John Milton; Henry Lawes; E. H. Visiak; Hubert J. Foss; Earl of Ellesmere — The Mask of Comus

London, The Nonesuch Press, 1937. Hardback. A lovely Nonesuch limited edition copy of John Milton's comical masque, complete with colourful plates. A Nonesuch limited edition of nine hundred and fifty copies, of which this is numbered eighteen.In the original slipcase, in a very good condition.Illustrated with a colour frontispiece, colour vignette title, and five colour plates. Collated, complete.A comical masque in honour of chastity by John Milton, here put to music by Henry Lawes. The plot follows two brothers and their sister as they are lost in a woods. The sister is left by herself, an encounters the debauched Comus, the Greek god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances.This masque was originally performanced at Ludlow Castle on Michaelmas in 1634, before being published anonymously in 1637.Edited by E. H. Visiak and Hubert J. Foss, and with a foreword by the Earl of Ellesmere.Illustrated by M. R. H. Farrar. In the original publisher's paper covered boards, in the original paper covered slipcase. Externally, smart. Only a couple of very light marks to the boards. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Slipcase is smart, a little sunned. A few light marks and rubbing to the slipcase, in a very good condition. Fine . Ill.: M. R. H. Farrar. Fine .