This book establishes the cultural background to the productions of Milton's Comus that were staged in the 1740s by Baptist Noel, 4th Earl of Gainsborough, at Exton Hall, his country seat in the East Midlands of England.

Colin Timms is Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham, UK. He has published mainly on Steffani, Stradella and Handel, and edited music by all three composers. His edition of Comus (music by Handel and Arne) appeared in 2016, his study of its verbal and musical text in 2022.