As Shakespeare’s nearest rival on the English stage, Ben Jonson has both gained and suffered. Productions of recent years have, as it were, rediscovered him as a comic dramatist of genius and a master of language. This volume contains his best-known comedies.

Volpone, which is perhaps his greatest, and The Alchemist are both tours de force of brilliant knavery, unflagging in wit and comic invention. Bartholomew Fair, an earthier work, portrays Jonson’s fellow Londoners in festive mood – bawdy, energetic, and never at a loss for words.