Excerpt from The Dramatic Works and Poems of James Shirley, Vol. 3 of 6: Now First Collected; With Notes by William Gifford, Esq.; And Additional Notes, and Some Account of Shirley and His Writings; Containing, the Ball; The Young Admiral; The Gamester; The Example; The Opportunity; The Coronation The Ball.] This Comedy, which was licensed in November, 1632, and first printed in 1639, is the joint production of Chapman and Shirley; the largest portion of it seems to be from the pen of the former. Jonson's Puntarvolo, in Every Man out of his Humour, probably furnished the hint for Jack Fresh water, and his notable scheme of foreign travel. The title of the old quarto is, "The Ball, a Comedy, as it was presented by her Majesties Servants, at the private House in Drury Lane. Written by George Chapman and James Shirley." From some incidental notices which occur in our old dramas, it should seem that there really was, about this time, a party of ladies and gentlemen who met, in private, at stated periods for the purpose of amusing themselves with masques, dances, &c. Scandalous reports of improper conduct at these assemblies were in circulation, and evidently called forth this comedy, the object of which is to repel them. The gilded or golden Ball, from which the piece takes its name, was probably worn as an ornament, and mark of authority, by the presiding beauty of the entertainment. We have here the first rude specimen of what are now termed Subscription Balls. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.