Timber: or, Discoveries

work by Jonson

Also known as: “Explorata”, “Sylva”

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July 14, 2026

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Timber: or, Discoveries is a posthumously published collection of observations on life and literature by the English writer Ben Jonson. It was included in the second folio of his works in 1640, after his death in 1637.1

The work contains Jonson's thoughts on various subjects, including the nature of poetry and drama. It is also notable for Jonson's final tribute to his contemporary, William Shakespeare, whom he admired despite noting that Shakespeare was "full of wind" at times. Jonson is considered the second most important English dramatist of his era, after Shakespeare. His plays, such as Volpone and The Alchemist, are known for their sharp satire, intricate plots, and vivid characterizations.12

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dramatic literature
Western theory
… (1595) and Ben Jonson in Timber (1640) merely attacked contemporary stage practice. Jonson, in certain prefaces, however, also developed a tested theory of comic characterization (the “humours”) that was to affect English comedy for a hundred years. The best of Neoclassical criticism in English is John Dryden’s Of Dramatick Poesie,…
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… (1595) and Ben Jonson in Timber (1640) merely attacked contemporary stage practice. Jonson, in certain prefaces, however, also developed a tested theory of comic characterization (the “humours”) that was to affect English comedy for a hundred years. The best of Neoclassical criticism in English is John Dryden’s Of Dramatick Poesie,…
Read More

Ben Jonson
His prime and later life
…second Jonson folio (1640), appeared Timber: or, Discoveries, a series of observations on life and letters. Here Jonson held forth on the nature of poetry and drama and paid his final tribute to Shakespeare: in spite of acknowledging a belief that his great contemporary was, on occasion, “full of wind”—sufflaminandus…
Read More
…second Jonson folio (1640), appeared Timber: or, Discoveries, a series of observations on life and letters. Here Jonson held forth on the nature of poetry and drama and paid his final tribute to Shakespeare: in spite of acknowledging a belief that his great contemporary was, on occasion, “full of wind”—sufflaminandus…
Read More