Overview:
Author: Ben Jonson
Title: The Complete Plays of Ben Jonson
Introduction: Prof. Felix E. Schelling
Series: Everyman’s Library, Nos. 489 & 490
Publisher: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London / E. P. Dutton & Co., New York
Date: Early 20th century, first issued in this edition in 1910
Volumes: Complete two-volume set
Binding: Publisher’s burgundy leather, gilt decoration, rounded corners and ribbon markers
Description
An attractive complete two-volume Everyman’s Library edition of the plays of Ben Jonson, one of the most important English dramatists and satirists of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.
First issued in the Everyman’s Library in 1910, this edition was prepared with an introduction by Professor Felix E. Schelling and presents Jonson’s dramatic works across two volumes. The set includes many of his best-known plays, including Every Man in His Humour, Volpone, The Alchemist, Bartholomew Fair, Epicoene and Sejanus.
These copies are particularly attractive examples of the publisher’s leather issue, rather than the more commonly encountered cloth binding. Both volumes are bound in flexible burgundy leather with rounded corners, elaborate gilt floral decoration to the spines and upper boards, gilt lettering and ribbon page markers.
The decorative title-page openings are characteristic of the early Everyman’s Library, incorporating the series motto from the medieval morality play Everyman: “Everyman, I will go with thee, and be thy guide, in thy most need to go by thy side.”
Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson was a contemporary of William Shakespeare and one of the leading figures of English Renaissance drama. His works are particularly celebrated for their satire of greed, social ambition, deception and human eccentricity.
Among his most enduring plays are Volpone and The Alchemist, while Every Man in His Humour has an additional Shakespearean connection: Shakespeare is traditionally recorded among the actors associated with its early production.
Condition
A complete matching two-volume set with the interiors generally well preserved. Pages remain clean and readable with only expected minor age-related marks.
The original leather bindings show noticeable wear, particularly Volume I, with rubbing, fraying and losses at the head and foot of the spine and wear around the joints and extremities. Volume II is better preserved but also shows rubbing and general age-related wear.
Despite this, much of the original gilt decoration remains strong and attractive, and the volumes retain considerable shelf presence. Please examine the photographs carefully as they form an important part of the condition description.
A handsome early Everyman’s Library leather set containing the complete dramatic works of one of Shakespeare’s most important contemporaries.
Dimensions (of both volumes):
- Weight - 720g
- Height - 17.5cm
- Width - 11.3cm
- Thickness - 5.5cm
