Martin (John) Paradise Lost: By John Milton, first edition in the original 12 parts, Imperial Quarto issue containing the larger set of mezzotint plates, with the complete set of 24 plates (2 to each part) as issued, platemarks each c. 355 x 255 mm (14 x 10 in), sheets c. 385 x 276 mm (15 1/4 x 10 7/8 in), tissue-guards, some scattered marginal foxing, 2 small puncture marks to both plates of part 11, not affecting image but within platemark, original roan-backed grey-blue wrappers, part 1 sympathetically rebacked, upper wrapper chipped at upper corner, part 3 spine faded with wear to foot, part 11 upper wrapper torn at head with very small loss, some light general soiling or faint spotting to covers, occasional rubbing to spine ends, untrimmed and partially unopened, the 12 parts preserved in a custom drop-back box, folio, Septimus Prowett, 1825-26.

⁂ Very rare in the original parts. The mezzotint process entails a considerable application of ink on the page, often resulting in heavy foxing; but the mezzotints in this copy are remarkably clean. Publication took nearly two years, the parts issued as Martin's mezzotints were completed, the order of images not necessarily correlating with the text.

The engravings were greeted with outstanding critical acclaim, prompting the release of 4 further editions by the end of 1827. The critic for The Literary Gazette proclaimed: "we know no artist, whose genius so perfectly fitted him being the illustrator of the mighty Milton; and in what we have seen of his conceptions he has more than realised the highest of our hopes. There is a wildness, a grandeur, and a mystery about his designs which are indescribably fine:- the painter is also a poet." [The Literary Gazette, April 2nd 1825].

Provenance: Robert H. & Donna L. Jackson (book-label to inside of drop-back box).

Literature: Campbell & Wees, 1992, nos. 26-49.