28 CHILDREN OF. THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS. 
the cloisters, the pretentious Priory buildings, and the spacious | 
old conventual church. 
In the midst of this aristocratic district stood the Blackfriars 
theatre. It was a much more prétentious structure than usually 
supposed. The fact that James Burbage in 1596 paid 600/. for 
the house,—about 4800/. in present values on a conservative 
basis,!—indicates it was of considerable size. Compare this price 
with the value of the best known property in the district, Shake- 
speare’s house. This was a dwelling of at least two stories, with 
several rooms, and cost only 140/. at the time of its purchase by 
the poet in 1613. The natural inference follows that the Priory 
Ilouse purchased by Burbage and converted by him into the 
Blackfriars theatre must have been four to five times as large. 
This inference is borne out by the available data of certain pub- 
lished and unpublished? documents. At the time of purchase by 
Burbage the building contained several flats and lodgings. When 
remodeled into the theatre, it contained one great hall with gal- 
leries and a stage, and several smaller rooms adjacent and above 
for specific uses. 
A further notion of the pretentiousness of the Blackfriars 
structure is given by a comparison of total costs of contemporary 
theatres. 
“The Theatre,” built by James Burbage in 1576, approximated 
600 /.; and when in 1598-99° it was torn down, Gyles Allen, lessor 
*It is impossible to state relative 
values exactly. A comparison of 
prices then and now shows building 
materials about one-tenth to one- 
fifteenth as dear as today, with labor 
and most necessities of life approx- 
imately of the same relative cheap- 
ness. As to real estate, values of 
not only this same property (now 
owned by The Times) but of prop- 
erty throughout London have so in- 
creased that a comparison on that 
basis would make the price paid by 
Burbage seem fabulous. The esti- 
mate I have here allowed of one- 
eighth is probably too conservative, 
but even on that basis shows the 
property highly valuable. 
On comparative values, see fur- 
ther Sidney Lee, Life of Shake- 
sSpeare (4th ed. 1899) 187’, where 
also one-eighth is taken as the basis. 
But J. O. Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., 
I, 21, says, “In balancing Shake- 
spearean and present currencies, the 
former may be roughly estimated 
from a twelfth to a twentieth of the 
latter in money, and from a twen- 
tieth to a thirtieth in landed or 
house property.” 
*See infra, 36*, 39°. 
®°The process of demolition began 
Dec. 28, 1598, and seems to have 
been completed in January, 1599. 
See extracts from suits at law in 
Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, 360-61. 
142 
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