The first edition of Milton's _Paradise Lost_, in ten books,
bears date of August 10, 1667. Seven years later, with many
changes and enlarged by two books, it appeared in a second
edition. All that Milton received for this poem was L10.
_Paradise Regained_ was first printed with _Samson Agonistes_
in 1671.
The standard biography of Milton is by Masson in six volumes
(London, 1859-1894). The best short sketch is Mark Pattison's
in John Morley's _English Men of Letters Series_ (New York,
1880). Another good short sketch is in Richard Garnett's
volume in _Great Writers' Series_ (London, 1890).
One of the best editions of Milton's _Prose Works_ is in the
Bohn Library, five volumes, edited by St. John.
_The Poetical Works_, edited by Masson, appeared in 1890 in
three volumes. Buching of Oxford issued in 1900 reprints of
the first editions under the title, _Poetical Works After the
Original Texts_.
Among famous essays on Milton may be named those by Dr.
Johnson, Macaulay, Lowell and Trent. Dr. Hiram Corson's
_Introduction to Milton's Works_ will be found valuable, as
will also Osgood's _The Classical Mythology of Milton's
English Poems_. In Hale's _Longer English Poems_ there are
chapters on Milton which are full of good suggestions.