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HE prefent Edition of the Poetical and Profe Works of Milton has been carefully printed from the Author's

copies; the orthography so peculiar in the writings of Milton has been scrupulously preserved: and if an authority were required for closely following the text of an author, it is only neceffary to quote the words of the Rev. John Keble; who, in the preface to Hooker, fays, "however both in this question (punctuation) and still more in that of spelling, the Editor acknowledges that he should himself prefer an exact reprint of the original, excepting, of course, palpable errors of the prefs. In one respect especially, i. e. as a specimen of language, ancient books lofe very much of their value by the neglect of ancient orthography."

The most authentic likeness of Milton appeared with his History of Britain, which was printed in 1670; it was drawn "from the life," when he was 62 years old, by William Faithorne, and engraved also by him: the portrait which faces the title page of this volume is engraved by William Humphreys, and is a faithful copy from that by Faithorne; the line under the portrait and the name are fac-fimiles of Milton's handwriting, from

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