The Development of the Theatre: A Study of Theatrical Art from the Beginnings to the Present Day by Nicoll, Allardyce - 1970

London: George G. Harrap & Co, 1970. Reprint. Hardback. Good/Good. George G. Harrap & Co Ltd, London, 1970. Fifth edition revised (first published 1927). Book condition: good. A little shelf wear. Faint tanning and some very slight soiling to endpapers. Dust jacket: good. Unclipped. Some edge wear and chipping to corners. Head and tail of spine rather rubbed and worn. Generally lightly soiled and rubbed. In his original preface to this work Professor Allardyce Nicoll said that "unless we can appreciate the stage of Sophocles and the stage of Shakespeare we cannot hope to understand their works aright: unless we have a knowledge of past theatrical effort we can barely form an opinion concerning the more recent developments in scenic artistry." This book embodies that knowledge and is the key to that appreciation. It has become the standard work on its subject, as have the author's other works: World Drama and British Drama. This fifth edition contains new sections on the Oriental theatre and on the theatre of the Twentieth Century and has 288 illustrations of which 40 are new, which alone form a fascinating pictorial history of the theatre from the earliest times.