Is My Paradise Regain'd ... to which is added Samson Agonistes a First Edition?

The points of issue

• London, 1671, octavo; the imprint reads "Printed by J. M. for John Starkey at the Mitre in Fleetstreet, near Temple Bar" — J. M. is the printer John Macock, Starkey the bookseller-publisher
• Wing M2152
• The first issue carries the misprint "loah" for "loth" on page 67 (signature F2), line 2; the reading was corrected to "loth" in the later state, so "loah" is the decisive earliest-state point
• A complete copy has the licence (imprimatur) leaf at the front and, at the end, the "Omissa" leaf and the errata leaf — the Omissa supplies ten lines inadvertently left out of Samson Agonistes, printed as an appended leaf rather than in place
• Collation [4], 111, [1], 101, [3]; Samson Agonistes has its own title page dated 1671 and its own pagination, but the register is continuous with Paradise Regain'd, so the two were issued together and a Samson offered as a separate book is a broken volume
• Leaves measure roughly 175 x 111 mm untrimmed

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
4. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The 1671 London octavo is the only edition published in Milton's lifetime and is the true first of both poems — Samson Agonistes has no separate prior edition, appearing here for the first time. The census claim is confirmed. There is no earlier or competing continental or original-language edition; Milton wrote in English and the book was published in London. It is habitually collected alongside the 1667 Paradise Lost (London, printed for Peter Parker and others), which is a separate high spot with its own celebrated sequence of title-page states, and the two should never be conflated: neither is an issue of the other.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club question arises for a 1671 book. The governing later-edition tell is the Omissa: in the 1680 second edition the ten omitted lines are printed in their correct place within the text of Samson Agonistes rather than appended on a separate leaf at the end, so a copy with those lines set in place is not the 1671 first. Copies of the 1671 lacking the licence leaf, the Omissa leaf or the errata leaf are incomplete rather than a distinct earlier state, and the "loth" reading on page 67 marks the corrected later state of the first edition. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century reprints and facsimiles are numerous and are identified by their own imprints.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Paradise Regain'd ... to which is added Samson Agonistes a first edition?

A first edition of Paradise Regain'd ... to which is added Samson Agonistes by John Milton (Printed by J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey, London) is identified by: London, 1671, octavo; the imprint reads "Printed by J.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The 1671 London octavo is the only edition published in Milton's lifetime and is the true first of both poems — Samson Agonistes has no separate prior edition, appearing here for the first time.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club question arises for a 1671 book. The governing later-edition tell is the Omissa: in the 1680 second edition the ten omitted lines are printed in their correct place within the text of Samson Agonistes rather than appended on a separate leaf at the end, so a copy with those lines set in place is not the 1671 first. Copies of the 1671 lacking the licence leaf, the Omissa leaf or the errata leaf are incomplete rather than a distinct earlier state, and the "loth" reading on page 67 mark

I have a first edition of Paradise Regain'd ... to which is added Samson Agonistes — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.