Marrin's Bookshop

Item Description

Two titles in one. 3 x 5 inches. Text in Latin and some Greek. Original vellum with 'Salmasius pro, Milton contra' and Commonwealth arms on spine in manuscript. These two works are bound together in the same volume. Various ink annotations verso front cover and pencil annotations on first blank page made by previous owners. Sympathetically recased at some point Pro Popolo Anglicano Defensio decorated with Commonwealth arms on title page; Defensio Regia decorated with title page, head and tail vignettes and initials. PRO POPULO ANGLICAN DEFENSIO Probably the Jansson edition of Milton's response to the Defensio by Salmasius (Claude de Saumaise,1588-1653) published in 1649. Milton's response was celebrated as a victory over the defence of Salmasius of absolute monarchy and the Divine Right of Kings. The work, written in Latin is noted for its colourful invectives such as a 'dung-hill Frenchman' and indignant attacks on the French scholar. Milton questions how the great European scholar could defend the principle of divine right and he defends the overthrow of the monarchy by the people. The 'Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio' was a pivotal work for Milton who gained recognition and fame through his powerful response to Salmasius' argument. DEFENSIO REGIA... This is the second edition of this work, published anonymously in the same year as the first edition. Both editions were published by the Elzevirs in Leiden. The printing of the Defensio is said to have been paid for by the exiled Charles II, who asked Salmasius (Claude de Saumaise 1588-1653) a renowned French and Classical scholar and Professor at the University of Leiden, to write a work defending the case of his father. In the Defensio, Salmasius condemns the parliamentary government in England and upholds the Divine Right of Kings. He wrote his work in Latin and it was censored in England, one of the censors being John Milton. Dutch Protestant printers produced these works in large numbers and their bibliography is incredibly complex: false imprints, no imprints and lack of dates being frequent. The deception was fired by the greed of the same printers competing for the Spanish theological printing contracts and so guarding their anonymity. It is for this reason that the order of precedence of these printings is very difficult to identify.