Ben Jonson in Context

Bringing together a group of established and emergent Jonson scholars, this volume reacts to major advances in thinking about the writer and his canon of works. The study is divided into two distinct parts: the first considers the Jonsonian career and output from biographical, critical, and performance-based angles; the second looks at cultural and historical contexts building on rich interdisciplinary work. Social historians work alongside literary critics to provide a diverse and varied account of Jonson. These are less standard surveys of the field than vibrant interventions into current critical debates. The short-essay format of the collection seeks less to harmonize and homogenize than to raise awareness of new avenues of research on Jonson, including studies informed by book history, cultural geography, the law and legal discourse, the history of science and interests in material culture.

Introduction; Timeline Sarah Grandage; Part I. Life, Works, and Afterlife: 1. Tales of a life Richard Dutton; 2. Jonson in the Elizabethan period Matthew Steggle; 3. Jonson in the Jacobean period Andrew McRae; 4. Jonson in the Caroline period Martin Butler; 5. Genre Katherine Eisaman Maus; 6. Friends, collaborators, and rivals Michelle O'Callaghan; 7. Jonson and Shakespeare Mark Robson; 8. Editions and editors Eugene Giddens; 9. Critical reception James Loxley; 10. Performance afterlives Lois Potter; Part II. Cultural and Historical Contexts: 11. London and urban space Adam Zucker; 12. The Globe and the open air amphitheatres Tiffany Stern; 13. The Whitefriars and the children's companies Lucy Munro; 14. The Blackfriars Theatre and the indoor theatres Janette Dillon; 15. Provinces, parishes, and neighbourhoods Steve Hindle; 16. The court Malcolm Smuts; 17. Masques, courtly and provincial Karen Britland; 18. Music David Lindley; 19. Dance Barbara Ravelhofer; 20. Manuscript culture and reading practices James Knowles; 21. Print culture and reading practices Alan B. Farmer; 22. Visual culture John Peacock; 23. The body Ben Morgan; 24. Law, crime, and punishment Lorna Hutson; 25. Religion Julie Maxwell; 26. Politics Andrew Hadfield; 27. Rank Clare McManus; 28. Households Kate Chedgzoy; 29. Foreign travel and exploration Rebecca Ann Bach; 30. Domestic travel and social mobility Julie Sanders; 31. Money and consumerism Christopher Burlinson; 32. Land Garrett A. Sullivan Jr.; 33. Patronage Helen Ostovich; 34. Architecture Mimi Yiu; 35. Food Robert Appelbaum; 36. Alchemy, magic, and the sciences Margaret Healy; 37. Clothing and identity Eleanor Lowe; 38. Gender and sexuality Mario DiGangi; Further reading.

In this 2010 book, established and emergent Jonson scholars react to major advances in thinking about the writer and his canon of works. Generously illustrated throughout, the first part of the volume considers Jonson's career from biographical, critical, and performance-based angles; the second looks at cultural and historical contexts.

Julie Sanders is Professor of English Literature and Drama at the University of Nottingham. She is the author of Ben Jonson's Theatrical Republics (1998) and has recently edited The New Inn for The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson.