Poems Upon Several Occasions English, Italian and Latin with Translations With Notes, Critical and Explanatory

London: James Dodsley, 1785. First edition. Leather. Very Good. 9" by 5.5". None. A collection of John Milton's poetry. Containing poems in Latin and Italian, with English translations. Edited by Thomas Warton, with extensive critical notes. First thus, the first edition of this anthology edited by Warton. Comprising of hundreds of poems including odes, sonnets. Also containing his 'Comus' which was commissioned for masques for noble patrons. The editor, Thomas Warton, was a popular literary historian and critic. He was also Poet Laureate of England for five years. With the bookplate of James Franch Bright to the recto of front endpaper. Bright was a British historian and a Master of University College, Oxford. He wrote several works including English History for the Use of Public Schools and The Growth of Democracy. From the antiquarian library of Christopher Rowe. Christopher Rowe was a schoolmaster in Norwich and then in Bristol. Throughout his career he inspired many to love literature, history and music. He was a specialist on 17th century printer and bookseller, Humphrey Moseley and began his, unfortunately unfinished, PhD dissertation on him. The publication of this work received immediate praise for Warton from the 'Critical Review' and other periodicals. Many people considered this work to be the best edition of Milton's shorter poems which inspired Warton to publish a second edition including 'Paradise Lost' and 'Paradise Regained'. Unfortunately, this never came to fruition. John Milton was a seventeenth century poet, polemicist, man of letters and civil servant. His writings reflect his time of writing, which was swamped with religious flux and political upheaval. His writings were multi-lingual and tended to be in English, Latin, Greek and Italian. In a full calf binding. Rebacked with original boards preserved. Externally, smart with slight rubbing to the extremities and to the boards. Small loss to the extremities due to rubbing. A few marks to boards. Prior owner's bookplate to front pastedown, Christopher Rowe. Prior owner's bookplate to the recto of front endpaper, James Franck Bright. Ink inscription to recto of front endpaper. Prior owner's pencil notations to the margins of page 352 and 353. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are slightly age toned with light scattered spots throughout. Very Good