THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON, edited by Sir Egerton Brydges

6 volumes. The First Brydges Edition and a handsome 19th century printing with fine illustrations. Engraved frontispiece and engraved title pages after J. M. W. Turner in each volume. 12mo, very handsomely bound in contemporary Regency style crushed dark-green morocco, the spine panels gilt decorated, lettered and numbered, the upper and lower covers with large central gilt ornamental device, all in Arabesque style, turnovers gilt, all edges gilt. xxix, 303; 340; 310; 320; 332; 352 pp. A good set, the text-blocks and illustrations all in good order, the bindings with some wear at the extremities though primarily confined to the head-caps, Vol. II with the front cover weak and starting, otherwise a pleasing set.

Edizione: a set of the poets 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.<br> simmons, to whom he finally came, drove a hard bargain, and according to the agreement reached and the number of copies sold milton was paid a total of £15. milton’s work survives and is revered to this day as amongst the most significant poetry and prose ever penned and additionally important, at a defining moment in the development of the english language. 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.’<br> this thorough collection includes not only ‘paradise lost’ and the other major works, 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.