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Forrest provides a feast of history

John Forrest's book, The History Of Morris Dancing 1458-1750, contains "a feast of entertaining illustrative material," says fellow-author Ronald Hutton. Read the press release here - and buy your copy on-line.

THE HISTORY
OF MORRIS DANCING
1458-1750

historyofmorris.jpg - 10007 Bytes James Clarke & Co Ltd are pleased to announce the publication of John Forrest’s new history of morris dancing. Built on the Annals of Early Morris, Forrest’s previous work with Michael Heaney of the Bodleian Library, The History of Morris Dancing 1458-1750 is a comprehensive analysis of early morris that uses the Forrest and Heaney database (almost 800 references from Alice Wetenhale’s 1458 will onwards) to show the continual evolution of the dance in the many contexts in which it was performed and enjoyed.

The book is well illustrated with maps and drawings, and the methodology of the early morris database is summarised in one of the four appendixes.

The History of Morris Dancing 1458-1750 is available now from the Shave The Donkey shop, price £17.50 paperback, £45 hardcover.

"The research is phenomenally thorough and comprehensive, the result of decades of dedication. Copious quotation from, and reprinting of, original documents not only provides a treasury of source materials for the scholar, but a feast of entertaining illustrative material for the laity. It is a remarkably well-finished book by somebody who is clearly the master of the subject."
Ronald Hutton, professor of history at Bristol University and author of THE STATIONS OF THE SUN.
11 chapters: Theories of Origin, The Contexts, Earliest References, Royal Court, Urban Streets, Church Property, Church Proscription and Prosecution, The Public Stage, Rural Locations, Assemblies and the Country Dance Hall, Private Premises, Endings.

Four appendixes: Methodological Issues: the Early Morris Database and Archive; Visitation Articles Banning Morris; Mr Isaac’s Morris 1716; Extant Churchwardens’ Accounts.

51 maps, line drawings, and reproductions showing distributions of morris events, choreographies, and contemporary illustrations.12 tables

Hardcover ISBN 0 2276 7943 1 £45.00
Paperback ISBN 0 2276 7944 X £17.50

JOHN FORREST is Professor of Anthropology, State University of New York at Purchase. He is the co-author of Annals of Early Morris with Michael Heaney and the author of Morris And Matachin: A Study In Comparative Choreography.

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