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THE | POETICAL | WORKS | OF | Mr. John Milton. | Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, | Sampson Agonistes, and his Poems | on several Occasions. | TOGETHER WITH | Explanatory NOTES on each Book of the | PARADISE LOST, and a TABLE | never before Printed. | LONDON: | Printed for Jacob Tonson, at Judges-Head near Inner-Temple-| Gate in Fleet – street , M DC XC V. || Pagination: [6] 1-343 [5] 1-66 [4] 1-57 [5] 1-60 [2] 321 [1], frontispiece and 12 plates, one before each book of Paradise Lost. Collation: 4to, folio; blank leaf, π3 B2, C-Z4, Aa-Yy4, A-H4 I2, [A]-D2 †D2 E-Q2 [A]1 B-Z2 Aa-Zz2 Aaa-Zzz2 Aaaa-Mmmm2 [N]1, 2 blank leaves, + frontis. portrait and 12 plates extraneous to collation. Plates: Portrait of John Milton (British, 1608 – 1674) engraved by Robert White (British, 1645 – 1703) after William Faithorne (British, 1616 – 1691) 11 plates engraved by Michael Burghers (Dutch, c. 1640 – c. 1723) after John Baptiste de Medina (Flemish, 1659 –1710); 1 plate (for Book IV) engraved by Peter-Paul Bouché (Dutch, 1646 – c. 1697) after Bernard Lens (British, 1659 – 1725). Binding: Folio, bound in full contemporary English panelled and speckled calf, tooled in blind, re-backed, corners repaired, the lines in Paradise Lost numbered; title pages of Paradise Regain'd and Samson Agonistes dated 1695; without a list of subscribers after the general title; with the Table for Paradise Lost; printed on laid paper, with tall "s", margins sprayed red. Provenance: near-contemporary ex libris of Sarah Bugg inside front board; along with that of Sam Bontham, 1726; later owned by forger Osborne Charles Vyse Aldis (1843 – 1916), with his signature on general title, with a nine-line note in his hand and initialled on page 343. Catalogue raisonné: Gordon N. Ray, Illustrated book in England (1976): p. 3. Ref: National Gallery of Art Contributors: Bouché, Peter-Paul (Dutch, 1646 – c. 1697) Burghers, Michael (Dutch, c. 1640 – c. 1723) Faithorne, William (British, 1616 – 1691) Lens, Bernard (British, 1659 – 1725) Medina, John Baptiste de (Flemish, 1659 – 1710) Milton, John (British, 1608 – 1674) Tonson, Jacob, the Elder (British, 1655 – 1736) White, Robert (British, 1645 – 1703) -
Title (black and red): ANTIQUITATES CHRISTIANÆ: |—| OR, THE | HISTORY | OF THE | LIFE AND DEATH | OF THE | HOLY JESUS: | AS ALSO THE Lives, Acts and Martyrdoms | OF HIS | APOSTLES. |—| IN TWO PARTS. |—| The Firƒt Part, containing The Life of CHRIST, written by | Jer. Taylor, Late Lord Bishop of Down and Connor. | The Second, Containing The Lives of the APOSTLES, with an | Enumeration, and ƒome Brief Remarks upon their firƒt Successors in | the Five Great APOSTOLICAL CHURCHES, | By WILLIAM CAVE, D. D. Chaplain in | Ordinary to His MAJESTY. | By whom alƒo is added an APPARATUS, or Diƒcourƒe Introductory to the whole Work, | concerning the Three Great Diƒpenƒations of the Church, Patriarchal, Moƒaical, and Evangelical. |—| THE EIGHTH EDITION. |—| Orig. contr. Celƒ. lib. 1. in Proœm. p. 1, 2. | [text in Greek] |—| LONDON, | Printed by R. N. for Luke Meredith, at the Sign of the Star in | St. Paul's Church-Yard, MDCXCIV. Collation of this book is unusual, it is called "Folio in 6s" (three sheets are folded in half to create a gathering of 6 leaves). Two unsigned leaves: (1) Engraved frontispiece "The Annunciation" by Willian Faithorne "the Elder" (British, 1616 – 1691), recto blank; (2) engraved title by the same engraver, verso blank; (*) gathering of 4: black and red title page, verso blank; epistle; to reader; imprim. (A6 to Sƒ6) Engraved portrait of Jeremy Taylor by Pierre Lombart (French, 1612 – 1682); faux title page: "The Great Exemplar of Sanctity and Holy Life... MDCXCIII"; dedication; contents, then to the end of the first book. (A-Z4 Aa-Bb4 Cc2) The second book has collation in quarto: Faux title page: "Antiquitates Christianæ: or the Lives, Acts and Martyrdoms... MDCXCIV", etc. to the end. Full formula: π2 *4 a-c6 d8 A-Z6 Aa-Sƒ6 A-Z4 Aa-Bb4 Cc2 Pagination: [12] I-LI [LII] [12] I-XXVIII, i-vi, (1st book): [2] I-145 [146-150] 151-432 [12]; (2nd book): [8] i-xiv, 1-188. 22 plates : frontis., t.p., portrait, one folding before p. 65, two after pp. [146], [150], 282, 304, 364, 386, 414, [422], and numerous head-pieces. Size: 36 x 23.5 x 5.7 cm Binding: full calf with the later spine, raised bands; front board with remnants of gilt ruling and blind stamped border, back bord probably original with a blind-stamped centre panel with fleurons.
