The Renaissance court masque traditionally an entertainment of music dancing pageantry and spectacular scenic effects was transformed by Ben Jonson into a serious mode of literary expression. By using its peculiar viability as a forum for his dramatic imagination Jonson resolved and transcended the satiric vision that was in many ways the substance of Jonsonian drama. He instructed as well as applauded his courtly audience and with the aid of the great theatrical designer Indigo Jones brought unity to the diverse elements of the masque infusing them with a moral and poetic life. This modernized version of Jonsons masques is the most carefully edited and annotated text available it is also the first onevolume edition to be published. It includes the faithful reprinting of Jonsons own glosses and notes translated and annotated as well as explanatory notes which offer the most detailed critical commentary ever undertaken. In the introduction itself an important essay about the Renaissance stage Mr. Orgel discusses Jonsons development of the masque in relation to Inigo Jones development of the illusionistic stage.