Type: Exhibition catalog

Name: John Milton and the Cultures of Print: An Exhibition of Books, Manuscripts, and Other Artifacts

Detail: Published by Rutgers University Libraries in conjunction with the exhibition opening.

Type: Exhibition caption

Name: Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen; The Shepherds Calendar: Together with the Other Works of England's Arch-poët (London: Printed by H.L. for Mathew Lownes, 1617)

Detail: In addition to Shakespeare, Milton was profoundly influenced by the English epic poet Edmund Spenser. Frequently cited in Milton's prose, Milton refers to Spenser as "our Poet Spenser" -- a figure of unquestionable national importance. Milton had long planned to write a national epic like that of Spenser. As he wrote in 1639 he was "resolved to tell the story of the Trojan ships" that came to the British Isles, a national epic in the Virgilian mode that reaffirmed the foundation myth of a nation. When he finally turned to write Paradise Lost, however, the geography was biblical rather than national; and instead of writing about founding a place, he wrote about leaving a place.

Type: Exhibition section

Name: I. Milton's Library

Detail: MILTON'S LIBRARY: Milton's personal letters show that his access to books came in part from libraries and borrowed books, but also from his own substantial collection, which he had amassed from books acquired at shops in London and Europe. Regrettably, unlike contemporaries whose libraries are still intact or whose collections can be reconstructed with shelf lists or signed books, few of Milton's actual books can be identified with certainty: there are extant only seven books from Milton's own library. This is probably because he stopped signing books quite early in his career. Yet, like many early modern writers and readers, Milton kept a reading notebook or a Commonplace Book, which was a structured repository for reading notes. From this manuscript, in conjunction with references in his written work, we are able to piece together a detailed record of what Milton read and what he took away from his reading. This manuscript is presently housed in the British Library.