On this day 342 years ago, John Milton sold the copyright in the epic poem Paradise Lost for £10. The poem had been composed by dictation over the preceding decade, as Milton was blind. He had been born in 1608, the son of a scrivener. He studied at St Paul’s School in London and then at the University of Cambridge where he obtained his Master of Arts degree in 1632. Some of his well-known poems date from his time at University.
Milton spent the following six years undertaking private study, and then travelled in Europe for a year. As a result of his studies, experiences in Europe and the civil war in England, he developed strong political (republican) and theological (anti-Catholic) views, and he became a political activist while working as a private tutor. His political reputation gained him the appointment of Secretary for Foreign Tongues in 1649, and in 1652 he published Defensio Pro Populo Anglicano in an attempt to defend the English Republic’s legitimacy to a European audience. As a result he became well-known in Europe.
Paradise Lost tells the story of the fall of man and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. It raises numerous theological issues including predestination, fate and the Trinity. The nature of idolatry is another interesting theme, with Milton regarding as idolatrous any object, human or otherwise, that receives special attention which is befitting of God. The poem is regarded as one of the greatest works in the English language.