This is a fascinating book, published in 1960, detailing the seating layouts of all the principal London Theatres and Concert Halls at that time plus the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford on Avon.
There are seating plans for about 46 theatres. The seating plan for the Royal Albert Hall is particularly impressive, spread across 2 pages, and the seating layout for the Royal Opera House is not shown as a straightforward plan but as a drawing of the interior of the theatre.
As well as the seating plans the book has a brief description of the history of each theatre and there are also articles about London Theatres and The Mermaid Theatre. Additionally there are several pages of adverts for various businesses of the time and quite a good cartoon about The Mousetrap, that had been running for 7 years at the time. Finally there is a map of London showing the theatre locations together with a table of the bus routes, tube stations and telephone numbers for each theatre.
The purpose of the book must have been to allow theatregoers to choose their seats prior to making their booking, before the time of on-line bookings.
The book is fairly well thumbed and so the owner must have been a regular theatregoer. Overall it is is a fascinating record of London Theatres of the time.
Published by The Dancing Times it has 80 pages in total plus card covers. Size 245 x 180mm.
It has been well used and there are creases to the covers plus some rounding.
Please note. I do my best to accurately photograph and describe the condition of the items for sale, including any minor defects, but all pieces are vintage and have had previous lives and so may have minor flaws.
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