About this book
A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 3 by Various (edited by A. H. Bullen) plunges listeners into the vivid, often unruly world of early modern English drama. This anthology of drama presents both familiar and obscure stagepieces — including Sir Gyles Goosecappe, The Wisdome of Dr. Dodypoll, The Distracted Emperor, and The Tryall of Chevalry — accompanied by a substantial preface and scholarly footnotes that illuminate language, performance practice, and textual transmission.
Set against the backdrop of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre, these plays reveal period themes of disguise, honor, folly, and political intrigue, rendered in lively verse and prose. Bullen’s editorial apparatus is candid about the challenges of working from difficult manuscripts: the preface recounts transcription trials, variant readings, and the effort to present reliable texts, while one work appears here in print for the first time. The result is both a literary rescue mission and a careful snapshot of dramatic taste from a formative era in English letters.
Perfect for students, theatre historians, and listeners who love classical drama and historical anthologies, this volume offers rare texts and expert context that bring the stagecraft and rhetoric of early modern England to life.
