Despite its popularity when it first appeared in print in 1600, Every
Man out of His Humour has never appeared as a single modern critical
edition until now. The volume's introduction and annotations convey
early modern obsessions with wealth and self-display by providing
historical contexts and pointing out the continuity of those obsessions
into modern life. The play is of interest because of its influence on
the course of city comedy and its wealth of information about social
relationships and colloquial language at the end of Elizabeth's reign.
Jonson's experiments in generating theatrical meaning continued
throughout his career, but Every Man out of His Humour - with its
youthful vigour and extraordinary visualizations of the urban capacity
for self-deceit - is a text that enriches the understanding of all the
plays that come after it.