Shakespear himself and his work Author:William Carew Hazlitt Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. The Burhages and Richard Tarlton. Shakespear the servant of James Burhage. Shoreditch and Rochester. Rohin Ostler presumed to have heen Shakespear... more »'s predecessor under Burhage. Richard Tarlton the Yorick of Hamlet. The Poet's childish knowlcdge of him. Some account of Tarlton. Shakespear'i ahode in Southward. His commencing carcer as an actor. His hrother Gilherfs testimony. Richard Burhage the actor. His intimacy vAth the Poet. Bishop Corhet's anecdote ahout one of his impersonations. Ninian Bnrhage. I Insist that he already in 1587 knew the Burbages and Tarlton. James Burbage who had originally been a joiner, as then understood, was a tavern-keeper as well as a theatrical proprietor In other words he was what was recognized as a hosteler. Anyone Wishful to learn the precise rank and functions of this large body of traders can do so by reference to the account in print of the Gilds of London. The hosteler of the Elizabethan era was the landlord, possibly the owner, of a place of public entertainment, and parallel to the modern hotel-keeper; and it was his practice to delegate to an assistant the superintendence of the stables and hayloft, which formed as they often at present do, an independent department. In days when posting was the sole and universal method of locomotion by land, the hosteler was therefore a far from unimportant personage, and the elder Burbage added to his income not inconsiderably from this collateral source. Few things could be more natural than the resort of Shakespear on his arrival in London to a man such as Burbage, or than the willingness of the latter to avail himself of the services of an individual who was able to prove his practical efficiency for taking over duties scarcely less onerous and responsible than those of the master. On...« less