WOMEN PLAYERS IN ENGLAND, 1500-1660. Beyond the All-Male Stage.

First edition, first printing. Softcover. Publisher's original dark gold card, with titles in white to the upper board and spine. With 28 black and white illustrations throughout. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, lightly rubbed and bumped to the extremities, bright and fresh. The contents, with a crease to page 71, are otherwise clean throughout, and without inscriptions or stamps.

A collection of scholarly essays challenging the assumption that the stage was 'all male' in early modern England, summarised thus in a short synopsis preceding the text: 'Essays in this volume explore: the impact of women players outside London; the relationship between women's performance on the continent and in England; working women's participation in a performative culture of commerce; the importance of the visual record; the use of theatrical techniques by queens and aristocrats for political ends, and the role of female performance on the imitation of femininity'.