Author: MILTON (John):
Title: The Poetical Works of John Milton, With Notes of Various Authors. To which are added Illustrations. And some Account of The Life and Writings of Milton, by the Rev. Henry J. Todd.... The Second Edition, with Considerable Additions, and with a Verbal Index to the Whole of Milton's Poetry. In Seven Volumes.
Description: London: Printed for J. Johnson... [and 23 others], 1809. 7 volumes. Large 8vo, 211 x 128 mms., pp. [vi] xv [xvi blank], 217 [218 - 615 indexes 616 blank]; [iv] v - xix [xx b lank], [3], 4 -462; [vi], [3], 4 - 473 [474 blank]; [vi], [3], 4 - 395 [396 blank];[vi]. [i] ii - xix [xx blank], [5] 6 - 503 [504 blank]; [vi], [3], 4 - 503 - 504 blank]; [vi], [3], 4 - 407 [408 blank, 409 - 342, notes, index, content, engraved portrait of Milton in volume 1, contemporary straight-grain tan morocco, gilt borders on covers, spines richly gilt, green morocco labels; intermittent foxing throughout and some slight wear to binding, but generally a very good and attractive set. In ODNB, D. A. Brunton writes that the publication of Todd's edition of Milton in 1801 was his chef d'oeuvre: "In addition to Todd's own copious annotations and judicious selection from previous commentaries, the work included for the first time extracts from Stillingfleet's projected edition, together with criticism solicited from the family of Thomas and Joseph Warton. Republished on four subsequent occasions, it remained the standard edition for fifty years. The first volume, a thorough biographical study of Milton, revised in 1809 and 1826, was published separately and enjoyed an equal measure of success. For his labours Todd was rewarded with the handsome sum of £200, and his new-found celebrity was acknowledged with his elevation as a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1802." The reviewer in The Monthly Mirror for 1801 lavished praise upon the edition: "In the prosecution of the present undertaking, Mr. T. has displayed an ardour, an assiduity, and a copiousness of resource, which we may confidently affirm that few, if any scholars since the death of Warton, could have combined with equal taste and candour. Hence it is, that our attention becomes so agreeably divided between the text and the commentary, and that our admiration of the poet is heightened by the skill of his illustrator."

Keywords: poetry scholarship literature


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