Paradise Lost: A Poem in Twelve Books

San Francisco: Arion Press, 2022. Hardcover. Fine in very good slipcase. Hardcover. Number 174 of 400 numbered copies for sale, with 26 lettered copies printed for complimentary distribution. This is a beautiful production of Milton's immortal work. The printer Andrew Hoyem writes that this edition pays typographic tribute to two earlier editions of Milton's epic poem: the second edition of 1674, the year of Milton's death, and the second Baskerville edition of 1759, which Hoyem owned and long admired. This edition is presented without explanatory footnotes and omits the Barrow and Marvell poems. However, the earlier examples of textual scholarship prompted the press to obtain a new textual version and to provide an introduction written especially for this edition by the renowned scholar Helen Vendler that offers a fresh perspective on the work. Miltonist John T. Shawcross developed a modernized text. Bound in black cloth with a brown leather spine label with titling in gilt. Light sunning to spine and label. Printed Goudy Text and Baskerville types on special wove paper made for the press by the Zerkall mill in Germany. The arrangement of pages emulates those of the Baskerville edition but with significant differences as described in the colophon. Housed in a black cloth slipcase with a purple leather title label to spine. With a fleur de lis design on the front cover in light purple. Slipcase has evidence of handling and a shallow bump to the top edge. Overall in about fine condition in a very good slipcase. Does not include prospectus or portfolio. Measures 6 7/8 inches by 10 inches. 397 pages including colophon. PRI/111324.