John Milton: An Annotated Bibliography, 1989–1999

Biography

5 BIOGRAPHY a trustee, Milton might have been able to attend plays at the Blackfriars for free. Concludes that during Milton’s boyhood the Burbage descendants and the Blackfriars “were probably neither unknown nor despised at home” (514). Brown, Cedric C. 31. John Milton: A Literary Life. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. xviii + 212 pp. Discusses “Milton’s career as a writer” from a historical point of view, seeking to demonstrate “something of the range of Milton’s writing as it appeared during his lifetime” (ix). Emphasizes the theme of education as one of Milton’s constant concerns. Offers several chapters each to Milton’s early poetical development and his midcareer polemical prose. Approaches Paradise Lost with “an essay speculating about its method of speaking to the times in which it was published” (xi). Believes that all three of the Restoration poems are “addressed in spiritual healing to those who seek to strive in reforming causes” (206). Also observes the importance of the late Of True Religion . Reviews: John P. Rumrich, SCN 55 (1997): 13–14; David Loewenstein, RenQ 51 (1998): 710–11. Camé, Jean-François. 32. “Milton et la tentation de l’arrivisme.” In Les Formes de l’arrivisme du XVIe siècle a l’époque romantique. Université de Lille III, 1984. Reprinted in Myth and Poetry in XVIIth Century England—Collected Articles. Montpellier: Université Paul-Valéry, 1989, pp. 187–200. Contrasts Milton’s social and political ambitions with his ambition to become a great poet. Notes that he was pleased to receive praise from his Italian hosts and to receive accolades because of his victory Armitage, David. 28. “John Milton: Poet against Empire.” In Milton and Republicanism. Ed. David Armitage, Armand Himy, and Quentin Skinner. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1995, pp. 206–25. Believes that Milton derived many of his republican ideas from Machiavelli and that he considered Sallust’s analysis of the declension of Rome relevant to the republican moment of 1649–53. Suggests that Milton had become disillusioned with the Cromwellian Protectorate by 1656 and that this disillusion is evident both in Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. Sees a parallel between events in England in the 1650s and the debate in Pandaemonium, in which Satan sets out to expand his own empire. Argues that in the end, Milton became “a poet against empire” (225). Bates, K. 29. “A Social History of Blindness .” Doctoral diss., Loughborough Univ., 1998. No pp. Abs., IT 48 (1999): 10204. Examines fictional and autobiographical writings from 1600 to 1995 to explore how ideologies about blindness affect literature and art as well as the way people perceive themselves and others. The third chapter focuses on the way in which Milton understood his own blindness and on its implications for his successors, such as Marvell, Dryden, Johnson, and the Romantic poets. Berry, Herbert. 30. “The Miltons and the Blackfriars Playhouse.” MP 89 (1992): 510–14. Notes that a transcript of a lawsuit in 1640 names a John Milton, possibly the poet’s father, as a trustee of the Burbage estate in 1620. Speculates that if his father were 6 JOHN MILTON: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY, 1989–1999 over Claude Saumaise. Believes, though, that Milton learned that the supreme ambition is to refuse earthly ambition and to write poetry in praise of liberty and the grandeur of God. Campbell, Gordon. 33. A Milton Chronology . London: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997. xii + 255 pp. “The central spine of this chronology is the documentary evidence of Milton’s life” (5). Includes information about Milton’s family and the Powell family, events of which Milton is likely to have been aware, printed allusions to Milton and his works, court and legal records, church records, and records relating to Milton’s service as Latin Secretary. Also includes some matters after Milton’s death that pertain to his immediate family and “the first publication of books by him or closely associated with him” (217). Makes extensive use of the George Thomason Collection. Contains a list of manuscripts and print material used in the compilation , as well as a glossary of legal terms. Reviews: Cedric C. Brown, TLS (Mar. 27, 1998): 6–7; Roy Flannagan, Rev 21 (1999): 160–62; Margaret Kean, N&Q 46 (1999): 126–27. Campbell, Gordon. 34. “Milton in Madras.” MiltonQ 31 (1997): 61–63. After a meticulous search of archives in Madras, India, offers information about Milton’s descendants in Madras during the eighteenth century. Presents basic information about the Clark family but...