[The Three Celebrated Plays of that Excellent Poet Ben Johnson] [with] Volpone: or, the Fox [with] The Alchemist [with] Epicoene: or, the Silent Woman [with] A True and Exact Catalogue of all the Plays and other Dramatick Pieces, That were ever yet Printed in the English Tongue, In Alphabetical Order: continu'd down to April 1732

London: J. Walthoe...And sold by W. Feales, at Rowe's Head, over-against Clement's Inn Gate, 1732. Very Good. London: J. Walthoe...And sold by W. Feales, at Rowe's Head, over-against Clement's Inn Gate, 1732. 12mo (17 cm); lacking series title page, else complete. Woodcut frontis and section headers. Full contemporary boards in calf leather, blind tooled at margins and board edges with gilt decoration and morocco leather label to spine. Boards generally scuffed and rubbed with minor abrasions to covers and rubbing to spine, cracking slightly at hinges. Board corners and spine ends bumped. Endsheets offset at margins by leather and glue underneath with brief pencil to pastedown and penned date and name to top of first free endsheet. Lacking the title page though all volume title pages present. Interior toned and foxed throughout as expected.

Four volumes bound together including a catalogue of English language plays and dramatic works up to 1732. Jonson's plays were often comedies and satires and influenced comedic drama beyond his era. He is considered to be the second most important Renaissance dramatist, right behind Shakespeare, to whom he will always be compared. What a fate.

ESTC T79993.