This early work by Thomas Nashe was originally published in 1600 and we
are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography.
'Summer's Last Will and Testament' is an Elizabethan era stage play that
broke new ground in the development of English Renaissance drama. Thomas
Nashe was born in November 1567. He was an English Elizabethan
Pamphleteer, playwright, poet and satirist, but little is known with
certainty about his life. Much of the information we have has been
inferred from his writings. Nashe's first appearance in print was his
preface to Robert Greene's Menaphon (1589), in which he offers a brief
definition of art and an overview of contemporary literature. His early
exercise in euphuism The Anatomy of Absurdity was published in the same
year. From then on Nashe became involved in numerous political and
religious causes, including the Martin Marprelate controversy where he
sided with the bishops. Nashe offers an important insight into the
workings of 16th century English life and his writings will continue to
be studied for both their literary content and historical relevance.