"Paradise Lost: A Poem Written in Ten Books": An Authoritative Text of the 1667 First Edition

Issues of the First Edition

ISSUES OF THE FIRST EDITION There were six issues of the first edition in 1667–69 with six different title pages, two issues in each year. However, “issue” in this sentence indicates only the six different title pages since the texts do not evidence distinct issuing. The authoritative text of this edition has been collated with the text of the Newberry Library’s 16671 issue; the text of the preliminary leaves is that of the University of Kentucky’s 16682 issue. All textual remarks have been checked against at least one additional copy of each issue of the first edition and one copy of the second edition. These copies are: ***16671 , British Library (issue 1, C.14.a.9) and Newberry Library (issue 1, Case / 4A /909); 16672 , Huntington Library (issue 2) and Newberry Library (issue 2 but with preliminary leaves added, Case/Y/185/.M6565); 16681A , Huntington Library (issue 3); 16682 , University of Kentucky (issue 4, Special Collections, PR 3560 .A1), Huntington Library (issue 4), and Newberry Library (issue 4, Case/Y/185/.M65663); 16691 , University of Kentucky (issue 5, Special Collections, PR 3560/1669), Huntington Library (issue 5), and Newberry Library (issue 5, Case/3A/629); 16692 , University of Kentucky (issue 6, Special Collections, PR 3560/1669/Copy 3) and Huntington Library (issue 6); 1674, University of Kentucky and Huntington Library. Also consulted: University of Kentucky copy with issue 3 title page, a composite text from the fourth, fifth, and sixth issues, and second printing of preliminary leaves (Special Collections, PR 3560 1668b), here designated UK 1669x since it usually has the fifth issue text but with a third issue title page. Composite texts may be common, often with earlier title pages attached. BL hereafter refers to British Library copies; HEH to Henry E. Huntington Library copies; and UK to University of Kentucky copies. 392 IssuesoftheFirstEdition 393 Another, earlier title page (16681 ) for the third issue (16681A ) errs by omission of a period after “BOOKS”; see Stephen B. Dobranski’s essay, “Simmons’ Shell Game: The Six Title Pages of Paradise Lost,” in “Paradise Lost: A Poem Written in Ten Books”: Essays on the 1667 Edition, for discussion of these issues. The omission of the period follows its absence in issues 1 and 2, but the alteration of the following line (“By JOHN MILTON.” > “The Author J. M.”) necessitated a period after “BOOKS” as in 16682 , 16691 , 16692 . (The order of the printing of the issues is thus reasserted; for Hugh Amory’s speculation regarding which title page issue was published first, see his “‘Things Unattempted Yet’” in which he argues that 16681 was the first published title page “issue,” largely on the basis of the initials “J. M.” on the title page rather than the full name, which is given on the 1667, 16682 , and 1669 issues. The lack of a period after “BOOKS” in the 1667 issues is continued, incorrectly, on the 16681 title page despite the alteration of the line concerning authorship. Demanded by that alteration is the addition of a period after “BOOKS” as given in 16681A and 16682 , as well as both 1669 issues. Amory ignores the evidence of this period as well as the date 1668 as printed. Textual alterations made in the five additional “issues” are collated against the authoritative transcription of the first issue given here (see “Textual Variants”). These issues were created by reassembling pages printed for the first issue but not used, or by deletion and replacement of the original title page on existing unsold copies of a previous issue, or under Fletcher’s scenario through stop-press variant pages that were not used at the time of such stop-press action in 1667. Indeed, none of his “first state” pages appears in copies of 16671 . In other words, the term “issue” is inaccurate for the text and applies only to the title page accompanying whatever text was assembled. Added in the second issue of 1668 (that is, the fourth issue of the text) are preliminary pages that include “The Printer to the Reader” (in both a four- and a six-line version), “The Arguments” to the ten books (gathered together), “The Verse,” and “Errata.” A second reset and printed version of the preliminary matter for the sixth issue, 1669, does not include “The Printer to the Reader,” and various changes occur. Apparently around the same time that 16692 was being readied, sufficient copies of signatures Z...