion, by Michael Drayton. The ...

Michael Drayton, Polyolbion, 1613 - Map of Warwickshire, plate between p.212 & p.213.

Warwickshire and the river Avon, for Shakespeare’s contemporary poet. Polyolbion, the long poem by Shakespeare’s fellow Warwickshireman, Michael Drayton, is illustrated by fanciful engraved ...