Curator

Fernanda Perrone

Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries

Curator

Thomas Fulton

Department of English, Rutgers University

Funder

New Jersey Council for the Humanities

The exhibition was made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations in the exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the national Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.

Exhibition catalog

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

http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore00000002112.Book.000057889

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

Exhibition section

Forms part of

VII. The Execution of Charles I

THE EXECUTION OF CHARLES I: Milton states in The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, in words that sound almost Jeffersonian: “all men naturally were born free,” “born to command and not to obey.” These are part of a strenuous and profound defense of popular sovereignty, the right of a private person to overthrow both parliament (or magistrate) and king. After a protracted stalemate, English political history experienced a sudden succession of upheavals: the forceful exclusion of the army of the majority of Parliament, called “Pride’s Purge” of Parliament in December 6, 1648; the decision by the new “Rump” Parliament to put the king on trial on January 6; and the trial and execution of King Charles I on January 30, 1649. During the trial, January 26-30, Milton began an extraordinary defense of the overthrow of both parliament and king, The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, a work published shortly after the king’s death. Milton was then hired by the new government to be their spokesperson and counter-propagandist, and also to be a secretary of foreign languages, which meant communicating in Latin and in other languages to foreign diplomats and politicians.

Exhibition caption

Forms part of

Milton, Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio (1651)

This copy's frontispiece bears the arms of the newly created British Commonwealth, which united England, Scotland, and Wales without a monarch. This was a major work of Latin -- now the largest printed book produced by Milton, and by far the most extensively produced -- ranged from 104-389 pages in its various editions. In London, it was printed officially by William Dugard, who was thrown in jail for "printing several scandalous books against the Commonwealth," including Eikon Basilike and Salmasius's Defensio Regina, which he was apparently trying to print when, as the description in the Record Office reads, "he was cast into Newgate...and had been tried for his life by an High Court of Injustice, had not Sir James Harrington saved him from that danger, and procured his release." Shortly thereafter, Dugard managed somehow to find his way into the position of "Printer to his Hignes the Lord Protector" -- that is, Oliver Cromwell.

Placement in digital exhibition

Forms part of

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