Due to English copyright law changes occurring in the early eighteenth century, the Tonson publishing house lost its monopoly on Milton's texts in April 1731. This resulted in an increasing number of non-Tonson imprints during the next few years. However, the Tonsons refused to relinquish the rights without a fight, basing their opposition on discrepancies between the legislative act and common law.

The Tonsons obtained an injunction against Jeffrey Walker, the publisher of this non-Tonson imprint published in London in 1739. This injunction made the sale of this book illegal in England, however some copies had been sold prior to the injunction.

Non-Tonson imprints were even more prevalent abroad as they had no legal recourse against editions published in Scotland, Ireland or the continent.

Illustrations appearing in this edition are based on Medina's original 1688 designs.