Ben Jonson’s

Volpone

(or

The Fox

, as the play is subtitled) first appeared in print in a quarto edition in early 1607. According to the title page of this edition, the play was initially performed by Shakespeare’s acting company, the King’s Men, at the Globe “in the yeere 1605”, a date that, as scholars have argued, probably means around February or March 1606. As the title page of this edition also suggests, by this time the play had also been performed at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Volpone is widely regarded as Jonson’s first great play, one that initiated an important period of creativity and acclaim that included the production of Jonson’s other major comedies (Epicoene in 1609, The Alchemist in 1610, Bartholomew Fair in 1614), as well as his establishment

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Citation: Achilleos, Stella. "Volpone". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 February 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8647, accessed 19 March 2024.]

8647 Volpone 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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