Although there countless printed books of all kinds reflecting the English of the period, the playbills too contain familiar words whose meaning has shifted: eg laughable, awful, attractive, grotesque, even interesting (an adjective not guaranteed to inspire today). Then there are the semi-obsolete types like burletta, farcetta/farsetta, harlequinade, saynete, comedietta, monopolylogue (!) and one I had to look up - yclept -meaning "by the name of". An answer to those language purists who don't like American spellings can be found here too, with honor, favorite and color quite acceptable in this period. I'm still hoping to come across "Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite...". This such a fun (and addictive) project!
