LAUGHING AND WEEPING IN EARLY MODERN THEATRES

First edition. Publisher's original black cloth with silver titles to the spine, in dustwrapper. With three black and white illustrations. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, with a little rubbing to the head of the spine. The contents are clean throughout, and without inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the lightly rubbed dustwrapper, which is faded to the spine and otherwise without loss or tears.

A comprehensive study of the emotional responses of audiences in early modern theatres, summarised thus in a short synopsis preceding the text 'This book is a study of laughter and weeping in English theatres, broadly defined, from around 1550 until their closure in 1642. It is concerned both with the representation of these actions on the stage, and with what can be reconstructed about the laughter and weeping of theatrical audiences themselves, arguing that both actions have a peculiar importance in defining the early modern theatrical experience'.