Stationers Hall Court

City, 28, Ludgate Hill (EC4) Stationers' Hall gives its name to the Court. The Stationers' Company long enjoyed peculiar privileges for the printing of certain books, especially of almanacs. Upon the site of this hall formerly stood the palace of John, Duke of Bretagne and Earl of Richmond, in the reigns of Edward II and III. It was afterwards possessed by the Earls of Pembroke, and took the name of Pembroke Inn. Burnt down in the year 1666, the present edifice, which has since been renovated and improved, was erected on the site of the old one shortly afterwards. In the hail of the Stationers' Company was first performed Dryden's celebrated ode, "Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music," written for the anniversary of St. Cecilia, which was annually celebrated by the Stationers. (Reference: Smith's Streets of London, p. 330)