The Life of John Milton: Narrated in Connexion with the Political, Ecclesiastical and Literary History of His Time: By David Masson. IV

Published in the mid-19th century, this volume is part of David Masson's monumental six-volume biography of the English poet John Milton. Masson, a Scottish man of letters and professor of English literature, dedicated decades to this exhaustive project, beginning the first volume in 1859. The work was conceived not merely as a life of the poet, but as a comprehensive historical survey intended to place Milton firmly within the turbulent religious and political landscape of the seventeenth century.

Masson’s approach was noted for its sheer scale and archival depth, often incorporating sprawling historical tangents that stretched far beyond Milton’s own activities. While the work received praise for its immense scholarly ambition and the rigor of its research, contemporary critics sometimes found its narrative scope overwhelming. Despite this, it has remained a foundational, if dense, reference point for Milton scholars, reflecting the Victorian era's penchant for encyclopedic, multi-volume biographical enterprises.