Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
John Milton. Paradise Lost, a Poem in Twelve Books. Miles Flesher for Jacob Tonson, London, 1688.
Price: US$6500.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: "Paradise Lost. A Poem in Twelve Books" by John Milton. First Illustrated Edition. Published in London in 1688, by Miles Flesher for Jacob Tonson. Engraved Frontispiece with an additional 11 full page engravings (Lacking an engraving). Fourth Edition; First Illustrated Edition. Binding measures 13.75 by 8 1/2 inches in a modern half leather binding with marbled boards. Pages measure approximately 13.25" x 8.25" (34cm x 21cm). Possibly the large paper copy, also carrying the watermark of grapes on the title and at least one other page. Text is continuous despite erratic pagination; one of three imprint variants of this edition. Frontis portrait (plate) of the author signed: R. White sculp. Some plates signed by M. Burghers and Peter Paul Bouche. The most important work by one of England's most important poets - with striking and beautiful large format engraved illustrations. The publisher also included an engraving of Milton, with a verse by John Dryden comparing him to the great Roman and Greek epic poets. The book was sold at a high price to 500 subscribers, who are listed at the back of the book to give it additional distinction. The title page is laid down on a contemporary page which matches the rest of the book. At the bottom of the spine there is an embossed date of 1788, an unfortunate binder's error as the title page date clearly states 1688 in Roman Numerals (MDCLXXXVIII). Please view the many other rare titles available for purchase at our store. We are always interested in purchasing individual or collections of fine books. Inventory #(K9-14).
Seller: Ernestoic Books, Clarence, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$15600.00 + shipping
Description: 328 x 205 mm. (12 7/8 x 8"). 2 p.l., 1-219, [1], 219-250, 151-196, 297 [pagination error]-343, [1] pp., [3] leaves (subscriber list). Early 19th century calf, neatly rebacked, with most of the original spine laid down, covers with gilt-ruled border and numerous decorative rolls in blind, framing a central blind-stamped centerpiece, raised bands, compartments densely tooled in blind and ruled in gilt, deep red morocco label with gilt titling, all edges gilt. FRONTISPIECE PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR by Robert White after Faithorne AND 12 STRIKING ENGRAVINGS, each placed at the beginning of a book of "Paradise Lost." Pastedown with bookplate of Kenneth Rapoport; verso of portrait with ownership signature of Reverend John Colson (1701-69). Coleridge 93b; Shawcross 347 and 348; Hofer 16; "Wither to Prior" 607; Pforzheimer 720; Wing M-2147; ESTC R15589. âOriginal spine somewhat dried, pitted, and abraded, edges a little worn, but the binding stoutly restored now and not unpleasant. One plate torn at bottom edge and expertly repaired on verso, another plate with a couple of small stains in center, other trivial imperfections, but quite appealing internally--bright, clean, and fresh, with ample margins, with rich impressions of the engravings, and (atypically) without foxing. This is a pleasing copy of the first--and arguably best--illustrated edition of Milton's magnum opus. After the third printing of "Paradise Lost," Milton's widow sold all further claims to the work to her husband's printer/bookseller, Samuel Simmons, for £8. The publication bargains continued when Simmons then transferred all his rights to the poem in 1681 to Brabazon Aylmer for £25, and Aylmer subsequently sold half interests to Jacob Tonson and Richard Bentley, who together produced our sumptuous fourth printing of 1688--the first edition to appear in folio format and the first with illustrations. Most of the plates here were designed by a major artist, John Baptist Medina (1659-1710), a painter of Spanish origin who made his career in England and Scotland and was knighted for his talents. Medina, who was deeply influenced by the works of Rubens, did portraits, landscapes, and historical paintings, and the present illustrations are composed with sophistication and artistry on multiple levels. All but two of the 13 plates here are engraved by Michael Burghers, a Dutch-born artist who worked mainly in Oxford. Hodnett says in his "Five Centuries of Book Illustration" that the 1688 Tonson Milton is "the earliest serious effort to illustrate an important work of English poetry," and in his work on Francis Barlow, he says our book is "the only major English literary work with important engraved illustrations in the 17th century." John Harthan, in "The Illustrated Book," says that the plate facing the opening of the text is "one of the most forceful of English 17th century illustrations." The first folio Milton was important in other ways, too: it was one of the first English books to be financed through subscription, bearing the names of more than 500 subscribers, including Dryden and Sir Paul Rycaut. This strikingly illustrated--and consequently popular--folio printing went a long way toward helping to establish the reputation of Milton, whose "Paradise Lost" was relatively unknown when Tonson issued his edition and whose poem then appeared in more than 100 editions during the 18th century (more than twice the number of editions of Shakespeare's plays). "Wither to Prior" notes that Tonson "seems to have considered this publication his crowning effort, for in his portrait, painted by Kneller, he holds the book conspicuously in his hand.". Fourth Edition, First Folio Edition, First Illustrated Edition.
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$17500.00 + shipping
Description: Two volumes bound in one, a large paper copy. Folio (pages measure: 375 x 234 mm), collating: [4], 343, [7]; [2], 66. Complete with a frontispiece portrait of Milton and 12 plates, mainly by J B Medina in Paradise Lost. No plates produced for Paradise Regain'd, bound without Samson Agonistes (despite mention of it on the title page to the second volume). Contemporary English speckled calf; rebacked with original morocco spine label preserved. Original plain end papers. A small ownership stamp on the title page, otherwise without writing or marks. A few faint marginal dampstains and areas of soiling or foxing, but on the whole an excellent copy internally. The first illustrated edition of Paradise Lost with a full page engraving at the beginning of each of the twelve books. The 1688 Milton was also one of the earliest examples of a subscription edition in England (together with the Shakespeare Second Folio), the copyright jointly owned by Jacob Tonson and Richard Bentley. It is scarce to find bound with Paradise Regain'd since it was done by a different printer. Milton's magisterial epic, considered one of the finest works in the English language. According to Samuel Johnson Paradise Lost was ".a poem which.with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the human mind." Milton was in his late fifties - and blind - when the book was composed and so wrote the work almost entirely through dictation. He worked through incredible hardship, coping with the physical illness, gout, as well as the death of his young daughter and wife. Interestingly enough, Milton did not intend at first to write a poem about Satan and the creation of man but rather about King Arthur. ESTC R15589; Coleridge 93b; Pforzheimer 720. Fourth edition of Paradise Lost (3rd of Regain'd), first illustrated and first folio edition.
Seller: Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.