Books

Milton s Paradise Lost. A New Edition, By Richard Bentley, D.D. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson; and for John Poulson; and for J. Darby, A. Bettesworth, and F. Clay, in Trust for Richard, James, and Bethel Wellington. 1732. First Bentley Edition. Full Leather boards with re-backed spine, 399 p + [index], 12 x 9 , 4to. In fair condition. Front board detached from binding; rear board attached by cording only (fragile). Boards were re-backed with (assumed) original leather on boards & modern spine. Head and tail of spine lacking, binding exposed. Title label on spine intact; gilt lettering overall bright and clean. Gilt deco in spine compartments normally dulled/soiling, but attractive. Modern marbled end-papers & fresh fly-leaves clean with some instances of pencil marginalia. Original half-title page lightly toned at edges with finger-soiling. Light foxing around edges of plates. Normal toning throughout text-block; with some sparse instances of age-staining and finger-soiling. Pencil marginalia throughout text-block. Text-block s binding intact; board hinges are fragile. Front board detached. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. Richard Bentley FRS (1662 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellenism. His Paradise Lost (1732), suggested by Queen Caroline, has been criticised as the weakest of his work. He suggested that the poet John Milton had employed both an amanuensis and an editor, who were responsible for clerical errors and interpolations, but it is unclear whether Bentley believed his own position. First Bentley edition, published just sixty-five years after Milton s first edition. Includes beautifully engraved portraits of Milton, one being modeled after his 1629 portrait when he was just 21 years old the other later in his life. Paradise Lost is considered by critics to be Milton s major work, and helped to solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time. Written in blank verse, it is widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever written. RAREB1732QSRY 07/24 - HK1934 FORN-SHELF-0466-BB-2410-HKREV225.

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse.