Ben Jonson (1572-1637), actor, playwright, satirist, and lyric
poet, studied under William Camden at Westminster, worked as a
bricklayer, served in the army, and was imprisoned twice--once for
sedition and once for murder. Epicoene: or, The Silent Woman (1609)
is considered one of his greatest comedies, upon which, along with
Volpone (1607), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614),
his reputation rests. At his death, he was regarded as the leading
man of letters in England, and was a major influence on the
Cavalier poets, including Robert Herrick, Sir John Suckling, Thomas
Carew, and Richard Lovelace. Lester A. Beaurline was professor of
English at the University of Virginia. He was an editor of Studies
in Bibliography, the works of John Suckling, and (with Fredson
Bowers) the plays of Ben Jonson.
