The Third Voyage Journals: Writing and Performance in the London East India Company, 1607-10

These previously unpublished journals of England’s first voyage to India illuminate a fascinating cultural achievement: the first performances of Shakespeare outside Europe. The journals of the London East India Company voice the ambitions, divisions, and traumas of a pivotal moment in the emergence of global capitalism, as London’s merchants strived for distant markets and cultivated relationships with non-Europeans. Barbour’s commentary situates the voyage historically, describes the key personnel and writing community, examines the culture of performance at sea, and consolidates the evidence for the shipboard productions of Hamlet and Richard II.