Old Fortunatus: By Thomas Dekker

Description

Written in a period characterized by increased mobility and the development of proto-capitalism, Thomas Dekker's Old Fortunatus (1599) is a journeying play that offers joyous celebration of the pleasures of travel and a circumspect critique of spendthrift indulgence. This Revels Plays edition makes Dekker's neglected stage romance newly available. -- .

David McInnis is the Gerry Higgins Senior Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia -- .

'McInnis has produced an admirable, rigorous, and reliable scholarly edition. He has given criticism a chance to match this editorial achievement with insights of comparable height and nuance.' Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Reforme 'This new edition of Old Fortunatus is a valuable intervention. It brings the play into focus for advanced teaching and research. It suggests some of the ways Dekker's dramaturgy embodies the possessive imagination that structures English travel writing and proto-colonial fantasy in the period.' Early Theatre 'If Old Fortunatus has another moment, it might be now, when technologies of trade and travel elate and overwhelm us, and the world seems to flicker between far off and at hand. Like other Revels editions, this one offers an authoritatively edited, modernized, and annotated text, a comprehensive textual and historical introduction, and a short performance history. McInnis's introduction and notes are exceptional even by the high standards of the Revels series, adroitly recounting the wanderings of the Fortunatus story and the complicated history of Dekker's playtext. McInnis's particular expertise on travel narratives and lost plays shows to advantage, as he also sets Dekker's play into the performance context of other contemporary plays. McInnis's Old Fortunatus is an example of how a good edition does more than simply make a play newly available; it serves as waystation to a way of grasping a new world.' SEL: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 -- .