The Basset Table
"Jane Milling has provided an exemplary edition of one of the most enjoyable of eighteenth-century comedies. Her very full introduction provides a critically perceptive study of the play and of Centlivre's theatrical milieu, with detailed documentation of the social and intellectual changes on which the comedy draws: the rise of science, and the debates about gambling and female education. The appendices of primary material relating to these topics are extremely helpful and well chosen. This is expert scholarship, deployed in engaging advocacy for a delightful play, and will be invaluable both for students and professional scholars." - Derek Hughes, University of Aberdeen"Susanna Centlivre's important comedy The Basset Table is finally available in a scholarly, lucid, and user-friendly edition that makes the play accessible as both a literary and a theatrical text. Jane Milling adds substantial and revealing contextualization on Centlivre's life and career, the original reception of the play, female education, and gambling. The play s themes of buying and selling, giving and taking, risking and investing have never come into sharper focus." - Jacqueline Pearson, University of Manchester --Jacqueline Pearson, University of Manchester