In recording the publication of "Paradise Lost" in 1667, we have passed
over the interval of Milton's life immediately subsequent to the
completion of the poem in 1663. The first incident of any importance is
his migration to Chalfont St. Giles, near Beaconsfield, in
Buckinghamshire, about July, 1665, to escape the plague then devastating
London. Ell wood, whose family lived in the neighbourhood of Chalfont,
had at his request taken for him "a pretty box" in that village; and we
are, says Professor Masson, "to imagine Milton's house in Artillery Walk
shuttered up, and a coach and a large waggon brought to the door, and
the blind man helped in, and the wife and the three daughters following,
with a servant to look after the books and other things they have taken
with them, and the whole party driven away towards Giles-Chalfont."
According to the same authority, Chalfont well deserves the name of
Sleepy Hollow, lying at the bottom of a leafy dell. Milton's cottage,
alone of his residences, still exists, though divided into two
tenements. It is a two-storey dwelling, with a garden, is built of
brick, with wooden beams, musters nine rooms--though a question arises
whether some of them ought not rather to be described as closets; the
porch in which Milton may have breathed the summer air is gone, but the
parlour retains the latticed casement at which he sat, though through it
he could not see. His infirmity rendered the confined situation less of
a drawback, and there are abundance of pleasant lanes, along which he
could be conducted in his sightless strolls:--
"As one who long in populous city pent,
Where houses thick and sewers annoy the air,
Forth issuing on a summer's morn to breathe
Among the pleasant villages and farms
Adjoined, from each new thing conceives delight,
The smell of grain, or tedded grass, or kine,
Or dairy, each rural sight, each rural sound."
Milton was probably no stranger to the neighbourhood, having lived
within thirteen miles of it when he dwelt at Horton. Ellwood could not
welcome him on his arrival, being in prison on account of an affray at
what should have been the paragon of decorous solemnities--a Quaker
funeral. When released, about the end of August or the beginning of
September, he waited upon Milton, who, "after some discourses, called
for a manuscript of his; which he delivered to me, bidding me take it
home with me and read it at my leisure. When I set myself to read it, I
found it was that excellent poem which he entitled 'Paradise Lost.'"
Professor Masson justly remarks that Milton would not have trusted the
worthy Quaker adolescent with the only copy of his epic; we may be sure,
therefore, that other copies existed, and that the poem was at this
date virtually completed and ready for press. When the manuscript was
returned, Ellwood, after "modestly, but freely, imparting his judgment,"
observed, "Thou hast said much here of Paradise Lost, but what hast thou
to say of Paradise Found? He made no answer, but sat some time in a
muse; then brake off that discourse, and fell on another subject." The
plague was then at its height, and did not abate sufficiently for Milton
to return to town with safety until about February in the following
year, leaving, it has been asserted, a record of himself at Chalfont in
the shape of a sonnet on the pestilence regarded as a judgment for the
sins of the King, written with a diamond on a window-pane--as if the
blind poet could write even with a pen! The verses, nevertheless, may
not impossibly be genuine: they are almost too Miltonic for an imitator
between 1665 and 1738, when they were first published.
The public calamity of 1666 affected Milton more nearly than that of
1665. The Great Fire came within a quarter of a mile of his house, and
though he happily escaped the fate of Shirley, and did not make one of
the helpless crowd of the homeless and destitute, his means were
seriously abridged by the destruction of the house in Bread Street where
he had first seen the light, and which he had retained through all the
vicissitudes of his fortunes. He could not, probably, have published
"Paradise Lost" without the co-operation of Samuel Symmons. Symmons's
endeavours to push the sale of the book make the bibliographical history
of the first edition unusually interesting. There were at least nine
different issues, as fresh batches were successively bound up, with
frequent alterations of title-page as reasonable cause became apparent
to the strategic Symmons. First Milton's name is given in full, then he
is reduced to initials, then restored; Symmons's own name, at first
suppressed, by and by appears; his agents are frequently changed; and
the title is altered to suit the year of issue, that the book may seem a
novelty. The most important of all these alterations is one in which the
author must have actively participated--the introduction of the Argument
which, a hundred and forty years afterwards, was to cause Harriet
Martineau to take up "Paradise Lost" at the age of seven, and of the
Note on the metre conveying "a reason of that which stumbled many, why
this poem rimes not." Partly, perhaps, by help of these devices,
certainly without any aid from advertising or reviewing, the impression
of thirteen hundred copies was disposed of within twenty months, as
attested by Milton's receipt for his second five pounds, April 26,
1669--two years, less one day, since the signature of the original
contract. The first printed notice appeared after the edition had been
entirely sold. It was by Milton's nephew, Edward Phillips, and was
contained in a little Latin essay appended to Buchlerus's "Treasury of
Poetical Phrases."
"John Milton, in addition to other most elegant writings of his,
both in English and Latin, has recently published 'Paradise Lost,'
a poem which, whether we regard the sublimity of the subject, or
the combined pleasantness and majesty of the style, or the
sublimity of the invention, or the beauty of its images and
descriptions of nature, will, if I mistake not, receive the name
of truly heroic, inasmuch as by the suffrages of many not
unqualified to judge, it is reputed to have reached the perfection
of this kind of poetry."
The "many not unqualified" undoubtedly included the first critic of the
age, Dryden. Lord Buckhurst is also named as an admirer--pleasing
anecdotes respecting the practical expression of his admiration, and of
Sir John Denham's, seem apocryphal.
While "Paradise Lost" was thus slowly upbearing its author to the
highest heaven of fame, Milton was achieving other titles to renown, one
of which he deemed nothing inferior. We shall remember Ellwood's hint
that he might find something to say about Paradise Found, and the "muse"
into which it cast him. When, says the Quaker, he waited upon Milton
after the latter's return to London, Milton "showed me his second poem,
called 'Paradise Regained,' and in a pleasant tone said to me, 'This is
owing to you; for you put it into my head by the question you put to me
at Chalfont; which before I had not thought of.'" Ellwood does not tell
us the date of this visit, and Phillips may be right in believing that
"Paradise Regained" was entirely composed after the publication of
"Paradise Lost"; but it seems unlikely that the conception should have
slumbered so long in Milton's mind, and the most probable date is
between Michaelmas, 1665, and Lady-day, 1666. Phillips records that
Milton could never hear with patience "Paradise Regained" "censured to
be much inferior" to "Paradise Lost." "The most judicious," he adds,
agreed with him, while allowing that "the subject might not afford such
variety of invention," which was probably all that the injudicious
meant. There is no external evidence of the date of his next and last
poem, "Samson Agonistes," but its development of Miltonic mannerisms
would incline us to assign it to the latest period possible. The poems
were licensed by Milton's old friend, Thomas Tomkyns, July 2, 1670, but
did not appear until 1671. They were published in the same volume, but
with distinct title-pages and paginations; the publisher was John
Starkey; the printer an anonymous "J.M.," who was far from equalling
Symmons in elegance and correctness.
"Paradise Regained" is in one point of view the confutation of a
celebrated but eccentric definition of poetry as a "criticism of life."
If this were true it would be a greater work than "Paradise Lost," which
must be violently strained to admit a definition not wholly inapplicable
to the minor poem. If, again, Wordsworth and Coleridge are right in
pronouncing "Paradise Regained" the most perfect of Milton's works in
point of execution, the proof is afforded that perfect execution is not
the chief test of poetic excellence. Whatever these great men may have
propounded in theory, it cannot be believed that they would not have
rather written the first two books of "Paradise Lost" than ten such
poems as "Paradise Regained," and yet they affirm that Milton's power is
even more advantageously exhibited in the latter work than in the other.
There can be no solution except that greatness in poetry depends mainly
upon the subject, and that the subject of "Paradise Lost" is infinitely
the finer. Perhaps this should not be. Perhaps to "the visual nerve
purged with euphrasy and rue" the spectacle of the human soul
successfully resisting supernatural temptation would be more impressive
than the material sublimities of "Paradise Lost," but ordinary vision
sees otherwise. Satan "floating many a rood" on the sulphurous lake, or
"up to the fiery concave towering high," or confronting Death at the
gate of Hell, kindles the imagination with quite other fire than the
sage circumspection and the meek fortitude of the Son of God. "The
reason," says Blake, "why Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of
Angels and God, and at liberty when of Devils and Hell, is because he
was a true Poet, and of the Devil's party without knowing it." The
passages in "Paradise Regained" which most nearly approach the
magnificence of "Paradise Lost," are those least closely connected with
the proper action of the poem, the episodes with which Milton's
consummate art and opulent fancy have veiled the bareness of his
subject. The description of the Parthian military expedition; the
picture, equally gorgeous and accurate, of the Roman Empire at the
zenith of its greatness; the condensation into a single speech of all
that has made Greece dear to humanity--these are the shining peaks of
the regained "Paradise," marvels of art and eloquence, yet, unlike
"Paradise Lost," beautiful rather than awful. The faults inherent in the
theme cannot be imputed to the poet. No human skill could make the
second Adam as great an object of sympathy as the first: it is enough,
and it is wonderful, that spotless virtue should be so entirely exempt
from formality and dulness. The baffled Satan, beaten at his own
weapons, is necessarily a much less interesting personage than the
heroic adventurer of "Paradise Lost." Milton has done what can be done
by softening Satan's reprobate mood with exquisite strokes of pathos:--
"Though I have lost
Much lustre of my native brightness, lost
To be beloved of God, I have not lost
To love, at least contemplate and admire
What I see excellent in good or fair,
Or virtuous; I should so have lost all sense."
These words, though spoken with a deceitful intention, express a truth.
Milton's Satan is a long way from Goethe's Mephistopheles. Profound,
too, is the pathos of--
"I would be at the worst, worst is my best,
My harbour, and my ultimate repose."
The general sobriety of the style of "Paradise Regained" is a fertile
theme for the critics. It is, indeed, carried to the verge of baldness;
frigidity, used by Pattison, is too strong a word. This does not seem to
be any token of a decay of poetical power. As writers advance in life
their characteristics usually grow upon them, and develop into
mannerisms. In "Paradise Regained," and yet more markedly in "Samson
Agonistes," Milton seems to have prided himself on showing how
independent he could be of the ordinary poetical stock-in-trade. Except
in his splendid episodical descriptions he seeks to impress by the massy
substance of his verse. It is a great proof of the essentially poetical
quality of his mind that though he thus often becomes jejune, he is
never prosaic. He is ever unmistakably the poet, even when his beauties
are rather those of the orator or the moralist. The following sound
remark, for instance, would not have been poetry in Pope; it is poetry
in Milton:--
"Who reads
Incessantly, and to his reading brings not
A spirit and judgment equal or superior
(And what he brings what need he elsewhere seek?)
Uncertain and unsettled still remains?
Deep versed in books and shallow in himself."
Perhaps, too, the sparse flowers of pure poetry are more exquisite from
their contrast with the general austerity:--
"The field, all iron, cast a gleaming brown."
"Morning fair
Came forth with pilgrim steps in amice gray."
Poetic magic these, and Milton is still Milton.
"I have lately read his Samson, which has more of the antique spirit
than any production of any other modern poet. He is very great." Thus
Goethe to Eckermann, in his old age. The period of life is noticeable,
for "Samson Agonistes" is an old man's poem as respects author and
reader alike. There is much to repel, little to attract a young reader;
no wonder that Macaulay, fresh from college, put it so far below
"Comus," to which the more mature taste is disposed to equal it. It is
related to the earlier work as sculpture is to painting, but sculpture
of the severest school, all sinewy strength; studious, above all, of
impressive truth. "Beyond these an ancient fisherman and a rock are
fashioned, a rugged rock, whereon with might and main the old man drags
a great net from his cast, as one that labours stoutly. Thou wouldest
say that he is fishing with all the might of his limbs, so big the
sinews swell all about his neck, grey-haired though he is, but his
strength is as the strength of youth."[9] Behold here the Milton of
"Samson Agonistes," a work whose beauty is of metal rather than of
marble, hard, bright, and receptive of an ineffaceable die. The great
fault is the frequent harshness of the style, principally in the
choruses, where some strophes are almost uncouth. In the blank verse
speeches perfect grace is often united to perfect dignity: as in the
farewell of Dalila:--
"Fame if not double-faced is double-mouthed,
And with contrary blast proclaims most deeds;
On both his wings, one black, the other white,
Bears greatest names in his wild aery flights.
My name perhaps among the circumcised,
In Dan, in Judah, and the bordering tribes,
To all posterity may stand defamed,
With malediction mentioned, and the blot
Of falsehood most unconjugal traduced.
But in my country where I most desire,
In Ecron, Gaza, Asdod, and in Gath,
I shall be named among the famousest
Of women, sung at solemn festivals,
Living and dead recorded, who to save
Her country from a fierce destroyer, chose
Above the faith of wedlock-bands; my tomb
With odours visited and annual flowers."
The scheme of "Samson Agonistes" is that of the Greek drama, the only
one appropriate to an action of such extreme simplicity, admitting so
few personages, and these only as foils to the hero. It is, but for its
Miltonisms of style and autobiographic and political allusion, just such
a drama as Sophocles or Euripides would have written on the subject, and
has all that depth of patriotic and religious sentiment which made the
Greek drama so inexpressibly significant to Greeks. Consummate art is
shown in the invention of the Philistine giant, Harapha, who not only
enriches the meagre action, and brings out strong features in the
character of Samson, but also prepares the reader for the catastrophe.
We must say reader, for though the drama might conceivably be acted with
effect on a Court or University stage, the real living theatre has been
no place for it since the days of Greece. Milton confesses as much when
in his preface he assails "the poet's error of intermixing comic stuff
with tragic sadness and gravity; or introducing trivial and vulgar
persons, which by all judicious hath been counted absurd; and brought in
without discretion, corruptly to gratify the people." In his view
tragedy should be eclectic; in Shakespeare's it should be all embracing.
Shelley, perhaps, judged more rightly than either when he said: "The
modern practice of blending comedy with tragedy is undoubtedly an
extension of the dramatic circle; but the comedy should be as in 'King
Lear,' universal, ideal, and sublime." On the whole, "Samson Agonistes"
is a noble example of a style which we may hope will in no generation be
entirely lacking to our literature, but which must always be exotic,
from its want of harmony with the more essential characteristics of our
tumultous, undisciplined, irrepressible national life.
In one point of view, however, "Samson Agonistes" deserves to be
esteemed a national poem, pregnant with a deeper allusiveness than has
always been recognized. Samson's impersonation of the author himself can
escape no one. Old, blind, captive, helpless, mocked, decried, miserable
in the failure of all his ideals, upheld only by faith and his own
unconquerable spirit, Milton is the counterpart of his hero. Particular
references to the circumstances of his life are not wanting: his bitter
self-condemnation for having chosen his first wife in the camp of the
enemy, and his surprise that near the close of an austere life he should
be afflicted by the malady appointed to chastise intemperance. But, as
in the Hebrew prophets Israel sometimes denotes a person, sometimes a
nation, Samson seems no less the representative of the English people in
the age of Charles the Second. His heaviest burden is his remorse, a
remorse which could not weigh on Milton:--
"I do acknowledge and confess
That I this honour, I this pomp have brought
To Dagon, and advanced his praises high
Among the heathen round; to God have brought
Dishonour, obloquy, and oped the mouths
Of idolists and atheists; have brought scandal
To Israel, diffidence of God, and doubt
In feeble hearts, propense enough before
To waver, to fall off, and join with idols;
Which is my chief affliction, shame, and sorrow,
The anguish of my soul, that suffers not
My eye to harbour sleep, or thoughts to rest."
Milton might reproach himself for having taken a Philistine wife, but
not with having suffered her to shear him. But the same could not be
said of the English nation, which had in his view most foully
apostatized from its pure creed, and most perfidiously betrayed the high
commission it had received from Heaven. "This extolled and magnified
nation, regardless both of honour won, or deliverances vouchsafed, to
fall back, or rather to creep back, so poorly as it seems the multitude
would, to their once abjured and detested thraldom of kingship! To be
ourselves the slanderers of our own just and religious deeds! To verify
all the bitter predictions of our triumphing enemies, who will now think
they wisely discerned and justly censured us and all our actions as
rash, rebellious, hypocritical, and impious!" These things, which Milton
refused to contemplate as possible when he wrote his "Ready Way to
establish a Free Commonwealth," had actually come to pass. The English
nation is to him the enslaved and erring Samson--a Samson, however, yet
to burst his bonds, and bring down ruin upon Philistia. "Samson
Agonistes" is thus a prophetic drama, the English counterpart of the
world-drama of "Prometheus Bound."
Goethe says that our final impression of any one is derived from the
last circumstances in which we have beheld him. Let us, therefore,
endeavour to behold Milton as he appeared about the time of the
publication of his last poems, to which period of his life the
descriptions we possess seem to apply. Richardson heard of his sitting
habitually "in a grey coarse cloth coat at the door of his house near
Bunhill Fields, in warm sunny weather to enjoy the fresh air"--a
suggestive picture. What thoughts must have been travelling through his
mind, undisturbed by external things! How many of the passers knew that
they flitted past the greatest glory of the age of Newton, Locke, and
Wren? For one who would reverence the author of "Paradise Lost," there
were probably twenty who would have been ready with a curse for the
apologist of the killing of the King. In-doors he was seen by Dr.
Wright, in Richardson's time an aged clergyman in Dorsetshire, who found
him up one pair of stairs, in a room hung with rusty green "sitting in
an elbow chair, black clothes, and neat enough, pale but not cadaverous;
his hands and fingers gouty and with chalk-stones." Gout was the enemy
of Milton's latter days; we have seen that he had begun to suffer from
it before he wrote "Samson Agonistes." Without it, he said, he could
find blindness tolerable. Yet even in the fit he would be cheerful, and
would sing. It is grievous to write that, about 1670, the departure of
his daughters promoted the comfort of his household. They were sent out
to learn embroidery as a means of future support--a proper step in
itself, and one which would appear to have entailed considerable expense
upon Milton. But they might perfectly well have remained inmates of the
family, and the inference is that domestic discord had at length grown
unbearable to all. Friends, or at least visitors, were, on the other
hand, more numerous than of late years. The most interesting were the
"subtle, cunning, and reserved" Earl of Anglesey, who must have "coveted
Milton's society and converse" very much if, as Phillips reports, he
often came all the way to Bunhill Fields to enjoy it; and Dryden, whose
generous admiration does not seem to have been affected by Milton's
over-hasty sentence upon him as "a good rhymester, but no poet." One of
Dryden's visits is famous in literary history, when he came with the
modest request that Milton would let him turn his epic into an opera.
"Aye," responded Milton, equal to the occasion, "tag my verses if you
will"--to tag being to put a shining metal point--compared in Milton's
fancy to a rhyme--at the end of a lace or cord. Dryden took him at his
word, and in due time "Paradise Lost" had become an opera under the
title of "The State of Innocence and Fall of Man," which may also be
interpreted as referring to the condition of the poem before Dryden laid
hands upon it and afterwards. It is a puzzling performance altogether;
one sees not any more than Sir Walter Scott could see how a drama
requiring paradisiacal costume could have been acted even in the age of
Nell Gwyn; and yet it is even more unlikely that Dryden should have
written a play not intended for the stage. The same contradiction
prevails in the piece itself; it would not be unfair to call it the most
absurd burlesque ever written without burlesque intention; and yet it
displays such intellectual resources, such vigour, bustle, adroitness,
and bright impudence, that admiration almost counterweighs derision.
Dryden could not have made such an exhibition of Milton and himself
twenty years afterwards, when he said that, much as he had always
admired Milton, he felt that he had not admired him half enough. The
reverence which he felt even in 1674 for "one of the greatest, most
noble, and most sublime poems which either this age or nation has
produced," contrasts finely with the ordinary Restoration estimate of
Milton conveyed in the complimentary verses by Lee, prefixed to "The
State of Innocence":--
"To the dead bard your fame a little owes,
For Milton did the wealthy mine disclose,
And rudely cast what you could well dispose.
He roughly drew, on an old-fashioned ground,
A chaos, for no perfect world was found,
Till through the heap your mighty genius shined;
He was the golden ore, which you refined."
These later years also produced several little publications of Milton's
own, mostly of manuscripts long lying by him, now slightly revised and
fitted for the press. Such were his miniature Latin grammar, published
in 1669; and his "Artis Logicae Plenior Institutio; or The Method of
Ramus," 1672. The first is insignificant; and the second even Professor
Masson pronounces, "as a digest of logic, disorderly and unedifying."
Both apparently belong to his school-keeping days: the little tract, "Of
True Religion, Heresy, Schism, Toleration," (1673) is, on the other
hand, contemporary with a period of great public excitement, when
Parliament (March, 1673) compelled the king to revoke his edict of
toleration autocratically promulgated in the preceding year, and to
assent to a severe Test Act against Roman Catholics. The good sense and
good nature which inclined Charles to toleration were unfortunately
alloyed with less creditable motives. Protestants justly suspected him
of insidiously aiming at the re-establishment of Roman Catholicism, and
even the persecuted Nonconformists patriotically joined with High
Churchmen to adjourn their own deliverance until the country should be
safe from the common enemy. The wisdom and necessity of this course were
abundantly evinced under the next reign, and while we must regret that
Milton contributed his superfluous aid to restrictions only defensible
on the ground of expediency, we must admit that he could not well avoid
making Roman Catholics an exception to the broad tolerance he claims for
all denominations of Protestants. And, after all, has not the Roman
Catholic Church's notion of tolerance always been that which Macaulay
imputes to Southey, that everybody should tolerate her, and that she
should tolerate nobody?
A more important work, though scarcely worthy of Milton's industry, was
his "History of Britain" (1670). This was a comparatively early labour,
four of the six books having been written before he entered upon the
Latin Secretaryship, and two under the Commonwealth. From its own point
of view, this is a meritorious performance, making no pretensions to the
character of a philosophical history, but a clear, easy narrative,
sometimes interrupted by sententious disquisition, of transactions down
to the Conquest. Like Grote, though not precisely for the same reason,
Milton hands down picturesque legendary matter as he finds it, and it is
to those who would see English history in its romantic aspect that, in
these days of exact research, his work is chiefly to be recommended. It
is also memorable for what he never saw himself, the engraved portrait,
after Faithorne's crayon sketch.
"No one," says Professor Masson, "can desire a more impressive and
authentic portrait of Milton in his later life. The face is such
as has been given to no other human being; it was and is uniquely
Milton's. Underneath the broad forehead and arched temples there
are the great rings of eye-socket, with the blind, unblemished
eyes in them, drawn straight upon you by your voice, and
speculating who and what you are; there is a severe composure in
the beautiful oval of the whole countenance, disturbed only by the
singular pouting of the rich mouth; and the entire expression is
that of English intrepidity mixed with unutterable sorrow."
Milton's care to set his house in order extended to his poetical
writings. In 1673 the poems published in 1645, both English and Latin,
appeared in a second edition, disclosing _novas frondes_ in one or two
of Milton's earliest unprinted poems, and such of the sonnets as
political considerations did not exclude; and _non sua poma_ in the
Tractate of Education, curiously grafted on at the end. An even more
important publication was the second edition of "Paradise Lost" (1674)
with the original ten books for the first time divided into twelve as we
now have them. Nor did this exhaust the list of Milton's literary
undertakings. He was desirous of giving to the world his correspondence
when Latin Secretary, and the "Treatise on Christian Doctrine" which had
employed so much of his thoughts at various periods of his life. The
Government, though allowing the publication of his familiar Latin
correspondence (1674), would not tolerate the letters he had written as
secretary to the Commonwealth, and the "Treatise on Christian Doctrine"
was still less likely to propitiate the licenser. Holland was in that
day the one secure asylum of free thought, and thither, in 1675, the
year following Milton's death, the manuscripts were taken or sent by
Daniel Skinner, a nephew of Cyriack's, to Daniel Elzevir, who agreed to
publish them. Before publication could take place, however, a
clandestine but correct edition of the State letters appeared in London,
probably by the agency of Edward Phillips. Skinner, in his vexation,
appealed to the authorities to suppress this edition: they took the
hint, and suppressed his instead. Elzevir delivered up the manuscripts,
which the Secretary of State pigeon-holed until their existence was
forgotten. At last, in 1823, Mr. Robert Lemon, rummaging in the State
Paper Office, came upon the identical parcel addressed by Elzevir to
Daniel Skinner's father which contained his son's transcript of the
State Letters and the "Treatise on Christian Doctrine." Times had
changed, and the heretical work was edited and translated by George the
Fourth's favourite chaplain, and published at his Majesty's expense.
The "Treatise on Christian Doctrine" is by far the most remarkable of
all Milton's later prose publications, and would have exerted a great
influence on opinion if it had appeared when the author designed.
Milton's name would have been a tower of strength to the liberal
eighteenth-century clergy inside and outside the Establishment. It
should indeed have been sufficiently manifest that "Paradise Lost" could
not have been written by a Trinitarian or a Calvinist; but theological
partisanship is even slower than secular partisanship to see what it
does not choose to see; and Milton's Arianism was not generally admitted
until it was here avouched under his own hand. The general principle of
the book is undoubting reliance on the authority of Scripture, with
which such an acquaintance is manifested as could only have been gained
by years of intense study. It is true that the doctrine of the inward
light as the interpreter of Scripture is asserted with equal conviction;
but practically this illumination seems seldom to have guided Milton to
any sense but the most obvious. Hence, with the intrepid consistency
that belongs to him, he is not only an Arian, but a tolerator of
polygamy, finding that practice nowhere condemned in Scripture, but even
recommended by respectable examples; an Anthropomorphist, who takes the
ascription of human passion to the Deity in the sense certainly intended
by those who made it; a believer in the materiality and natural
mortality of the soul, and in the suspension of consciousness between
death and the resurrection. Where less fettered by the literal Word he
thinks boldly; unable to conceive creation out of nothing, he regards
all existence as an emanation from the Deity, thus entitling himself to
the designation of Pantheist. He reiterates his doctrine of divorce; and
is as strong an Anti-Sabbatarian as Luther himself. On the Atonement and
Original Sin, however, he is entirely Evangelical; and he commends
public worship so long as it is not made a substitute for spiritual
religion. Liturgies are evil, and tithes abominable. His exposition of
social duty tempers Puritan strictness with Cavalier high-breeding, and
the urbanity of a man of the world. Of his motives for publication and
method of composition he says:--
"It is with a friendly and benignant feeling towards mankind that
I give as wide a circulation as possible to what I esteem my best
and richest possession.... And whereas the greater part of those
who have written most largely on these subjects have been wont to
fill whole pages with explanations of their own opinions,
thrusting into the margin the texts in support of their doctrines,
I have chosen, on the contrary, to fill my pages even to
redundance with quotations from Scripture, so that as little space
as possible might be left for my own words, even when they arise
from the context of revelation itself."
There is consequently little scope for eloquence in a treatise
consisting to so large an extent of quotations; but it is pervaded by a
moral sublimity, more easily felt than expressed. Particular opinions
will be diversely judged; but if anything could increase our reverence
for Milton it would be that his last years should have been devoted to a
labour so manifestly inspired by disinterested benevolence and hazardous
love of truth.
His life's work was now finished, and finished with entire success as
far as depended upon his own will and power. He had left nothing
unwritten, nothing undone, nor was he ignorant what manner of monument
he had raised for himself, It was only the condition of the State that
afflicted him, and this, looking forward, he saw in more gloomy colours
than it appears to us who look back. Had he attained his father's age
his apprehensions would have been dispelled by the Revolution: but he
had evidently for some time past been older in constitution than in
years. In July, 1674, he was anticipating death; but about the middle of
October, "he was very merry and seemed to be in good health of body."
Early in November "the gout struck in," and he died on November 8th,
late at night, "with so little pain that the time of his expiring was
not perceived by those in the room." On November 12th, "all his learned
and great friends in London, not without a concourse of the vulgar,
accompanied his body to the church of St. Giles, near Cripplegate, where
he was buried in the chancel." In 1864, the church was restored in
honour of the great enemy of religious establishments. "The animosities
die, but the humanities live for ever."
* * * * *
Milton's resources had been greatly impaired in his latter years by
losses, and the expense of providing for his daughters. He nevertheless
left, exclusive of household goods, about £900, which, by a nuncupative
will made in July, 1674, he had wholly bequeathed to his wife. His
daughters, he told his brother Christopher (now a Roman Catholic, and on
the road to become one of James the Second's judges, but always on
friendly terms with John), had been undutiful, and he thought that he
had done enough for them. They naturally thought otherwise, and
threatened litigation. The interrogatories administered on this occasion
afford the best clue to the condition of Milton's affairs and household.
At length the dispute was compromised, the nuncupative will, a kind of
document always regarded with suspicion, was given up, and the widow
received two-thirds of the estate instead of the whole, probably the
fairest settlement that could have been arrived at. After residing some
years in London she retired to Nantwich in her native county, where
divers glimpses reveal her as leading the decent existence of a poor but
comfortable gentlewoman as late as August or September, 1727. The
inventory of her effects, amounting to £38 8s. 4d., is preserved, and
includes: "Mr. Milton's pictures and coat of arms, valued at ten
guineas;" and "two Books of Paradise," valued at ten shillings. Of the
daughters, Anne married "a master-builder," and died in childbirth some
time before 1678; Mary was dead when Phillips wrote in 1694; and Deborah
survived until August 24, 1727, dying within a few days of her
stepmother. She had married Abraham Clarke, a weaver and mercer in
Dublin, who took refuge in England during the Irish troubles under James
the Second, and carried on his business in Spitalfields. She had several
children by him, one of whom lived to receive, in 1750, the proceeds of
a theatrical benefit promoted by Bishop Newton and Samuel Johnson.
Deborah herself was brought into notice by Addison, and was visited by
Professor Ward of Gresham College, who found her "bearing the
inconveniences of a low fortune with decency and prudence." Her last
days were made comfortable by the generosity of Princess Caroline and
others: it is more pleasant still to know that her affection for her
father had revived. When shown Faithorne's crayon portrait (not the one
engraved in Milton's lifetime, but one exceedingly like it) she
exclaimed, "in a transport, ''Tis my dear father, I see him, 'tis him!'
and then she put her hands to several parts of her face, ''Tis the very
man, here! here!'"
* * * * *
Milton's character is one of the things which "securus judicat orbis
terrarum." On one point only there seems to us, as we have frequently
implied, to be room for modification. In the popular conception of
Milton the poet and the man are imperfectly combined. We allow his
greatness as a poet, but deny him the poetical temperament which alone
could have enabled him to attain it. He is looked upon as a great, good,
reverend, austere, not very amiable, and not very sensitive man. The
author and the book are thus set at variance, and the attempt to
conceive the character as a whole results in confusion and
inconsistency. To us, on the contrary, Milton, with all his strength of
will and regularity of life, seems as perfect a representative as any of
his compeers of the sensitiveness and impulsive passion of the poetical
temperament. We appeal to his remarkable dependence upon external
prompting for his compositions; to the rapidity of his work under
excitement, and his long intervals of unproductiveness; to the heat and
fury of his polemics; to the simplicity with which, fortunately for us,
he inscribes small particulars of his own life side by side with
weightiest utterances on Church and State; to the amazing precipitancy
of his marriage and its rupture; to his sudden pliability upon appeal to
his generosity; to his romantic self-sacrifice when his country demanded
his eyes from him; above all, to his splendid ideals of regenerated
human life, such as poets alone either conceive or realize. To overlook
all this is to affirm that Milton wrote great poetry without being truly
a poet. One more remark may be added, though not required by thinking
readers. We must beware of confounding the essential with the accidental
Milton--the pure vital spirit with the casual vesture of the creeds and
circumstances of the era in which it became clothed with mortality:--
"They are still immortal
Who, through birth's orient portal
And death's dark chasm hurrying to and fro,
Clothe their unceasing flight
In the brief dust and light
Gathered around their chariots as they go.
New shapes they still may weave,
New gods, new laws, receive."
If we knew for certain which of the many causes that have enlisted noble
minds in our age would array Milton's spirit "in brief dust and light,"
supposing it returned to earth in this nineteenth century, we should
know which was the noblest of them all, but we should be as far as ever
from knowing a final and stereotyped Milton.
THE END.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: A famous Presbyterian tract of the day, so called from the
combined initials of the authors, one of whom was Milton's old
instructor, Thomas Young. The "Remonstrant" to whom Milton replied was
Bishop Hall.]
[Footnote 2: This principle admitted of general application. For
example, astrological books were to be licensed by John Booker, who
could by no means see his way to pass the prognostications of his rival
Lilly without "many impertinent obliterations," which made Lilly
exceeding wroth.]
[Footnote 3: Two persons of this uncommon name are mentioned in the
State Papers of Milton's time--one a merchant who imported a cargo of
timber; the other a leatherseller. The name also occurs once in Pepys.]
[Footnote 4: Rossetti's sonnet, "On the Refusal of Aid between Nations,"
is an almost equally remarkable instance.]
[Footnote 5: The same is recorded of Friedrich Hebbel, the most original
of modern German dramatists.]
[Footnote 6: In his "Urim of Conscience," 1695. This curious book
contains one of the first English accounts of Buddha, whom the author
calls Chacabout (Sakhya Buddha, apparently), and of the "Christians of
St. John" at Bassora.]
[Footnote 7: Ariosto and Marcellus Palingenius. Both these wrote before
Ronsard, to whom the thought is traced by Pattison, and Valvasone, to
whom Hayley deems Milton indebted for it.]
[Footnote 8: We cannot agree with Mr. Edmundson that Milton was in any
respect indebted to Vondel's "Adam's Banishment," published in 1664.]
[Footnote 9: Theocritus, Idyll I.; Lang's translation.]
INDEX.
A.
Adam, not the hero of "Paradise Lost," 155
Adonais compared with Lycidas, 51
Aldersgate Street, Milton's home in, 67, 83
"Allegro, L.," 49-50
Andreini, his "Adamo" supposed to have suggested "Paradise Lost," 169
Anglesey, Earl of, visits Milton, 186
"Animadversions upon the Remonstrant," 72
"Apology for Smectymnuus," 72
"Arcades," 44
"Areopagitica, the," 78;
argument of, 79-82
Arian opinions of Milton, 159, 191
Ariosto, Milton borrows from, 164
Artillery Walk, Milton's last house, 144
"At a Solemn Music," 33
Aubrey's biographical notices of Milton, 14, 15, 19, 24, 129, 144, 145
B.
Ball's Life of Preston, 23
Barbican, Milton's house in the, 96
Baroni, Leonora, admired by Milton, 62
Beddoes, T.L., on Milton and Vondel, 170
Benrath on Ochino's "Divine Tragedy," 171
Blake on Milton, 179
Bradshaw, Milton's praise of, 120
Bread Street, Milton born in, 16
Bridgewater, Lord, "Comus" written in his honour, 45
Bright, John, his admiration for Milton, 164.
British Museum, copy of Milton's poems in, 97;
proclamation against Milton's books preserved in the, 139
Buckhurst, Lord, his admiration of "Paradise Lost," 177
C.
Caedmon, question of Milton's indebtedness to, 169
Calderon's "Magico Prodigioso" compared with "Comus," 54;
with "Paradise Lost," 163
Cambridge in Milton's time, 22
Cardinal Barberini receives Milton, 62
Caroline, Princess, her kindness to Milton's daughter, 195
Chalfont St. Giles, Milton's residence at, 173
Chappell, W., Milton's college tutor, 24
Charles I., illegal government of, 30;
expedition against the Scots, 67;
execution of, 100;
alleged authorship of "Eikon Basilike," 105-107;
a bad king, but not a bad man, 110
Charles II., restoration of, 138;
favour to Roman Catholics, 188
Christ's College, Milton at, 22
"Christian Doctrine," Milton's treatise on, 99, 190-193
"Civil Power in Ecclesiastical Causes," 132
Clarke, Deborah, Milton's youngest daughter;
her reminiscences of her father, 195
Clarke, Mr. Hyde, his discoveries respecting Milton's ancestry, 14, 15
Clarke, Sir T., Milton's MSS. preserved by, 129
Coleridge, Milton compared with, 41;
on Milton's taste for music, 63;
on "Paradise Regained," 178
Comenius, educational method of, 76
Commonwealth, Milton's views of a free, 136
"Comus," production of, 38, 44, 46;
criticism on, 53-55
"Considerations on the likeliest means to remove Hirelings out of the
Church," 133
Copernican theory only partly adopted in "Paradise Lost," 158
Cosmogony of Milton, 157
Cromwell, Milton's character of, 121;
Milton's advice to, 122
D.
Dante and Milton compared, 160
Daughters, character of Milton's, 142
Davis, Miss, Milton's suit to, 94
Deity, imperfect conception of, in "Paradise Lost," 154
Denham, Sir J., his admiration of "Paradise Lost," 177
Diodati, Milton's friendship with, 21;
verses to, 25;
letters to, 39, 41, 55;
death of, 65;
Milton's elegy on, 43, 67
"Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce," 79, 87-91
Dryden, on "Paradise Lost," 177;
visits Milton, 187;
dramatizes "Paradise Lost," 187
Du Moulin, Peter, author of "Regii Sanguinis Clamor ad Coelum," 118
E.
Edmundson, Mr. G., on Milton and Vondel, 170
Education, Milton's tract on, 75-77
"Eikon Basilike," authorship of, 105-107
"Eikonoklastes," Milton's reply to "Eikon Basilike," 108
Ellwood, Thomas, the Quaker, reads to Milton, 145;
suggests "Paradise Regained," 175
Elzevir, Daniel, receives and gives up the MS. of "State Letters" and
the "Treatise on Christian Doctrine," 191
F.
Fairfax, Milton's character of, 120
Faithorne's portrait of Milton, 189
G.
Galileo, Milton's visit to, 61
Gauden, Bishop, author of "Eikon Basilike," 106
_Gentleman's Magazine_, account of Horton in, 36
Goethe on "Samson Agonistes," 181
Gill, Mr., Milton's master at St. Paul's school, 20
Gosse, Mr., on Milton and Vondel, 170
Greek, influence of, on Milton, 33, 39
Grotius, Hugo, Milton introduced to, 59;
Milton's study of, 169
H.
Hartlib, S., Milton's tract on Education inspired by, 75
"History of Britain" by Milton, 99, 189
Holstenius, Lucas, librarian of the Vatican, 63
Homer and Shakespeare compared, 2;
and compared with Milton, 160, 165, 167
Horton, Milton retires to, 33;
poems written at, 44
Hunter, Rev. Joseph, on Milton's ancestors, 14
"Hymn on the Nativity," 32
I.
Italian sonnets by Milton, 64
Italy, Milton's journey to, 56-65
J.
Jansen, Cornelius, paints Milton's portrait, 19
Jeffrey, Sarah, Milton's mother, 16
Jewin Street, Milton's house in, 144
Johnson, Dr., on "Lycidas," 51;
benefits Milton's granddaughter, 195
K.
Keats, Milton contrasted with, 41
King, Edward, "Lycidas," an elegy on his death, 48
L.
Landor, his Latin verse compared with Milton's, 43
Latin grammar by Milton, 188
Latin Secretaryship to the Commonwealth, Milton's appointment to, 102
Laud, Archbishop, Church government of, 30;
Milton's veiled attack on, 49
Lawes, Henry, writes music to "Comus" and "Arcades," 44;
edits "Comus," 47
Lee, Nathaniel, his verses on Milton, 188
Lemon, Mr. Robert, discovers MS. of "State Letters" and the "Treatise
on Christian Doctrine," 191
Letters, Milton's official, 123
Logic, Milton's tract on, 188
Long Parliament, meeting of the, 68;
licensing of books by, 78
Lucifer, Vondel's, 170
Ludlow Castle, "Comus" first performed at, 46
"Lycidas," origin of, 40, 48;
analysis of, criticism on, 50, 52
M.
Manso, Marquis, poem on, 64
Marshall, Milton's portrait engraved by, 97
Marriage, Milton's views on, 94
Martineau, Harriet, reads "Paradise Lost" at seven years of age, 176
Mason, C., Milton's MSS. preserved by, 129
Masson, Prof. David, his monumental biography of Milton, 14;
on Milton's ancestors, _ib._;
on Milton's college career, 23, 25;
on the scenery of Horton, 35;
on date of Divorce pamphlet, 87;
on date of "Paradise Lost," 147;
on money received for "Paradise Lost," 150;
on Milton's cosmogony, 156;
his description of Chalfont, 173;
on Milton's portrait, 189
Milton, Christopher, John Milton's younger brother, birth of, 16;
a Royalist, 91;
a Roman Catholic, and one of James the Second's judges, 194
Milton, John, the elder, birth, 15;
a scrivener by profession, _ib._;
musical compositions of, 18;
retirement to Horton, 33;
his noble confidence in his son, 37, 45;
comes to live with his son, 91;
dies, 98
Milton, John, birth, 11;
genealogy of, 14;
birthplace, 16;
his father, 17;
his education, 18-27;
knowledge of Italian, 21;
at Cambridge, 22-28;
rusticated, 25;
his degree, 1629; 25;
will not enter the church, 29;
early poems, 32;
writes "Comus," 38;
required incitement to write, 40, 48;
correctness of his early poems, 42;
his life at Horton, 44-55;
his "Comus" and "Arcades," 44-48;
his "Lycidas," 48;
his mother's death, 55;
goes to Italy, 56;
his Italian friends, 59;
visits Galileo, 61;
Italian sonnets, 64;
educates his nephews, 65;
elegy to Diodati, 67;
eighteen years' poetic silence, 68;
takes part with the Commonwealth, 68;
pamphlets on Church government, 72;
tract on Education, 75;
"Areopagitica," 79;
Italian sonnet, 85;
his first marriage, 86;
deserted by his wife, his treatise on Divorce, 87;
his pupils, 91;
return of his wife, 96;
his daughter born, 98;
becomes Secretary for Foreign Tongues, 102;
his State papers, 104;
licenses pamphlets, 105;
answers "Eikon Basilike," 108;
answers Salmasius, 111;
loses his sight, 114;
death of his wife, 116;
reply to Morus, 119;
his official duties 122;
his retirement and second marriage, 125;
projected ninety-nine themes preparatory to "Paradise Lost," 129;
wrote chiefly from autumn to spring, 132;
his views of a republic, 136;
escapes proscription at Restoration, 139;
unhappy relations with his daughters, 141;
third marriage, 143;
writing "Paradise Lost," 147-150;
analysis of his work, 152-172;
compared with modern poets, 166;
his indebtedness to earlier poets, 169;
retires to Chalfont to escape the plague, 173;
he suffers from the Great Fire, 175;
his "Paradise Regained," 177;
his "Samson Agonistes," 180-85;
his later life, 186;
his later tracts, 188, 190;
his "History of Britain," 189;
his Arian opinions, 192;
his death, 193;
his will, 194;
his widow and daughters, 195;
estimate of his character, 196
Milton, Richard, Milton's grandfather, 14, 15
Minshull, Elizabeth, Milton's third wife, 143;
Milton's will in favour of, 194;
death, _ib._
Monk, General, character of, 135
Morland, Sir Samuel, on "Paradise Lost," 163
Morus, A., his controversy with Milton, 118-119
Myers, Mr. E., on Milton's views of marriage, 91
N.
Newton, Bishop, benefits Milton's granddaughter, 195
O.
Ochino, B., Milton's indebtedness to, 171
"On a fair Infant," 33
P.
Paget, Dr., Milton's physician, 143, 145
Palingenius, Marcellus, Milton borrows from, 164
Pamphlets, Milton's, 72, 75, 78, 79, 87, 99, 100, 108, 113, 132, 133, 136-8
"Paradise Lost," 128;
four schemes for, 129;
first conceived as drama, 130;
manner of composition, 147;
dates of, 147-150;
critique of, 152-172;
successive publications of, 176
"Paradise Regained," 177;
criticism on, 178-180
"Passion of Christ," 32
Pattison, Mark, on "Lycidas," 51;
on Milton's political career, 68;
on fanaticism of Commonwealth, 133;
on "Paradise Lost," 159;
on Milton's diction, 165
"Penseroso, Il," 40, 49
Pepys, S., on Restoration, 135, 138
Petty France, Westminster, Milton's home in, 117
Philaras, Milton's Greek friend, 114
Phillips, E., Milton's brother-in-law, 22, 65
Phillips, Edward, Milton's nephew, on Milton's ancestry, 14;
educated by his uncle, 65;
his account of Milton's separation from his first wife, 87;
of their reconciliation, 96;
becomes a Royalist, 129;
his attention to his uncle, 145;
on "Paradise Lost," 176;
on "Paradise Regained," 177
"Pilot of the Galilean Lake," 49
"Plymouth Brethren," resemblance of Milton's views to, 133
Powell, Mary, Milton marries, 86;
she leaves him, 87;
returns to him, 95;
her family live with Milton, 98;
her death, 116;
probable bad influence on her daughters, 163
"Prelatical Episcopacy" pamphlet, 72
"Pro Populo" pamphlet, 113
Ptolemaic system followed by Milton in "Paradise Lost," 157
Puckering, Sir H., gave Milton's MSS. to the University of Cambridge, 129
R.
Reading, surrender of to Parliamentary army, 91
"Ready way to establish a Commonwealth," 136
"Reason of Church Government" pamphlet, 72
"Reformation touching Church Discipline" pamphlet, 72
Restoration, consequences to Milton of the, 138-141
Richardson, J., on Milton's later life, 186
Rome, Milton in, 62
Rump, burning of the, 136
S.
St. Bride's Churchyard, Milton lodges in, 65
St. Giles's Cripplegate, Milton's grave in, 194
St. Paul's school, Milton at, 19
Salmasius, Claudius, his character, 109;
author of "Defensio Regia," 111;
Milton's controversy with, 112, 114
Samson, Vondel's, 170
"Samson Agonistes," 141, 178;
criticism on, 180-185
Satan, the hero of "Paradise Lost," 155
Shakespeare, 2;
Milton's panegyric on, 33, 38;
his view of tragedy compared with Milton's, 183
Shelley, on poetical inspiration, 41;
his estimate of Milton, 156;
on tragedy and comedy, 183;
quoted, 17, 197
Skinner, Cyriack, his loan to Milton, 138
Skinner, David, endeavours to publish "State Letters" and
"Treatise on Christian Doctrine," 191
Sonnet, "When the assault was intended to the City," 84;
from the Italian, 85;
on Vaudois Protestants, 124;
to his second wife, 125;
to Henry Lawrence, 126;
inscribed on a window-pane, 175
"State Letters," 191
Stationers' Company and Milton, 92
Symmons, S., publisher of "Paradise Lost," 149, 175
Symonds, Mr. J.A., on metre of "Paradise Lost," 166
T.
Tennyson, on Milton's Eden, 162
"Tenure of Kings and Magistrates," 100
"Tina," by Antonio Malatesti, 68
Tomkyns, Thomas, licenses "Paradise Lost," 151;
and the poems, 178
Tovey, Nathaniel, Milton's college tutor, 25
Treatise on Christian Doctrine, 190
U.
Ulster Protestants, Milton's subscription for, 83
V.
Vernon Lee, 57
Vondel, Milton's indebtedness to, 170
W.
Wakefield, E.G., on the champions of great causes, 135
Wood, Anthony, on Restoration, 133
Woodcock, Katherine, Milton's second wife, her marriage and death, 125
Wootton, Sir H., on "Comus," 47
Wordsworth, quoted, 27, 65;
Milton contrasted with, 41;
on "Paradise Regained," 178
Wright, Dr., reminiscence of his visit to Milton, 186
Y.
Young, Thomas, Milton's private tutor, 14
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
BY
JOHN P. ANDERSON
(_British Museum_).
* * * * *
I. WORKS.
II. POETICAL WORKS.
III. PROSE WORKS.
IV. SINGLE WORKS.
V. SELECTIONS.
VI. APPENDIX--
Biography, Criticism, etc.
Magazine Articles, etc.
VII. CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS.
* * * * *
I. WORKS.
The Works of John Milton in verse and prose, printed from the original
editions, with a life of the author by J. Mitford. 8 vols. London, 1851,
8vo.
II. POETICAL WORKS.
Poems of Mr. John Milton, both English and Latin, compos'd at several
times. Printed by his true copies. London [January 2], 1645, 8vo.
First collective edition, and the first work bearing Milton's
name.
---- Poems, etc., upon several occasions, both English and Latin, etc.,
composed at several times. With a small Tractate of Education to Mr.
Hartlib. 2 parts. London, 1673, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. Containing Paradise Lost,
Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes, and his poems on several occasions.
Together with explanatory notes on each book of the Paradise Lost [by
P.H., _i.e._, Patrick Hume]. 5 parts. London, 1695, folio.
---- The Poetical Remains of Mr Milton, etc. By C. Gildon. London, 1698,
8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. 2 vols. London, 1707, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of Mr. John Milton. (Notes upon the twelve
books of Paradise Lost, by Mr. Addison. A small Tractate of Education to
Mr. Hartlib.) 2 vols. London, 1720, 4to.
---- Another edition. 2 vols. London, 1721, 12mo.
---- Another edition. 2 vols. London, 1727, 8vo.
---- Another edition. 2 vols. London, 1730, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. 2 vols. London, 1731, 8vo.
---- Another edition. 4 vols. London, 1746, 12mo.
---- Another edition, with notes of various authors, by Thomas Newton,
bishop of Bristol. 3 vols. London, 1749-52, 4to.
---- The Poetical Works of Milton, etc. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1762, 8vo.
---- Another edition, by Newton. 4 vols. London, 1763, 8vo.
---- Another edition. 4 vols. London, 1766, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of Milton. With prefatory characters of the
several pieces; the life of Milton, a glossary, etc. Edinburgh, 1767,
8vo.
---- Another edition. 4 vols, London, 1770, 8vo.
---- Another edition. 4 vols. London, 1773, 8vo.
---- Poems on several occasions. (_British Poets_, vol. iv.) Edinburgh,
1773, 8vo.
---- Another edition. 3 vols. London, 1775, 4to.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. From the text of Dr. Newton.
(_Bell's Poets of Great Britain_, vols. 35-38.) Edinburgh, 1776, 12mo.
---- The Poems of Milton. (_Johnson's Works of the English Poets_, vols.
3-5.) London, 1779, 8vo.
---- Poems upon several occasions, English, Italian, and Latin, with
translations: viz., Lycidas, L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Arcades, Comus,
Odes, Sonnets, Miscellanies, English Psalms, Elegiarum Liber,
Epigrammatum Liber, Sylvarum Liber. With notes critical and explanatory,
and other illustrations, by T. Warton. London, 1785, 8vo.
---- Second edition, with many alterations, and large additions. London,
1791, 8vo.
---- Poems. Another edition. (_Johnson's Works of the English Poets_,
vols. 10-12.) London, 1790, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. To which is prefixed the life of
the author. (_Anderson's Poets of Great Britain_, vol. v.) Edinburgh,
1792, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With a life of the author, by W.
Hayley [and engravings after Westall]. 3 vols. London, 1794-97, folio.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, from the text of Dr. Newton.
With the life of the author, and a critique on Paradise Lost, by J.
Addison. Cooke's edition. Embellished with engravings. 2 vols. London,
1795-96, 12mo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With the principal notes of
various commentators. To which are added illustrations, with some
account of the life of Milton. By H.J. Todd. (Mr. Addison's criticism on
the Paradise Lost. Dr. Johnson's Remarks on Milton's Versification. Dr.
C. Burney's observations on the Greek verses of Milton.) 6 vols. London,
1801, 8vo.
---- Second edition, with considerable additions, and with a verbal
index to the whole of Milton's poetry, etc. 7 vols. London, 1809, 8vo.
---- Third edition, with other illustrations, etc. 6 vols. London, 1826,
8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With a preface, biographical and
critical, by J. Aikin. (Life of Milton by Dr. Johnson.) 3 vols. London,
1805, 8vo.
Vols. xii.-xv. of an edition of "The Works of the English Poets.
With preface by Dr. Johnson."
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With a preface, biographical and
critical, by S. Johnson. Re-edited, with new biographical and critical
matter, by J. Aikin, M.D. 3 vols. London, 1806, 12mo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. 2 vols. London, 1806, 16mo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. 4 vols. (_Park's Works of the
British Poets_, vols. i.-iii.) London, 1808, 16mo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, with the life of the author. By
S. Johnson. 3 vols. London, 1809, 16mo.
---- Cowper's Milton. [Edited, with a life of Milton, by W. Hayley.
Together with "Adam: a sacred drama, translated from the Italian of G.B.
Andreini," by W. Cowper and W. Hayley.] 4 vols. Chichester, 1810, 8vo.
The British Museum copy contains MS. notes by J. Mitford.
---- The Poems of John Milton. (_Chalmers' Works of the English Poets_,
vol. vii.) London, 1810, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With the life of the author, by
S. Johnson. (_Select British Poets_.) London, 1810, 8vo.
---- Poems on several occasions. Lycidas, L'Allegro, Il Penseroso.
London, 1817, 12mo.
---- Another edition, with Fenton's life and Dr. Johnson's criticism. 2
vols. London, 1817, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton; to which is prefixed the life of
the author. London, 1818, 12mo.
This forms part of "Walker's British Classics."
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, with a life of the author, by E.
Sanford. (_Works of the British Poets_, vols. vii., viii.) 2 vols.
Philadelphia, 1819, 12mo.
---- The Poems of John Milton. (_British Poets_, vols. xvi.-xviii.)
Chiswick, 1822, 12mo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, with notes of various authors,
principally from the editions of T. Newton, C. Dunster, and T. Warton;
to which is prefixed Newton's life of Milton. By E. Hawkins. 4 vols.
Oxford, 1824, 8vo.
---- Paradise Lost. A new edition, with notes, critical and explanatory,
by J.D. Williams. (Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes, and Poems.) 2
vols. London, 1824, 12mo.
The British Museum copy contains copious MS. notes by the editor.
---- Poetical Works, with Cowper's Translations of the Latin and
Italian poems, and life of Milton by his nephew, E. Philips, etc. 3
vols. London, 1826, 8vo.
---- Poems on several occasions. [With Westall's plates.] London, 1827,
16mo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. [Edited by J. Mitford, with life
of Milton by the editor.] 3 vols. London, 1832, 8vo.
Part of the "Aldine Edition of the British Poets."
---- Another edition. 3 vols. London, 1866, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. Printed from the text of Todd
and others. A new edition. With the poet's life by E. Philips. Leipzig,
1834, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. Edited by Sir Egerton Brydges,
Bart. [With a life of Milton, by Sir E.B.] 6 vols. London, 1835, 8vo.
---- The Complete Poetical Works of John Milton: with explanatory notes
and a life of the author, by the Rev. H. Stebbing. To which is prefixed
Dr. Channing's essay on the poetical genius of Milton. London, 1839,
12mo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, J. Thomson, and E. Young. Edited
by H.F. Cary. With a biographical notice of each author. 3 pts. London,
1841, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, with a memoir and critical
remarks on his genius and writings, by J. Montgomery, and one hundred
and twenty engravings from drawings by W. Harvey. 2 vols. London, 1843,
8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton: with life and notes. Edinburgh
[1848], 24mo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. (_Tauchnitz Collection of
British Authors_, vol. 194.) Leipzig, 1850, 8vo.
---- Poetical Works. (_Cabinet Edition of the British Poets_, vol. i.)
London, 1851, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, with notes and a life by the
Rev. H. Stebbing, etc. London, 1851, 12mo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. (_Universal Library_. _Poetry_,
vol. i.) London, 1853, 8vo.
---- Milton's Poetical Works. With life, critical dissertation, and
notes by G. Gilfillan. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1853, 8vo.
One of a series entitled, "Library Edition of the British Poets."
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, with life. London, 1853, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton: with a life of the author,
preliminary dissertations on each poem, notes critical and explanatory,
and a verbal index. Edited by C.D. Cleveland. Philadelphia, 1853, 12mo.
---- The Complete Poetical Works of John Milton, with life. Edinburgh
[1855], 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With a life by J. Mitford. 3
vols. Boston [U.S.], 1856, 8vo.
---- The Poems of John Milton, with notes by T. Keightley. 2 vols.
London, 1859, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, with a memoir and critical
remarks on his genius and writings, by J. Montgomery, and one hundred
and twenty engravings. New edition, etc. 2 vols. (_Bohn's Illustrated
Library_.) London, 1861, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With illustrations by C.H.
Corbould and J. Gilbert. London, 1864, 8vo.
---- English Poems by John Milton. Edited, with life, introduction, and
selected notes, by R.C. Browne. (_Clarendon Press Series_.) 2 vols.
Oxford, 1870, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. Illustrated by F. Gilbert. [With
life of Milton.] London, 1870, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. Edited, with a critical memoir,
by W.M. Rossetti. Illustrated by T. Seccombe. London [1871], 8vo.
Reprinted in 1880 and 1881.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With life of the author, and an
appendix containing Addison's Critique upon the Paradise Lost, and Dr.
Channing's Essay on the poetical genius of Milton. With illustrations.
London [1872], 8vo.
---- The Complete Poetical Works of Milton and Young. London [1872], 8vo.
Part of "Blackwood's Universal Library of Standard Authors."
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. Reprinted from the Chandos
Poets. With memoir, explanatory notes, etc. (_Chandos Classics_.) London
[1872], 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, printed from the original
editions, with a life of the author by A. Chalmers. London [1873], 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With life, critical
dissertation, and explanatory notes [by G. Gilfillan], The text edited
by C.C. Clarke. 2 vols. London [1874], 8vo.
Part of "Cassell's Library Edition of British Poets."
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton: edited, with introductions,
notes, and an essay on Milton's English, by D. Masson. [With portraits.]
3 vols. London, 1874, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With introductions and notes by
D. Masson. 2 vols. London, 1874, 8vo.
Forming part of the "Golden Treasury Series."
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. Edited by Sir E. Brydges, Bart.
Illustrated. A new edition. London [1876], 8vo.
---- The Globe edition. The Poetical Works of John Milton. With
introductions by D. Masson. London, 1877, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. London [1878], 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. Edited, with Notes, explanatory
and philological, by J. Bradshaw. 2 vols. London, 1878, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of Milton and Marvell. With a memoir of each
[that of Milton by D. Masson. With notes to the poems of Milton by J.
Mitford]. 4 vols. in 2. Boston, 1878, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. 2 vols. London, 1880, 16mo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. A new edition revised from the
text of T. Newton [by T.A.W. Buckley]. London [1880], 8vo.
Part of the "Excelsior Series."
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With life, etc. Edinburgh
[1881], 8vo.
Part of "The Landscape Series of Poets."
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, printed from the original
editions. With a life of the author by A. Chalmers. With twelve
illustrations by R. Westall. London, 1881, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton; edited, with memoir,
introductions, notes, and an essay on Milton's English and
Versification, by D. Masson. 3 vols. London, 1882, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. With biographical notice. New
York [1884], 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, edited by J. Bradshaw. Second
edition. 2 vols. London, 1885, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. 2 vols. London [1886], 24mo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton, with biographical notice by J.
Bradshaw. London, 1887, 12mo.
One of the "Canterbury Poets" Series.
---- Poetical Works. 2 vols. London, 1887, 8vo.
---- The Poetical Works of John Milton. Edited by J. Bradshaw. Paradise
Regained. Minor Poems. London, 1888, 8vo.
One of the "Canterbury Poets" Series.
* * * * *
Paradise Lost, etc. The life of John Milton. [By E. Fenton.] Paradise
Regained.--Poems upon several occasions.--Sonnets.--Of Education. 2
vols. London, 1751, 12mo.
The copy in the British Museum Library contains MS. Notes by C.
Lamb.
Milton's Italian Poems, translated and addressed to a gentleman of
Italy. By Dr. Langhorne. London, 1776, 4to.
Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. With explanatory notes by
J. Edmondston. London, 1854, 8vo.
---- Another edition. London, 1855, 16mo.
Paradise Lost, etc. (Paradise Regained: and other Poems.--The Life of
John Milton [by E. Fenton.]) 2 vols. London, 1855, 32mo.
Paradise Regained. To which is added Samson Agonistes: and poems upon
several occasions. A new edition. By T. Newton. London, 1777, 4to.
Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes, and the Minor English Poems.
London, 1886, 16mo.
Part of the "Religious Tract Society Library."
Latin and Italian poems of Milton translated into English verse, and a
fragment of a commentary on Paradise Lost, by the late W. Cowper, with a
preface and notes by the Editor (W. Hayley), and notes of various
authors. Chichester, 1808, 4to.
The Latin and Italian Poems of Milton. Translated into English verse by
J.G. Strutt. London, 1814, 8vo.
Milton's Samson Agonistes and Lycidas. With illustrative notes by J.
Hunter. London, 1870, 8vo.
Milton's Earlier Poems, including the translations by William Cowper of
those written in Latin and Italian. (_Cassell's National Library_, vol.
xxxiv.) London, 1886, 8vo.
Miscellaneous Poems, Sonnets, and Psalms, etc. London [1886], 8vo.
Part of "Ward, Lock, & Co.'s Popular Library of Literary
Treasures."
The Minor Poems of John Milton, Edited, with notes, by W.J. Rolfe. New
York, 1887, 8vo.
The Sonnets of John Milton. Edited by Mark Pattison. London, 1883, 8vo.
Part of the "Parchment Library."
L'Allegro, Il Penseroso [revised by C. Jennens], ed il Moderato [by C.
Jennens]. Set to musick by Mr. Handel. London, 1740, 4to.
The words only.
---- Another edition. London, 1740, 4to.
---- L'Allegro, Il Penseroso as set to musick. [London, 1750], 8vo.
---- L'Allegro ed Il Penseroso. [Arranged for music.] [London, 1779], 8vo.
L'Allegro ed Il Penseroso. And a song for St. Cecilia's day, by Dryden.
Set to musick by G.F. Handel. London, 1754, 4to.
The words without the music.
L'Allegro ed Il Penseroso. Another edition. London [1754], 4to.
L'Allegro and Il Penseroso. Glasgow, 1751, 4to.
L'Allegro and Il Penseroso. With thirty illustrations designed expressly
for the Art Union of London [by G. Scharf, H. O'Neil, and others].
[London], 1848, 4to.
Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, illustrated with [Thirty] Etchings
on Steel by B. Foster. London, 1855, 8vo.
There is a copy in the British Museum Library which contains the
autographs and photographs of George Cruikshank and his wife.
L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, illustrated by engravings on steel after
designs by Birket Foster. London, 1860, 8vo.
L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, and other poems. Illustrated. Boston, 1877,
16mo.
Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso. With notes by J. Aikin. Poona
[1881], 8vo.
L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, and the Hymn on the Nativity. Illustrated.
London, 1885, 8vo.
Milton's Comus, L'Allegro, and Il Penseroso. With numerous illustrative
notes adapted for use in training colleges. By John Hunter. London,
1864, 12mo.
---- Revised edition. London [1874], 8vo.
Comus, Lycidas, L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, and selected Sonnets. With
notes by H.R. Huckin. London, 1871, 16mo.
Milton's Arcades and Sonnets. With notes by J. Hunter. London, 1880,
12mo.
The Lycidas and Epitaphium Damonis. Edited, with notes and introduction
(including a reprint of the rare Latin version of the Lycidas, by W.
Hogg, 1694), by C.S. Jarram. London, 1874, 8vo.
---- Second edition, revised. London, 1881, 8vo.
III. PROSE WORKS.
The Works of Mr. John Milton. [In English Prose.] [London], 1697, fol.
Not mentioned by Lowndes or Watt, but a copy is in the British
Museum.
A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous
Works of John Milton, both English and Latin. With some papers never
before publish'd. To which is prefixed the life of the author, etc. [By
J. Toland]. 3 vols. Amsterdam [London], 1698, fol.
A Complete Collection of Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works
of John Milton, correctly printed from the original editions, with an
account of the life and writings of the author (by T. Birch), containing
several original papers of his never before published. 2 vols. London,
1738, fol.
The Works of John Milton, Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous. Now
more correctly printed from the originals than in any former edition,
and many passages restored which have been hitherto omitted. To which is
prefixed an account of his life and writings (by T. Birch). (Edited by
T. Birch and R. Barron?). London, 1753, 8vo.
The Prose Works of John Milton; with a life of the author, interspersed
with translations and critical remarks, by C. Symmons. 7 vols. London,
1806, 8vo.
The Prose Works of John Milton. With an introductory review by R.
Fletcher. London, 1833, 8vo.
Select Prose Works of Milton. Account of his studies. Apology for his
early life and writings. Tractate on Education. Areopagitica. Tenure of
Kings. Eikonoclastes. Divisions of the Commonwealth. Delineation of a
Commonwealth. Mode of establishing a Commonwealth. Familiar Letters.
With a preliminary discourse and notes by J.A. St. John. (_Masterpieces
of English Prose Literature._) 2 vols. London, 1836, 8vo.
Extracts from the Prose Works of John Milton, containing the whole of
his writings on the church question. Now first published separately.
Edinburgh, 1836, 12mo.
The Prose Works of John Milton. With a biographical introduction by R.W.
Griswold. 2 vols. New York, 1847, 8vo.
The Prose Works of John Milton, with a preface, preliminary remarks, and
notes by J.A. St. John. 5 vols. (_Bohn's Standard Library._) London,
1848-53, 8vo.
Areopagitica, Letter on Education, Sonnets and Psalms. (_Cassell's
National Library_, vol. cxxi.) London, 1888, 8vo.
IV. SINGLE WORKS.
Accedence commenc't Grammar, supply'd with sufficient rules, for the use
of such as are desirous to attain the Latin tongue with little teaching
and their own industry. London, 1669, 12mo.
An account of an original autograph sonnet by John Milton, contained in
a copy of Mel Heliconium written by Alexander Rosse, 1642, etc. London,
1859, 8vo.
L'Allegro, illustrated by the Etching Club. London, 1849, fol.
---- L'Allegro. [With illustrations engraved by W.J. Linton.] London,
1859, 8vo.
---- L'Allegro. [With illustrations.] London [1875], 8vo.
Forming part of "The Choice Series."
---- Milton's L'Allegro. Edited, with interpretation, notes, and
derivations, by F. Main. London, 1877, 8vo.
Animadversions upon the Remonstrant's defence [_i.e._, the defence of J.
Hall, Bishop of Norwich?] against Smectymnuus. London, 1641, 4to.
Apographum literarum serenissimi protectoris, etc. [Leyden?] 1656, 4to.
An apology against a Pamphlet [by J. Hall?] called A Modest Confutation
of the Animadversions upon the Remonstrant against Smectymnuus. London,
1641, 4to.
Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the liberty of Unlicenc'd
Printing, to the Parliament of England. London, 1644, 4to.
---- Areopagitica Another edition. With a preface by another hand.
London, 1738, 8vo.
---- Another edition, with prefatory remarks, copious notes, and
excursive illustrations, by T. Holt White, etc. London, 1819, 8vo.
---- Another edition. London, 1772, 8vo.
---- Another edition. London, 1780, 12mo.
---- Another edition, edited by James Losh. London, 1791, 8vo.
---- Areopagitica. (_Occasional Essays_, etc.) London, 1809, 8vo.
---- Another edition. London [1834], 8vo.
---- Areopagitica, etc. London, 1840, 8vo.
_Tracts for the People_, No. 10.
---- English Reprints. John Milton. Areopagitica. Carefully edited by
Edward Arber. London, 1868, 18mo.
---- English Reprints. John Milton. Areopagitica. Carefully edited by
Edward Arber. London, 1869, 8vo.
---- A Modern Version of Milton's Areopagitica: with notes, appendix,
and tables. By S. Lobb. Calcutta, 1872, 12mo.
---- Milton, Areopagitica. Edited, with introduction and notes, by J.W.
Hales. Oxford, 1874, 8vo.
---- Milton's Areopagitica. (_Morley's Universal Library_, vol. 43.)
London, 1886, 8vo.
Autobiography of John Milton: or Milton's Life in his own words. Edited
by J.J.G. Graham. London, 1872, 8vo.
A brief history of Moscovia; and other less known countries lying
eastward of Russia as far as Cathay. Gather'd from the writings of
several eye-witnesses. London, 1682, 8vo.
The Cabinet-Council; containing the Chief Arts of Empire, and Mysteries
of State discabineted. By Sir Walter Raleigh, published by John Milton.
London, 1658, 8vo.
---- Another edition. The Arts of Empire and Mysteries of State
discabineted. By Sir Walter Raleigh, published by John Milton. London,
1692, 8vo.
Colasterion, a reply to a nameles [_sic_] answer against "The Doctrine
and Discipline of Divorce." By the former author, J[ohn] M[ilton].
[London] 1645, 4to.
A Common-Place Book of John Milton, and a Latin essay and Latin verses
presumed to be by Milton. Edited from the original MSS. in the
possession of Sir F.W. Graham, Bart., by A.J. Horwood. London, 1876, 4to.
Printed for the Camden Society.
---- Revised edition. London, 1877, 4to.
A Maske [Comus] presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: on Michaelmasse night,
before the right honorable John, Earle of Bridgewater, Viscount Brackly,
Lord President of Wales. [Edited by H. Lawes.] London, 1637, 4to.
The first edition of Comus.
---- Comus: a mask, etc. Glasgow, 1747, 12mo.
---- Comus, a mask presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634, before the Earl of
Bridgewater, with notes critical and explanations by various
commentators, and with preliminary illustrations; to which is added a
copy of the mask from a manuscript belonging to his Grace the Duke of
Bridgewater; by H.J. Todd. Canterbury, 1798, 8vo.
---- Comus, a mask; presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634. To which are
added, L'Allegro and Il Penseroso; and Mr. Warton's account of the
origin of Comus. London, 1799, 8vo.
---- Comus: a mask. With annotations. London, 1808, 8vo.
---- Comus: a masque. (_Cumberland's British Theatre_, vol. 32.) London
[1829], 12mo.
---- Comus. A mask with thirty illustrations by Pickersgill, B. Foster,
H. Weir, etc. London, 1858, 4to.
---- Milton's Comus. Published under the direction of the Committee
appointed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. London
[1860], 12mo.
---- Comus: a mask. With explanatory notes. Published under the
direction of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. London
[1861], 12mo.
---- Milton's Comus. With notes [by W. Wallace]. London, 1871, 16mo.
---- The Mask of Comus. Edited, with copious notes, by H.B. Sprague. New
York, 1876, 8vo.
---- Milton's "Comus" annotated, with a glossary and notes. With three
introductory essays upon the masque proper, and upon the origin and
history of the poem. By B.M. Ranking and D.F. Ranking. London, 1878, 8vo.
---- Milton's Comus, with introduction and notes. London, 1884, 8vo.
Forming part of "Chambers's Reprints of English Classics."
---- Milton's Comus. Edited, with introduction and notes, by A.M.
Williams. London, 1888, 8vo.
---- ---- Songs, Duets, Choruses, etc., in Milton's Comus: a masque in
two acts, with additions from the author's poem "L'Allegro," and from
Dryden's opera of "King Arthur." London [1842], 8vo.
Considerations touching the likeliest means to remove Hirelings out of
the Church. Wherein is also discourc'd of Tithes, Church-Fees,
Church-Revenues, and whether any maintenance of ministers can be settl'd
by law. The author J. M[ilton]. London, 1659, 12mo.
---- Another edition. London, 1717, 12mo.
Another edition. London, 1723, 8vo.
---- Another edition. London [1834], 8vo.
A Declaration, or Letters Patents of the Election of this present King
of Poland, John the Third. Translated [by John Milton]. London, 1674,
4to.
The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce restor'd to the good of both
sexes from the Bondage of Canon Law and other mistakes to Christian
freedom, guided by the rule of charity, etc. London, 1643, 4to.
---- The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. Now the second time revis'd
and much augmented. London, 1644, 4to.
---- Another edition. London, 1645, 4to.
Eikonoklastes, in answer to a book intitl'd Eikon Basilike, the
Portrature of his Sacred Majesty in his solitudes and sufferings. [By J.
Gauden, Bishop of Exeter?] The author J[ohn] M[ilton]. London, 1649,
4to.
---- Eikonoklastes. Published now the second time, and much enlarg'd.
London, 1650, 4to.
---- Eikonoklastes in answer to a book entitled Eikon Basilike, the
Portraiture of his sacred majesty King Charles the first in his
solitudes and sufferings. Amsterdam, 1690, 8vo.
---- Eikonoklastes: in answer to a book intitled Eikon Basilikon, the
portraiture of his sacred majesty in his solitudes and sufferings. Now
first published from the author's second edition, printed in 1650; with
many enlargements, by R. Baron. With a preface shewing the transcendent
excellency of Milton's prose works. To which is added an original Letter
[from J. Wall] to Milton, never before published. London, 1756, 4to.
---- A new edition, corrected by the late Reverend R. Baron. London,
1770, 8vo.
The History of Britain, that part especially now call'd England, from
the first traditional beginning, continu'd to the Norman Conquest.
Collected out of the antientest and best authors by John Milton. London,
1670, 4to.
The History of Britain. Another edition. London, 1677, 8vo.
---- Second edition. London, 1678, 8vo.
---- Another edition. London, 1695, 8vo.
Il Penseroso. With designs by J.E.G.; etched by J.E.G. and H.P.G. on
India paper. London, 1844, folio.
---- Milton. Il Penseroso. (_Clarendon Press Series_.) Oxford, 1874,
8vo.
Joannis Miltoni Angli, Artis Logicæ Plenior Institutio, ad Petri Rami
Methodum concinnata. Adjecta est Praxis Analytica and P. Rami vita.
Londini, 1672, 12mo.
Joannis Miltoni Angli de Doctrina Christiana libri duo posthumi, quos ex
schedis manuscriptis deprompsit, et typis mandari primus curavit C.R.
Sumner. Cantabrigiæ, 1825, 4to.
---- Another edition. Brunsvigae, 1827, 8vo.
---- A Treatise of Christian Doctrine, compiled from the Holy Scriptures
alone. Translated from the original by C.R. Sumner. Cambridge, 1825, 4to.
---- John Milton's last thoughts on the Trinity. Extracted from his
Treatise on Christian Doctrine. London, 1828, 12mo.
---- New edition. London, 1859, 8vo.
Joannis Miltonii Angli Epistolarum familiarium liber unus: quibus
accesserunt ejusdem jam olim in collegio adolescentis prolusiones quædam
oratoriæ. Londini, 1674, 12mo.
---- Milton's familiar letters. Translated from the Latin, with notes,
by J. Hall. Philadelphia, 1829, 8vo.
Joannis Miltoni Angli pro populo Anglicano defensio, contra Claudii
Anonymi, aliàs Salmasii, defensionem regiam. Cum indice. Londini, 1651,
12mo.
---- Another edition. Londini, 1651, 4to.
---- Another edition. Londini, 1651, 12mo.
---- Editio emendatior. Londini, 1651, folio.
---- Another edition. Londini, 1652, 12mo.
---- Editio correctior et auctior, ab autore denuo recognita. Londini,
1658, 8vo.
---- A Defense of the People of England in answer to Salmasius's defence
of the king. [Translated from the Latin by Mr. Washington, of the
Temple.] [London?] 1692, 8vo.
Joannis Miltoni pro populo Anglicano defensio secunda. Contra infamem
libellum anonymum [by P. Du Moulin] cui titulus, Regii sanguinis clamor
ad coelum adversus parricidas Anglicanos. Londini, 1654, 8vo.
---- Another edition. [With preface by G. Crantzius.] 2 parts. Hagæ
Comitum, 1654, 12mo.
---- Milton's Second Defence of the People of England [translated by
Archdeacon Wrangham]. London, 1816, 8vo.
Included in _Scraps_ by the Rev. Francis Wrangham.
Joanni Miltoni pro se defensio contra Alexandrum Morum Ecclesiastes [or
rather P. Du Moulin] Libelli famosi, cui titulus, Regii sanguinis clamor
ad coelum adversus Parricidas Anglicanos, authorem recte dictum.
Londini, 1655, 8vo.
The judgement of Martin Bucer concerning divorce, now Englisht [by John
Milton]. Wherein a late book [by John Milton] restoring the doctrine and
discipline of divorce is heer confirm'd, etc. London, 1644, 4to.
A Letter written to a Gentleman in the Country, touching the dissolution
of the late Parliament, and the reasons thereof. [By John Milton, signed
N. Ll.] London [May 26], 1653, 4to.
Literæ ab Olivario protectore ad sacram regiam majestem Sueciæ.
[Leyden?] 1656, 4to.
Literæ Pseudo-Senatus Anglicani, Cromwellii, reliquorumque Perduellium
nomine ac jussu conscriptæ a Joanne Miltono. [London] 1676, 12mo.
---- Another edition. Literæ nomine Senatus Anglicani Cromwellii
Richardique ad diversos in Europa principes et Respublicas exaratæ a
Joanne Miltono, quas nunc primum in Germania recudi fecit J.G. Pritius.
Lipsiæ Francofurti, 1690, 12mo.
---- Milton's Republican-Letters, or a collection of such as were
written by Comand of the late Commonwealth of England, etc. [Amsterdam?]
1682, 4to.
---- Letters of State written by Mr. John Milton to most of the
Sovereign princes and Republicks of Europe, from the year 1649 till
1659. To which is added an Account of his Life [by E. Phillips],
together with several of his poems, etc. London, 1694, 12mo.
The "several poems" consist of four sonnets only.
---- Oliver Cromwell's Letters to Foreign Princes and States for
strengthening and preserving the Protestant Religion, etc. [Translated
from the Latin of John Milton.] London, 1700, 4to.
Lycidas. [First edition.] (_Justa Edouardo King naufrago, ab Amicis
moerentibus_, etc.) 2 pts. Cantabrigiæ, 1638, 4to.
Part II., "Obsequies to the Memorie of Mr. Edward King," has a
distinct title-page and pagination, and contains the first edition
of Lycidas.
---- Milton's Lycidas, with notes, critical, explanatory, and
grammatical, by a Graduate. Melbourne, 1869, 8vo.
---- Lycidas. Reprinted from the first edition of 1638, and collated
with the autograph copy in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge.
With a version in Latin hexameters. By F.A. Paley. London, 1874, 8vo.
---- Milton. Lycidas. With introduction and notes. By T.D. Hall.
Manchester [1876], 8vo.
---- Second edition. London [1880], 8vo.
---- Milton's Lycidas. Edited, with interpretation and notes, by F.
Main, etc. London, 1876, 8vo.
---- Second edition. London, 1876, 8vo.
Mr. John Milton's character of the Long Parliament and Assembly of
Divines, in 1641. Omitted in his other works, and never printed. [Edited
by J. Tyrrell? or by Arthur, Earl of Anglesey?] London, 1681, 4to.
Milton's Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity. Illustrated by
eminent artists. London, 1868, 8vo.
Mr. John Milton's Satyre against hypocrites. Written whilst he was Latin
secretary to Oliver Cromwell. [By John Phillips?] London, 1710, 8vo.
Milton's unpublished Poem, corrected by J.E. Wall from a defective copy
found by Mr. Morley in the British Museum. Epitaph on a Rose Tree
confined in a Garden Tub. [London, 1873?] s. sh. 8vo.
The original is in the King's Library, British Museum, and is
written on the last leaf of a copy of "Poems of Mr. John Milton,"
1646.
Observations upon the Articles of Peace with the Irish Rebels, on the
Letter of Ormond to Col. Jones, and the Representation of the Presbytery
at Belfast. (_Articles of Peace made and concluded with the Irish
Rebels, by James Earle of Ormond, etc._) London, 1649, 4to.
Of Education. To Master S. Hartlib. [London, 1644] 4to.
---- Milton's Tractate on Education. A facsimile reprint from the
edition of 1673. Edited by Oscar Browning. (_Pitt Press Series_.)
Cambridge, 1883, 8vo.
Original Letters and Papers of State, addressed to Oliver Cromwell,
concerning the affairs of Great Britain from 1649 to 1658, found among
the political collections of John Milton, published from the originals.
By John Nickolls. London, 1743, folio.
Of Prelatical Episcopacy, and whether it may be deduc'd from the
Apostolical times by vertue of those Testimonies which are alledg'd to
that purpose in some late Treatises of James, Archbishop of Armagh.
London, 1641, 4to.
Of Reformation touching Church-Discipline in England: and the causes
that hitherto have hindred it. London, 1641, 4to.
Of True Religion, Hæresie, Schism, Toleration, and what best means may
be used against the growth of Popery. The author J[ohn] M[ilton].
London, 1673, 4to.
---- New edition, with preface by Bp. Burgess. London, 1826, 8vo.
Paradise Lost. A poem written in ten books by John Milton. Licensed and
entred according to order. London, 1667, 4to.
First edition. Without argument or preface. There are nine
distinct variations of the title and preliminary pages.
---- Paradise Lost. A poem in ten books. The author J. Milton. (The
argument. The verse.) London, 1668, 4to.
The same edition as the preceding, with a new title-page, and with
the addition of the argument.
---- Paradise Lost. A poem in ten books. The author John Milton. London,
1669, 4to.
The same edition as the two preceding, with a new title-page and
some slight alterations in the text. There is another copy in the
British Museum which differs slightly. It has also the title-page
dated 1668, and Marvell's commendatory verses in MS.
---- Paradise Lost. A poem, in twelve books. The author John Milton.
Second edition, revised and augmented by the same author. London,
1674, 8vo.
To this edition are prefixed the commendatory verses of Barrow and
Marvell. In another copy in the British Museum conjectural
emendations from the quarto edition, 1749, and the octavo
edition, 1674, corrected by the quarto edition, 1668, printed on
two leaves, have been inserted.
---- The third edition. Revised and augmented by the same author.
London, 1678, 8vo.
---- The fourth edition. Adorn'd with sculptures. London, 1688, folio.
The first illustrated edition.
---- Another edition [with cuts]. London, 1692, folio.
---- Another edition. With copious and learned notes by P[atrick]
H[ume]. London, 1695, folio.
---- Seventh edition. Adorn'd with sculptures. London, 1705, 8vo.
---- Eighth edition. Adorn'd with sculptures. 2 vols. London, 1707, 8vo.
---- Ninth edition. Adorn'd with sculptures. London, 1711, 12mo.
The British Museum copy is said to be the only one on thick paper.
---- Tenth edition. With sculptures. London, 1719, 12mo.
---- Another edition. Dublin, 1724, 8vo.
---- Twelfth edition. To which is prefixed an account of his life [by E.
Fenton]. London, 1725, 12mo.
---- Thirteenth edition. To which is prefixed an account of his life [by
E. Fenton]. London, 1727, 8vo.
---- Fourteenth edition. To which is prefixed an account of his life [by
E. Fenton]. London, 1730, 8vo.
---- New edition [with notes and proposed emendations] by R. Bentley.
London, 1732, 4to.
One of the copies in the British Museum contains MS. notes by B.
Stillingfleet, and another MS. notes by W. Cole. A third copy has
inserted plates, a pencil sketch of Milton's house at Chalfont St.
Giles, and a cutting from the _Literary Gazette_, May 29th, 1830,
relating to Bentley.
---- Another edition. London, 1737, 8vo.
---- Another edition [with life by E. Fenton]. London, 1738, 8vo.
---- Another edition. (The life of John Milton by E. Fenton.) 2 vols.
London, 1746, 1747, 12mo.
---- Another edition. Dublin, 1747, 8vo.
---- Another edition. Compared and revised by John Hawkey. Dublin,
1748, 8vo.
---- New edition. With notes of various authors, by T. Newton. (The life
of Milton [by the editor]. A critique on Paradise Lost. By Mr. Addison.)
2 vols. London, 1749, 4to.