"Of primary importance for students of Renaissance prose, this edition complements the on-going publication of Lyly's dramatic works in The Revels Plays. The introduction includes a discussion of the relationship between the dramatic and non-dramatic work locating Lyly's plays in a wider context."--BOOK JACKET.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This anthology contains five of the most important short works of Elizabethan prose fiction: George Gascoigne's The Adventures of Master F.J., John Lyly's Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit, Robert Greene's Pandosto: The Triumph of Time, Thomas Nashe's The Unfortunate Traveller, and Thomas Deloney's Jack of Newbury. Paul Salzman has modernized the texts for easier comprehension.

This is the finest critical edition of the two earliest comedies written by John Lyly. The text of "Sappho and Phao" is based on a first edition that was never before recognized as such. The text of "Campaspe" has also been take from early editions. The substantial introductions and commentary notes give a new view of Lyly's learning, style, wit and theatrical genius, along with the presentation of the battle of the sexes that offered such vital models for the early Shakespeare. The editors have worked to ensure that the two plays in this joint edition will compliment and illuminate each other. The plays are set in their historical, literary and theatrical context. With modernized spelling, explanations of difficult passages and extensive footnotes, this book will be a welcome addition for anyone interested in English Renaissance drama.

His last known work and the only one to be written primarily in verse, The Woman in the Moon is among Lyly’s most entertaining plays. Turning upon the construction of the female character, it has been read as highly misogynistic, and as a sixteenth-century feminist manifesto. The biblical version of the creation of woman is overturned in the first scene when the play’s supreme deity, Nature, presents her ultimate creation, Pandora (memorably played in 1928 by Katharine Hepburn), to a group of Utopian shepherds, who compete for her love. Their amatory pursuit is complicated by the seven planets, whose attributes have been bestowed by Nature on her new creation, and who decide to take revenge by subjecting Pandora to their influence. The action rapidly develops into a dazzling comedy of intrigue, resulting in both an explanation for the female disposition and the creation of an "alternative" version of the myth of the man in the moon. Newly edited from the first edition (1597), The Woman in the Moon will be of interest to all students of sixteenth-century drama. It is complemented by generous notes and commentary, as well as a full introduction and stage history.