)
At this time they performed the office of banking, constituting the
intermediate stage between the usurer and the modern banker.
At this time they performed the office of banking, constituting the
intermediate stage between the usurer and the modern banker.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
_Bartholomew fayre_ a Play.
' I have been able to find no record
of _The Devil is an Ass_ in the _Stationer's Register_.
=the Beare. = In the Shakespeare folio of 1632 Allot's sign reads
'the Black Beare. ' The first mention of the shop in the _London
Street Directory_ is in 1575, among the 'Houses round the Churchyard. '
=Pauls Church-yard. = 'Before the Fire, which destroyed the old
Cathedral, St. Paul's Churchyard was chiefly inhabited by stationers,
whose shops were then, and until the year 1760, distinguished by
signs. '--Wh-C.
THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY.
=GVILT-HEAD, A Gold-smith. = The goldsmiths seem to have
been a prosperous guild. (See Stow, _Survey_, ed. Thoms, p. 114.
)
At this time they performed the office of banking, constituting the
intermediate stage between the usurer and the modern banker. 'The
goldsmiths began to borrow at interest in order to lend out to
traders at a higher rate. In other words they became the connecting
link between those who had money to lend and those who wished
to borrow for trading purposes, or it might be to improve their
estates. No doubt at first the goldsmiths merely acted as guardians
of their clients' hoards, but they soon began to utilize those hoards
much as bankers now make use of the money deposited with
them. '--_Social England_ 3. 544.
=AMBLER. = Jonson uses this name again in _Neptune's Triumph_,
_Wks. _ 8. 32:
Grave master Ambler, news-master o' Paul's,
Supplies your capon.
It reappears in _The Staple of News_.
=Her Gentlemanvsher. = For an exposition of the character and
duties of the gentleman-usher see the notes to 4. 4. 134. 201, 215.
of _The Devil is an Ass_ in the _Stationer's Register_.
=the Beare. = In the Shakespeare folio of 1632 Allot's sign reads
'the Black Beare. ' The first mention of the shop in the _London
Street Directory_ is in 1575, among the 'Houses round the Churchyard. '
=Pauls Church-yard. = 'Before the Fire, which destroyed the old
Cathedral, St. Paul's Churchyard was chiefly inhabited by stationers,
whose shops were then, and until the year 1760, distinguished by
signs. '--Wh-C.
THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY.
=GVILT-HEAD, A Gold-smith. = The goldsmiths seem to have
been a prosperous guild. (See Stow, _Survey_, ed. Thoms, p. 114.
)
At this time they performed the office of banking, constituting the
intermediate stage between the usurer and the modern banker. 'The
goldsmiths began to borrow at interest in order to lend out to
traders at a higher rate. In other words they became the connecting
link between those who had money to lend and those who wished
to borrow for trading purposes, or it might be to improve their
estates. No doubt at first the goldsmiths merely acted as guardians
of their clients' hoards, but they soon began to utilize those hoards
much as bankers now make use of the money deposited with
them. '--_Social England_ 3. 544.
=AMBLER. = Jonson uses this name again in _Neptune's Triumph_,
_Wks. _ 8. 32:
Grave master Ambler, news-master o' Paul's,
Supplies your capon.
It reappears in _The Staple of News_.
=Her Gentlemanvsher. = For an exposition of the character and
duties of the gentleman-usher see the notes to 4. 4. 134. 201, 215.
