View of London looking over Southwark to the North

This panoramic view of London, looking across the River Thames, shows the city as it appeared around 1600. In the left foreground, on the south bank, flags fly above the new Globe Theatre (numbered 37 on the map) and the smaller Rose Theatre alongside it. Farther west are the Bear Gardens (38) and the Swan Theatre (39). Opened in 1599, the Globe Theatre was the principal playhouse of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later known as The King’s Men), an all-male company of actors founded during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The First Folio was originally sold in the courtyard of Old St. Paul’s Cathedral, the tallest structure visible on the north bank (1), which was the center of the London book trade in Shakespeare’s time.