Ben Jonson : the critical heritage

Book Cover......Page 1
Half-Title......Page 2
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
General Editor’s Preface......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 14
Note......Page 16
Abbreviations......Page 17
 I......Page 18
 II......Page 19
 III......Page 23
 IV......Page 29
 V......Page 38
 NOTES......Page 41
1. John Weever, Marston and Jonson......Page 46
2. Ben Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour......Page 48
 NOTES......Page 52
3. Ben Jonson, prologue to Cynthia’s Revels......Page 54
4. John Weever, Jonson as humorist......Page 56
 NOTES......Page 57
5. Nicholas Breton on the satirical fashion......Page 58
6. Ben Jonson, Poetaster......Page 60
 NOTES......Page 66
7. Thomas Dekker, Horace untrussed......Page 68
 NOTES......Page 82
8. Charles Fitzgeffrey on Jonson......Page 84
9. Cambridge views on the War of the Theatres......Page 86
10. Henry Chettle, Jonson’s steel pen......Page 88
11. Samuel Daniel attacks the learned masque......Page 90
 NOTES......Page 91
 NOTE......Page 92
13. John Marston, tribute to Jonson......Page 94
14. Sir Edward Herbert on Jonson’s Horace......Page 96
 NOTES......Page 98
16. On Sejanus......Page 100
 NOTES......Page 105
17. John Marston glances at Sejanus......Page 106
18. Ben Jonson on his masques......Page 108
 NOTES......Page 109
19. On Volpone......Page 110
 NOTES......Page 114
 NOTES......Page 116
21. Jonson’s comedy malicious and factious......Page 118
22. Ben Jonson, prologue to The Alchemist......Page 120
23. On Catiline......Page 122
24. John Selden on Jonson’s scholarship......Page 126
25. Ben Jonson, Bartholomew Fair......Page 128
26. On Jonson’s epigrams......Page 130
27. William Fennor on the reception of Sejanus......Page 132
28. Robert Anton, Jonson among the melancholic creators......Page 134
29. From The Workes of Benjamin Jonson......Page 136
30. William Drummond, Jonson’s character......Page 140
31. Inigo Jones, attack on Jonson......Page 142
32. Edmund Bolton on Jonson’s language......Page 144
33. George Chapman, expostulation with Jonson......Page 146
 NOTES......Page 150
34. Ben Jonson on The Staple of News......Page 152
35. Nicholas Oldisworth on Jonson......Page 154
36. Controversy over The New Inn......Page 156
 NOTES......Page 166
37. Falkland on Jonson as the dispenser of fame......Page 168
 NOTES......Page 170
38. Leonard Digges, Shakespeare’s plays more popular than Jonson’s......Page 172
39. Thomas Randolph on the power of Jonson’s verses......Page 176
40. Ben Jonson, The Magnetic Lay......Page 178
41. Alexander Gill, attack on The Magnetic Lady......Page 182
 NOTES......Page 183
42. James Howell, letters to Jonson......Page 184
 NOTE......Page 185
43. Sir John Suckling, caricature of Jonson......Page 186
44. Ben Jonson, prologue to The Sad Shepherd......Page 188
 NOTES......Page 189
45. Sir John Suckling, Jonson’s arrogance......Page 190
46. James Shirley on Jonson and The Alchemist......Page 192
47. Newcastle, tribute to Jonson......Page 194
48. George Stutvile, Jonson as tutor......Page 196
49. Tributes from Jonsonus Virbius......Page 198
 NOTE......Page 222
50. George Daniel, elegy on Jonson......Page 224
51. John Benson, dedication of Jonson’s Poems......Page 226
52. On Jonson’s translation of Horace’s Ars Poetica......Page 228
53. James Shirley on Shakespeare, Fletcher, and Jonson......Page 232
54. William Cartwright on Jonson’s love-scenes......Page 234
55. Robert Herrick, tributes to Jonson......Page 236
56. Edmund Gayton, Jonson the scholar’s playwright......Page 238
 NOTES......Page 239
57. On reviving Jonson at the Restoration......Page 240
58. Samuel Pepys on performances of Epicoene and Bartholomew Fair......Page 242
 NOTE......Page 243
59. The Play of the Puritan......Page 244
60. Margaret Cavendish on Jonson’s plays......Page 246
61. Thomas Fuller, portrait of Jonson......Page 248
62. Richard Flecknoe, Jonson’s part in the history of the English stage......Page 250
63. Samuel Pepys on performances of Epicoene and Bartholomew Fair......Page 252
64. Saint-Evremond, Jonson central to a French view of English comedy......Page 254
65. Samuel Butler on Jonson and Shakespeare......Page 258
66. Samuel Pepys reads Every Man in his Humour, sees Epicoene......Page 260
67. John Dryden’s Essay......Page 262
 NOTES......Page 270
68. John Dryden makes Shakespeare monarch over Fletcher and Jonson......Page 272
69. John Dryden, Jonson’s borrowings......Page 274
70. Thomas Shadwell on Jonson’s humour comedy......Page 276
71. John Dryden cites Jonson in the controversy over rhymed drama......Page 278
 NOTE......Page 279
72. Samuel Pepys on Bartholomew Fair, Epicoene, Catiline, and The Alchemist......Page 280
73. Clarendon on Jonson’s talents and achievements......Page 284
74. Charles Sackville, epilogue to an Every Man in his Humour revival......Page 286
75. Richard Flecknoe answers Dryden on Jonson......Page 288
76. John Dryden explains his view of Jonson......Page 290
 NOTES......Page 293
77. Thomas Shadwell defends his estimate of Jonson......Page 294
 NOTES......Page 297
78. Edward Howard on Jonson......Page 298
 NOTES......Page 301
79. Edward Howard on Jonson’s imaginary creations......Page 302
80. Edward Ravenscroft, Jonson the model for didactic comedy......Page 304
81. On Jonson and Shakespeare......Page 306
82. John Dryden on the faults of predecessors like Jonson......Page 308
 NOTE......Page 313
83. Aphra Behn on Shakespeare and Jonson......Page 314
 NOTE......Page 315
84. Edward Howard, Jonson unparalleled among ancient or modern authors......Page 316
85. Edward Phillips on Jonson’s achievements......Page 318
86. John Dryden, Jonson distinguished from Shadwell......Page 320
 NOTES......Page 321
87. John Oldham on Jonson......Page 322
88. John Dryden, low farce in Volpone......Page 332
89. Edward Howard on Jonson’s allegory and on a statue of Jonson......Page 334
90. Gerald Langbaine, notes on Jonson......Page 336
 NOTES......Page 341
91. Thomas Rymer on Catiline......Page 342
 NOTES......Page 344
92. Nahum Tate, farce in Jonson......Page 346
 NOTES......Page 347
93. John Dryden, Jonson and Fletcher matched at last......Page 348
94. Beat Louis de Muralt on Jonson and Molière......Page 350
 NOTE......Page 351
95. William Wotton on Jonson’s Grammar......Page 352
96. John Dennis and William Congreve on Jonson’s comedy......Page 354
 NOTES......Page 357
97. Jeremy Collier on Jonson as a model playwright......Page 360
 NOTE......Page 362
98. William Congreve and Jeremy Collier on profanity in Bartholomew Fair......Page 364
 NOTE......Page 365
99. William Burnaby, Jonson a model for the comedy of characters and action......Page 366
100. John Dennis on Jonson’s comedy......Page 368
101. Jonson discussed in a critical dialogue on the theatre......Page 370
102. Jonson returns from the shades to castigate Thomas Baker......Page 372
103. Samuel Cobb, Jonson’s notable thefts and successful piracies......Page 374
104. Richard Steele on Jonson......Page 376
105. Nicholas Rowe, Jonson’s evil eye on Shakespeare......Page 378
 NOTE......Page 379
106. Charles Gildon on Jonson......Page 380
107. Richard Steele on Jonson’s plays as description and instruction......Page 382
 NOTES......Page 384
109. Lewis Theobald as ‘Benjamin Johnson’......Page 386
 NOTE......Page 388
111. John Dennis, Jonson invoked against Steele......Page 390
112. Charles Gildon, Jonson the master of comedy......Page 392
113. John Dennis, Jonson the authority for the comedy of ridicule......Page 394
114. Alexander Pope on the relations between Shakespeare and Jonson......Page 396
 NOTES......Page 397
115. Alexander Pope, observations on Jonson......Page 398
116. Shakespeare and the actors defended against Pope and Jonson......Page 400
 NOTE......Page 401
117. William Levin, Shakespeare and Jonson a lesson to their successors......Page 402
 NOTE......Page 403
118. Jonson’s comedy obsolete......Page 404
 NOTE......Page 405
119. A proper reaction to Volpone......Page 406
120. William Warburton and Lewis Theobald on Jonson......Page 410
121. Alexander Pope on Jonson’s inflated popular reputation......Page 412
 NOTES......Page 413
122. Algernon Sidney on Catiline......Page 414
123. Henry Fielding on Jonson......Page 418
 NOTES......Page 420
124. Corbyn Morris, humours in Shakespeare and Jonson......Page 422
125. David Garrick, the acting of Drugger and Macbeth......Page 426
 NOTE......Page 428
127. William Guthrie, Jonson the Poussin of drama......Page 430
128. Unsigned review of La Place’s Catiline......Page 432
 NOTES......Page 434
129. Samuel Johnson, Shakespeare and Jonson......Page 436
130. Charles Macklin, a forged pamphlet on Jonson......Page 438
 NOTES......Page 440
131. Edmund Burke, Jonson and true comedy......Page 442
132. John Upton on Jonson......Page 444
 NOTES......Page 446
133. Richard Hurd, on Catiline and on Shakespeare versus Jonson......Page 448
 NOTES......Page 449
134. Thomas Seward on Jonson, Shakespeare, and Beaumont and Fletcher......Page 450
 NOTES......Page 451
135. William Guthrie, Jonson and human nature......Page 452
136. Garrick’s Every Man in his Humour revival......Page 454
137. Francis Gentleman, Sejanus......Page 458
138. Bonnell Thornton, review of Epicoene......Page 460
139. Theophilus Cibber and Robert Shiells, summary criticism of Jonson......Page 462
140. Richard Hurd, Every Man out of his Humour, The Alchemist, Volpone......Page 464
 NOTE......Page 467
141. Arthur Murphy, essays in The Gray’s Inn Journal......Page 468
 NOTE......Page 469
142. David Hume, Jonson’s rude art......Page 470
143. Sarah Fielding and Jane Collier, Jonson’s envy of Shakespeare......Page 472
 NOTES......Page 474
144. Peter Whalley’s edition of Jonson......Page 476
 NOTES......Page 489
145. Richard Hurd, Jonson’s imitations......Page 490
 NOTE......Page 493
146. Arthur Murphy, articles in The London Chronicle......Page 494
147. Thomas Wilkes on Jonson and on Jonson actors of the day......Page 498
 NOTES......Page 499
148. Edward Young, Jonson and the load of learning......Page 500
149. Charles Churchill, Jonson’s judgement......Page 502
150. Garrick as Abel Drugger......Page 504
151. Horace Walpole on Jonson......Page 506
152. Samuel Rogers, Shakespeare and Jonson......Page 508
153. David Erskine Baker on Jonson......Page 510
 NOTE......Page 512
154. Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg on Jonson......Page 514
155. John Brown, Bartholomew Fair revised......Page 516
 NOTE......Page 517
156. Edward Capell, Jonson’s borrowings......Page 518
 NOTES......Page 520
157. Jonson strong without passion......Page 522
158. James Beattie, Jonson’s misuse of learning......Page 524
159. Elizabeth Montague, Jonson and Shakespeare......Page 526
160. Francis Gentleman, Jonson a bad writer......Page 528
161. Charles Jenner, Sir Charles Beville at The Alchemist......Page 530
 NOTE......Page 532
162. Francis Gentleman’s The Tobacconist......Page 534
163. George Colman’s revival of Volpone......Page 538
 NOTE......Page 541
164. Doubts on Jonson and the old dramatists......Page 542
165. Shakespeare and Jonson compared......Page 546
 NOTES......Page 547
166. George Steevens on Jonson......Page 548
167. Lord Camden on reading Ben Jonson......Page 550
168. Francis Gentleman, notes on Jonson’s ode to Shakespeare......Page 552
 NOTE......Page 553
169. David Garrick on confidence tricks in The Alchemist......Page 554
170. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Garrick’s Abel Drugger......Page 556
 NOTE......Page 557
171. George Colman’s Epicoene......Page 558
 NOTES......Page 563
172. Kitely preferred to Ford......Page 564
173. Thomas Davies on Jonson revivals......Page 566
174. B.Walwyn, Falstaff and Bobadil......Page 568
 NOTES......Page 570
175. Colman’s Volpone revived......Page 572
176. Thomas Davies, observations on Jonson......Page 576
 NOTES......Page 582
177. George Colman, Jonson’s intentions in The Sad Shepherd......Page 584
 NOTE......Page 585
178. Richard Cumberland on Jonson......Page 586
 NOTES......Page 591
179. Henry Sampson Woodfall, Jun., Jonson’s vain contention with Shakespeare......Page 592
180. Philip Neve on Jonson......Page 594
181. Ludwig Tieck on Shakespeare and Jonson......Page 596
 NOTE......Page 600
Bibliography......Page 602
 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 604
INDEX......Page 616