J. Milton French, A Tribute
Rutgers University Libraries’ Milton collection originated in the foresight of Joseph Milton French (1895-1962), internationally acclaimed Milton scholar and professor of English at Rutgers from 1940 to 1960. Soon after his arrival at Rutgers, French advised university librarian George A. Osborn in the acquisition of the 1649 Eikonoklastes, the divorce tracts, and several other works on display in this exhibition. J. Milton French’s five-volume The Life Records of John Milton was published by the Rutgers University Press between 1949 and 1958. He served on the editorial board of Yale University Press’ The Complete Prose Works of John Milton and was named Honored Scholar of the Year by the Milton Society of America in 1956.
Essays in Literary History, Presented to J. Milton French. ed. by Rudolf Kirk and C.F. Main. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1960)
J. Milton French, Professor of English at Rutgers, 1940-1960. Frontispiece photo by David P. French.