Chapter I: Front Matter

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Greek letters used to identify stars (Bayer designation), are replaced with the full name of the Greek letter, e.g. Alpha Centauri.

The single Greek word in the text is transliterated within braces, {kome}.

Minor punctuation and hyphenation inconsistencies have been corrected.

The spelling "Bernices" for "Berenices" has been retained throughout.

The following minor typographical errors have been corrected: p75: "establish" changed to "established" p99: "Firmanent" changed to "Firmament" p111: "they thoughts" changed to "thy thoughts" p120: "suen" changed to "seuen" p134: "consequenc" changed to "consequence" p146: "geographieal" changed to "geographical" p167: "Lyrae" changed to "Lyrae" for consistency p286: Removed redundant word "degrees" following the degree symbol

THE ASTRONOMY
OF
MILTON'S 'PARADISE LOST'

THE ASTRONOMY
OF
MILTON'S 'PARADISE LOST'

BY

THOMAS N. ORCHARD, M.D.

MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION

_These are thy glorious works, Parent of good, Almighty! thine this universal frame, Thus wondrous fair: Thyself how wondrous then! Unspeakable._

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY
1896

All rights reserved

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. A Short Historical Sketch of Astronomy 1
II. Astronomy in the Seventeenth Century 45
III. Milton's Astronomical Knowledge 81
IV. Milton and Galileo 113
V. The Seasons 140
VI. The Starry Heavens 152
VII. The Starry Heavens 200
VIII. Description of Celestial Objects Mentioned in 'Paradise Lost' 244
IX. Milton's Imaginative and Descriptive Astronomy 306

ILLUSTRATIONS

_PLATES_

A Typical Sun-spot _Frontispiece_ Venus on the Sun's Disc _To face page_ 66 Cluster in Hercules " 218 Great Nebula in Orion " 230 A Portion of the Moon's Surface " 268

_IN TEXT_

FIG. PAGE 1. The Ptolemaic System of the Universe 86 2. Milton's Division of Universal Space 96 3. A Binary Star System--70 Ophiuchi 184 4. The Orbits of the Components of Gamma Virginis 189 5. Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius 190 6. A Sun-spot Magnified 247 7. The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883 254 8. A Portion of the Milky Way 289