When you think of William Shakespeare you think of three main things...his body of work, Stratford-upon-Avon and The Globe Theatre.

Based along the south bank of the Thames the original theatre was built in 1599. It was rebuilt in 1614 after being destroyed by fire and eventually demolished in the mid 17th century.

A reconstruction of the theatre was opened under the name Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in 1997 and was the first thatched roof building permitted in London since the Great Fire of London in 1666.

The stamp below, released in August 1995 as part of the stamp issue Reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe, illustrates what the theatre would have looked like in 1614, just after its first reconstruction.

Illustration

Shakespeare's Globe stamp, 1995