Ben Jonson (1572-1637) was born in London and educated at Westminster School. He worked as a bricklayer, did military service in Flanders, and joined Henslowe's company of players, where he killed a fellow player in a duel. Volpone (1606) was the first of his four most celebrated plays. He also wrote several masques before 1625, when the death of James I ended his period of court favor. He is also remembered as a major influence on 17th century poets (known as "the tribe"). Volpone ("Fox"), a wealthy Venetian without heirs, devises a scheme to become wealthier by playing on people's greed. With the complicity of his servant Mosca, Volpone pretends to be near death. He accepts valuable gifts from three fortune hunters, each of whom receives personal assurance from Mosca that he alone is to inherit all of Volpone's wealth. The three are Corvion, who offers Volpone his wife; Voltore, an advocate; and Corbaccio, who disinherits his son in favor of Volpone. The plot is eventually revealed when Mosca attempts to take advantage of his master, and Volpone, Mosca, and the greedy trio are all punished according to their crimes and their social prominence. For illustrations, we are indebted to Rene ben Sussan, who drew realistic period characters and costumes utilizing his vast knowledge of theater. The illustrations were printed under his supervision in Paris: the key-plates through the collotype process by Louis Duval, and the colors applied by hand through stencils in the atalier of Maurice Beaufume. Sir Francis Meynell planned our edition. The composition of the text, the printing and the binding were all done by Charles Batey, Printer to Oxford University. The type is Oxford's "proprietary" type called Fell; and it was set by hand throughout. The printing was done upon an all-rag paper made in the mills of William Nash in Oxfordshire. The pages are deckled, and no two pages are the same size. The binding is of a solid "rust" color linen along the shelf-back, and a pattern-printed linen on the boards. The book is wrapped in a dust jacket of plain "rust" color, and it resides fittingly in a slipcase covered with paper printed with the same pattern. This is copy number 1133 of 1500, and is signed by Mr. ben Sussan. In addition to the dust jacket, the offer also includes both the essential four page Limited Editions Club Monthly Letter and the prepublication announcement. This is an exquisite book, lovingly produced by skilled artisans with the finest materials at every stage of the publishing process, and illustrated elegantly with well-research costumes by Rene ben Sussan. Because of condition, this book should draw the interest of LEC collectors, and because of price it should be accessible to a wide audience of all levels of sophistication and love of theater. Thank you for reading this presentation, and good luck in your searches. Feel free to contact me with any questions.