Ben Jonson, pseud., Forged manuscript verse “No Songe No Supper,” signed “B. J.,” inscribed “To my speciall goode Friende Sr Wm Davenant”, c. 1800
Here we encounter a genuine attempt to invent a direct association between an aged, avuncular Ben Jonson—Shakespeare’s exact contemporary, and sometime rival, on the London stage—and the younger playwright William Davenant, whose own first urbane comedy, The Wits (1634), is thought to have been directly influenced by the elder Jonson. The association is made all the more convincing by the integral address leaf, “For Sir William Davenant at the Swanne Taverne by Charinge Cross,” and written commendation, “To my speciall goode Friende Sr Wm Davenant.” Unfortunately for this forger, he seems unaware of the fact that William had not been knighted “Sir William” until five years after Jonson’s death.