The Davenant Patent
The foundation of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden lies in the letters patent awarded by Charles II to Sir William Davenant in 1660, allowing Davenant to operate one of only two patent theatre companies (The Duke's Company) in London. The letters patent remained in the possession of the Opera House until shortly after the First World War, when the document was sold to an American university library.
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Famous quotes containing the words davenant and/or patent:
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Th’ast found, to trouble the nice sight of men,
A swelling pearl, and such whose single worth
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Give it Endymion’s love, whose ev’ry tear
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—Sir William Davenant (1606–1668)
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—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)