The English Dancing Master
The English Dancing Master , subtitled Plaine and easie Rules for the Dancing of Country Dances, with the Tune to each Dance , is a reference work published by John Playford in London in 1651 , which describes 105 English dances popular at the time, including the associated melody . The Dancing Master is an important historical document of the English society dance .
The great success of the first edition prompted Playford to change the title to The Dancing Master and to publish further editions, two additional volumes and numerous supplements in the period that followed. The seventh edition appeared in 1686. To date, 24 editions of all volumes have been printed and sold together, the last edition appeared in 1728. Taken together, the Dancing Master describes 1,053 dances including melody, 186 melodies without dance and 3 songs.