Terrance Lindall: "A blast from the past!"

Mr. Terrance Lindall recently noted at the Milton List that a number of items from his Paradise Lost project that were housed in the Warren Publishing Company archives are being auctioned by Hake's Americana and Collectibles. In Mr. Lindall's own words:

For those who collect Paradise Lost, some seminal material. The Yuko Nii Foundation will not be bidding since it owns the extensive collection of all my original art and related writings, letters etc.

Obviously this is from the Collection of James Warren, publisher of the most famous horror comics of the 20th century.

I don't have the funds to bid for such things, but for the benefit of any readers who might have both interest and money, I'm posting the enticing images below in what I take to be their proper order (assisted by the numbering and my knowledge of Milton's poem) since Hake's Americana and Collectibles presents them out of order. Readers familiar with John Milton's poem will recognize the sequence.

Bidding will continue until September 30, 2010 at 12:00 PM EDT, so if you want to place a bid, go to the website to learn more.

Anyway, here's the sequence, a letter plus image, a transparency (I think), and twenty-five slides:

First is a letter (of October 31, 1981) from Mr. Lindall the artist to Mr. James Warren, president of Warren Publishing, along with a depiction of Satan conceiving Sin from his forehead and then enjoying her charms.


Next comes what I take to be the transparency (mentioned in the letter), an apparent depiction of Satan . . . but possibly a self-portrait by Mr. Lindall?


Now begins the slide sequence itself with what I take to be an image for the opening of Milton's epic poem, which introduces Satan and the serpent.


Second is a slide showing Satan's rebellion in heaven, a theme also depicted later.


The rebellion fails, as shown in slide number three, and Satan is expelled from heaven.


Slide four shows Satan awakened some nine days later in Hell.


Then comes slide five to reveal sights of misery seen through eyes empowered by angel's ken, and Satan mustering his troops.


The sixth slide has Satan enthroned with infernal glory.


I think that number seven depicts a scene from the great concourse of demons as they consult with one another over how next to act so as to maintain or better their circumstances.


A wise-appearing devil offers his opinion in slide number eight.


In slide nine, Satan volunteers to undertake a mission of espionage to spy out the new creation of earth and mankind, despite the dangers inherent in crossing the gulf of chaos.


Slide ten presents Satan flying toward the gates of Hell.


In the next slide, number eleven, Satan encounters Death, the offspring of Sin and himself.


He also, in slide twelve, meets his forgotten daughter, Sin herself.


Sin has to remind Satan, in slide thirteen, of how he first conceived of her, then lusted for her . . . which led to their offspring, Death, as already noted.


Slide fourteen has Satan making a deal with Sin and Death to free them from Hell if they allow him to pass through the gates, for Sin has a key, and Death guards the gate to prevent escape.


Slide fifteen reveals that Satan's suggestion was accepted, for he has escaped and now views the pendant world, i.e., the universe.


In slide sixteen, Satan gazes in wonder upon Paradise, where Adam and Eve live out their natural splendor in the grass.


Slide seventeen takes us forward to an important visit by the angel Raphael, an envoy from heaven sent to warn Adam and Eve of Satan's presence.


Raphael describes Heaven prior to Satan's rebellion, in slide eighteen, which seems to depict the 'begetting' and enthronement of God's Son.


Feeling himself 'impaired' by the apparent elevation of an 'unknown' upstart called the 'Son', Satan musters his troops for rebellion, as shown in slide number nineteen in its depiction of Raphael's tale.


Slide twenty presents Raphael's narrative on the consequences of Satan's rebellion as the Son, manning his Father's chariot and wearing a mask of wrath, devastates the rebellious forces and expells them from Heaven.


But Satan is now in Paradise, as we are reminded by slide number twenty-one, which shows him 'inspiring' the serpent to attempt the temptation of Eve.


Slide twenty-two offers the temptation itself as Eve contemplates the apple.


Having now taken the first bite, Eve offers a bite to Adam in slide twenty-three.


But that only leads to the Fall, and judgment by the Son, as depicted in slide twenty-four.


The final slide, which I suppose is number twenty-five, has Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden, presumably by the archangel Michael.


We are thus left with this pictorial allusion to the closing words of Paradise Lost:

The World was all before them, where to choose
Thir place of rest, and Providence thir guide:
They hand in hand with wandring steps and slow,
Through Eden took thir solitarie way. (PL 12.646-649)

Eden being the territory within which the Garden of Eden was found . . . and lost.

But the artist Mr. Lindall has taken us there again, and if these slides interest you, then click over to the website of Hake's Americana and Collectibles and place your bid before September 30, 2010.

UPDATE: Mr. Terrance Lindall has linked to this blogpost in an e-circular, and has this to say:

I completed the handmade frames for Paradise Lost and developed a traveling show and lecture series for cities in Minnesota with a promoter and fundraiser named Gary Kelsey. At that time I contacted James Warren about publishing the book. This is the material that is up for auction. Professor Horace Jeffery Hodges in Korea has nicely reorganized the auction material that Hake's Americana is putting up for auction.

I'm pleased that Mr. Lindall appreciated my reorganization of the auction material, especially since I thought that his art deserved better than the presentation provided by Hake's Americana and Collectibles.