BENTLEY'S ANNOTATED 1674 EDITION OF PARADISE LOST: HIDDEN METHOD AND PECULIAR MADNESS

The discovery of a second-edition Paradise Lost annotated by Richard Bentley provides an opportunity to reassess Bentley's infamous 1732 edition of the epic. This article brings new textual evidence to bear on long-standing controversy, establishing that the notes in Bentley's 1674 edition...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Review of English studies 2013-02, Vol.64 (263), p.60-86
Main Author: HARPER, DAVID A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bentley, Richard (1662-1742)
Darbishire, Helen
English literature
Epic literature
Influence
Literary criticism
Literary critics
Mackail, J W
Milton, John (1608-1674)
Writers
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Description
Summary:The discovery of a second-edition Paradise Lost annotated by Richard Bentley provides an opportunity to reassess Bentley's infamous 1732 edition of the epic. This article brings new textual evidence to bear on long-standing controversy, establishing that the notes in Bentley's 1674 edition pre-date those in a 1720 edition previously examined by J.W. Mackail, Helen Darbishire and others. The new evidence paradoxically casts further doubt on Bentley's veracity and the sincerity of his editorial apparatus while demonstrating as never before his genuine and sustained intellectual engagement with Milton's poem.
ISSN:0034-6551
1471-6968
DOI:10.1093/res/hgr083