Note 1644 — BOOK IV THE PLAY-HOUSES (continued 4)

It is true that, when the prentices took up Whitefriars for The Hog Hath Lost His Pearl in 1613, the admission per bullettini is said to have been ‘for a note of distinction from ordinary comedians’. But the companies had no need to continue any special system of admission after they had the protection of their patents; Dekker (vide p. 523) speaks of gatherers at private houses in 1609. After the Restoration, ‘ballatine, or tickets sealed for all doors and boxes’ were introduced at the Duke’s Theatre in 1660 (R. W. Lowe, Thomas Betterton, 75).