490 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. VII. June 18. '59. 



mitted to the freedom, and was most probably not 

 an apprentice, but a clerk ; and it may be John 

 Milton, a new beginner in business, did not find 

 it easy to get an apprentice, had he so desired; yet 

 he early married, and set up a household. In re- 

 ference to this period of his life, it is to be pre- 

 sumed that he had some assistance from his father, 

 or by means of his marriage, for it can hardly be 

 that he could jump into practice at once unaided. 

 I have a fancy that his marriage had much to do 

 ■with this, and his wife may have been the daugh- 

 ter of a scrivener. 



Of the later clerks of John Milton, Thos. Bower 

 and John Hutton, the former was undoubtedly an 

 apprentice, and must have been indentured about 

 1622 ; so that he had only been an apprentice 

 about a year when he attested the 'deed. He must 

 have been known to the poet, for the latter was 

 fourteen at the time, and of the same age as the 

 apprentice, who, unless London born, was like- 

 wise a member of the household. Two years 

 afterwards, the poet had entered the University. 

 In 1629, Thomas Bower, " late apprentice to John 

 Milton," was, as Mr. Park Nelson attests, ad- 

 mitted to tlje freedom of the Scriveners' Company. 



Hutton, another contemporary of the poet, does 

 not appear to have taken up his freedom, and may 

 or may not have been an apprentice. 



John Milton himself, although he must have 

 had a good practice, does not appear to have been 

 an active member of the Scriveners' Company. 

 If ever elected on the court of the Company, 

 which seems doubtful, at any rate he never served 

 Warden, nor acquired the honours of the chair. 



I had thought it worth inquiry whether the 

 poet had thought it desirable to acquire the free- 

 dom of London by patrimony, as such a birth- 

 right was in those ages valuable ; but although 

 Mr. Park Nelson has made searches for me, it 

 does not appear that the poet was " Civis Lon- 

 dinensis." 



I may observe that I am engaged in some re- 

 searches on the descendants of Milton. 



Hyde Clarke. 



42. Basinghall Street, E.G., June 4, 1859. 



John Milton : his Avocations. — Memoranda of 

 our great poet as yet unnoticed must always 

 receive a welcome niche in the pages of " N. & 

 Q." Having gathered a few (unrecorded by 

 Todd) in the course of my researches upon other 

 subjects, I would print one or two by way of pre- 

 liminary, touching his official employments, &c., 

 trusting that this instalment may induce other 

 correspondents to add their mites : — 



" 1649, Jan. 29. (Ordered) that M'. Milton doe prepare 

 a letter to be sent unto the governour of Tituan in answer 

 to his letter to y" Councell. 



" 1649, Ap"-. 20. (Ordered) That the letters brought in 

 by M'. Watkins be viewed by M^ Frost or M^ Milton, to 



see if any of them conteyn any thing concerning the ex- 

 portacon of any prohibited goods. 



" 1651, Jan. 11. (Ordered) That Lieut. G. Fleetwood, 

 S' John Trevor, and M"". Chaloner, or anie two of them, 

 be appointed a Corner to goe from the Council to the 

 Com«e of Pari* for Whitehall, to acquaint them with the 

 case of M''. Milton in regard of their positive order for 

 his speedie remove out of his lodgings in Whitehall, and 

 to endeavour with them that the said M^. Milton may be 

 continued where he is in regard to y<= employment which 

 he is in to y® Council, w*'' necessitates him to reside near 

 the Council." 



By the way, I might perhaps mention that a 

 recent search at Coopers' Hall disclosed a John 

 Milton as a liveryman of that company, from the 

 years 1634 to 1651. Whether this was the au- 

 thor of Paradise Lost I have yet to learn, purpos- 

 ing a more minute investigation at no very distant 

 day. Cl. Hopper. 



John Milton of the Coopers Company. — Hav- 

 ing occasion a few days ago to consult a MS. in the 

 British Museum (Harleian, 4778.), which contains 

 the signatures of certain members of the Livery 

 Companies, I was struck with the name of John 

 Milton in the list of the Coopers' Company. As 

 the date of the MS. agrees apparently with that 

 of the poet, I thought it worth while to make a 

 note of it. 



A pedigree of Milton, which perhaps Mr. Mas- 

 son has not consulted, will be found in Le Neve's 

 Knights (Harleian MS. 5801-2.). 



C. J. Robinson. 



NEW CATALOGUE OF SHAKSPEARIANA. 



Wishing to render some little assistance towards 

 the accomplishment of the very desirable object 

 of a continuation of Mr. Halliwell's " Shak- 

 speariana," I had prepared a list of the editions 

 of the plays which have been published since the 

 year 1841 : I was on the point of addressing this 

 communication to you when the announcement of 

 Mr. Wvlie's " New Catalogue of Shakspearlana " 

 appeared in your journal, and induced me to 

 withhold my contribution joro tem. 



As I now find that Mr. Wtlib confines himself 

 to " Commentaries, Essays," &c., I may without 

 interfering [with his labours send you ray cata- 

 logue of the complete Works, &c. ; also a supple- 

 mental list of miscellaneous Shakspearian litera- 

 ture not mentioned by Mr. Wylie. 



I may just take this opportunity of referring to 

 my communication (2""^ S. vii. 335.), giving a 

 tabular view of the early editions of the plays, to 

 remark that Mr. J. P. Collier has in his posses- 

 sion a copy of The Taming of the Shreit\ in quarto, 

 wanting the title-page, but bearing a date 1607 or 

 1609 In MS. upon the first page (vide his Intro- 

 duction to The Taming of the Shrew, edition 

 1858). 



