5. Documented Business Relationship
The Red Cloth Account, 1604
This paper notebook names William Shakespeare as a recipient of four and a half yards of red cloth in anticipation of King James’s coronation progress, granting him substantially the same recognition as the other twenty-eight players named in the Lord Chamberlain’s account book. It is one of many documented connections between Shakespeare and Bankside theatreland preserved in The National Archives. These documents were created for commercial and legal purposes, not to establish literary credit. Their cumulative weight is precisely that of disinterested evidence.
The National Archives, Kew. LC 2/4/5. Account of the Lord Chamberlain listing players of the King’s Men who received red cloth for the royal coronation procession, 15 March 1604. Images may be used for research, private study or education only. Applications for other use should be made to The National Archives Image Library. The National Archives.