Following the editors' introduction to the collection, the essays in
Scholarly Milton examine the nature of Milton's own formidable
scholarship and its implications for his prose and poetry - "scholarly
Milton" the writer; as well as subsequent scholars' historical and
theoretical framing of Milton studies as an object of scholarly
attention - "scholarly Milton" as at first an emergent and later an
established academic discipline. The essays are particularly concerned
with the topics of the ethical ends of learning, of Milton's attention
to the trivium within the Renaissance humanist educational system, and
the development of scholarly commentary on Milton's writings. Originally
selected from the best essays presented at the 2015 Conference on John
Milton in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the essays have been considerably
revised and expanded for publication.