Ben Jonson folios

Ben Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) collected his plays and other writings into a book he titled The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. In 1616 it was printed in London in the form of a folio. Second and third editions of his works were published posthumously in 1640 and 1692.

These editions of Ben Jonson's works were a crucial development in the publication of English Renaissance drama. The first folio collection, The Workes of Benjamin Jonson, treated stage plays as serious works of literature and stood as a precedent for other play collections that followed—notably the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays in 1623, the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio in 1647, and other collections that were important in preserving the dramatic literature of the age.