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More Editions


In the fall of 2021, the Folger Library added two more editions that were for a period displayed on the Folger's Miranda platform (now discontinued). They can be viewed on Google drive held on AGU's server. These will eventually be held on a future viewing platform still in development.

The first edition is Biblia Sacra (1662), a Latin bible. This is a 17th-century edition printed in Paris by Antonius Vitré, sanctioned by the king. The Biblia Sacra is an enormous printed work, 44 centimeters in size and over 700 pages. It was printed in Latin and like many of the works of its time, has imperfections in its pagination. The edition also includes maps.

The second edition is Milton's History of Britain (1670). This history is by the famous British poet is also a full edition.

According to Graham Parry, "its origins are complicated and unclear. Milton probably began writing it in 1647, just before the outbreak of the Second Civil War, and broke off in the middle of book 4 early in 1649 when he was offered a government post as Secretary for Foreign Tongues. He may have resumed work on it between 1655 and 1657, taking the story up to the Battle of Hastings, at which point he stopped, although he had intended to carry the work through to his own time. He may have made some adjustments as he prepared the book for publication, but we do not know why he chose to issue it when he did. Nor do we know the reason why Milton chose to begin writing a long national history in the midst of a political crisis when his attention would normally have been directed to contemporary affairs. The motivating principle behind the book may have been to assess the temper of the British people through the ages and to examine how they had responded to the challenges offered by political liberty at critical periods during their history."

––The Milton Encyclopaedia, Yale U.P., p. 151.

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