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Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: A Milton biographer's edition of Milton's poems Review: I once said in another review that the number of editions of Milton's poetry could make choosing which one to purchase a tedious process. Gordon Campbell, who revised William Riley Parker's beautifully written biography of Milton, introduces the poems of this Everyman edition with a nice essay and an invaluable chronological table that aligns the poet's life with historical and literary events.Also, Campbell's own voice comes across clearly which is unusual for an editor. In the second clause of the opening sentence of his introduction, Campbell insightfully speaks of Milton's bizarre talent in checking his great learning against his innate drive to create: " . . . it is remarkable that the weight of his erudition did not crush his genius for writing poetry." Campbell's humility, which is felt in his confessions of weaknesses as an editor and scholar, comforts the reader through the most allusively amazing read that is Milton's poetry: "In struggling to avoid the occasional perils of dependence on earlier editors I have doubtless made mistakes of my own invention . . . ". The leaves of the cloth-bound (not the paperback) Everyman edition are acid-free and sewn in signatures.
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