William Shakespeare in LondonWHO DID SHAKESPEARE KNOW IN LONDON? The above picture is a section of Faed's painting called 'Shakespeare and his Contemporaries' This painting is also known as Shakespeare and His Friends at the Mermaid Tavern The full picture below features the contemporaries, friends and rivals of William Shakespeare! Shakespeare is seated in the centre The standing figure on Shakespeare's left is that of Sir Walter Raleigh He leans on the shoulder of the Earl of Southampton Seated in the right foreground with his back to the spectator is Sir Robert Cotton, with Thomas Dekker on his right The figures seated immediately behind Shakespeare are Ben Jonson, Donne, and Daniel The figure seated at the rear of the table is Bacon, and with him are seated Fletcher, Dorset and Camden In the rear of the seated group stands Beaumont with hand extended and next to him stands Selden with Sylvester on the spectator's extreme left.
WHAT WAS THE 'FRIDAY CLUB'? Elizabethan taverns, which also served as restaurants and inns for travellers, also offered private rooms that patrons could rent for eating and drinking, gambling, and as general meeting places One of these tavern rooms was rented by a literary group, known as the Friday Street Club, that met on the first Friday of every month at the Mermaid tavern It became the gathering place for actors, playwrights, authors and poets This a literary club first begun in 1603 and is said to have been started by Sir Walter Raleigh The Mermaid Tavern was located in Cheapside, to the east of St. Paul's Cathedral It had entrances from both Friday Street and Bread Street hence the name the "Friday Street Club" which was also known as the "Mermaid Club" Members of the Friday Street Club included Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher. John Donne, Robert Herrick, John Selden and Sir Walter Raleigh They met on the first Friday of every month!
William Shakespeare in London |
