Milton, Authorship, and the Book Trade
This book offers an original exploration of John Milton’s relation to the seventeenth-century book trade. Critics have often assumed that Milton presided over all stages of his texts’ creation, and little has been said about his dependence on other people for producing his works. Examining Milton’s changing historical circumstances with special attention his texts’ material production, Stephen B. Dobranski shows in a series of provocative and original case studies that Milton benefited from a collaborative process of writing and publishing. He worked with amanuenses, acquaintances, printers, and publishers, often in dramatic and surprising ways. Paradoxically, Milton’s implied persona of the independent, even isolated, poet required the cooperation of these various individuals.
Praise for Milton, Authorship, and the Book Trade:
“. . . [a] groundbreaking study . . . ”
J. H. Sims, Choice
“. . . a convincing and cogent coupling of Milton scholarship and the history of the book”
Ian Gadd, SHARP News
“Dobranski does extremely well in assimilating bibliographical concerns into main-stream criticism. His is a necessary and welcome approach both to Milton and to the wider concerns of seventeenth-century print culture.”
Margaret Kean, Notes and Queries
“. . . impressive . . . valuable . . . When it comes down to it, there can be little doubt that the author of this book knows his business.”
Claes Schaar, English Studies