Citizen Milton



An Exhibition to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of John Milton’s Birthday.December 8th 2007 - April 26th 2008.

The Bodleian Library’s winter exhibition is a tribute to John Milton, one of the first advocates of civil liberties. Focusing on the ever current idea of ‘citizenship’, the exhibition tells a story through word and image of this great writer’s abiding ideas, linking his artistic and political activities. The Exhibition is curated by the acclaimed Milton Scholar Dr Sharon Achinstein, Fellow of St Edmund Hall.


Celebrating the quatercentenary of Milton’s birth, the display presents Milton’s major works in important and beautiful editions from the Bodleian Library’s collections including the rare first edition of Areopagitica and the first twelve-book edition of the greatest epic poem in the English language, Paradise Lost. The exhibition also explores the lasting power and influence of Milton’s works and his activity in subsequent political and artistic movements.


Milton’s ideas and words have developed a flourishing afterlife, providing inspiration for the works of renowned artists, type-makers and illustrators such as John Martin, Mary Groom, Arthur Rackham and Samuel Palmer, whose magnificent painting ‘The Prospect’ is being lent by the Ashmolean museum.


Very recent interpreters of Milton, including Geoffrey Hill, Tony Harrison and Philip Pullman, also have their works represented.


Above from Ibookcollector Newsletter # 90
Pic of Milton from Wikipedia website.