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 ...
John Shakespeare, High Bailiff of Stratford-upon-Avon, 1569
Minutes of a meeting of the Stratford Corporation, 7 September 1569: 'Mr John Shakysper hygh balyf' heads the list of aldermen and chief burgesses attending. Shakespeare's father, John, had been active ...
Landscape, Stratford on Avon
William Glynn Davies (fl. 1954-1979) Landscape, Stratford On Avon Watercolour on paper 277mm x 380mm The painting depicts a scene of fields and trees at Stratford upon Avon. When the painting was removed ...
Lease of a barn and garden in Chapel Lane, adjoining property later belonging to William Shakespeare, 1572
Lease from the trustees of the Clifford Chambers charity to Lewes Apwilliams of a barn and garden in Chapel Lane, Stratford-upon-Avon, 20 November 1572.
This property later came to form part of the ...
Letter from Adrian Quiney to his son, Richard, October 1598. Page 1
Richard Quiney's financial dealings with Shakespeare in London evidently came to the attention of his father, Adrian, back in Stratford, who wrote to him about this time, advising him that 'if you should ...
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 ...
Marriage of John Hall and Susanna Shakespeare, 5 June 1607
Part of a page of the marriage register, Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, recording the marriage of John Hall and Susanna Shakespeare.
Susanna, Shakespeare's elder daughter, was twenty-four ...