more when thirteen hundred should be sold of the first edition; and
again, five pounds after the sale of the same number of the second
edition; and another five pounds after the same sale of the third.
None of the three editions were to be extended beyond fifteen
hundred copies.

The first edition was ten books, in a small quarto. The titles were
varied from year to year; and an advertisement and the arguments of
the books were omitted in some copies, and inserted in others.

The sale gave him in two years a right to his second payment, for
which the receipt was signed April 26, 1669. The second edition was
not given till 1674; it was printed in small octave; and the number
of books was increased to twelve, by a division of the seventh and
twelfth; and some other small improvements were made. The third
edition was published in 1678; and the widow, to whom the copy was
then to devolve, sold all her claims to Simmons for eight pounds,
according to her receipt given December 21, 1680. Simmons had
already agreed to transfer the whole right to Brabazon Aylmer for 25
pounds; and Aylmer sold to Jacob Tonson half, August 17, 1683, and
half, March 24, 1690, at a price considerably enlarged. In the
history of "Paradise Lost" a deduction thus minute will rather
gratify than fatigue.

The slow sale and tardy reputation of this poem have been always
mentioned as evidences of neglected merit, and of the uncertainty of
literary fame; and inquiries have been made, and conjectures
offered, about the causes of its long obscurity and late reception.
But has the case been truly stated? Have not lamentation and wonder
been lavished on an evil that was never felt?