Salandra, it is true, is named among the writers of sacred tragedies in Todd’s ‘Milton’ (1809, vol. ii, p. 244), and also by Hayley, but neither of them had the curiosity, or the opportunity, to examine his ‘Adamo Caduto’; Hayley expressly says that he has not seen it. More recent works, such as that of Moers (‘De fontibus Paradisi Amissi Miltoniani,’ Bonn, 1860), do not mention Salandra at all. Byse (‘Milton on the Continent,’ 1903) merely hints at some possible motives for the Allegro and the Penseroso.
As to dates, there can be no doubt to whom the priority belongs. The ‘Adamo’ of Salandra was printed at Cosenza in 1647. Richardson thinks that Milton entered upon his ‘Paradise Lost’ in 1654, and that it was shown, as done, in 1665; D. Masson agrees with this, adding that ‘it was not published till two years afterwards.’ The date 1665 is fixed, I presume, by the Quaker Elwood’s account of his visit to Milton in the autumn of that year, when the poet gave him the manuscript to read; the two years’ delay in publication may possibly have been due to the confusion occasioned by the great plague and fire of London.
The castigation bestowed upon Lauder by Bishop Douglas, followed, as it was, by a terrific ‘back-hander’ from the brawny arm of Samuel Johnson, induces me to say that Salandra’s ‘Adamo Caduto,’ though extremely rare—so rare that neither the British Museum nor the Paris Bibliothèque Nationale possesses a copy—is not an imaginary book; I have had it in my hands, and examined it at the Naples Biblioteca Nazionale; it is a small octavo of 251 pages (not including twenty unnumbered ones, and another one at the end for correction of misprints); badly printed and bearing all the marks of genuineness, with the author’s name and the year and place of publication clearly set forth on the title-page. I have carefully compared Zicari’s references to it, and quotations from it, with the original. They are correct, save for a few insignificant verbal discrepancies which, so far as I can judge, betray no indication of an attempt on his part to mislead the reader, such as using the word tromba (trumpet) instead of Salandra’s term sambuca (sackbut). And if further proof of authenticity be required, I may note that the ‘Adamo Caduto’ of Salandra is already cited in old bibliographies like Toppi’s ‘Biblioteca Napoletana’ (1678), or that of Joannes a S. Antonio (‘Biblioteca universa Franciscana, etc.,’ Madrid, 1732-1733, vol. iii, p. 88). It appears to have been the only literary production of its author, who was a Franciscan monk and is described as ‘Preacher, Lector and Definitor of the Reformed Province of Basilicata.’
We may take it, then, that Salandra was a real person, who published a mystery called ‘Adamo Caduto’ in 1647; and I will now, without further preamble, extract from Zicari’s article as much as may be sufficient to show ground for his contention that Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ is a transfusion, in general and in particular, of this same mystery.
Salandra’s central theme is the Universe shattered by the disobedience of the First Man, the origin of our unhappiness and sins. The same with Milton.
Salandra’s chief personages are God and His angels; the first man and woman; the serpent; Satan and his angels. The same with Milton.
Salandra, at the opening of his poem (the prologue), sets forth his argument, and dwells upon the Creative Omnipotence and his works. The same with Milton.
Salandra then describes the council of the rebel angels, their fall from heaven into a desert and sulphurous region, their discourses. Man is enviously spoken of, and his fall by means of stratagem decided upon; it is resolved to reunite in council in Pandemonium or the Abyss, where measures may be adopted to the end that man may become the enemy of God and the prey of hell. The same with Milton.
Salandra personifies Sin and Death, the latter being the child of the former. The same with Milton.
Salandra describes Omnipotence foreseeing the effects of the temptation and fall of man, and preparing his redemption. The same with Milton.