MILTON, John (1608-1674). Paradise Lost. London: Printed by S. Simmons to be sold by T. Helder, 1669.

First edition of “one of the greatest works of the human imagination” (ODNB). Amory's fourth issue, comprising a reissue of the second with a new title. Milton is still unsurpassed as the greatest writer of English epic. The poem declares up front its aim to "justify the ways of God to man," but explores themes both universal and personal—with Satan's fascism, the surreal eroticism of the angels and the unknowable world of God, and Milton’s engagement with the science of his time continuing to captivate readers centuries later. Milton, who visited Galileo in Italy in 1638, was the first author to use the word "space" in our modern sense "outer space" and his cosmic epic takes place in an assuredly Copernican universe. Hugh Amory, "Things Unattempted Yet: A bibliography of the first edition of Paradise lost," in: The Book Collector, Spring 1983, pp. 41-66; Pforzheimer 718 (as the "sixth title (Lowndes' eighth)"; Wing M2143 (sixth title).

Quarto (175 x 130mm). (Some browning, a few leaves trimmed close at upper margin with slight loss of rule, small ?repair to margin of Tt2). 18th-century calf, gilt spine (wear along joints, minor rubbing). Custom quarter morocco slipcase. Provenance: a few corrections to text in ink.