John Milton, Epistolarum Familiarium Liber Unus and Uncollected Letters

Firstfull-scale edition of John Milton s Latin and uncollected vernacular lettersJohn Milton holds animpressive place within the rich tradition of neo-Latin epistolography. His Epistolae Familiares and uncollectedletters paint an invigorating portrait of the artist as a young man, offeringinsight into his reading programme, his views on education, friendship, poetry,his relations with continental literati, his blindness, and his role as LatinSecretary. This edition presents a modernised Latin text and a facing Englishtranslation, complemented by a detailed introduction and a comprehensive commentary. Situating Milton s letters in relation to the classical, pedagogical,neo-Latin, and vernacular contexts at the heart of their composition, itpresents fresh evidence in regard to Milton s relationships with the Italianphilologist Benedetto Buonmattei, the Greek humanist Leonard Philaras, theradical pastor Jean de Labadie, and the German diplomat Peter Heimbach. It alsoannounces several new discoveries, most notably a manuscript of HenryOldenburg s transcription of Ep. Fam. 25. This volume fills an important gap in Milton scholarship, and will prove ofparticular use to Milton scholars, students, philologists, neo-Latinists, andthose interested in the humanist reinvention of the epistolographic tradition.