Chapter I: Preface

The method of dramatic representation in the time of Shakespeare has long received close study. Among those who have more recently devoted their energies to the subject may be mentioned W.J. Lawrence, T.S. Graves, G.F. Reynolds, V.E. Albright, A.H. Thorndike, and B. Neuendorff, each of whom has embodied the results of his investigations in one or more noteworthy volumes. But the history of the playhouses themselves, a topic equally important, has not hitherto been attempted. If we omit the brief notices of the theatres in Edmond Malone's _The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare_ (1790) and John Payne Collier's _The History of English Dramatic Poetry_ (1831), the sole book dealing even in part with the topic is T.F. Ordish's _The Early London Theatres in the Fields_. This book, however, though good for its time, was written a quarter of a century ago, before most of the documents relating to early theatrical history were discovered, and it discusses only six playhouses. The present volume takes advantage of all the materials made available by the industry of later scholars, and records the history of seventeen regular, and five temporary or projected, theatres. The book is throughout the result of a first-hand examination of original sources, and represents an independent interpretation of the historical evidences. As a consequence of this, as well as of a comparison (now for the first time possible) of the detailed records of the several playhouses, many conclusions long held by scholars have been set aside. I have made no systematic attempt to point out the cases in which I depart from previously accepted opinions, for the scholar will discover them for himself; but I believe I have never thus departed without being aware of it, and without having carefully weighed the entire evidence. Sometimes the evidence has been too voluminous or complex for detailed presentation; in these instances I have had to content myself with reference by footnotes to the more significant documents bearing on the point.

In a task involving so many details I cannot hope to have escaped errors--errors due not only to oversight, but also to the limitations of my knowledge or to mistaken interpretation. For such I can offer no excuse, though I may request from my readers the same degree of tolerance which I have tried to show other laborers in the field. In reproducing old documents I have as a rule modernized the spelling and the punctuation, for in a work of this character there seems to be no advantage in preserving the accidents and perversities of early scribes and printers. I have also consistently altered the dates when the Old Style conflicted with our present usage.

I desire especially to record my indebtedness to the researches of Professor C.W. Wallace, the extent of whose services to the study of the Tudor-Stuart drama has not yet been generally realized, and has sometimes been grudgingly acknowledged; and to the labors of Mr. E.K. Chambers and Mr. W.W. Greg, who, in the _Collections_ of The Malone Society, and elsewhere, have rendered accessible a wealth of important material dealing with the early history of the stage.

Finally, I desire to express my gratitude to Mr. Hamilton Bell and the editor of _The Architectural Record_ for permission to reproduce the illustration and description of Inigo Jones's plan of the Cockpit; to the Governors of Dulwich College for permission to reproduce three portraits from the Dulwich Picture Gallery, one of which, that of Joan Alleyn, has not previously been reproduced; to Mr. C.W. Redwood, formerly technical artist at Cornell University, for expert assistance in making the large map of London showing the sites of the playhouses, and for other help generously rendered; and to my colleagues, Professor Lane Cooper and Professor Clark S. Northup, for their kindness in reading the proofs.

JOSEPH QUINCY ADAMS

ITHACA, NEW YORK

CONTENTS

I. THE INN-YARDS 1

II. THE HOSTILITY OF THE CITY 18

III. THE THEATRE 27

IV. THE CURTAIN 75

V. THE FIRST BLACKFRIARS 91

VI. ST. PAUL'S 111

VII. THE BANKSIDE AND THE BEAR GARDEN 119

VIII. NEWINGTON BUTTS 134

IX. THE ROSE 142

X. THE SWAN 161

XI. THE SECOND BLACKFRIARS 182

XII. THE GLOBE 234

XIII. THE FORTUNE 267

XIV. THE RED BULL 294

XV. WHITEFRIARS 310

XVI. THE HOPE 324

XVII. ROSSETER'S BLACKFRIARS, OR PORTER'S HALL 342

XVIII. THE PHOENIX, OR COCKPIT IN DRURY LANE 348

XIX. SALISBURY COURT 368

XX. THE COCKPIT-IN-COURT, OR THEATRE ROYAL AT WHITEHALL 384

XXI. MISCELLANEOUS: WOLF'S THEATRE IN NIGHTINGALE LANE;
THE PROJECTED "AMPHITHEATRE"; OGILBY'S DUBLIN THEATRE;
THE FRENCH PLAYERS' TEMPORARY THEATRE IN DRURY LANE;
DAVENANT'S PROJECTED THEATRE IN FLEET STREET 410

BIBLIOGRAPHY 433

MAPS AND VIEWS OF LONDON 457

INDEX 461

ILLUSTRATIONS

MAP OF LONDON SHOWING THE PLAYHOUSES _Frontispiece_

AN INN-YARD 4

MAP OF LONDON SHOWING THE INN-PLAYHOUSES 9

THE SITE OF THE FIRST PLAYHOUSES 27

THE SITE OF THE FIRST PLAYHOUSES 31

A PLAN OF BURBAGE'S HOLYWELL PROPERTY 33

THE SITE OF THE CURTAIN PLAYHOUSE 79

BLACKFRIARS MONASTERY 93

THE SITE OF THE TWO BLACKFRIARS PLAYHOUSES 94

A PLAN OF FARRANT'S PLAYHOUSE 97

THE BANKSIDE 120

THE BANKSIDE 121

THE BEAR- AND BULL-BAITING RINGS 123

THE BEAR GARDEN 127

THE BEAR GARDEN AND THE ROSE 147

THE BEAR GARDEN AND THE ROSE 149

JOAN WOODWARD ALLEYN 152

THE MANOR OF PARIS GARDEN AND THE SWAN PLAYHOUSE 163

THE SWAN PLAYHOUSE 165

THE INTERIOR OF THE SWAN PLAYHOUSE 169

PLAN ILLUSTRATING THE SECOND BLACKFRIARS PLAYHOUSE 187

REMAINS OF BLACKFRIARS 196

RICHARD BURBAGE 234

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 238

A PLAN OF THE GLOBE PROPERTY 242

THE BEAR GARDEN, THE ROSE, AND THE FIRST GLOBE 245

THE BEAR GARDEN, THE ROSE, AND THE FIRST GLOBE 246

THE FIRST GLOBE 248

THE FIRST GLOBE 253

MERIAN'S VIEW OF LONDON 256

THE SECOND GLOBE 260

THE TRADITIONAL SITE OF THE GLOBE 262

THE SITE OF THE FORTUNE PLAYHOUSE 270

THE FORTUNE PLAYHOUSE? 278

EDWARD ALLEYN 282

THE SITE OF THE RED BULL PLAYHOUSE 294

A PLAN OF WHITEFRIARS 312

MICHAEL DRAYTON 314

THE SITES OF THE WHITEFRIARS AND THE SALISBURY COURT PLAYHOUSES 318

THE HOPE PLAYHOUSE, OR SECOND BEAR GARDEN 326

THE HOPE PLAYHOUSE, OR SECOND BEAR GARDEN 331

THE SITE OF THE COCKPIT IN DRURY LANE 350

A PLAN OF THE SALISBURY COURT PROPERTY 371

THE COCKPIT AT WHITEHALL 390

INIGO JONES'S PLANS FOR THE COCKPIT-IN-COURT 396

FISHER'S SURVEY OF WHITEHALL SHOWING THE COCKPIT-IN-COURT 398

THE THEATRO OLYMPICO AT VICENZA 399

THE COCKPIT-IN-COURT 407

SHAKESPEAREAN PLAYHOUSES