Milton sold Paradise Lost for five pounds

A closer look

Writing the greatest epic poem in the English language is apparently a terrible way to make a living. In 1667, a blind, impoverished John Milton sold the complete rights to 'Paradise Lost' to a publisher for a flat fee of five pounds, with a promise of another five pounds if it sold out. He died having made barely any money from a staggering literary masterpiece that publishers have been cashing in on for the last four centuries.