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Milton's early notes on Paradise lost as a tragedy called Adam Unparadised, c. 1640. This page from Milton's poetical notebook (now better know as the 'Trinity Manuscript', because it is in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge) shows Milton working out his initial ideas for Paradise Lost in the form of a tragedy in five acts. Visible beneath the crossings-out at the top of the image is the working title 'Adams Banishment', which Milton subsequently replaced with 'Adam unparadiz'd'. Other pages of the manuscript show Milton toying with a cast of characters and finally deciding on the title, 'Paradise lost'. The manuscript is displayed here in William Aldis Wright's photographic facsimile, printed by Cambridge University Press in 1899. |