Festivities at the opening of the New Exchange

Festivities at the opening of the New Exchange, April 11, 1609

By RSB:

The first Royal Exchange was built in 1567, located in the center of the City of London. It was designed by Thomas Gresham, who modeled the retail/wholesale center or shopping mall after the famous Bourse in Antwerp.

The New Exchange was constructed under the patronage of Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, in the west of London. Designed by Inigo Jones, it was completed in 1609.

On April 11, 1609, a grand dedication ceremony was held at the New Exchange, often referred to as “Britain’s Bourse” or Burse. Ben Jonson wrote and produced a special entertainment for the event. The text of this was lost for centuries until it was discovered by James Knowles in the State Papers in 1996. Jonson’s “Entertainment at Britain's Burse” was published in Re-Presenting Ben Jonson - Text, History, Performance, edited by Martin Butler, 1999.

The New Exchange

The following linked page describes the old and new London Exchanges and has a nice map showing the locations.

http://instruct.uwo.ca/english/234e/site/bckgrnds/maps/lndnmpexchng.html