Collecting Pandemonium: John Milton in the Alexander Turnbull Library
Pandemonium in the Alexander Turnbull Library
John Martin, Pandemonium, mezzotint engraving, In Paradise Lost, London: Charles Tilt, 1838, General Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: G q821.4L 1838 MIL
Pandemonium in the Alexander Turnbull Library
John Martin's moody mezzotint engravings for Paradise Lost capture all the drama and intensity of Milton's words, which spoke powerfully to the Romantic imagination.
Pandemonium, 'all the demons', was a term coined by Milton in Paradise Lost for the palace built in hell by Satan and his fallen angels.
Any Milton collection by definition collects pandemonium. It's a phrase also richly suggestive of the possibly irrational forces that drive somebody into a life of collecting. Turnbull knew these forces well, and described collecting as 'that fascinating folly'.
Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image
