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John Milton. Areopagitica; A Speech of Mr. John Milton For the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, To the Parliament of Englan...
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Description
The Duke of Sussex copy of Milton's great argument for freedom of the press
John Milton. Areopagitica; A Speech of Mr. John Milton
For the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, To the Parliament of
England. London, 1644.4to (180 x 135 mm). Printed marginal note on B1 verso intact. Early 19th-century blind-paneled calf, spine gilt-lettered with compartments decorated in blind, edges gilt; quarter morocco slipcase.
FIRST EDITION of Milton's great argument for freedom of expression and freedom of the press "What we owe to Milton first and foremost is the isolation of the freedom of the press from all other forms of toleration..." (Printing and the Mind of Man). This tract is one of Milton's prose works which is now much read, and "quotations from it are as familiar as some of Shakespeare's." While Milton was uninhibited in his denunciation of censorship, the printer remains unknown, having "exercised more than the usual caution in the use of recognizable printing material" (Pforzheimer).
EXTREMELY RARE: According to online auction records, only two copies have appeared at auction, the Mrs. Philip D. Sang copy, which sold in 1986 for $12,500; and the Robert S. Pirie copy, which sold in 2015 at Sotheby's New York for $81,250.
Condition: Some wear along joints and edges. Lacking final blank F2; some damp-wrinkling to endpapers and flyleaves; title-page dust-soiled and reinforced along gutter margin on verso repairing some tears at gutter (one slightly crossing the Greek quote from Euripedes); pale dampstaining to upper outer portion of leaves diminishing through quire B; the occasional minor rust stain; final leaf a little soiled.
References: ESTC R210022; Grolier, Wither to Prior 569; Parker 889-90; Pforzheimer 707; PMM 133; Wing M2092.
Provenance: The Duke of Sussex (armorial bookplate, with manuscript shelfmark). From the William A. Strutz Library.
View all of [The William A. Strutz Library ]
Auction Info
2024 June 27 Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part I, Rare Books Signature® Auction #6295 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
June, 2024
27th
Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 5
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