Twenty-six original essays by leading theorists and historians of the pre-seventeenth-century English stage chart a paradigmatic shift within the field. In contrast to the traditional emphasis on individual authors, the contributors to this storehouse of new historical information and critical insight explore the place of the stage within the larger society, as well as issues of performance and physical space, providing an innovative approach to both literary studies and cultural history.

... The Most Exhaustive And Important In Its Field... Thus, The Judgment Of An Outstanding 19Th Century Literary Figure (See Below On Ward S Masterly History Of English Dramatic Literature). It Is A Judgment That Has Stood Up Remarkably Well In The Passing Of Almost A Century Since The Work Was First Published. Students And Scholars Alike Will Find This Famous History An Invaluable Source Book On English Literature.Ward S Lucid Survey Starts With The Origin Of The Drama In England And The Beginnings Of Regular Drama. After An Excellent Account Of Shakespeare S Predecessors There Is A Long And Astute Section On Shakespeare Himself, Including A Discussion Of The Dramatist S Early Influence On The Continent, Especially In Germany. Volume Ii Also Covers Ben Jonson And The Later Elizabethans, Concluding With The Merits And Defects Of Beaumont And Fletcher. Volume Iii Ends The Work With An Examination Of The Later Stuart Drama When Prose Had Become Permanently The Vehicle Of Dramatic Speech In English Comedy And The Decay Of Tragedy. From An Early Review By Richard Burton In The Dial : ... The Work Is Beyond All Compare The Most Exhaustive And Important ... In Its Field .... When This Monument Of Scholarly Investigation Appeared, In 1874, It Was At Once Recognized As Authoritative, And Has Held The Position Ever Since.... Dr. Ward S Survey Of The Native Drama......Stands Alone Among Scholarly Achievements By Englishmen.The Prime Merit Of The Work, Aside From Thoroughness, Good Judgment In Ample Illustration, And The Deduction Of Sound Principles Therefrom, Lies In This Giving Of Due Attention To The History Of The Stage, While At The Same Time Keeping The Student To A Realization Of The Drama S Literary Splendors ... Drama In Its Technique As Well As In Its Imaginative Triumphs ... ... Take His Admirable Monograph (Vol. I, Chap. Iv) On Shakespeare .... It Would Be Difficult, Even In The Mass Of Similar Attempts, To Indicate Another Eighty Pages Which Tell So Much So Well, And Are So Little Open To Criticism... This Critic S Independence And Originality Of Thought Appear To Advantage In His Closing Remarks On The Tailend Of The Stuart Drama.

Nicoll's History, which tells the story of English drama from the reopening of the theatres at the time of the Restoration right through to the end of the Victorian period, was viewed by Notes and Queries (1952) as 'a great work of exploration, a detailed guide to the untrodden acres of our dramatic history, hitherto largely ignored as barren and devoid of interest'.

Throughout the seventeenth century, early modern play readers and playgoers copied dramatic extracts into their commonplace books, verse miscellanies, diaries, and songbooks. This is the first book to examine these often overlooked texts, which reveal what early modern audiences and readers took, literally and figuratively, from plays.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

English Drama before Shakespeare surveys the range of dramatic activity in English up to 1590. The book challenges the traditional divisions between Medieval and Renaissance literature by showing that there was much continuity throughout this period, in spite of many innovations. The range of dramatic activity includes well-known features such as mystery cycles and the interludes, as well as comedy and tragedy. Para-dramatic activity such as the liturgical drama, royal entries and localised or parish drama is also covered. Many of the plays considered are anonymous, but a coherent, biographical view can be taken of the work of known dramatists such as John Heywood, John Bale, and Christopher Marlowe. Peter Happé's study is based upon close reading of selected plays, especially from the mystery cycles and such Elizabethan works as Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy. It takes account of contemporary research into dramatic form, performance (including some important recent revivals), dramatic sites and early theatre buildings, and the nature of early dramatic texts. Recent changes in outlook generated by the publication of the written records of early drama form part of the book's focus. There is an extensive bibliography covering social and political background, the lives and works of individual authors, and the development of theatrical ideas through the period. The book is aimed at undergraduates, as well as offering an overview for more advanced students and researchers in drama and in related fields of literature and cultural studies.