John Milton — Paradise Lost & Paradise Regain’d — John Baskerville, 1758 — First Baskerville Editions — Merchant Taylors’ Company Armorial Copy

MILTON, John. Paradise Lost. A Poem, in Twelve Books. The Author John Milton. From the Text of Thomas Newton, D.D. Birmingham: Printed by John Baskerville for J. and R. Tonson in London, 1758.

[with]

Paradise Regain’d. A Poem, in Four Books. To which is added Samson Agonistes: and Poems upon Several Occasions. The Author John Milton. From the Text of Thomas Newton, D.D. Birmingham: Printed by John Baskerville for J. and R. Tonson in London, 1758.

Two volumes, octavo. First Baskerville editions; first octavo issues. Gaskell 4(a) and 5(a). Nineteenth-century black calf, the upper board of each volume prominently stamped in gilt with the arms of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors of London, spines lettered in gilt MILTON’S POEMS, numbered I–II and signed BASKERVILLE at foot; marbled endpapers.

A handsome and unusually interesting copy of Baskerville’s celebrated first editions of Milton, combining a distinguished institutional armorial binding, an early dated ownership inscription, and a number of identifiable bibliographical states documented by Philip Gaskell.

Baskerville and the 1758 Milton

The two volumes represent one of the major productions of John Baskerville’s Birmingham press. Baskerville had established his reputation with the 1757 Virgil, and his Milton followed the next year. The typography displays the characteristics for which his press became celebrated: exceptionally clear roman and italic types, generous spacing, carefully prepared laid paper and strongly impressed black ink.

The edition was issued by subscription. Among the subscribers printed in volume I is the particularly notable entry: “Benj. Franklin Esq. Philadelphia.” 

Provenance

An early ownership inscription on the title page, subsequently substantially erased but still decipherable, appears to read: “Matthew Smith 1760.” The date is noteworthy, being only two years after publication. 

Each volume bears on its upper board the large gilt armorial achievement of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London. 

Condition

The nineteenth-century calf bindings show substantial but attractive age-related wear. Spines and extremities rubbed, with scattered abrasions and losses of surface leather, most conspicuous toward the lower spine of volume I; further wear to spine ends, raised bands and corners. The gilt spine lettering and the large Merchant Taylors’ armorial stamps remain clear and visually impressive.

Internally the volumes are remarkably clean and well preserved, with generally strong, crisp impressions and only occasional light spotting, toning or handling marks. The faint erased early ownership inscriptions remain visible on the title pages. The initial blank leaf in each volume is absent, as recorded when the set was previously catalogued. The substantive text is otherwise complete.

A particularly appealing copy of the first Baskerville editions of Milton, distinguished by the Merchant Taylors’ Company armorial bindings, early 1760 ownership inscription, Benjamin Franklin’s appearance in the subscriber list, and clearly identifiable press and cancel states.

Bibliographic Note

Volume I — Paradise Lost, Gaskell 4(a), octavo issue:

A⁸ b⁸ c² B–2C⁸ 2D⁴ 2E², with cancel leaves at G7, H5, P1, T6, T8, X6, Z3 and Z5; pp. [32], 1–416.

In the present set, the separately signed a–i section containing The Life of Milton, properly belonging bibliographically to Paradise Regain’d, is bound between the preliminary matter and text of Paradise Lost. Gaskell specifically records this arrangement as occurring in some copies.

The cancel leaves are present in their corrected cancellans states, including the readings specified by Gaskell. Among the diagnostic examples are P1, with “With Satan” and “now is”, rather than the cancellandum readings “Which Satan” and “now his”; and Z3, with “execution, since denounc’d” rather than “execution, death as oft accused.”

The copy nevertheless retains several of Gaskell’s recorded press errors and variants:

p.75, line 3: originally printed “God his light”, with the h of “his” subsequently erased by hand to produce “God is light”;
p.135: misnumbered “13”;
p.346: the I in the otherwise italic running headline PARADISE is set in roman type.

These variants belong to the printing history of the edition and are distinct from the subsequently inserted cancel leaves.

The initial blank A1 is wanting, as previously recorded for this copy.

Volume II — Paradise Regain’d, Gaskell 5(a), octavo issue:

πA² a–h⁴ i⁴(−i4) A–F⁸ (+1 unsigned leaf after F4) G–2A⁸ (+1 unsigned leaf after 2A7), with cancels at H2–3, O4, Q8, R8, Y7, Z5 and 2A8.

In this set, the a–i gathering comprising the lxix-page Life of Milton has, as noted above, been transferred to volume I, an arrangement explicitly recorded by Gaskell for copies of the 1758 edition. The initial blank πA1 is wanting.

The second volume contains Paradise Regain’d, Samson Agonistes, Comus, the shorter poems and Milton’s Latin verse, terminating at p.390.

References: Philip Gaskell, John Baskerville: A Bibliography, 4(a), 5(a); ESTC T133903 (Paradise Lost) and T134224 (Paradise Regain’d). The Paradise Regain’d signature structure and cancel positions are independently recorded in the Folger catalogue.