MILTON'S POETICAL WORKS. With Life, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes, by the Rev. Geroge Gilfillan
(Edinburgh, London and Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet; W. Robertson, 1853).
A VERY PLEASING EDITION WITH FINE BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL INFORMATION and a very attractive edition of Milton s poetical works. There is an extensive "Life of John Milton" and a fine "Critical Estimate of the Genius and Poetry of Milton". This copy is also an excellent example of the Victorian art of cloth binding decoration,
In PARADISE LOST, PARADISE REGAINED and SAMSON AGONISTES Milton revived the heroic verse of Homer and Virgil to frame the tale of Satan and Paradise that has become the best-known epic poem written in English. He had difficulty in finding a publisher because of the plague of 1665, which killed many pressmen, and the Great Fire of the following year, which destroyed many printing houses and those publishers who were still operating were wary of the project because of Milton's anti-Restoration sympathies.
Simmons, to whom he finally came, drove a hard bargain, and according to the agreement reached and the number of copies sold Milton was paid a total of £15. Milton s work survives and is revered to this day as amongst the most significant poetry and prose ever penned and additionally important, at a defining moment in the development of the English language. Item #31085
2 volumes. A fine edition of the Victorian period. Tall 8vo, publisher s Victorian dark-green cloth, the spines lettered and decorated in gilt and blind, the covers blind stamped with double fillet border rules enclosing a window of vines and flowers at the corners, a very handsome set. xxviii, 333; xxxvi, 328 pp. A bright and shining set, beautifully preserved with very little evidence of age or use.