\paperw3360 \margr0\margl0\ATXph16380 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 The Southwark district just south of London Bridge was once a popular venue for the pursuit of illicit pleasures beca
use it was beyond the jurisdiction of the City authorities. Prostitution thrived in houses facing the river, and theatres and beer gardens were established here in the late 16th century. \b \cf4 \ATXht10431000 Shakespeare\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 Æs company was
based at the \b \cf4 \ATXht10601000 Globe Theatre\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , and also played at the Rose. It was the influence of continental collectors and their æcabinetsÆ of natural and mechanical wonders that fired the British taste for collecting in the la
te seventeenth century. An advertisement published in 1700 reveals that one early device for selling rarities to collectors was a combination raffle and sale ôof a great variety of raritiesö disguised as a social occasion and embellished with ôa concert
of music by the best performersö. In 1710 a German visitor to London described ôan extremely elegant cabinet of coinsö and ôa superabundance of statuesö collected by a city cutler, whose prices, however, he considered ômonstrousö.\par
