Comus – John Milton, Illustrated by Edmund Dulac (1954)
This exquisite edition of John Milton’s 1634 masque Comus pairs the poet’s lyrical allegory on chastity and temptation with the ethereal artistry of Edmund Dulac, one of the Golden Age’s master illustrators. Milton’s work—a blend of pastoral drama and moral fable—follows the Lady, lost in a dark forest, as she resists the seductive enchantments of the sorcerer Comus, who seeks to corrupt her virtue.
Dulac’s illustrations, rendered in his signature watercolor style, shimmer with Art Nouveau elegance and Pre-Raphaelite detail. His Comus is a figure of sinister beauty, draped in peacock feathers, while the Lady glows with angelic resolve. The enchanted forest swirls with phantom lights and lurking spirits, and the masque’s triumphant finale—where the water nymph Sabrina intervenes—bursts with celestial radiance.
This edition transforms Milton’s Baroque verse into a visual feast. Dulac’s haunting imagery captures the tension between purity and decadence, making the book a treasure for collectors of both poetry and illustration.
“A dance of ink and virtue—where Dulac’s brush makes Milton’s shadows sing.”
