Initially conceived as a satirical tragedy unmasking the terror of death, this book was the counterpart of Beddoe's anatomical research. This edition presents the jest book in its early form, as Beddoes intended to publish it in 1829. The center of Beddoe's achievement, this pastiche of Renaissance tragedy is replete with treachery, murder, sorcery, and haunting and is the extravagant expression of the poet's lifelong obsession with mortality and immortality.