Beschreibung:

MILTON, John (1608-1674). Paradise Regain'd. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is added Samson Agonistes . London: Printed J.M. for John Starkey, 1671. Two parts in one volume, 8 o (174 x 108 mm). License leaf preceding general title, section title to Samson Agonistes , errata to both works at end. (M2 with lower fore-corner chipped affecting catchword, a few line-numbers shaved.) BINDING: 18th-century red goatskin, covers tooled in gilt with a single fillet border, front cover with central lyre tool between two matching tools of the Caduceus of Mercury, back cover with central figure of Liberty emblem below a single star with palm branch tool on the left and olive branch tool on the right, spine in four compartments, gilt-lettered green morocco lettering pieces in the two central compartments (labels chipped), the lyre tool repeated in the top and bottom compartments, edges marbled, marbled endleaves, BOUND BY JOHN MATTHEWMAN FOR THOMAS HOLLIS (some minor dampstains, some rubbing and light wear); full green levant morocco slipcase, covers with double gilt fillet surrounding an all-over pattern of gilt leafy sprays, spine with a single gilt-ruled title panel, and matching all-over gilt leaf pattern, stamp-signed on flap: "Bound by Riviere & Son for L.S. Montague [ sic ] 1895." Provenance : Thomas Hollis of Lincoln's Inn (1720-1774), passionate upholder of liberty and eccentric bibliophile (binding, and his tipped-in autograph note in the third person presenting this volume to the Speaker of the House of Commons, 22 July 1760, and a quotation from Mark Akenside in Hollis's hand on the front flyleaf) -- Louis Samuel Montagu (slipcase dated 1895). Montagu was the eldest son of Sir Samuel Montagu, first Baron Swaythling, a distinguished foreign exchange banker and prominent Jewish philanthropist. Other books similarly bound or slipcased for Montagu include Alices's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1872), both containing original drawings by Tenniel and were acquired by A.S.W. Rosenbach from Montagu's widow (the former sold Christie's New York, 9 December 1998, lot 38; the latter is in the Rosenbach Museum & Library) -- Louis H. Silver (bookplate), sold in the sale of Newberry Library duplicates from the Silver accession, Sotheby's London, 9 November 1965, lot 234 -- purchased from John F. Fleming, New York, 1 February 1968. Exhibited : Grolier Club, ' This powerfull rime ,' 1975, no. 27. FIRST EDITION OF BOTH WORKS, second issue of first work, with "loth" on page 67 correctly printed. BOUND IN A FINE REPUBLICAN BINDING FOR THOMAS HOLLIS Thomas Hollis a keen Whig and student of political history, formed an important collection of medals and a large library. He spent hundreds of pounds a year on the production and purchase of books and medals, often donating these to various individuals and libraries, especially those of Harvard, Berne, and Zurich. His devotion to 17th-century republican literature inspired him to decorate his bindings with the various emblems associated with liberty. "As he wrote in 1765 to President Holyoke of Harvard College, which was one of the principal recipients of his gifts, 'The bindings of Books are little regarded by me for my own proper library; but by long experience I have found it necessary to attend to them for other libraries; having thereby drawn notice, with preservation, on many excellent books, or curious, which, it is probable would else have passed unheeded and neglected'" (Nixon, p. 168). His books were bound for presentation by Richard Montagu until 1758, followed by John Matthewman until 1769. Hollis's simpler presentation bindings, of which this is an example, date from about 1761 until 1769 and were the work of Matthewman. Often edited and published by Hollis himself, the books were decorated with his own selection of nineteen symbolic tools designed for him by Cipriani (see Rothschild, pp. 750-751). When fire destroyed Mathewman's shop in 1764, a new an