Habitsof mind

In Habits of Mind, his fourth book on Ben Jonson, Robert C. Evans turns to the reading habits of one of the best-read and most-learned of all the great English poets and discovers that the impact of Jonson's reading on his own art was both immediate and strong. Studying Jonson's markings can provide unique insights into his own thinking and creativity, Evans postulates, because the poet's reading was not a distraction, but central to his inspiration and artistic development.

The marked books that Evans discusses are a deliberately mixed lot, and the methods used in discussing them are also intentionally diverse. The chosen works represent differing periods, genres, styles, and thematic concerns, thus suggesting the impressive range of Jonson's interests as well as the continuities that seem to underlie them.