In this carefully researched work, Gerald Kahan traces the genesis, development, and production history of a delightful and important eighteenth-century theatre piece, The Lecture on Heads. The Lecture was first presented in London in 1764 and became a staple in the English-speaking theaters of the world for the remainder of the eighteenth century. It amassed a fortune for its creator, George Alexander Stevens, was copied and adapted by dozens of performers, and went through forty published editions, authentic and spurious. Kahan studies the theatrical and cultural backgrounds that influenced the contents, development, and popularity of the Lecture. His exhaustive research has produced the most comprehensive and accurate published account of Stevens's life and career as well as a bibliography of his works. In addition, readers will find one of the earliest printed texts of the Lecture and a scholarly chronological listing of hundreds of its performances and many of its variations, including information on dates, cities, theaters, actors, ticket prices, and critical reviews.

Upon its invention in the mid-1400s, the printing press instantly became a revolutionary device. It introduced literacy to the masses and led Europe out of the Middle Ages. This book explores the press' exciting history, the social and political conditions in place at the time Johannes Gutenberg invented it, and the changes the invention wrought afterward. It traces the evolution of moveable type and information dissemination up to modern electronic communications technology, examining the positive and negative effects of these developments, both in the past and on democracy and humankind today. This book will give readers a new appreciation for the written word, whether it is printed on paper or displayed on a screen.

List of members included in each volume, beginning with 1891.