Editors Richard Harp of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Stanley Stewart of the University of California, Riverside, take great pleasure in announcing the publication of the first volume of "The Ben Jonson Journal," dedicated to the publication of essays and book reviews related to the works of the English poet Ben Jonson and his contemporaries.

Ben Jonson (1573-1637), the consulate Renaissance man, was arguably the greatest English poet and dramatist of the seventeenth century.

The stepson of a London bricklayer, Jonson was one of the most colorful men of his time. Soldier, actor, playwright, and poet, he was friend to the likes of such luminaries as playwrights William Shakespeare (who acted in one of Jonson's plays) and George Chapman, poet John Donne, scientist and philosopher Francis Bacon, and explorer Sir Walter Ralegh.

Jonson's literary prestige and influence were unrivaled during the reign of King James I (1603-1625), for whom he wrote a number of court musical entertainments known as masques. His plays were widely popular during the period and remain so today. Such plays as "The Alchemist" and "Volpone" played to sold-out audiences during the period and modern productions continue to draw large crowds.

A strong-willed man, Jonson was described by his contemporaries as fearless, warm-hearted, and intellectually honest. Recognized today primarily for his plays, his greatest achievement during his lifetime was his poetry, for which he was granted a pension by King James in 1616, making Jonson the first unofficial poet laureate of England. Jonson was also one of the first writers of the period to take an active interest in publishing his works for a commercial audience, supervising the printing of his collection of poems in "The Forest" and "The Epigrams" in the year of Shakespeare's death, 1616.

The editorial board of "The Ben Jonson Journal" is composed of 17 internationally known scholars from a number of world- renowned universities, including the University of Chicago and Columbia, Stanford, Cambridge, and New York universities. The journal is published annually by the University of Nevada Press and includes 300 pages of scholarly articles and book reviews related to Ben Jonson and his times written by some of the most well known scholars in the field.

For additional information about the journal, call Richard Harp at 895-0919.