# Is "Paradise Lost" by John Milton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Paradise Lost by John Milton (Samuel Simmons, London, 1667) is identified by: London, 1667, quarto, 'A Poem Written in Ten Books' — the ten-book arrangement is itself the primary point, since the 1674 second edition recast the poem into the twelve books familiar today; any copy in twelve books is not the 1667 first. No UK-vs-US question exists: London 1667 is the true first and the only first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- London, 1667, quarto, 'A Poem Written in Ten Books' — the ten-book arrangement is itself the primary point, since the 1674 second edition recast the poem into the twelve books familiar today; any copy in twelve books is not the 1667 first
- Samuel Simmons was the publisher, but his name is ABSENT from the earliest title pages, which name only the booksellers Peter Parker, Robert Boulter and Matthias Walker; his name first appears on a later title-page form ('Printed by S. Simmons')
- One setting of sheets was sold off between 1667 and 1669 under a succession of title pages; authorities count six, seven, or (Masson's enumeration) as many as nine distinct forms
- The earliest, dated 1667, name JOHN MILTON in full: first state with the name in italic capitals LARGER than the word LONDON, second state with the name in smaller italic capitals
- Later forms, dated 1668, reduce the author to the initials 'J.M.' and shorten 'Written in' to 'IN'; the 1669-dated forms carry T. Helder's imprint (at the Angel in Little Britain)
- First-issue point: a true first issue has NO preliminary matter at all
- Publisher imprint reads Samuel Simmons, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Milton |
| Publisher | Samuel Simmons, London |
| Year | 1667 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | London, 1667, quarto, 'A Poem Written in Ten Books' — the ten-book arrangement is itself the primary point, since the 1674 second edition… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
London, 1667, quarto, 'A Poem Written in Ten Books' — the ten-book arrangement is itself the primary point, since the 1674 second edition recast the poem into the twelve books familiar today; any copy in twelve books is not the 1667 first. Samuel Simmons was the publisher, but his name is ABSENT from the earliest title pages, which name only the booksellers Peter Parker, Robert Boulter and Matthias Walker; his name first appears on a later title-page form ('Printed by S. Simmons'). One setting of sheets was sold off between 1667 and 1669 under a succession of title pages; authorities count six, seven, or (Masson's enumeration) as many as nine distinct forms. The earliest, dated 1667, name JOHN MILTON in full: first state with the name in italic capitals LARGER than the word LONDON, second state with the name in smaller italic capitals. Later forms, dated 1668, reduce the author to the initials 'J.M.' and shorten 'Written in' to 'IN'; the 1669-dated forms carry T. Helder's imprint (at the Angel in Little Britain). First-issue point: a true first issue has NO preliminary matter at all. The fourteen pages containing 'The Printer to the Reader', the prose Arguments to the ten books, Milton's note on 'The Verse' defending blank verse, and the errata were printed later and inserted from 1668 onward. A copy WITH the Arguments is not first issue. Binding is not a point: copies were issued in plain contemporary sheep or calf, and nearly all survivors are rebound. Print-run figures in the sources conflict (c.1,300 in some, c.1,500 in others).

## Is this the true first?
No UK-vs-US question exists: London 1667 is the true first and the only first. There is no original-language issue — the poem is English. The 1674 second edition (twelve books, with the added commendatory verses) and the 1688 subscription folio are separate editions, not states of the first, and the 1688 folio in particular is often offered as an early 'first' — it is not.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club or reprint-society tells apply to the 17th-century printings. The one recurring trap is the frontispiece portrait: the first edition was NEVER issued with an author portrait, so a portrait found in a 1667 copy is a later insertion, usually the William Dolle engraving taken from the 1674 or 1678 editions. Realistically, donor copies are 18th-century or later editions, Victorian illustrated reprints (Doré and successors), or modern press and book-club issues — all first thus at best.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Paradise Lost* by John Milton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/paradise-lost
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.