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Poetaster and the Prince of Love

Poetaster and the Prince of Love C H A R L E S C AT H C A RT A Note On the republication of Poetaster; or, The Arraignment in his Folio Works of 1616, Ben Jonson dedicated his play to Richard Martin. What connection may there be between the dedication to Martin, the intentions of Jonson in offering the dedication, and the various meanings Poetaster may have held for Elizabethan and Jacobean readers and spectators? Does the choice of dedicatee reflect an authorial understanding of the play’s purpose and significance? And may the selection of Martin reveal an attempt by Jonson to shape the way that his readers of 1616 would respond to the play of 1601? Of course, in discussing these possibilities, a further and more general question necessarily presents itself: on what basis do we assess whether the fact of a dedication indeed possesses a link with the burden of the work so dedicated? Poetaster’s Folio dedication of 1616 was absent from the play’s one previous print appearance, the quarto of 1602, a publication that occurred in the year following Poetaster’s composition and first performances. The Folio dedication alluded to Richard Martin’s representations to “the greatest Justice in the Kingdom” on http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Ben Jonson Journal Edinburgh University Press

Poetaster and the Prince of Love

Ben Jonson Journal , Volume 14 (2): 206 – Nov 1, 2007

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References (6)

Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Copyright
© Edinburgh University Press
Subject
Note
ISSN
1079-3453
eISSN
1755-165X
DOI
10.3366/bjj.2007.14.2.206
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

C H A R L E S C AT H C A RT A Note On the republication of Poetaster; or, The Arraignment in his Folio Works of 1616, Ben Jonson dedicated his play to Richard Martin. What connection may there be between the dedication to Martin, the intentions of Jonson in offering the dedication, and the various meanings Poetaster may have held for Elizabethan and Jacobean readers and spectators? Does the choice of dedicatee reflect an authorial understanding of the play’s purpose and significance? And may the selection of Martin reveal an attempt by Jonson to shape the way that his readers of 1616 would respond to the play of 1601? Of course, in discussing these possibilities, a further and more general question necessarily presents itself: on what basis do we assess whether the fact of a dedication indeed possesses a link with the burden of the work so dedicated? Poetaster’s Folio dedication of 1616 was absent from the play’s one previous print appearance, the quarto of 1602, a publication that occurred in the year following Poetaster’s composition and first performances. The Folio dedication alluded to Richard Martin’s representations to “the greatest Justice in the Kingdom” on

Journal

Ben Jonson JournalEdinburgh University Press

Published: Nov 1, 2007

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