I only recently discovered that only the first book of the manuscript for Paradise Lost still exists. I'd foolishly assumed that somewhere a beautiful original existed. And one day via the power of the Zuckerberg Machine I was targetted quite expectedly for a reproduction of John Milton's Paradise Lost. And just as I was about to order the moment led me to discover that there isn't a complete manuscript. That bummed me out man - okay I'm not a sixties child, but it really did.
I've still ordered it though.
So after learning there wasn't a complete manuscript I researched what had survived. Only the first book it seems and so I searched online and learned that it had crossed the pond after being purchased by J P Morgan. It now resides in the Morgan museum which means I'm unlikely to get to see it in person any time so wondered what to do about that. You can learn more about what they have in the museum here:
https://www.themorgan.org/collection/John-Miltons-Paradise-Lost
I did want to do more on this site than just post a link and so contacted them to see what I could do and ended up licensing the images non-commercially so I can post them all here and expand this site as a resource on this site. It's also sparked an idea, but I'll keep quiet on that until I see how feasible it is.
But for now please enjoy the first batch of photos of what remains of John Milton's original manuscript for Paradise Lost. If you weren't already aware then Milton became blind before authoring the poem so this isn't his penmanship.
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| Page 1 - Blank inside cover very exciting and included for completeness. |
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| Page 2 - Another blank page included for completeness - it does get more interesting soon! |
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| Page 3 - We get to the good part :-) |
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| Page 4 - Note the page numbers in the top left. The numbers don't match my numbering simply because I counted the blank sheets as well |
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| Page 5 - In the left margin you can the lines being counted |
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| Page 6 - I remember having nice handwriting. I only write notes these days so it looks a bit like I'm filling out a prescription form :-) |
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| Page 7 - I did wonder if the pages matched the print and of course, they don't |
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| Page 8 - I always love noticing the differences and how the English language has changed over the years |
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| Page 9 - And for purists who try to lock language into a fixed edifice we wouldn't have the word 'Pandemonium' in our vocabulary |
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| Page 10 - My commentary hasn't added much of value, but I have enjoyed examining these pages again as I've posted them so refuse to apologise! |
That's the first batch - I'll try and poster the other two batches by the New Year. |I hope you've enjoyed them as I have and please remember these are not mine and my licence only allows displaying on this site.
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