John Milton, the greatest English poet of the 17th century, was also the great champion of press freedom, and “Areopagitica“ (1644), his impassioned plea for “unlicensed printing,” begins ...

Samuel Johnson quipped that even the admirers of John Milton’s epic never wished it “longer than it is.” But “Paradise Lost” reshaped English literature.

Dec. 9 is Milton's 400th birthday, which is as good a time as any to note that John Milton has been, more than anyone but Shakespeare, an inspiration and a rival to later poets.

John Milton’s ‘Areopagitica’ (1644) failed in its original mission, but it is now widely regarded as the world’s first important essay in defense of freedom of expression. By .

WAS JOHN MILTON a student of the occult? I had forgotten just how extensive his grasp of demonology was until the publication of a new edition of “Paradise Lost” (Modern Library: 424 pp., $11 ...

John Milton Was Born 405 Years Ago Today. Here's Why He Still Matters. Hulton Archive/Getty Images "John Milton And His Poetry" October 21, 1931.

John Milton citing Spenser on the recent history of Ireland in his 1587 edition of Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles.Note Milton's italic e, hooks and curls on letters and distinctive s's.

John Milton's handwritten annotations have been identified in a copy of Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), a vital source of inspiration for the Paradise Lost poet. The discovery makes this ...

Surely that wasn’t John Milton’s handwriting? Scott-Warren jumped up, ran to the library and began comparing the photos with Cambridge copies of Milton’s scribblings.

John Milton Muddles Through. Some people call this a critical, as opposed to a creative, age. I doubt whether it is either. Certainly so many thousands of professed poets write and publish that a ...

A scholar at Cambridge named Jason Scott-Warren was browsing through some journal articles and stumbled across John Milton’s annotated copy of Shakespeare’s first folio.