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The Paradise Lost of Milton by MILTON, John
Price:
$10,000.00
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Book desription: London: Septimus Prowett, 1827. First (Imperial Quarto) edition. Two large folio volumes (14 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches). [4], 228; [2], 218 pp. Twenty-four large format (approx. 11 x 8 inches) mezzotint plates, with tissue guards. Half-titles present. Contemporary half brown morocco over marbled boards, gilt spine lettering, gilt-ruled bands, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled. Armorial bookplate and inscription of William West Jones. Light foxing (rear of plates and tissue guards with some on the plate margins but much lighter than usual). Overall, a very clean copy of the rare 'Imperial Quarto' edition in a handsome contemporary binding. ÒThis book was one of the great publishing enterprises of the age. It appeared in eight different formats, four with the large plates (8 by 11 inches) and four with the small (6 by 8 inches). Martin executed the forty-eight mezzotints himself. The apocalyptic romanticism of his conceptions had many sources: the monumental buildings of London, the engravings of Piranesi, published volumes of eastern views, even incandescent gas, coalpit accidents, and BrunelÕs new Thames Tunnel. The resulting illustrations may be heterogeneous, but they are also unforgettableÓ (Ray). ÒMartinÕs illustrations to John MiltonÕs epic poem Paradise Lost represent a turning point in his career. The vast majority of MartinÕs most famous worksÉwere based upon either Miltonic or biblical subject matterÑthe Paradise Lost series are of particular importance both as one of his chief bodies of designs and as the focal point for the beginning of his career as a mezzotint engraver. Begun by early 1824, this series of engravings was the result of a commission from a little known American publisher, names Septimus Prowett. Prowett, who was based in London, approached Martin to produce 24 mezzotint illustrationsÉto accompany an issue of MiltonÕs text which was to be produced in twelve partsÉTo appreciate the impact which MartinÕs designs had upon his public, one must realise the extent to which these extraordinary visions represented an entirely new conception of approach to the art of illustration. Not only were they ÔoriginalÕ in the truest sense of the wordÑdesigned directly on the plates without the aid of preparatory sketches, they were some of the earliest mezzotints to have been made using soft steel rather than copper, and they were the first illustrations of MiltonÕs epic work to have been made in the mezzotint mediumÉThe greatest significance of MartinÕs illustrations, however, was in their spectacular visionary contentÉMartin laid before his public the spectacular settings of the epic taleÑthe open voids of the Creation, the vast vaulted caverns of Hell vanishing into the utter blackness of Chaos, the daunting scale of the city of Pandemonium, and the sweeping beauty of Heaven itself. These images have no serious counterpart and are the very essence of the sublime in Romantic art. They are without doubt one of the most significant series of British book illustrations ever to have been producedÓ (Campbell, John Martin, Visionary Printmaker, pp. 38-41). William West Jones was archbishop of Capetown and Metropolitan of South Africa, 1874-1908. The inscription is to his brother Henry Edward Jones. Ray, The Illustrator and the Book in England, 69.
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