PARADISE LOST by John Milton. 2027.
The Work
Twelve books.One disobedience.
Milton was blind, out of favour, and lately imprisoned when he began dictating the poem to whoever would take it down. He sold it outright for five pounds.
Ten books appeared in 1667. Seven years later he arranged them into twelve — ten thousand five hundred and sixty-five lines of unrhymed verse, which he defended to the reader as ancient liberty recovered.
It is the last poem in English to attempt everything at once: a cosmology, a politics, a theology, and an argument about the price of choosing.
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n
The Edition
Two issues.Then never again.
The edition is set and printed once, in two issues, and is not reprinted. Copies are allocated in the order they are requested.
26 copies. Each copy contains a unique original work by the artist.
No two are alike. Twenty-six copies exist and there will be no others.
400 copies. Each copy is hand-signed by the artist.
Identical in binding and materials to the lettered issue.
Specifications of the edition
- Binding
- Hand-bound, full leather
- Stamping
- Foil, by hand
- Enclosure
- Clamshell case
- Publication
- 2027
- Format
- Royal octavo (provisional)
- Paper
- Mould-made cotton rag, deckle edge (provisional)
- Printing
- Letterpress, printed damp (provisional)
- Type
- Hand-set metal type (provisional)
- Price
- Given to the list before it is published
Marked specifications are provisional until the first proofs are pulled.
Long is the wayAnd hard, that out of Hell leads up to Light
The Art
The commissionis underway.
Original work has been commissioned for this edition. The twenty-six lettered copies each carry a unique piece; the four hundred numbered copies are signed.
No plate will be shown before the announcement.
Art by
Saprophial
No light, but rather darkness visible
The Press
Tenet Press makes books as objects.
Each edition takes a work that has already outlived its century and gives it a new body: original art, type set with intention, materials chosen to last longer than we will.
No artificial intelligence touches the making of our books. Our artists work in physical media. Nothing we publish is generated, and nothing we publish derives from anything generated.
The Announcement
The edition will beannounced once.
The list is told first: the price, the plates, and the opening of allocation. Leave an address and you will hear from us when there is something to say. Not otherwise.
Recorded. You will hear from us once.