John Rastell belongs to the circle of humanists which flourished during the first decades of Henry VIII's reign. Because he was the brother-in-law of Sir Thomas More, the father of William Rastell (the first editor of More's collected English works), the father-in-law of Thomas Heywood, and the great-grandfather of John Donne, his family connections alone earn him a place in Renaissance studies. But his importance also stems from his authorship of several interesting prose works, dramatic interludes, and legal texts, as well as his significant contributions to the development of printing, especially the printing of music. Furthermore, Rastell participated in religious controversies, acted as a government lawyer, helped design political spectacles, made an early attempt to colonize the New World, and designed the first permanent theater in England. His energy and incredibly wide range of achievements give his life a paradigmatically Renaissance quality, and his two prose works...