Jonson's Magic Houses Essays in Interpretation [Hardcover]

The playwright Ben Jonson (1572-1637) was commonly regarded during his lifetime and the century following his death as a writer whose powers were equal, if not superior, to those of Shakespeare. In this new collection of biographical, critical, and historical essays, Ian Donaldson challenges many long-held and recent assumptions about the nature of Jonson's personality and creative achievement, offering fresh readings of his life and art.

This book makes a needed statement about Jonson, perhaps the most undervalued of the major authors of his time....Elegantly written and gracefully argued. --Renaissance Quarterly

...[the essays inJonson's Magic Houses] represent a fine mind considering a great writer over a period of years and from a number of original perspectives. --Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance

Jonson's Magic Houseshows very convincingly that traditional scholarly methods can be integrated most successfully with more recent theoretical institutions about literary works and their context of production. --Studies in English Literature