Arts & Sciences

To my Bookseller

by Ben Jonson 1572-1637

From Epigrams (1616)

Arts & Sciences

Thou that mak'st gain thy end, and wisely well,
Call'st a book good, or bad, as it doth sell,
Use mine so too; I give thee leave: but crave,
For the luck's sake, it thus much favour have,
To lie upon thy stall, till it be sought;
Not offered, as it made suit to be bought;
Nor have my title-leaf on posts or walls,
Or in cleft-sticks, advanced to make calls
For termers, or some clerklike serving-man,
Who scarce can spell th' hard names; whose knight less can.
If, without these vile arts, it will not sell,
Send it to Bucklers-bury, there 'twill well.

✦ ✦ ✦

Epigrams, no. 3.

MLA

Jonson, Ben. “To my Bookseller.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/jonson/55/.

Chicago

Jonson, Ben. “To my Bookseller.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/jonson/55/.

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