VOLT. I thanke you, for him. Mos. Bane to thy wooluish nature. 115 Avoc. I. Deliuer him to the Saffi. Thou, VOLPONE, To the hofpitall, of the Incurabili: 120 And, fince the most was gotten by imposture, By faining lame, gout, palsey, and such diseases, Till thou bee'st sicke, and lame indeed. Remoue him. VOLP. This is call'd mortifying of a FoXE. 125 Avoc. I. Thou VOLTORE, to take away the scandale Thou haft giu'n all worthy men, of thy profeffion, Where, fince thou knew'st not how to liue well here, faid he? Сом. You shall know anone, fir. Avoc. Thou Be straight imbarqu'd from thine owne house, and Round about Venice, through the grand canale, I shall not see my shame, yet. Avoc. I. And to 130 [523] 135 140 116 [MOSCA is carried out. G 124 [He is taken from the Bar. G 130 state] 'estate Q 139 berlino] Berlina G Thy wrongs done to thy wife, thou art to fend her And these are all your iudgements. (ALL. Hon our'd fathers.) 145 Avoc. I. Which may not be reuok'd. Now, you begin, When crimes are done, and past, and to be punish'd, Let all, that see these vices thus rewarded, Take heart, and loue to study 'hem. Mischiefes feed 150 Like beasts, till they be fat, and then they bleed. VOLPONE. T He seasoning of a play is the applause. For any fact, which he hath done 'gainst you; 5 THE END. 151 [Exeunt. VOLPONE comes forward. G 6 Exit. G NOTES These notes include whatever has been thought valuable in previous editions. Notes signed W are from Whalley, G from Gifford, C from Cunningham, H from Holt's manuscript. The Bibliography should be consulted for other abbreviated references and editions of work cited. References to the text of Volpone are to act, scene, and line of this edition; other references to Jonson are to act, scene, and page of the Cunningham-Gifford edition of 1875. COMMENDATORY POEMS None of the ten poems found just before the argument in the quarto are reprinted with Volpone in the folio; but those signed F. B., I. D., and E. B. are included among the poems at the beginning of the volume. The one signed E. B. in the quarto is in the folio signed E. Bolton; that signed F. B. in the quarto is in the folio signed Franc. Beaumont. Of the rest, I. D. is John Donne; Gifford identifies G. C. as George Chapman, E. S. as Edward Scory, and J. F. as John Fletcher. FOLIO TITLE-PAGE Comœdie. This is Jonson's usual spelling of the word. Acted in the yeere 1605. This would be 1606, new style. A discussion of the date of the first performance, as well as of the composition of the play, is given in the Introduction. By the K. Maiesties Servants. This famous company was then playing at the Globe. A list of the members taking part in the performance is given on the page following the Epilogue. For a detailed account of the company and the theatres occupied by it, see Adams, Shakespearean Playhouses. Simul & iucunda, & idonea dicere vita. The quotation is from Horace, Ars Poet. 333-4: Aut prodesse volunt aut delectare poetæ, Aut simul et iucunda et idonea dicere vitæ. In Jonson's translation this appears as: Poets would either profit or delight; Byron in his Hints from Horace renders it: Two objects always should the poet move, The doctrine became a commonplace of literary criticism; cf. Scaliger's Poetics I A (1561): 'Namque Poeta etiam docet, non solum delectat, vt quidam arbitrabantur.' The same line is used on the title-page of The Staple of News, and appears often in various forms in Jonson's writings. For other similar passages, see the notes on Prologue 8. Cf. also Ep. Ded. 125-7: 'the doctrine, which is the principall end of poesie, to informe men, in the best reason of liuing.' Printed by William Stansby. Stansby's name appears often as a printer between 1611 and 1635. Of Jonson's works, he entered at Stationer's Hall in 1615 Certayne Masques at the Court neuer yet printed; and also printed the 1620 quarto of Epicane. DEDICATION As to the influence of this dedication on the famous dedication to the Sonnets of Shakespeare, see Sir Sidney Lee, William Shakespeare, (ed. 1916), p. 675, note: 'Thorpe's dedicatory formula and the type in which it was set were clearly influenced by Ben Jonson's form of dedication before the first edition of his Volpone (1607), which, like Shakespeare's Sonnets, was published by Thorpe and printed for him by George Eld. The preliminary leaf in Volpone was in short lines and in the same fount of capitals as was employed in Thorpe's dedication to "Mr. W. H." On the opening leaf of Volpone stands a greeting of "The Two Famous Universities," to which "Ben: Jonson (The Grateful Acknowledger) dedicates both it [the play] and Himselfe." In very small type at the right-hand corner of the page, below the dedication, run the words "There follows an Epistle if (you dare venture on) the length." The Epistle begins overleaf.' Most equall. Used as an equivalent of the Latin æquus, just, or fair, not in the ordinary English sense of the word; cf. Cynthia's Revels 5. 1, p. 305: Whom equal Jove hath loved. |