John Home's Douglas

The tragedy of Douglas was first performed in 1756, at the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment, and created a scandal. The controversy was literary, religious and political. Following an introduction, this new edition reprints the text of the play (based on the Edinburgh edition of 1757), and then devotes the rest of the book to illustrating its popular reception - mainly as expressed in contemporary pamphlets. Appendices include biographical notes and a timeline.