John Milton's Paradise Lost

To celebrate the four-hundredth anniversary of the birth of John Milton (1608–1674), The Morgan Library & Museum is pleased to present the only surviving manuscript of Paradise Lost, Book 1. This epic poem is considered Milton's greatest artistic achievement and one of the finest works of the human imagination. Acquired by Pierpont Morgan in 1904, it is the most important British literary manuscript in the collection. The 33-page manuscript has been temporarily disbound, providing an opportunity to see more of its pages than ever before. Also in this presentation are first editions of Paradise Lost printed in England and the United States during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and a rarely seen miniature portrait of the poet.

This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Rudy L. Ruggles, Jr.

John Milton (1608–1674)

By the King. A proclamation for calling in and suppressing of two books written by John Milton: the one intituled, Johannis Miltoni Angli pro populo Anglicano defensio, contra Claudii Anonymi alias Salmasii, defensionem regiam, and the other in answer to a book intituled, The pourtraicture of His Sacred Majesty in his solitude and sufferings: and also a third book intituled, The obstructors of justice, written by John Goodwin / by the King.

London : Printed by John Bill and Christopher Barker, Printers to the Kings most Excellent Majesty, 1660.

PML 17243.3. Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1910.