Publisher Description

The experimental and diverse writings of John Milton's early career offer tantalizing evidence of a precocious and steadily ripening author. Traditionally scholars have looked to Poems 1645 for evidence of his development as a poet and its bearing upon his career as a prose writer for over two decades, but such an approach has sometimes obscured and more often ignored the unique accomplishment of Milton's early career by characterizing his juvenilia asself-conscious writing designed to chronicle artistic progression. Young Milton seeks to fill a scholarly void regarding Milton's early Latin and English writing (there has been no volumeexclusively focused on his writing of the 1620s, 1630s, and the first years of the 1640s). For the most part the essays in this collection reject the idea of a linear development in favor of achievement of various kinds, unequal in merit, and not predicated upon maturation over time. Such maturity indeed may occur, but the early writing of Milton results from a wide variety of occasions-religious holidays; family celebrations; grammar school exercises and university requirements; the deathsof family members, ministers, university officials, and personal friends; aristocratic celebrations and commissions. This occasionality challenges the argument for the young author's uniform progress.The writings explored include Lycidas, one of the most celebrated elegies ever written in English, and The Passion, an unfinished poem declared by its author to involve a subject beyond his grasp.

Author Biography

Since his appointment as an assistant editor to the Milton Quarterly in the late 1970s, Edward Jones has been exposed to what Christopher Hill has called the `Milton Industry'. Jones has taken on the challenge of staying current while publishing in an area of Milton studies that has been largely abandoned (archival records produced by the church, state, and parish). As associate and senior editor, and since 2005, when he succeeded the founding editor ofMQ, he has continued to play an integral role in publishing young and veteran scholars. His on-going archival work led to his assignment to prepare a new edition of Milton's letters of state for the ClarendonMilton and serve as the volume editor for Milton's miscellaneous writing. As a Professor of English at Oklahoma State, he has taught Milton to the curious and the dubious, served on the executive committee and as president of the Milton Society of America, and has presented his work at various forums both in the US and abroad.

Table of Contents

Edward Jones: PrefacePART I: ARCHIVAL, EDUCATIONAL, and RELIGIOUS CONTEXTS1: Edward Jones: The Archival Landscape of Milton's Youth, University Years, and Pre-London Residencies2: William Poole: `The Armes of Studious Retirement'?: Milton's Scholarship, 1632-16413: Thomas Roebuck: Milton and the Confessionalization of Antiquarianism4: Jeffrey Alan Miller: Milton and the Conformable Puritanism of Richard Stock and Thomas YoungPART II: LATIN EXPERIMENTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENT5: Cedric C. Brown: John Milton and Charles Diodati: Reading the Textual Exchanges of Friends6: Sarah Knight: Milton and the Idea of the University7: Noam Reisner: Obituary and Rapture in Milton's Memorial Latin Poems8: Andrew Zurcher: Milton on Tragedy: Law, Hypallage, and Participation9: Stella P. Revard: The Design of the 1645 PoemsPART III: EARLY VERNACULAR DEVELOPMENT10: Blaine Greteman: Revising Childhood in Milton's Ludlow Maske11: John Leonard: That Two-Handed Engine and the Millennium at the Door12: Christopher Tilmouth: Early Poems and Prose: Some Hidden Continuities

Review

One of Miltons signal accomplishments is to have constructed a convincing account of his own development as a poet. ?ese essays point to the complex circumstances from which that account was extracted; they hint, tantalizingly, at paths not taken and rough places made plain. ?e result is to give us a messier, richer, and altogether more exciting picture of John Milton before he was Milton. * Karen L Edwards, University of Exeter, Modern Language Review *

Promotional

Winner of the Irene Samuel Award 2014

Long Description

The experimental and diverse writings of John Milton's early career offer tantalizing evidence of a precocious and steadily ripening author. Traditionally scholars have looked to Poems 1645 for evidence of his development as a poet and its bearing upon his career as a prose writer for over two decades, but such an approach has sometimes obscured and more often ignored the unique accomplishment of Milton's early career by characterizing his juvenilia as
self-conscious writing designed to chronicle artistic progression. Young Milton seeks to fill a scholarly void regarding Milton's early Latin and English writing (there has been no volume
exclusively focused on his writing of the 1620s, 1630s, and the first years of the 1640s). For the most part the essays in this collection reject the idea of a linear development in favor of achievement of various kinds, unequal in merit, and not predicated upon maturation over time. Such maturity indeed may occur, but the early writing of Milton results from a wide variety of occasions-religious holidays; family celebrations; grammar school exercises and university requirements; the deaths
of family members, ministers, university officials, and personal friends; aristocratic celebrations and commissions. This occasionality challenges the argument for the young author's uniform progress.
The writings explored include Lycidas, one of the most celebrated elegies ever written in English, and The Passion, an unfinished poem declared by its author to involve a subject beyond his grasp.

Review Quote

One of Miltons signal accomplishments is to have constructed a convincing account of his own development as a poet. ?ese essays point to the complex circumstances from which that account was extracted; they hint, tantalizingly, at paths not taken and rough places made plain. ?e result is to give us a messier, richer, and altogether more exciting picture of John Milton before he was Milton.

Promotional "Headline"

Winner of the Irene Samuel Award 2014

Feature

By demonstrating that Milton's early career is as worthy of close evaluation as his political prose, this volume signals a new direction in Milton Studies
The methodological diversity and interdisciplinary approach of the volume yield a wide range of essays on topics including Milton's personal letters, Latin prolusions, and funeral elegies; his educational reading; exposure to puritan clergymen; and the most celebrated crux in his writing
The tripartite structure allows readers to see the interconnections between Milton's life and art, specifically the religious, political, poetic and personal contexts in which Milton lived and participated

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