MILTON, John (1608-1674). Areopagitica; a speech […] for the liberty of unlicenc’d printing, to the parliament of England. London: 1644. Bound with a number of other 17th-century pamphlets.
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MILTON, John (1608-1674). Areopagitica; a speech […] for the liberty of unlicenc’d printing, to the parliament of England. London: 1644. Bound with a number of other 17th-century pamphlets.

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MILTON, John (1608-1674). Areopagitica; a speech […] for the liberty of unlicenc’d printing, to the parliament of England. London: 1644. Bound with a number of other 17th-century pamphlets.

First edition of history’s greatest defence of the freedom of expression. This copy, like a few select others, contains manuscript corrections to pages 12 and 34 believed to be in Milton’s own hand. ‘The argument for freedom has never, before or since, been so magnificently or forcefully expressed’(PMM). ESTC R21002; Pforzheimer 707; PMM 133; Wing M-2092.

Quarto (184 x 126mm). Title within double-ruled border (some dampstaining, lacking final blank F2, as often; shoulder-note to B1v trimmed, a number of pamphlets trimmed sometimes affecting text). Eighteenth-century sprinkled calf (expertly rebacked to style, chip to upper cover, extremities lightly rubbed). Modern quarter leather clamshell box. Provenance: Some 17th-century inscriptions and annotations -- ‘Geo[rge] Chudleigh 1719’ (probably Sir George Chudleigh, 4th Baronet (d. 1738; inscription on front pastedown, manuscript table of contents to fly leaves) – ‘John Boyes 1796’ (inscription on front pastedown) – Torquay Natural History Society (stamp on title, library laws pasted opposite) -- Michael Sharpe (label on front pastedown).
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