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JOHN MILTON — THE POETICAL WORKSGall & Inglis “Landscape Series of Poets”c. 1881 Victorian Decorative Publisher’s BindingRecessed Floral Pictorial OnlayElaborate Gilt, Black & Blue BlockingSteel EngravingsVariously Colored Decorative Borders Throughout
MILTON, John. The Poetical Works of John Milton. With Life. Edinburgh: Gall & Inglis, Bernard Terrace; London: 25 Paternoster Square, [c. 1881].
A striking Victorian edition of Milton’s poetry in Gall & Inglis’s highly decorative Landscape Series of Poets, preserved in its remarkable original publisher’s pictorial binding.
The book is a particularly attractive example of late nineteenth-century decorative publishing, combining a heavily blocked cloth binding with a recessed central floral pictorial onlay, extensive gilt ornament, architectural and portrait medallions, steel engravings, and text pages framed by variously colored decorative landscape borders.
THE BINDING
Original brown publisher’s cloth over beveled boards, extensively blocked in gilt, black, dark brown, and blue.
The upper board is exceptionally elaborate, featuring:
- large gilt scroll banners lettered “MILTON’S / POETICAL WORKS” in blue
- a deeply recessed Gothic-shaped central compartment
- a vivid polychrome floral pictorial onlay showing red and yellow roses and other flowers in a vase
- turquoise-blue and gilt ornament surrounding the floral image
- gilt leafy decoration around the recessed center
- four circular corner medallions
- portraits of Shakespeare and Burns in the lower medallions
- architectural views in the upper medallions
- dense architectural, floral, and geometric decoration across the entire cover
The recessed floral image appears to be a printed and colored pictorial onlay beneath a glazed or lacquered surface, rather than a hand-painted leather inset.
The spine is likewise elaborately decorated in gilt and black, with lettering including:
MILTON
ILLUSTRATED
LANDSCAPE
SERIES OF POETS
INGLIS
together with pictorial landscape and floral devices.
All edges gilt.
The result is a highly decorative example of the Victorian publisher’s binding approaching the appearance of a luxury gift book.
THE INTERIOR
The volume contains Milton’s principal poetical works, including:
- Paradise Lost
- Paradise Regained
- Samson Agonistes
- shorter poems
- sonnets
- psalms
- translations
- Latin poems
- Italian sonnets
preceded by a Life of John Milton.
Pagination: xx, 491 pp.
The title page states “Engravings on Steel,” and the volume includes a number of steel-engraved illustrations accompanying Milton’s poetry.
Especially appealing is the treatment of the text itself: the pages are framed throughout by elaborate decorative landscape borders, and the border designs are printed in different colors in different sections of the book, rather than remaining uniformly monochrome. This gives the interior a particularly rich visual effect and makes the volume much more decorative than a standard illustrated edition.
The varying tones of the page borders complement the steel engravings and the elaborate exterior binding, creating a unified decorative presentation from cover to cover.
PROVENANCE
The volume has attractive Northumberland provenance.
Early ownership inscriptions include:
Jane Orange
Clayport
Alnwick
Northumberland
England
with a further inscription for:
Miss J. Orange
Clayport
Alnwick
The front pastedown also retains a small bookseller’s ticket:
JOHN DAVISON
BOOKSELLER
FANT, ALNWICK
An appealing survival linking the book to Victorian Alnwick.
CONDITION
Good to very good antique condition, with wear consistent with age and with the unusually elaborate construction of the binding.
The front cover remains highly attractive, with strong gilt, black, and blue decoration. The central floral onlay remains intact and retains vivid color.
The glazed or lacquered surface of the floral inset shows age-related crazing and cracking, with some wear to the surrounding recessed border.
There is rubbing and wear to the extremities, particularly at the corners and spine ends, with small areas of cloth loss and fraying.
The interior shows scattered foxing, heavier on some preliminary leaves and lighter through much of the text.
Early ownership inscriptions are present, along with evidence of a removed label or bookplate on one preliminary leaf.
The rear inner hinge is cracked/exposed, though the rear board remains attached. The binding remains usable and the text block is otherwise sound.
The steel engravings remain attractive and well defined, and the decorative page borders retain their varying printed colors.
All edges gilt remain bright.
Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.
A SPECTACULAR VICTORIAN MILTON
Far more visually distinctive than the ordinary cloth editions of Milton commonly encountered, this copy combines one of the great works of English literature with an unusually elaborate example of Victorian publisher’s book design.
The recessed floral onlay, gilt and colored blocking, portraits of Shakespeare and Burns, architectural imagery, all-gilt edges, steel engravings, and variously colored decorative borders throughout the text make this an especially appealing copy for collectors of:
Victorian bindings • publisher’s cloth • decorative books • John Milton • Paradise Lost • illustrated poetry • nineteenth-century book arts
A particularly attractive survival from Gall & Inglis’s Landscape Series of Poets.
