"The Basset Table" has been widely performed in recent years because of its lively and positive representation of independent women: the gambling widow Lady Reveller and the female scientist, Valeria. The play follows the fortunes of Lady Reveller, who runs a table where her friends play the card game basset, and her struggle to avoid marrying Lord Worthy. His friend, the gambling Sir James Courtly, pines for the worthy Lady Lucy. Gambling at Lady Reveller's proves the undoing of Mrs. Sago, a citizen's wife, and the ruin of her doting husband. Meanwhile, Lady Reveller's cousin, Valeria, spends her time conducting scientific experiments and dissections, but her father intends to marry her off to the bluff sea-captain Hearty. How can Lady Reveller be persuaded to forego the delights of gambling? And how can Valeria avoid an unwanted marriage? This play challenges contemporary stereotypes of the learned lady and offers a delightful picture of a female scientist at work. Appendices include materials on female education, gambling, and writing for the stage, as well as eighteenth- and nineteenth-century critical writing on "Centlivre" and "The Basset Table". This is the only edition available.