By Tanvi Mirsa for The Atlantic‘s CityLab, 9 April 2015

References to cities often make an appearance in Shakespeare’s poems and plays. Quick case in point, here’s a line from The Comedy of Errors:

Farewell till then: I will go lose myself
And wander up and down to view the city.

To understand these references and truly appreciate The Bard’s work, it’s important to know the city he was writing in. That’s where this interactive map of early modern London (pictured above) comes in.

“My approach to Shakespeare’s London is a spatial approach,” says Janelle Jenstad, introducing the map of early modern London in a video. “I’m interested in the space of the stage, the space of the city.”

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