John Milton (1608–1674)Of Education. To Master Samuel Hartlib.([London: Thomas Underhill and/or Thomas Johnson, 1644]). Ee.3.14, pp.4-5.
Milton’s Of Education contributes to a contemporary debate over the best educational methods. It was written at the request of Samuel Hartlib, a prominent educational reformer. Milton drew heavily on his own experiences in drawing up its demanding curriculum, which covers a vast range of languages, writers, and subjects. After leaving Cambridge in 1632, Milton spent six years in studious retirement at his parents’ house in Hammersmith, then Horton, pursuing a rigorous programme of reading designed to supplement what he regarded as the failings of his university education. From 1639, Milton ran a school at his home for his nephews and other boys, where he attempted to put these educational principles into practice.
