Skip to content

THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON.  With A Life of the Author, by William Hayley

THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON. With A Life of the Author, by William Hayley

Click for full-size.

THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON. With A Life of the Author, by William Hayley

by Milton John

  • Used
  • first
Condition
See description
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Newburyport, Massachusetts, United States
Item Price
NZ$41,807.70
Or just NZ$41,773.92 with a
Bibliophiles Club Membership
NZ$22.80 Shipping to USA
Standard delivery: 10 to 14 days

More Shipping Options

Payment Methods Accepted

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Discover
  • PayPal

About This Item

London: By W. Bulmer and Co., Shakespeare Printing Office for John and Josiah Boydell, and George Nicol, 1794-1797. 3 volumes. First edition of this Boydell issue, the first edition with the plates by Richard Westall, and a magnificent presentation copy, given by Lord Lansdowne, the first Marquis of Landsdowne to the French diplomat, M. Chauvet, who for many years resided at Kensington in London. An especially large copy. With 32 fine large plates, being the 28 plates by Richard Westall and 4 portraits of John Milton. Folio (41 x 30 cm), very finely bound in exceptional full contemporary bindings of crushed red morocco, French in style with fine gilt rolled borders within gilt ruled frames on all covers, each frame with corners formed with central gilt circular devices, the spines with flat gilt ruled bands creating compartments decorated with small gilt central star burst tools, one compartment lettered in gilt, a second with gilt volume numbers and additional gilt lettering at the bottom of the spines, gilt tooled edges to the covers and gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, a.e.g. cxxxiii, 213; 286; 300, [4] pp. A most beautiful and exceptional set. A REGAL SET OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE GREAT ENGLISH POET AND WRITER TO INCLUDE THE FAMOUS ENGRAVINGS FROM RICHARD WESTALL. The Boydells would use Westall to illustrate their two greatest printing efforts, the two greatest masters of the English language, John Milton and William Shakespeare. Though Westall’s illustrations would be used again in a number of later editions and printings, this is by far the largest, finest and most impressive of any of the presentations. The Boydell text is equally fitting to these magnificent plates, impressively laid out and making use of the fonts of William Martin.
In the years that would follow, Westall would become quite famous, for these illustrations to Milton and for his portrait of Princess Victoria. He would serve as Princess Victoria’s drawing master until the time of his death in 1836.
The very fine bindings are quite fitting and elegant. The volumes are beautifully fitting to the presentation inscribed in this copy and were a gift from Lord Lansdowne, William Petty, the first Marquis of Landsdowne and Prime Minister from 1782-1783, to his close friend M. Chauvet, the French diplomat who resided for many years at Kensington. The inscription is dated 1802 and correlates with Chauvet’s being recalled to France due to the growing hostilities between France and England after the Treaty of Amiens.
In PARADISE LOST, PARADISE REGAINED and SAMSON AGONISTES Milton revived the heroic verse of Homer and Virgil to frame the tale of Satan and Paradise that has become the best-known epic poem written in English. He had difficulty in finding a publisher because of the plague of 1665, which killed many pressmen, and the Great Fire of the following year, which destroyed many printing houses—and those publishers who were still operating were wary of the project because of Milton's anti-Restoration sympathies.
Simmons, to whom he finally came, drove a hard bargain, and according to the agreement reached and the number of copies sold, Milton was paid a total of Ł15. Milton’s work survives and is revered to this day as amongst the most significant poetry and prose ever penned and additionally important, at a defining moment in the development of the English language. A truly towering figure, Milton remains one of the most celebrated and analyzed poets in English literature. Dryden described ‘Paradise Lost’ as ‘one of the greatest, most noble and sublime poems which either this age or nation has produced,’ while Blake, keying in on the poem’s heretical implications, described Milton as ‘a true Poet, and of the Devil’s party without knowing it.’
This thorough collection includes not only ‘Paradise Lost’ and the other major works, including ‘Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes, and Comus’, but the sonnets, psalms, translations, and his work in Latin. As well, there is a fine Memoir of Milton and history of his literary work.
PARADISE LOST has remained one of the greatest classics of modern English vernacular, indeed some say, that it constitutes the beginning of modern English poetry and literature.

Reviews

(Log in or Create an Account first!)

You’re rating the book as a work, not the seller or the specific copy you purchased!

Details

Bookseller
Buddenbrooks, Inc. US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
24326
Title
THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON. With A Life of the Author, by William Hayley
Author
Milton John
Book Condition
Used
Publisher
By W. Bulmer and Co., Shakespeare Printing Office for John and Josiah Boydell, and George Nicol
Place of Publication
London
Date Published
1794-1797
Note
May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.

Terms of Sale

Buddenbrooks, Inc.

30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged. But, please do contact us as soon as possible if you wish to return an item. For items that are correctly described and being returned for other reasons please contact us as soon as possible and return the book in the condition it arrived to you within 7 days. For such returns the refund of postage is at our discretion.

About the Seller

Buddenbrooks, Inc.

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2009
Newburyport, Massachusetts

About Buddenbrooks, Inc.

Buddenbrooks has one of the finest collections of landmark, rare books and manuscripts in the world. Our intention is to provide great books or manuscripts in excellent condition. We enjoy sharing our passion and expertise with anyone interested in fine and rare books. And we also look forward to the opportunity to meet you. We maintain premises in the heart of historic Newburyport which are reminiscent of a European style librarie. We encourage you to visit our shop where books are beautifully presented in fine library cabinets in a sophisticated environment. We are also available by appointment only to meet with clients in Boston, where we also have maintained a presence for over 40 years. If you see an item which interests you or if you would like to learn more about our offerings, please contact us via telephone, fax or e-mail.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Rolled
rolled spine or spine rolled. Damage to a book created by pressure to the spine making it fold or crease in the cover. Damage...
Morocco
Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
Edges
The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Inscribed
When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
Gilt
The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
Folio
A folio usually indicates a large book size of 15" in height or larger when used in the context of a book description. Further,...

Frequently asked questions

tracking-