Collecting Pandemonium: John Milton in the Alexander Turnbull Library
A living tradition
Paradise Lost: a poem in XII books, 1902, Woodcut heading and letterpress, Hammersmith: Doves Press, Special Printed Collections, Alexander Turnbull Library
A living tradition
Alexander Turnbull was enamoured with fine print editions of Milton's work, collecting books produced by the likes of the Vale Press and the Essex Press.
The Special Printed Collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library continues this tradition, and has amassed a significant collection of Milton and Milton-related fine-print material.
The Library not only collects in the areas laid out by Turnbull, but also sometimes through the same channels. This Doves Press edition of Paradise Lost (1902) was purchased in 1948, 30 years after Turnbull's death. It was acquired through Bernard Quaritch Antiquarian Booksellers, whose founder had been Turnbull's principle agent when he started his Milton collection.
The book originally belonged to John Hornby of the Doves Press, who is responsible for this loving topographic tribute to Milton.
Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image
