READING MASQUES: The English Masque and Public Culture in the Seventeenth Century.

Second printing. Publisher's original illustrated boards, with titles in black and brown to the upper board, and in black and white to the spine. With nine black and white illustrations. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, with a touch of bumping to the head of the spine and bottom edge of the rear board. The contents are clean throughout, and without inscriptions or stamps.

An academic interpretation of court masques by Lauren Shohet, Professor of English at Villanova University, that considers both the dramas' reception and production for the first time. The author explores the ways both courtly and non-courtly masques were read, circulated, and connected arenas of performance and print, through examining of famous masques by Jonson, Milton, Davenant, and Shirley, and looking at both lesser-known masques and more familiar plays.