#LibraryNews - Loras College Library at Loras College

Coming up this weekend on campus is the Loras Player’s spring show, a play titled Darkness Visible written by local playwright Gary Picture of rare Milton book Arms. The play is based around John Milton’s writing of his epic poem Paradise Lost, which was first published in 1667 and is considered to be John Milton’s greatest work. Paradise Lost is about the beginning of the Book of Genesis, the Fall of Mankind through Adam and Eve’s temptation by Satan. The epic is mirrored in Darkness Visible through Milton’s two daughters and his two literary assistants, specifically his oldest daughter, Ann, who reflects Eve, desiring equality and paying the price for it. Though it leans towards tragedy, the play is also full of humor and wit, and audience members do not need to have read Paradise Lost to understand it. However, if you are planning on attending the show and wish to gain a deeper understanding of the parallels, the library has many resources for you!

We have many of John Milton’s poetry and prose collections available in our stacks, including Paradise Lost, books about Paradise Lost, and biographies on Milton himself. These are available for you to check out and take home, but if you wish to dig even deeper, there are some copies of Milton’s work available for viewing in the Loras College Library’s Special Collections and Rare Books room.

One of the books that can be found in the Special Collections is Paradise Lost and Paradise Regain’d, a 1936 Limited Editions Club printing of the two poems. There are other Limited Editions Club printings of Milton’s poems available to view, as well, including “Il Penseroso,” “L’Allegro,” and “The Masque of Comus.” “Il Penseroso” and “L’Allegro” are paired with paintings by William Blake, another English poet, while “The Masque of Comus” contains watercolors by Edmund Dulac. There is one book by John Milton in the Special Collections room that dates back to 1698! It is called an “opera” since it has multiple of his works in there, and it is written in Latin. It was written around the time when Latin was still phasing out of written works and being replaced with the default language of the people.

The Special Collections and Rare Books room is open for use Tuesday afternoons between 1:30 and 3 or by appointment. For more information about the Special Collections and Rare Books room, you can check the website, or contact Heidi Pettitt. For more information on Darkness Visible or the Loras Players, you can check out the Loras Players Facebook page.

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Loras Player's Present Darkness Visible, a Story of Milton Writing Paradise Lost

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