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

Transcribed and edited with commentary by John T. Shawcross & Michael Lieb

October 2007
ISBN: 0-8207-0392-3 / $68.00s Cloth
ISBN-13: 978-0-8207-0392-3

Order this volume separately or with its companion volume, "Paradise Lost: A Poem Written in Ten Books": Essays on the 1667 First Edition

2-Volume Set: “Paradise Lost: A Poem Written in Ten Books” [Authoritative Text & Essays]
Set ISBN: 0-8207-0404-0 / Set ISBN-13: 978-0-8207-0404-3 / $100.00s Cloth (2 volumes)

Book Information

“Paradise Lost: A Poem Written in Ten Books”: An Authoritative Text of the 1667 First Edition is the first such presentation of the first edition of this major epic of English literature. Making available this text in authoritative form, Shawcross and Lieb have sought to underscore the significance of the epic as Milton originally conceived it. Indeed, the 1667 edition is, in many respects, a unique document. Constructed as a 10-book version, the edition is a finished piece that is architecturally and numerically balanced, significantly differing from the now-standard 1674 version that appeared in 12 books.

With scrupulous attention to detail, Shawcross and Lieb examine the numerous changes to Milton's epic in the course of its printing and address the way in which so-called facsimile editions are, in fact, faulty because they offer texts that were either silently altered or are, in effect, composites of various textual states. 

This edition of the 1667 text also provides the opportunity to view the second edition of 1674 from a fresh perspective. Although the 1674 edition has customarily been adopted as the basis for modern publications of the poem, the availability now of this authoritative text of the 1667 edition invites a reconsideration of Milton’s original intentions in light of the changes made evident in the revised text. Full discussions include information about the alterations made in states of the text, errors that persisted, and the rationale of the edition presented here.

Not only of interest to Miltonists, this authoritative text is a significant study of how works of literature progress from manuscript to print, and how the publishing history of a text may be important to our understanding of literature.

Author Information

John T. Shawcross is professor emeritus of English at the University of Kentucky. He is the author of numerous books, including With Mortal Voice: The Creation of Paradise Lost. He is the coeditor of Milton and the Grounds of Contention, and is a two-time winner of the James Holly Hanford Award for the most distinguished book on Milton.

Michael Lieb is research professor of humanities and professor of English at the University of Illinois, Chicago. An Honored Scholar of the Milton Society of America, he is also recipient of the Society’s James Holly Hanford Award and the Irene Samuel Memorial Award for outstanding books and articles on Milton. His latest book is Theological Milton: Deity, Discourse, and Heresy in the Miltonic Canon.