Some Passages of Milton's Paradise Lost, translated into Latin verse by Mr. Power.

Cambridge (?): Eighteenth Century.. Soft cover. Very Good. Quarto. 7pp. In ink. On paper. Disbound. a. Seven-page manuscript transcription of Thomas Power's translation of selected passages from Milton's Paradise Lost, Books 3, 4, and 5. Only the first book was printed in 1691: the remaining books are available only in manuscript at Trinity College, Cambridge. I emailed images and all available information on my manuscript to Dr. Nicholas Bell of Cambridge, who very kindly enlightened me on my copy as well as sent images of the corresponding pages from the actual Power manuscript (I have a printed copy of our correspondence, since I inadvertently managed to delete the email chain). Bell was interested in finding out if this manuscript was by Conyers Middleton, Bentley, or the antiquarian Thomas Baker, since they had shown some interest in Power's work. It turns out that this translation is not by any one of them. However, he found the translation 'very competent and quite elegant.' Secondly, he pointed out that three extracts from Books 2, 4, and 5 were printed in the Gentleman's Journal in 1694 (based on John T. Shawcross's article in the Milton Quarterly, 21/2 - May 1987), and that part of my extract from Book 5 overlaps the printed version of 1694. Bell also concludes that the text must have circulated more widely than the limited printing would lead us to believe. b. It consists of two leaves, 11.75" X 14.75", folded, so that there are four leaves, measuring 11.75" X 7.375". c. The leaves have chain lines running vertically on the pages; one side of the leaf has a crown over the letters G & R, and the other side has a large double circle with text in between (I cannot read it) and an image in the middle, which I cannot decipher. d. Since the Georges (I through IV) reigned from 1714 through 1830, I do not know when this manuscript was created - not before 1714, and not after 1830, but very likely in an eighteenth-century hand. e. The passage from Book III starts with: "Salve candida Lux, saw proles Maxima caeli es," and ends with "Quo Melius Referam Humanos fugientia visas." f. The passage from Book IV starts with: "Salve Connubialis Amor, Lex Mystica munro," and ends with "Haec durare genus ned avetis score quod ultra set." g. The passage from Book V starts with: "Haec, Pater Omnipotens, manuum Haec opera altamarum," and ends with "Fert sterili dotem frondi decora alta racemes." h. On the last page, an entry, possibly by the same hand (most letters match the manuscript hand, except for the capital 'M' and possibly the capital 'S.') reads: "Some passages of Milton's Paradise Lost, translated into Latin Verse By Mr. Power.