Comedy was at the centre of a critical storm that raged throughout the early modern period. Shakespeare's plays made capital of this controversy. In them he deliberately invokes the case against comedy made by the Elizabethan theatre haters. They are filled with jokes that go too far, laughter that hurts its victims, wordplay that turns to swordplay and aggressive acts of comic revenge. Through a detailed study which considers tragedies and histories as well as comedies, Maslen contends th...

It is forty years since the death of Mervyn Peake (1911-68), the author of the much-loved Gormenghast novels. To mark the anniversary this first comprehensive edition of Peake's poetry is published. It includes every black-and-white illustration he made for his verse, together with many previously unpublished drawings. Of the more than 230 poems in the collection, over 80 are printed for the first time. Robert Maslen's detailed work on the manuscripts reveals the poems as a dazzling link b...

Published to mark the 40th anniversary of his death, this comprehensive edition of the poetry of Mervyn Peake includes pieces that touch on some of the most significant historical moments of the 20th century. His celebrated works range from the unemployment epidemic in pre-war Britain to the horrors of the blitz and the concentration camp at Bergen–Belsen, with each serving to anchor the fantasy world of his celebrated Gormenghast books. Black and white illustrations, drafted by the author...

Published to coincide with the celebration of this beloved poet's centenary, this volume contains all the poems and illustrations previously published in Mervyn Peake's much-loved Book of Nonsense in addition to 40 unpublished works discovered in manuscripts and various uncollected sources. Accompanied by newfound drawings by Peake as well as the nonsense verses from his novels, this record will delight his fans and win over new ones.

'Nonsense', wrote Mervyn Peake, 'can take you by the hand and lead you nowhere. It's magic.' Peake (1911-68) is one of the great English nonsense poets, in the tradition of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. His verses lead the reader into places where cause is cut free of effect and language takes on a giddy life of its own. Malicious bowler hats threaten their owners, a cake is chased across an ocean by a rakish knife, aunts become flatfish or live on sphagnum moss. Fully annotated, with a d...