The quest for Shakespeare's Globe
By: John Orrell.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1983
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 187
Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Stage history; Globe Theatre (London, England : 1599-1644); Theaters -- England -- London -- History -- 17th century; Theater architecture -- England -- London
Description: This book is about the size, the shape and the architectural nature of the Globe playhouse of Shakespeare's time, the most important theatre in English history. The design of the second Globe, and by extension the first, has been a subject of keen debate for many years, fostered by recurrent attempts to reconstruct the playhouse, both in London and Detroit. Professor Orrell here offers fresh ways of looking at some well-known documents and newer evidence. By using detailed diagrams and seventeenth-century panoramas, the author is able to establish the accuracy of Hollar's famous 'Long View' of London, and by reconstructing his methods arrives at an exact measurement of the diameter of the second Globe. These findings document many advances in our hard knowledge of the theatre buildings of Shakespeare's time, to the point where reconstructions may be undertaken with confidence.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.