Dear Mr. Cash: There is a wonderful book called _Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture & Society_ (New York: Oxford University Press, rev. ed. 1985), by Raymond Williams, now deceased British cultural historian. PUBLIC is a word he explains there in full historical detail. He also takes on terms like culture and society. I think you will find it very useful, & I think there should be a good bibliography too. Hope you find it useful, and since it's British, it would probably be especially appropriate for your purposes. Wendy Botting Curator, Visual Resources College of Architecture, Art & Planning Cornell University