THE ARTS OF EMPIRE AND MYSTERIES OF STATE

London: John Milton, 1692. Third Edition, First Issue. Hardcover. Octavo, [8], 238, [2] pages. In Good condition. Quarter bound in tan leather, brown leather boards, paneled spine with a burgundy label and gilt lettering. Moderate rubbing to boards. Text block speckled red. Tape repair to both front and rear gutters, since separated. First two endpapers and last two endpapers loose within. Endpaper opposite title page has thirteen lines of handwritten notes. Bookplate on front pastedown. Interior clean. Rare advertisement leaf in rear. SS consignment. Shelved in Case 0. First issued as "The Cabinet-Council, Containing the Chief Arts of Empire, and Mysteries of State; Discabinated in Political and Polemical Aphorisms" by John Milton in 1660. The unsold copies were re-issued by the publisher in 1661, omitting Milton's name from the title, together with his preface, presumably in order not to hinder sales following the proclamation of 1660 condemning the author's Pro populo Anglicano defensio.




Although Milton believed that the manuscript he edited was by Raleigh, the attribution is doubtful. Cf. William Riley Parker, "Milton", p. 516-517 and Shawcross, 256.




Wickenheiser 66, Coleridge 71a, Parker M1. 1293476. Shelved Dupont Bookstore. (Inventory #: 1293476)