Percy MacKaye, the author of this play, was born in New York City, March 16, 1875—a son of Steele MacKaye. He graduated from Harvard with the class of 1897 and shortly afterward spent two years in Italy and at the University of Leipzig. In 1904 he joined the Cornish (New Hampshire) Colony and has since devoted himself to literary and dramatic work. He is a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.

Following is a list of his published works:

• The Canterbury Pilgrims: A Comedy.
• The Canterbury Tales of Chaucer.
• Fenris, the Wolf: A Tragedy.
• Jeanne D’Arc: A Tragedy.
• Sappho and Phaon: A Tragedy.
• The Scarecrow: A Tragedy of the Ludicrous.
• Lincoln Centenary Ode.
• Mater: An American Study in Comedy.
• The Playhouse and the Play. Essays.
• A Garland to Sylvia: A Comedy.
• Anti-Matrimony: A Satirical Comedy.
• Yankee Fantasies. Five One-Act Plays.
• To-Morrow. A Play in Three Acts.
• Poems.
• Uriel, and Other Poems.
• The Civic Theatre.
• Sanctuary: A Bird Masque.
• A Thousand Years Ago.

(The play is an original comedy, suggested by the Persian romance in “The Thousand and One Tales,” wherein is recited the adventures of Calaf, Prince of Astrakhan, and the beautiful Princess of China.)