'.?.]U":.::- 1 1 1 yw > ' ^VT 'IT'? Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/engravingsofwillOOruss THE ENGRAVINGS OF WILLIAM BLAKE Plate i GLAD DAY, 1780 From an example in the Print Room, stamped with colour by Blake's special process. (3) THE ENGRAVINGS WILLIAM BY ARCHIBALD G. B. BLAKE RUSSELL BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY PRINTED BY THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED EDINBURGH TO JOHN MASEFIELD PREFACE The writer’s grateful thanks are due to Mr Stopford Brooke, Mr B. B. Macgeorge and Mr Robson (the well-known book- seller, of 23 Coventry Street) for their courteous permission to include among the illustrations some fine and scarce prints in their possession ; also, to the Trustees of the British Museum for allowing him to draw largely, for the same purpose, upon the important collection of Blake’s engravings in the Print Room ; and to Mrs Dobinson for the excellent photographs, which she has had specially taken for use in the volume, from fine impressions belonging to her of the “Job” and “ Ezekiel,” Nos. 12 and 13 in the Catalogue ; to Mr Laurence Binyon, Assistant Keeper of the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, for unfailing kindness in furthering his researches with valuable help and advice ; and finally to Mr Geoffrey Keynes for his generous offer (eagerly accepted) to revise the proofs of the book and for the admirable thoroughness with which, to its great profit, this labour was carried out by him. The following are the principal works consulted by the writer in the present connection : — “The Life of William Blake,” by Alexander Gilchrist: 2 vols. ; 2nd edition, 1880. “ William Blake, a Critical Essay,” by Algernon Charles Swinburne ; 2nd edition, 1906. “The Poetical Works of William Blake,” by John Sampson, 1905. 9 “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by Archibald G. B. Russell, 1906. “William Blake,” by Arthur Symons, 1907 (in especial reference to the documents forming the second portion of the book). “Allgemeines Lexicon der Bildenden Kiinstler,” edited by Prof. Ulrich Thieme and Dr Felix Becker, Leipzig, 1909 : vol. iv., pp. 84-88, art. “William Blake,” by Archibald G. B. Russell. The Catalogues of the following exhibitions of works by Blake : — At the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1876. At the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A., 1880 and 1891. At the Grolier Club, New York, 1905. 10 CONTENTS Table of Dates The Engravings of William Blake Catalogue of the Engravings Appendix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS NUMBER IN THE CATALOGUE I. Glad Day. (1780) . . . 3 Frontis. 2. Joseph of Arimathea among the Rocks of Albion. FACING PAGE ( 1773 ) 1 53 3- “ The shatter’d bark from adverse winds,” etc. (Commins’s “ Elegy,” 1786) 4 55 4* “ Look what a fine morning it is ! ” etc. (Wollstone- craft’s “ Original Stories,” 1791) • 7 i 57 5- i. “I found him beneath a Tree.” ii. “ My Son ! My Son !” iii. “ Does thy God, O Priest, take such vengeance as this?” iv. “I have said to the Worm,” etc. (“ Gates of Paradise,” 1793) 8 iv., xi., xv. & xix 61 6. Job. “What is Man that thou shouldest try him every moment.” Job. vii. 17 & 18. (1793) 12 68 7 - Ezekiel. “I take away from thee the Desire of thine Eyes.” Ezekiel xxiv. 16. ( 1 793) n 69 8. “Death! great proprietor of all!” (Young’s “ Night Thoughts,” 1 797) .... 17 V 74 9- “ Where sense runs savage broke from reason’s chain, . . . (Young’s “Night Thoughts,” 1797) . 17 XXV 77 10. Little Tom the Sailor — lower portion. (1800) 18 82 11. The Eagle. (Hayley’s “Ballads,” 1805) 20 ii 87 12. Job in Prosperity — lithograph, (c. 1807) 2 3 9 1 *3- Reeve. Chaucer., etc. (“ The Prologue and Characters of Chaucer’s Pilgrims,” 1812) 25 i 92 H- Mirth and her Companions, (c. 1815-1820) 27 94 IS- i. The blasted Tree. ii. “ A rolling stone,” etc. iii. “ For him our yearly wakes,” etc. (Thornton’s “Virgil,” 1821) 3 ° vi - x. & xiii 98 16. The Man sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour. (? c. 1822) ...... 3 1 IOI *3 List of Illustrations 17. “ And I ONLY AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL THEE.” Job i. 15. (“ Book of Job,” 1825) NUMBER IN THE CATALOGUE 33 v FACING PAGE 105 18. “And smote Job with sore Boils,” etc. Job ii. 7. (“ Book of Job,” 1825) .... 33 vii 106 19. “Then a Spirit passed before my face,” etc. Job iv. 15. (“ Book of Job,” 1825) 33 x 107 20. “With Dreams upon my bed thou scarest me,” etc. Job vii. 14. (“ Book of Job,” 1825) 33 xii 108 21. “Then the Lord answered Job out of the Whirl- wind.” Job xxxviii. 1. (“ Book of Job,” 1825) 33 xiv 109 22. “When the morning Stars sang together,” etc. Job xxxviii, 7. (“Book of Job,” 1825) 33 xv no 23. Paolo and Francesca, and the Whirlwind of Lovers. (Dante’s “Inferno,” 1827) .... 34 1 1 16 24. Dante striking Bocca degli Abbati’s head with his foot. (Dante’s “ Inferno,” 1827) 34 vii 1 17 25. Christ with a Bow, trampling upon Satan. (? 1827) 35 1 18 26. “To the Oueen.” (Rejected design for the Dedication of Blair’s “Grave,” 1808) .... 40 I2 4 27. Death’s Door. (Blair’s “ Grave,” 1808) 40 xi 129 28. Venus dissuades Adonis from Hunting. (After Cosway, 1787) ..... 64 150 29. An awe-struck Group standing on a Rock by the Sea. (After Robert Blake, ? 1787) . 65 151 30. “When my hero in court appears,” etc. “Beggar’s Opera,” Act III. (After Hogarth, 1790) 71 r 53 31. “ Ancora imparo. M: Angelo Bonarroti.” (After Fuseli. Fuseli’s “ Lectures,” 1801) . 95 171 32. Mrs 0. (After Huet Villiers, 1820) 108 187 14 TABLE OF DATES William Blake born, at 28 Broad Street, Golden Square 28th November 1757 Enters Pars’ drawing-school in the Strand . . . 1 767 Apprenticed to James Basire, engraver to the Society of Antiquaries . . . . . .1771 Enters the Royal Academy School .... 1778 Marries Catherine Boutcher . . . 1 8 th August 1782 Removes from 28 Broad Street to 23 Green Street, Leicester Fields ...... 1782 Removes to 27 Broad Street and sets up a shop there as printseller and engraver, in partnership with James Parker . . . . . * .1784 Death of his brother Robert . . . . .1787 Removes to 28 Poland Street ..... 1787 Removes to 13 Hercules Buildings, Lambeth . . . 1793 Leaves London for Felpham . . . 1 8 th September 1800 Charge of sedition preferred against him by the drunken Scholfield ...... August 1803 Returns to London and settles at 17 South Molton Street ..... September 1803 Tried at Chichester Quarter Sessions on the charge of sedition and acquitted . . . 11th January 1804 Holds his exhibition of pictures at 28 Broad Street (his brother James’s house) . . . May-September 1 809 Removes from 17 South Molton Street to 3 Fountain Court, Strand . . . . . .1821 Dies ...... 1 2th August 1827 THE ENGRAVINGS OF WILLIAM BLAKE From his childhood Blake was in love with the engraver’s art. It was his chief means of becoming acquainted with the works of the old masters. The prestige of these great men had very early cast a spell upon the boy’s mind, which was to hold him until the end of his life. Their genius filled him with the same wondering awe that he felt in the presence of the Old Testament prophets, as they appeared to his visionary sight. Painters, sculptors and artists of every other kind stood side by side with the prophets, in his conception of them as the great inter- mediaries between man and the lost world of eternity where all the beauties of time are imagined and made. A direct knowledge of fine pictures was in his case necessarily limited to such as he could obtain access to in the houses of the nobility and gentry, or now and then, upon their changing hands, in the sale-room or with the dealers. But if he might never come face to face with the splendour of the originals, he could at least discover in the prints from them something of their dim-reflected out- lines. So to the study of prints he betook himself as a child, that he might wander in fancy through the churches and galleries of Europe, storing his mind with the great examples of the past, and seeking counsel and inspiration from the makers of these precious heirlooms of the world. It was Blake’s early ambition to be himself a painter. With this end in view, at the age of ten he was sent by his father to Pars’ drawing-school in the Strand. He began at the same period to be from time to time the happy recipient of small sums for the purchase of prints. Many of his play-hours would henceforth be spent in haunting the sale-rooms, Christie’s or Langford’s, on the watch for a cheap lot, or in ransacking 17 B The Engravings of TVilliam Blake the “ rubbish-heaps ” at the doors of the printsellers in quest of a bargain. The boy would have none of the fashionable stuff of his day. His choice fell upon the great historical designers of the linear school, whose works, or all but the finest impressions of them (besides a few rarities, which even in those days were absorbed by the collections of a few rich amateurs), could be had then, as they can be still, at a trifling expense ; — and it was with the worth of the original invention rather than with questions of state or quality in the engraved copy that Blake was concerned. His choice of masters found little sympathy among his youthful companions of the drawing-school, who would laugh at what thev called his “mechanical" taste. Nor in fact did they accord any more with the ideas of more serious people. “ I was once,” he wrote some time later in a character- istic style, upon the margin of his own copy of Reynolds’s “ Discourses," “ looking over the prints from Rafael and Michael Angelo in the library of the Royal Academy ; Moser (then Keeper) came to me and said, ‘ You should not study these old hard, stiff and dry unfinished works of art. Stay a little, and I will show you what you should study.’ He then went and took me down Le Brun’s and Rubens’s galleries. How did I secretly rage. I also spoke my mind. ... I said to Moser, ‘These things that you call finished are not even begun. How can they then be finished ? The man who does not know the beginning never can know the end of art.’ ” “ I am happy to say," he adds elsewhere in the same notes, “ that Rafael never was from my earliest childhood hidden from me. I saw, and I knew immedi- ately the difference between Rafael and Rubens.” The principle that the essence of a body consisted in its for??i was one that in his maturer years Blake was never tired of enunciating. Upon this conviction, in fact, a great number of his artistic predilections and prejudices were dependent. In the expression of form, it was the bounding line whereby a body was at once contained within itself and made distinguishable from its surroundings, that he felt to be the important factor. It was not, of course, the mere outline or the silhouette of an object against its ground 18 The Engravings of William Blake that he had in mind. His definition of good draughtsmanship included the accurate delineation of the thing depicted in all parts. His favourite masters were those in whom this precision of form was to be found in its highest perfection. Raphael, Michelangelo, Diirer, — such were the gods of his imagination. But their supremacy, he well knew, was not unchallenged by the world. There were other great ones, with many worshippers, by whom this firm outline had been renounced in the search for other beauties. Against those giants of error who conspired to dethrone his gods, Blake presented himself as the god-sent herald of war. “ There is a class of artists,’'’ he writes in his “ De- scriptive Catalogue ” “ whose whole art and science is fabricated for the purpose of destroying art ; . . . who endeavour to raise up a style against Rafael, Mich. Angelo, and the Antique ; . . . who separate Painting from Drawing, — those are the men.” This gigantomachia is the continual theme of his writings on art. Raphael and Michelangelo and Diirer are everywhere to be found there, ranged against Titian and Rubens and Rembrandt — a mighty battle, of which to some the issue might seem doubtful, but Blake was one who knew no doubt. It would be easy, then, without anv further evidence of the facts, to imagine what kind of a print collection it was that Blake began in boyhood to bring together ; — and from the prin- ciples upon which his earliest choice relied, he never swerved. How gladly would one know every item it contained. But it is pos- sible only to supplement the general indication of its character alreadv given, by the mention of a few pieces either known or likely to have been there. Prints after Michelangelo were bought as models from the outset of his studentship. Among those obtained by him in these early days may well have been a set of Adam Ghisi’s reproductions of figures and groups from the Sistine Chapel. Several copies of these engravings, done by Blake in pen and wash at an early period are to be found in the Print Room. Raphael and Giulio Romano, his scholar, were next in honour of the Italians, and their works are known to have figured largely among his youthful purchases. Marc Antonio !9 The Engravings of W i Hi am Blake and Giulio Bonasone, among Italian engravers, were also held in great esteem by him. Albrecht Durer was, of course, pre- eminent among the great names in the northern schools. An example of the “ Melencolia,” we are told, hung for a great part of Blake’s life upon his workroom wall. And there were, doubtless, other specimens of the master bought as occasion offered with hard-won shillings, among the best-loved treasures in his port- folio. “ The Penance of St John Chrysostom,’' whence the pattern of the saint's figure creeping like a beast in the background was adopted by him for his own stupendous image of the out- cast Nebuchadnezzar, may well have been one of these, and not impossibly, too, “ The Ecstasy of St Mary Magdalene,” — for the subject of this scarce and lovely woodcut seems to have been the origin of a somewhat similar theme of his own (see No. 16 in the Catalogue.) Among the lesser Germans, Bartel Beham was there, in a rare early state of his little print of “ Judith with the Head of Holfernes” (dated 1523), which is known to have been among those that were given by Blake as models to the young Butts on his becoming his pupil ine ngraving. The Dutchman, Maerten van Heemskerck may be mentioned, too, among Blake’s favourites, although he well might have helped to have put him out of love with his own theories. For theories in fact are but a poor makeshift for inspiration. Heemskerck was in theory a sort of little Dutch “Michelangelo” ; and his productions have at any rate all the superficial qualities most admired by Blake ; — the result being, however, nearly akin to Blake’s own work, when vision failed him ; the “ deter- minate outline '' revealing no form and the carefully considered “ minute particulars” affording no illusion of substance. Of the works of the English engravers, Blake seems to have cared much for the early portraits, and some of them would doubt- less find a place in his collection. In his “ Public Address,” he bitterly complains of the deterioration of the art of engraving in England since the time of these portraits. “ Compare,” he there contemptuously exclaims, “ the prints of Bartolozzi, Woollett, Strange, etc., with the old English portraits ; that is. 20 The Engravings of JVilliam Blake compare the modern art with the art as it existed previous to the entrance of Vandyck and Rubens into the country, since which event engraving is lost.” “ I am sure,” he continues, “ the result of the comparison . . will (show) that engraving, by losing drawing, has lost all character and all expression.” Hogarth is mentioned in the same place with praise. His “execution cannot be copied or improved.” One of his designs, that of a scarce print repre- senting “ Satan, Sin and Death at Hell’s Gate ” 1 (from “ Paradise Lost”) was largely borrowed from by Blake in a water-colour drawing of the same subject. He was also himself the engraver of the well-known picture of “ The Beggar’s Opera.” (See No. 71, below.) The love of print-collecting, for the knowledge it gave him both of the designs of the great masters and of the technical methods adopted by the various schools of engraving, never lost its hold upon Blake ; and it was only quite late in life, when stress and poverty had well-nigh bereft him of the bare means of existence, that he was prevented from adding to the little collection, the beginnings of which were associated with his earliest memories. In the end it became necessary for him to part with the whole of it. “ Before I knew his distress,” wrote a friend 2 who would surely have saved it for him, “ he had sold all his collection of old prints to Messrs Colnaghi & Co.” This final separation from his beloved old masters, the only friends who had never failed him, is one of the most touching episodes in a life that is crowded enough with sorrows and disappointments. It was the coping-stone of the awful tower of famine which the world had built up around him. At the age of fourteen, the boy was called upon to come to a decision in regard to his future career. His dreams of becoming a painter were not yet to be realised. He was unwilling to impose upon his family the burden of the high premium which 1 Reproduced in Samuel Ireland’s “ Graphic Illustrations of Hogarth” (1794), facing P- 178. 2 John Linnell. See “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell (1906), p. 227. 2 1 The Engravings of William Blake was required upon entering the studio of a suitable master. An engraver’s profession was, therefore, by his own request deter- mined upon for him. His father, willing to do the best for him, took him, with a view to apprenticing him to William Wynne Ryland, the King’s engraver and one of the most eminent of his time. But the boy would have none of him ; “ the man,” he remarked, “ looked as if he would live to be hanged.” Ryland, twelve years later, was hanged for forgery. James Basire, engraver to the Society of Antiquaries, was next approached on Blake’s behalf, and his apprentice he became at a premium of fifty guineas. The master of his choice was indeed a worthy and industrious man, but the method of engraving which he both practised and taught was of the purely mechanical kind suitable to the business of copying ancient monuments with the fidelity prescribed by his archaeological employers. A couple of years were spent by Blake in acquiring the rudiments of this melan- choly art; and “had it not been,” says Tatham, “for his having frequent quarrels with his fellow apprentices, concern- ing matters of intellectual argument,” he would have been “ doomed for ever to furrow upon a copper plate monotonous and regular lines, placed at even distances, without genius and without form.” As the result of his disagreements, and as much, no doubt, on account of his marked capability as a draughtsman, he was henceforth principally made use of outside the workshop, being sent by his master to make drawings of the monuments in Westminster Abbey and other London churches. “ There,” writes Malkin, in his valuable record of Blake’s early life, “ he found a treasure, which he knew how to value. He saw the simple and plain road to the style of art at which he aimed, unentangled in the intricate windings of modern practice. The monuments of Kings and Queens in Westminster Abbey, which surround the chapel of Edward the Confessor, particularly that of King Henry the Third, the beautiful monument and figure of Queen Elinor, Queen Philippa, King Edward the Third, King Richard the Second and his Queen, were among his first studies. All these he drew The Engravings of JVilliam Blake in every point he could catch, frequently standing on the monument, and viewing the figures from the top. The heads he considered as portraits ; and all the ornaments appeared as miracles of art, to his Gothicised imagination. He then drew Aymer de Valence’s monument, with his fine figure at the top. Those exquisite little figures which surround it, though dread- fully mutilated, are still models for the study of drapery. But I do not mean to enumerate all his drawings since they would lead me over all the old monuments in Westminster Abbey, as well as over other churches in and about London.” One of these drawings made a lasting impression upon his friend, Stothard, who speaking of him to J. T. Smith, shortly after his death, mentioned with especial praise “a remarkable correct and fine drawing of the head of Queen Philippa, from her monumental effigy in Westminster Abbey, for Gough’s ‘Sepulchral Monu- ments’ engraved by Basire.” It is suggested by Mr Lethaby that a series of copies now in the library of the Society of Antiquaries, done from the paintings on the tombs and sedilia in the Presbytery of the Abbey are by Blake’s hand. These copies were executed in the summer of 1 775, at the time of the removal of the tapestries which had covered the tombs, for Sir Joseph Ayloffe and were published by him in his “Account of Some Ancient Monuments in Westminster Abbey ” (see No. 1 14 in the Catalogue). Both drawings and engravings bear Basire s signature, but this fact dees not, of course, preclude the possibility of their being actually the work of his apprentice. It is stated by Malkin that Blake was at this time also occasionally em- ployed, — “ especially in winter,” in making engravings from his drawings of Gothic monuments. None with his signature are known, but, as in the case of the drawings, his work must be sought for under his master’s name. A list of books, belonging to this period, containing prints either wholly or in part at- tributable to him, will be found in Section IV. of the Catalogue. A solitary instance of an independent piece of engraving produced by Blake in the years of his apprenticeship is the 2 3 The Engravings of JVilliam Blake “Joseph of Arimathea among the Rocks of Albion” (No. i in the Catalogue). It is dated 1773, when he was sixteen years old, and is a remarkable performance for a youth of that age. It is interesting to observe in connection with this print, that the two chief influences in the moulding of his artistic character. Gothic architecture and the designs of Michelangelo, are there already typified, — in his debt to the latter for his figure of Joseph and in his description of the saint himself, as “ one of the Gothic Artists who built the Cathedrals.” The future mystical development of his mind, which was later to find ex- pression in the Prophetical Books, is also foreshadowed in the wording of the title and of the rest of the explanatory matter which accompanies the print. The “Joseph of Arimathea” has a further value in making it possible to identify a certain number of the engravings which were done by Blake for Basire and published under his master’s name. An instance may be given of a vignette of the “ Deluge,” occurring in Jacob Bryant’s “ Ancient Mythology,” where a comparison of the treatment of the submerging waters with that of the sea in the background of the “Joseph” provides unmistakable evidence of Blake’s authorship. (See No. 1 1 1 in the Catalogue.) Blake remained seven years with Basire. Five of these years were lived alone with the Gothic past ; and his imagination became crowded with the august shadows of its mighty dead, — kings, counsellors, warriors, — all as they were nobly portrayed by the simple craftsman of their day. “ If all his drawings,” writes Tatham, “were enumerated from Westminster Abbey, as well as many other churches in and about London, the multitude would no doubt astonish the calculator, for his interest was highly excited and his industry equally inexhaust- ible. These things he drew beautifully ; ever attentive to the delicacies and timorous lineaments of the Gothic handling.” The Gothic spirit took possession of his soul. Good service it did him, too, a corrective above all as to the harmful tendency of his time towards an exaggerated Michelangelism. The best of his prints and drawings are those which bear the mark of 24 The Engravings of W i III am Blake this tempering influence. Memories of Gothic form and Gothic ornament everywhere abound in his designs. “ Gothic is living form ! ” he exclaims in his note “ On Virgil,” written near the end of his life ; and his other writings are full of a like enthusi- asm. “ His imagination,” writes Tatham, whose impressions are derived from his acquaintance with Blake during his last years, “ ever after wandered as in a cloister, or clothing itself in the dark stole of mural sanctity, it dwelt amidst the Druid terrors. His mind being simplifled by Gothic forms, and his fancy imbued with the livid twilight of past days, it chose for its quaint company such sublime but antiquated associates as the fearful Merlin, Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, the just and wise Alfred, King John, and every other hero of English history and romance. These indigenous abstractions for many of the following years occupied his hand, and ever after tinctured his thoughts and perceptions. The back- ground of his pictures nearly always exhibited Druidical stones and their symbols of English antiquity. Albion was the hero of his pictures, prints and poems. He appeared to be the human abstract of his mystical thoughts.” On the termination of the period of his apprenticeship to Basire, Blake (in 1778) entered the Royal Academy school. He began about the same time to produce a number of small historical pictures (in water-colour) in the feeble manner of Hamilton and Mortimer. With one of them (“The Death of Earl Goodwin”) he appeared for the first time (in 1780) at the Academy exhibition. His career as an engraver begins also at this date. His first performances as an independent worker are said by Malkin to have been from a couple of designs from the “ History of England,” done a year or two earlier “ in the holiday hours of his apprenticeship.” The identity of this early pair of prints cannot now be established with certainty. “ The Penance of Jane Shore” mentioned by Dr Garnett but otherwise un- known (see No. 2 in the Catalogue) may possibly be one of them. The other may perhaps be the “ Edward and Elinor ” appearing in Blake’s Prospectus of 10th October 1793 (No 11 in 2 5 The Engravings of William Blake the Catalogue). The drawing which is probably the original of this latter print is assigned in the list in Gilchrist’s “Life” to c. 1779. The general character of the engraving would seem also to point a date a good deal earlier than that of the Prospectus ; and the plate may well have been begun at the period of Blake’s studies at the Academy and have been set aside tor want of leisure to complete it. The only example of the print known to the writer is an imperfect one, in which the figures of the date in the imprint are cut into ; the remaining figures, however, together with the address 13 Hercules Buildings, whither Blake did not remove until 1793, make it certain that the 1 8 th August 1793 was the actual date of its publication. The dawn of Blake’s life as a great imaginative designer is appropriately heralded by his print of “ Glad Day ” (dated 1780 ; No. 3 in the Catalogue). All the joy and beauty of youth are embodied in this wonderful invention. It is more ethereal, more purely visionary than almost any of his more conscious statements of visionary experience, for the reason that the image is more simply and humanly seen. Never perhaps did he equal this perfect image of unfettered delight. There is in the sweetest of his songs in “ Poetical Sketches” a touch of melancholy, which is absent here ; and in the enjoyment of the most childlike of his “ Songs of Innocence,” the thoughts can never quite be free of the sense of a contrary state. And soon, too, his own mind was in a manner to become bound in the very chains, — forged by abstractions of religion and morality, — that he wished to lift from mankind. Things gloomy and forbidding mingle hereafter in his visions with what is happy and beautiful ; and in the loveliest of his religious themes, even in such designs as “The River of Life” or “ The Sons of God shouting for Joy,” brimming over as they are with the gladness of a spiritual ecstasy, it cannot wholly be forgotten that it is through renunciation and pain that the soul’s way lies to these happy regions. But here all is delight, as youth sets out on its way to illumine the world. 26 The Engravings of William Blake Blake was now established as a professional engraver. His career as such begins with a number of book illustrations, well engraved in the pretty, conventional manner of the time, for the most part after Stothard’s designs. He became acquainted with Stothard in 1780, having been introduced to him, says J. T. Smith, by an engraver named Trotter, “who received in- structions from Blake and who was a pattern-draughtsman to the calico-painters.” Their relationship as designer and engraver, which seems to have begun a year or so before their actual meet- ing (see Nos. 43 and 44 in the Catalogue) soon developed into a close friendship which lasted for some thirty years, until it was interrupted by the unhappy misunderstanding, arising from their rival pictures of the “ Canterbury Pilgrimage.” Between the years 1779 and 1789 Blake engraved in all thirty-seven plates, most of them of small dimensions, from the drawings of his friend. The nine illustrations of Ritson’s “ Collection of English Songs” (published in 1783 ; No 5 5 in the Catalogue) may be mentioned as quite the happiest products of their collaboration ; they may indeed be counted among the best work of their kind done in England at the time. Besides the book illustrations which form the bulk of his work during these years, Blake also engraved a few separate plates of “ fancy ” subjects. A pair of such prints, — “The Fall of Rosamund,” after Stothard, and “ Robin Hood and Clorinda ” after Meheux (Nos. 56 and 57 in the Catalogue), appeared in 1783 ; and a second pair, “ Zephyrus and Flora ” and “ Calisto,” both after Stothard (Nos. 59 and 60 in the Catalogue) were issued in the following year. They have little in them that is characteristic of himself, and are inferior to the work of the regular practitioners in this style, with whom they challenge comparison. A print after Watteau, entitled “Morning Amusement” (No. 46 in the Catalogue), published in 1782, has not been seen by the writer, but it is unlikely that Blake would be successful in his rendering of a genius so alien to his own as that of the delicate penciller o i fetes-cham- petres. In the “Venus dissuades Adonis from Hunting” (first issued in 1787 ; No. 64 in the Catalogue), he has, however, 27 The Engravings of JVilliam Blake lent himself with singular felicity to a task that must have been little congenial to him, and the print is possessed of consider- able prettiness and charm. A pair of prints after Morland, — the “ Industrious Cottager ” and “ The Idle Laundress ” (Nos. 66 and 67 in the Catalogue), belonging to the following year, are devoid of conspicuous merit, although the former of them, at least, holds a creditable place among the engraved work of that artist. The rendering of Hogarth’s “ Beggar’s Opera ” (published in 1790 ; No. 71 in the Catalogue) is a somewhat overlaboured production, but if it fails to convey a sense of the dexterous brushwork of the original, its spirit is retained and the print is not without a solidity and character of its ov/n. During all this period, or more accurately, between the date of the publication of his “ Glad Day ” and that of the issue of the first of his series of engraved books (in 1788 ?), in only a single instance does Blake appear as the engraver of his own design. His frontispiece to “An Elegy, set to music by Thos. Commins” (published in 1786 ; see No. 4 in the Catalogue), has thus a special interest in view of the scarcity of examples wherein the early stages of his artistic development may be traced. Its sentimental theme, prescribed no doubt by the musical composer himself, is unfavourable to it as an expression of the designer’s personality, but it has none the less a pleasing simplicity and naive charm by which it is redeemed from the commonplace. It will be seen that the first ten years of Blake’s career as an engraver were amply filled with commissions, and he is likely to have been in relatively prosperous circumstances. His principal employers were the booksellers, Johnson and Harrison. In 1784, however, he set up shop on his own account as engraver and printseller, in partnership with James Parker (also an engraver), and became himself the publisher of several of his own prints. One of those already alluded to, the “ Zephyrus and Flora,” has the name of the firm “ Parker & Blake,” with the address “No. 27 Broad St., Golden Square ” in the imprint, and the like are probably to be discovered on its companion, the “ Calisto,” and upon other prints of this period engraved both 28 The Engravings of JVilliam Blake by Blake himself and his partner. The venture proved a financial failure and was soon abandoned. The death of his favourite brother, Robert, which took place early in 1787, may be taken to mark a new stage in Blake’s artistic development, since the discovery of the original process, by which so many of his most characteristic inventions are executed, is intimately connected with this event. His brother had been for several years his pupil in drawing, and a certain number of his designs of a mystical character are still extant, — one of them, it will be seen, affording the subject of an early experiment in the new-found method (see No. 65 in the Catalogue). Death itself, as it proved, was unable to part the close bond of sympathy existing between the two brothers. “ I know,” Blake wrote some years later in a letter to Hayley, “ that our deceased friends are more really with us than when they were apparent to our mortal part. Thirteen years ago I lost a brother, and with his spirit I converse daily and hourly in the spirit, and see him in my remembrance, in the regions of my imagination.” It was in one of these spiritual communings with his brother, shortly after his death, that Blake subsequently claimed to have received the inspiration in the light of which his process was evolved. The following account of the incident is given by J. T. Smith, 1 who may be supposed to have had the story from Blake’s own lips : — “ Blake’s peace of mind, as well as that of his Catherine, was much broken by the death of their brother Robert, who was a most amicable link in their happi- ness ; and, as a proof how much Biake respected him, whenever he beheld him in his visions, he implicitly attended to his opinion and advice as to his future projected works. I should have stated, that Blake was supereminently endowed with the power of disuniting all other thoughts from his mind, whenever he wished to indulge in thinking of any particular subject ; and so firmly did he believe, by this abstracting power, that the objects of his compositions were before him in his mind’s eye, that he frequently believed them to be speaking to him. This I 1 See his “Nollekens and his Times,” 1828. 29 The Engravings of JEilliam Blake shall now illustrate by the following narrative. Blake, after deeply perplexing himself as to the mode of accomplishing the publication of his illustrated songs, without their being subject to the expense of letterpress, his brother Robert stood before him in one of his visionary imaginations, and so decidedly directed him in the way in which he ought to proceed, that he immediately followed his advice, by writing his poetry, and drawing his marginal subjects of embellishments in outline upon the copper-plate with an impervious liquid, and then eating the plain parts or lights away with aqua-fortis consider- ably below them, so that the outlines were left as a stereotype. The plates in this state were then printed in any tint that he wished, to enable him or Mrs Blake to colour the marginal figures up by hand in imitation of drawings.” It is likely enough that Blake’s process first took a definite shape in his mind at the time when his thoughts were freshly filled with memories of his departed brother. It is even probable that while they were still united, the subject of technical methods was one that they had discussed together, and the later recollection of a hint thrown out by his brother on the occasion of one of these conversations may well have led to the solution of a problem that had long engaged him. There is evidence, as Mr Sampson points out, 1 that for some years previously Blake’s mind had been occupied with the idea of some new kind of illuminated printing that would enable him to wed together his poems and designs and to issue them to the public on his own account, independent of the publishers, who had shown themselves unwilling to receive them. The following passage is quoted by Mr Sampson in this connection from an early MS. belonging to c. 1783-1784, known as “An Island in the Moon.” “ . . . Illuminating the Manuscript. — ‘Aye,’ said she, ‘ that would be excellent.’ ‘Then,’ said he, ‘I would have all the writing Engraved instead of Printed, at every other leaf a high finished print, all in three Volumes folio, and sell them a hundred pounds apiece. They would Print off two thousand ’ 1 In his “Blake’s Poetical Works (1905), p. xvi. 3 ° The Engravings of JVilliam Blake ‘ Then,’ said she, ‘ whoever will not have them, will be ignorant fools and will not deserve to live.’ ” A more particular account of Blake’s method as it was applied by him in the various books of songs and prophesies for which it was primarily devised, would fall outside the scope of the present volume. In view, however, of the fact that it was also employed by him in some separate plates, a few words may be added in further explanation of its nature. The new process may be described as one of Relief- Etching ; that is to say, after the biting of the plate, the lines of the design or the letters of the text were left standing out in relief, instead of being sunk into it, as in the ordinary intaglio method ; in other words, the whites instead of the darks were etched. The actual ingredients of the fluid with which text and design were drawn upon the copper remained Blake’s secret. It must, however, have been of the nature of stopping-out varnish, and any substance that would at once flow easily from the brush and be proof against the action of the acid would have answered his purpose. It is stated by Allan Cunningham , 1 that at the time of his discovery Blake had already completed a series of “ sixty-five designs of his Days of Innocence (sic), and was medi- tating ... on the best means of multiplying their resemblance in form and in line.” In addition to his manifest errors in regard both to the title of the work in question and the number of designs contained in it, the biographer is certainly also mistaken as to the existence of a set of drawings in colour for the “ Songs ” prior to their reproduction in the new process. It was not Blake’s custom to make such finished drawings for his books. With scarcely any exceptions, the existing drawings connected with them are of the nature of roughly executed sketches in pen or pencil. To have carried them further would have meant a fruitless doubling of the labour. The very few exceptions with which the writer is acquainted are of an experimental character and solely done with a view to trying an effect. A single example only, contained in a volume of miscellaneous prints and drawings by Blake in Mr Macgeorge’s collection, is known 1 In his “ Lives of the most eminent British Painters, etc. ” (1830), vol. ii. p. 152. The Engravings of JVilliam Blake to him of a drawing of this kind connected either with the “ Songs of Innocence ” or the “ Songs of Experience.” The great majority of the coloured drawings purporting to be Blake’s original designs for his books are copies do nt from the books by other hands. To this category belongs the supposed original drawing in water-colours for the “Ancient of Days with the Compasses” (No. 15 in the Catalogue) in the Print Room. A number of pretended drawings for the Prophetical Books have also been seen by the writer. It is also unlikely that Cunning- ham is right in suggesting that the “Songs of Innocence” was the first of the books to be engraved in the new method. The date (1788) given by Blake himself in the colophon to his “Ghost of Abel” as that of his “original stereotype” is alone sufficient to negative this supposition. By a process of exhaustion, since the dates of all the remaining works are definitely fixed, as well as on other grounds (see p. 205, note 1), the writer inclines to the view that the pair of diminutive volumes of aphorisms on the subject of Natural Religion are both of them prior to the “ Songs of Innocence ” and to be assigned to the year (1788) preceding their publication. The separate print, already alluded to, done from his brother Robert’s design (No. 65 in the Catalogue), in which a group of figures is depicted standing together on the edge of a cliff and gazing with scared looks over the sea, would appear also to belong to the initial stage of the process and may perhaps be a solitary survivor from among Blake’s earliest experiments made at the time of its discovery in 1787. In his later books and separate prints Blake’s method will be found to have undergone a modification. There the process of relief-etching is frequently used by him in conjunction with a further invention to which he gave the name of “ wood-cutting ” upon metal. The nature of this innovation is described in his own memoranda on the subject which are printed in the Appendix (No. 1), where it will be seen that it consisted principally in the use of a graver through a prepared ground. The “ Little Tom the Sailor” and “The Man sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour ” (Nos. 18 and 31 in the Catalogue) 3 2 The Engravings of William Blake are examples of the combination of the two methods. In both of these cases the metal employed appears to have been pewter, of which he now and then seems to have made use as a substitute for the more usual copper-plate. It is stated by Mr A. M. Hinde in his “Short History of Engraving and Etching’' 1 that plates of zinc, are known also to have been used by Blake for his relief-etchings. The plates executed by this special process were printed either by Blake himself or his wife in an ordinary copper-plate press. The process of printing was necessarily a somewhat laborious one, since, as Jackson points out in his “Treatise on Wood Engraving," 2 it was difficult “to corrode the large white parts to a depth sufficient to prevent their being touched by the dauber or ball in the process of inking, and thus presenting a soiled appearance in the impression.” “ He was, therefore,” he adds, “ accustomed to wipe the ink out where it had touched in the hollows.” The outline of his designs was normally printed by Blake in a single colour. Blue, green, yellow, orange and black are the tints most commonly met with. In some examples of the two small tracts on Natural Religion, however, two or more colours are found to have been used. When the outline had been printed, the design was then coloured up by hand, either with water-colours or by a peculiar method of stamping opaque colour from the plate on to the print. This latter method he further developed for a process in which some of his most impressive works are executed, — the “ Printed Drawings,” in which first the outline and then the colours were stamped off from a mill-board on to the drawing paper — the pigment being tempered with a mixture of copal varnish and glue. The most important of these productions is the well-known “ Creation of Adam.” The seven years (from 1788 to 1795) which followed Blake's discovery of his process of relief-etching, were largely taken up with the production of his engraved books. With the exception of the “ Milton ” and the “Jerusalem,” all the more important of 1 Second edition (revised), 1911, p. 220. 2 Second edition, London, 1861. c 33 The Engravings of W illiam Blake them date from this period. To the last of these years belongs also the invention of the process in which his Printed Drawings are executed. The greater number of these works bear upon them the date 1795, and there are, in fact, good reasons for believing that the whole of them were first designed and printed either in that or the preceding year. In spite of the very considerable output of works executed in his special processes, Blake found time as well for some remarkable pieces of original engraving in the ordinary linear method. In 1791 were published the “ Original Stories” of Mary Wollstonecraft with the six small copper-plates of which he was both the designer and engraver (No. 7. in the Catalogue). The frontispiece, which is reproduced in the present volume, is a singularly pleasing instance of his gift for imparting a simple, childlike beauty to a conventional theme. His “Gates of Paradise” (No. 8. in the Catalogue), first issued in 1793, is in a more characteristic vein. This little picture-book which had been originally devised for the use of children and filled with spiritual and moral emblems more or less adapted to their understanding, was subsequently reissued for the benefit of grown-up people, with the addition of an Argument, an Epilogue and other matter wherein an abstruse mystical significance is attributed to the designs. The prints themselves are little more than slight sketches upon copper, but several of them, notably the “Death’s Door” and the “ Ugolino,” in spite of their small dimensions and lack of finish, none the less exhibit a truly Blakeian intensity and grandeur. No example of the “ History of England,” published by Blake in the same year as “ The Gates of Paradise ” is at present forthcoming ; it is likely to have been a little picture-book of a somewhat similar character to the latter. To the same year belong also a pair of prints executed on a considerably more important scale ; they are, in fact, among the largest and most ambitious of all Blake’s engravings. Their subjects are taken from the books of Job and Ezekiel. Both are undeniably powerful in conception and finely engraved, though in a rather heavy manner. It must, also, be admitted 34 The Engravings of TVilliam Blake that they lose much in impressiveness from being somewhat over- emphatic in statement. An exaggerated tendency is apparent both in the types and the gestures of the figures, and there is generally a want of concentration in the design. For these reasons, in spite of the great effect of seriousness and solemnity, which they undoubtedly produce, the prints will be found to compare unfavourably with the maturer expression of the great series of “ Illustrations of the Book of Job.” The year in which these prints were produced was the year of his removal to Hercules Buildings, whence, on the ioth October following his arrival, he issued his first prospectus. The list of prints and books to the number of ten, which are there advertised for sale, is headed by the above mentioned “Job.” Six of the following numbers consist of as many of his engraved books as were ready at that date. His own name of “ Illuminated Printing” for the process in which they were carried out is there also re- corded ; an announcement of it being the principal theme of a prefatory note “To the Public,” in which he claims to have “ invented a method of Printing both Letter-press and Engraving in a style more ornamental, uniform, and grand, than any before discovered, while it produces works at less than one-fourth of the expense.” “If,” he adds, “ a method of Printing which combines the Painter and the Poet is a phenomenon worthy of public attention, provided that it exceeds in elegance all former methods, the Author is sure of his reward.” Of the engravings after other artists belonging to this period, five are from the designs of Fuseli, whose acquaintance he seems to have made some ten years before and who remained ever a constant friend and an ardent admirer. It was largely under Blake's influence that this able but mannered painter first began to develop his imaginative character, and that his style underwent a change in the direction of restraint and refinement. It cannot, however, be said that their collaboration on these occasions was productive of any very striking results. Of work done for publishers at this time, the most important item is a series of a dozen illustrations for Stockdale’s edition of Gay’s “ Fables.” Blake’s prints are 35 The Engravings of W ill i am Blake certainly superior to the remainder of those with which the volume is adorned, but do not show him on a particularly high level either of invention or execution. Although the five years which followed this period of extra- ordinary activity were relatively unfruitful ones for Blake in the field of engraving, a single undertaking, that of his designs for Young’s “Night Thoughts,” must needs have absorbed a very considerable amount both of his time and energies. A full account of his labours in connection with this work and of the circumstances attending its production will be found in the Catalogue (see No. 17). This great series of inventions embodies many of the most characteristic qualities of his imagination and a number of the plates display quite an astounding capacity for genuinely creative design. Considered as a whole, however, the volume is a disappointing one. From the beginning the task was a well-nigh impossible one for him to succeed in. The end- less chain of tedious allegory and moral platitudes of which the poem is composed could only end in obscuring the most un- clouded vision. But apart from the unprepossessing nature of the material at his disposal, Blake’s genius failed him in other respects. The scale of the designs is throughout too great for their substance, with the result that the eye is continually conscious of a certain emptiness and monotony. In spite of these defects, however, it is certain, as it is prophesied by the writer of the Preface (believed to have been the designer’s friend, Fuseli), that “while a taste for the arts of the design shall continue to exist, the original conception, the bold and masterly execution, which are there discovered, cannot be unnoticed or unadmired.” The venture, as will appear from the note in the Catalogue, was a failure from the outset, and of the vast series of drawings made by Blake for the purpose, only a small pro- portion were actually engraved by him. His reputation as an engraver seems, indeed, to have collapsed in consequence of it. “Since my Young’s ‘Night Thoughts’ have been published,” he pathetically writes two years later, “even Johnson and Fuseli have discarded my engraver.” The words occur in one of a 36 The Engravings of JVilliam Blake very valuable little batch of letters written between the years 1795 and 1799 to his friend George Cumberland and now in- cluded among the Cumberland correspondence at the British Museum. Cumberland, who was a man of fine taste and a keen enthusiasm in regard to matters of art, remained until the last one of the truest and most generous of Blake’s friends, and was the means of introducing him to several of his best patrons, particularly John Linnell. He learned from Blake the art of engraving, and with his help published, in 1796, his “ Thoughts on Outline/’ embellished with twenty-four designs of classical subjects (No. 85 in the Catalogue). The following appreciative reference to Blake’s share in the work occurs in the Appendix to the volume : — “ One thing may be asserted of this work, which can be said of few others that have passed the hands of an engraver, which is, that Mr Blake has condescended to take upon him the laborious office of making them, I may say, fac- similes of my originals : a compliment, from a man of his extraordinary genius and abilities, the highest, I believe, I shall ever receive ; — and I am indebted to his generous partiality for the instruction which encouraged me to execute a great part of the plates myself ; enabling me thereby to reduce considerably the price of my book.” Almost the last piece of work that Blake ever did was a “ Message Card” for his friend (No. 36 in the Catalogue), engraved by him in 1827 at the age of seventy. The difficulty experienced by Blake after the failure of the Young’s “Night Thoughts” to obtain further commissions from the publishers led him, about that date, to turn his attention for the first time seriously to the art of painting. He was the more induced to this course by the fact that his friend Thomas Butts, whose acquaintance he seems to have made as early as 1793, had in 1799 given him an order for fifty small pictures at one guinea each. “ Engraving,” he wrote in the latter year to Dr Trusler, “is the profession I was apprenticed to, and should never have attempted to live by anything else, if orders had not come in for my designs and paintings, which I have the pleasure to tell you are increasing every day. Thus if 37 The Engravings of William Blake I am a painter it is not to be attributed to seeking after. But I am contented whether I live by painting or engraving.” So it was that Blake’s earliest ambition to become a painter was able at last to be realised and during the next ten years much of his spare time was devoted to producing a considerable number of paintings and drawings ; to these years belong, in fact, the great proportion of his labours in that field. A striking portrait of Lavater is Blake’s first work in the new century. It is described by Mr W. M. Rossetti 1 as “a superb and masterly example.” “ As an engraver merely,” he adds, “ Blake ranks high on the strength of this plate alone. The lines of the face are especially noteworthy for their skilful play, firmness and delicacy.” In the autumn of the same year (1800) Blake left London to work for Hayley at Felpham. He had been introduced by Flaxman to this new patron, and had already, before his departure to the country, executed for him three plates of no great consequence for his “ Essay on Sculpture,” in a “Series of Epistles” written to the sculptor himself (No. 94 in the Catalogue). The immediate reason of the invitation to Felpham was for the purpose of assisting Hayley in the compilation of the “ Life of Cowper” which he had just then undertaken and of engraving the plates for the work. The “Life” was published in 1 803-1 804, with three portraits and several other prints from Blake’s hand. These, however, are among the least memorable results of his visit, a portrait of the poet engraved in imitation of a drawing by Lawrence being the only one which calls for remark, as being at least a skilful and exact rendering of the qualities of the original sketch. The task, which had been set him, proved an irksome one to Blake, and the work produced in this connection for the most part bears upon its face the signs of having been done against the grain and without pleasure. The prints engraved by him in his hours of relaxation from these labours are alone truly worthy of his name. The first of these, his admirable broadside of “ Little Tom the Sailor” (No. 18 in the Catalogue) is dated within 1 See Gilchrist’s “Life” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. p. 282. 38 The Engravings of William Blake three weeks of his arrival in the country. It is an example of his combined processes of relief-etching and “ wood-cutting upon pewter.” The printing of it, as we learn from one of his letters, was for the most part entrusted to his wife. “ Little Tom,” he writes to his patron, “ has been of late unattended to, and my wife’s illness not being quite gone off, she has not printed any more since you went to London. But we can muster a few in colours and some in black, which I hope will be no less favoured, though they are rough like rough Sailors.” The lower of the two pictorial designs which accompany the ballad, written by Hayley for the widowed mother of a Folkestone sailor lad who had been drowned at sea, is a beautiful example of Blake’s quieter and often happier mood. The design at the top is of a somewhat theatrical character and has much less merit. His designs for a series of Hayley ’s “ Ballads,” “ founded on Anecdotes relating to Animals” (No. 19 in the Catalogue), were the next occupation of Blake’s leisure hours. The following account of their origin and scope is given by Hayley himself in the Preface : — “To amuse the Artist in his patient labour, and to furnish his fancy with a few slight subjects for an inventive pencil, that might afford some variety to his incessant applica- tion, without too far interrupting his more serious business, I chanced to compose, in hours of exercise and leisure, a few ballads, upon anecdotes relating to animals, that happened to interest my fancy. They succeeded perfectly as an amusement to my Friend ; and led him to execute a few rapid sketches, that several judges of his talent are desirous of converting to his honour and emolument. The favour that two or three Ballads obtained, in a private circle, induced us to enlarge the number ; and to try their success in the world as a periodical publication. It is proposed to publish every month, a Number, containing three Engravings, with one Ballad, at the price of half-a- crown ; and to complete the whole series in fifteen Numbers, so that the purchaser will ultimately obtain a quarto Volume, con- taining forty-five Engravings, not to mention the Ballads, which indeed I wish to be considered as vehicles contrived to exhibit 39 The Engravings of EE i lli am Blake the diversified talents of my Friend for original design, and delicate engraving.” The prints were begun by Blake in May 1802 and the first part was issued on the 1st June following. The project received little encouragement from the public, and after the issue of four out of the projected fifteen parts, it had to be abandoned. Although not without characteristic invention, the plates are not very notable specimens of Blake’s talent as an original engraver. Those of the i2mo edition, published three years later, are considerably better performances in the same kind. The last of Blake’s prints which belong to the period of his sojourn at Felpham, are the six well-engraved illustrations of Hayley’s “Triumphs of Temper” (No. 97 in the Catalogue) after the pretty but rather feeble inventions of Maria Flaxman, sister to the sculptor. After a stay of just three years in the country, Blake returned to London, in September 1803, and settled at 17 South Molton Street. He had received from Hayley a parting commission to collect materials for his “ Life of Romney,” and it appears from his correspondence at this date that a good deal of his time was absorbed in biographical researches in this connection. He had at the same time been invited to engrave several of the plates for the “ Life,” and, soon after his arrival, set to work to engrave a portrait of the painter (No. 99 in the Catalogue). The print, however, for some unknown reason, was in the end rejected ; in fact, although it is known to have reached the proof state, no impression of it is at present forthcoming. The book ultimately appeared in 1809 with a single rather uninteresting print from Blake’s hand, engraved from a sketch by Romney of a “ Ship- wreck.” Blake arrived in London full of sanguine expectations, which were destined, however, to be but imperfectly realised. Soon after his return he wrote to Hayley : — “ I have got to work after Fuseli for a little ‘ Shakespeare.’ Mr Johnson, the bookseller, tells me that there is no want of work. So far you will be rejoiced with me, and your words, ‘ Do not fear you can want employment ’ ! were verified the morning after I received your kind letter.” A couple of prints were engraved by 40 The Engravings of JVilliam Blake him after Fuseli for the “Shakespeare” in question, edited by Alexander Chalmers (No. 99 in the Catalogue). They are good, honest work, well above the average of their companions, but neither of them of extraordinary merit. His next work was the engraving of three plates for a new edition of Flaxman’s “ Iliad,” published in 1805. In the same year appeared the reduced edition of Hayley’s “Ballads” (No. 20 in the Catalogue), with five plates of a similar character but far superior in execution to those of the original 4to ; they count, indeed, high in the sum total of Blake’s engraved work. It is interesting to note that they were among the special favourites of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, whose knowledge and admiration of Blake’s work were both of them profound. The following entertaining allusion to them occurs in one of his letters 1 to William Allingham, from whom he had received a gift of a copy of the “ Ballads” : — “ Many thanks indeed for your new year’s gift, — a most delightful one. Old Blake is quite as lovable by his oddities as by his genius, and the drawings to the ballads abound with both. The two nearly faultless are the ‘Eagle’ and the ‘ Hermit’s Dog.’ Ruskin’s favourite (who has just been looking at it) is the ‘Horse’; but I can’t myself quite get over the intensity of comic decorum in the brute’s face. He seems absolutely snuffing with propriety. The ‘ Lion ’ seems singing a comic song with a pen behind his ear, but the glimpse of distant landscape below is lovely. The only drawing where the comic element riots almost unrebuked is the one of the dog jumping down the crocodile. As regards engraving, these drawings, with the ‘Job,’ present the only good medium between etching and formal line that I ever met with. I see that in coming to me the book returns home ; having set out from No. 6 Bridge Street, Blackfriars, just 50 years ago. Strange to think of it as then, new literature and art. Those ballads of Hayley — some of the quaintest human bosh in the world — picked their way, no doubt, in highly 1 Dated 8th January 1856; see the “Letters of Dante Gabriel Rossetti to William Allingham,” by George Birbeck Hill, 1877. 4i The Engravings of JVilliam Blake respectable quarters, where poor Blake's unadorned hero at Page i was probably often stared at, and sometimes torn out.” It was about this date that the idea first presented itself to Blake of producing an illustrated edition of Blair's “ Grave.” It was, according to Gilchrist 1 as early as 1804 that he set to work upon a series of designs for the poem — with the intention both of engraving and publishing them himself. The earliest reference to the undertaking, however, known to the present writer occurs in a letter from Flaxman to Hayley, dated 1 8 th October 1805, 2 where the unpleasant figure of Cromek creeps for the first time into sight. Finding Blake at work upon the drawings and being struck by their commercial attractiveness, he forthwith invited him “ to make a set of forty drawings, twenty of which he proposed to have engraved by the designer and to publish them, with the hope of rendering service to the artist .” The commission was accepted by Blake on these terms, m., that he should be the engraver of his own designs, and an agreement was entered into, to this effect. 3 Specimens of the designs were shown to various members of the Royal Academy, who, continues Flaxman in the same letter, were “highly pleased ” with them and “ meant to encourage the work.” A prospectus was shortly issued ; “ from which,” says Gilchrist, 4 “ it appears it was then intended for Blake to engrave the illustrations.” The same authority is, also, responsible for the statement, that Blake did actually engrave “one or two” of them; a print of “Death’s Door” he claims to have seen. 5 H owever this may be (and no example of any of the series engraved by the artist is known to the present writer), it is well known how in the end only twelve designs were accepted by Cromek, for which he paid the trivial sum of twenty guineas, 1 See the “ Life ” (ed. 1 880), vol. i. p. 246. 2 See “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell (1906), pp. 185-186. 3 This fact is corroborated by another contemporary authority, John Thomas Smith, in his biographical notice of Blake contained in the second volume of “ Nollekens and his Times ” (1828) ; see “ William Blake,” by Arthur Symons, p. 368. 4 See the “ Life,” vol. i. p. 247 ; the Prospectus is not known to the present writer. But see No. 2 1 in the Catalogue. 42 The Engravings of TVilliam Blake and at the same time cheated Blake of the further remuneration which he was to have derived from engraving the designs, by employing Schiavonetti in his place to do the work. 1 The illustrations appeared in 1808, and were well received: “a success,” writes Swinburne, 2 “ on which the shameful soul of Cromek fed exultantly and fattened scandalously.” It is certain, as the same writer claims for them, that the designs are “ among the most admirable works extant in that line.” Their “ sweet- ness and vivid grace are,” he truly says, “ as noticeable as the energy and rapidity of imagination inspired by them.” It is interesting to note the two designs that are singled out by this great poet and critic for special reference. “None,” he writes, 3 in a passage of haunting loveliness, “ none who have seen can well forget the glorious violence of reunion between soul and body, meeting with fierce embraces, with glad agony and rage of delight. . . . But for perfect beauty nothing of Blake’s can be matched against the design of the soul departing ; in this drawing the body lies filled as it were and clothed with the supreme sleep of flesh, no man watching by it ; . . . and the soul, with tender poise of pausing feet, with painless face and sad pure eyes, looks back as with a serene salutation full of pity.” “The sweet and grave grace” of the background, he adds, “ with a bright pallor in the sky and an effect upon field and moor of open air without wind, brings with it a sense of music.” Equal to either of these, less touched by sentiment and perhaps even grander in design is the “ Death’s Door,” which the present writer would count among the noblest of all Blake’s inventions. The designs are all of them skilfully engraved by Schiavonetti in a facile, forceless style. Yet the keen light of Blake’s genius still shines clear and bright through the veil of prettiness thrown over it by Cromek’s hireling. The loss in the 1 For further particulars of this disagreeable business, see Gilchrist’s “Life,” vol. i. pp. 246-290; Swinburne’s “William Blake” (new edition, 1906), pp. 52-63; “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell (1906), pp. 193-197 and 202-203. 2 In his “William Blake, a Critical Essay” (new edition, 1906, p. 62), which still remains the truest and noblest tribute to Blake’s genius that has yet appeared. 3 Ibid. p. 63. 43 The Engravings of William Blake engravings of the creative hand of the artist makes it the more regrettable that the original drawings for them have nearly all oi them disappeared. The few which remain, moveover, are of themselves sufficient to indicate that the complete series must have been one of unsurpassed loveliness. It was in such time as he could spare at this period from his labours at the “ Grave,” that Blake began to engrave his two great mystical epics of “ Milton ” and “Jerusalem” which had been composed by him during his sojourn at Felpham. A large number oi drawings, both in water-colour and “ fresco,” in- cluding several oi those which were to appear in his exhibition of 1809, were, also, produced by him in these years. To 1807 belongs the lithograph of “Job in Prosperity” (No. 23 in the Catalogue), which, besides being a pleasing and characteristic invention, is further interesting as being a solitary specimen from his hand of this method ol reproduction. In 1808 he seems to have had the intention of publishing a treatise dealing with the various technical processes which had been invented by him. On the 9th December of that year, alluding to his purpose in a letter to his friend Cumberland, he writes : — “ I have . . . the satisfaction to inform you that I have . . . begun to print an account of my various inventions in Art, for which I have pro- cured a publisher, and am determined to pursue the plan of publishing what I may get printed without disarranging my time, which in future must alone be devoted to designing and painting.” He speaks once more of this plan in the pro- spectus of his “Chaucer,” issued 15th May 1809 (No. 4 in the Appendix), where he promises an account ol his recovery of the art of fresco-painting “ in a work on Art, now in the press.” Unhappily, however, his scheme appears never to have been realised. His “Descriptive Catalogue” of 1809 may perhaps be supposed to have taken its place ; and in consequence, with the exception of the brief memoranda printed in the Appendix (No. 1), no account was left by him of his inventions in the field of engraving. On 8th October 1810 was published his print of the “ Canterbury Pilgrims,” of which the original paint- 44 The Engravings of JVilliam Blake ing formed the principal item of his exhibition of the preceding year. The picture, which is now in the possession of Sir John Stirling Maxwell, is one of his finest productions. The stately movement of the cavalcade, forming a superbly decorative pattern coloured in rich and varied hues, together with the architectural accessories, of Gothic form, and the long sweeping lines of the landscape produce a noble impression. The effect is somewhat marred in the engraving by the introduction of a certain element of grotesqueness. There is, too, in its execution more than a little of the dull, heavy manner which Blake had learned from Basire and not yet been able entirely to put away from his more serious works. The peculiar archaic type of the horses, upon which the pilgrims ride, may in fact be traced to an engraving published by Basire, ist May 1787, with which Blake must have been well acquainted, if indeed he had not actually a hand in its production, representing the“ Procession of King Edward VI. from the Tower of London to Westminster, Feb. XIX, MDXLVII ” (from an old picture at Hampton Court), where the grouping, equipment and build of the horses have much in common with those of the “ Canterbury Pilgrims.” Whatever may be its defects, however, the print is undoubtedly possessed of such qualities of monumental grandeur as to do more than atone for them all. The years which followed the publication of his “ Canter- bury Pilgrims,” down to the time of his first meeting with Linnell, were the gloomiest and most unproductive of Blake’s life. He seems to have isolated himself from nearly all his friends and to have lived a solitary life. His commissions became fewer and fewer, and it is known that he was sadly oppressed by poverty. A little print, etched in relief, of the “ Chaining of Ore” (No. 26 in the Catalogue), dated 1813, is the only piece of original engraving that can with certainty be ascribed to this period. The beautiful “Mirth and her Companions” (No. 27 in the Catalogue) may, however, have been engraved about this time, since it appears to come midway in style between the works in which the manner of engraving learned from Basire is 45 The Engravings of JVilliam Blake still predominant, and those which show the result of the par- ticular studies of the works of Marc Antonio and Giulio Bonasone which Blake undertook at Linnell’s instigation. A series of thirty- seven outline engravings, done from Flaxman’s designs illustra- tive of the “ Works and Days and Theogony of Hesiod (No. 107 in the Catalogue), together with the prints occurring in Rees’s “ Cyclopaedia ” (No. 105 in the Catalogue), represent Blake’s only important commissions from the publishers during these dark years. It was in 1818 that Blake first made the acquaintance of John Linnell, the painter, through the introduction of his old friend, George Cumberland. The circumstances of their meeting are described by Linnell himself in his diary. 1 “ At Rathbone Place, 1818 . . . here I first became acquainted with William Blake, to whom I paid a visit in company with the younger Mr Cumberland. Blake lived then in South Molton Street, Oxford Street, second floor. We soon became intimate, and I employed him to help me with an engraving of my portrait of Mr Upton, a Baptist preacher, which he was glad to do, having scarcely enough employment to live by at the prices he could obtain.” The advent of Linnell was truly the most fortunate circumstance in all Blake’s life. To the encouragement and generosity of this admirable friend is almost wholly due the great renewal of creative energy by which his last years were made more fruitful in real achievement than any that had gone before. It was some three years however before the extremity of his need became known to his new friend, when he at once came forward with the substantial assistance by means of which the production of the designs for Job and Dante was rendered possible. In 1821, upon the retirement of his landlord, Blake removed from the rooms which he had occupied ever since his return to London from Felpham, in South Molton Street, and settled at 3 Fountain Court, Strand, where he died. “It was here,” writes Linnell, 2 “ that he began to feel the want of 1 See Symons’s “William Blake” (1907) p. 222. 2 In a letter to Bernard Barton, the quaker poet, written after Blake’s death. See “ The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell (1906), pp. 227-228. 46 The Engravings of William Blake employment, and before I knew his distress he had sold all his collection of old prints to Messrs Colnaghi & Co. After that I represented his case to Sir Thomas Lawrence, Mr Collins, R.A., and some other members of the Royal Academy, who kindly brought it before the Council, and they voted him a donation of £25, which was sent to him through my hands, and for which he expressed great thankfulness. This, however, was not enough to afford him permanent support, and it was in hopes of obtaining a profit sufficient to supply his future wants that the publication of ‘Job’ was begun at my suggestion and expense. . . . Though we were both disappointed in our expectations as to the extent of sale, yet the few buyers of the work being among the most distinguished for taste and learning, we were sufficiently encouraged to commence another work, which Mr Blake did not live to complete ; it was the illustrat- ing of Dante. . . . This work, however, answered the purpose of furnishing him with the means of comfortable subsistence to his death.” The scarcity of employment spoken of by Linnell, which had indeed been continuous with Blake since the date of the appearance of his Blair’s “ Grave,” is again sadly illustrated by the fact that from the day of their meeting down to the end of his life three inconsiderable commissions were all that came to him from the publishers. In the first of these, the well-known portrait of Mrs Q , published in 1820 (No. 108 in the Catalogue) he once more showed himself capable of an excellent piece of work in a popular style. The print is still highly prized by a number of collectors who are quite unacquainted with the nobler achievements of his individual genius. The following year was that of the issue of his incomparable woodcuts in illustration of Dr Thornton’s “ Pastorals of Virgil” (No. 30 in the Catalogue). It is well known how narrowly these, the only woodcuts ever executed by Blake, escaped the contemptuous rejection of the publishers. An account of this and the other circumstances attending their production will be found in the Catalogue. The little prints are perhaps the loveliest ©f all Blake’s 47 The Engravings of William Blake engravings — so childlike are they in their transparency of vision, and yet so deeply touched in every stroke with the grandest spirit of poetry. They are certainly to be counted too among the world’s masterpieces of wood-engraving. Of the three examples here reproduced, the chief place in the whole series of the woodcuts is given by Swinburne, in the admirable essay already referred to, 1 to that entitled “The blasted Tree,” appearing at the head of the page. In a descriptive and critical passage, in which the design is there described by the poet, the rare quality of lyrical invention, which is its matchless beauty, is vividly conveyed. “A splendour,” he writes, “ of sweet and turbulent moonlight falls across blown bowed hedge-rows, over the gnarled and labouring branches of a tough tortuous oak, upon soft ears of laid corn like long low waves without ripple or roll ; every bruised blade distinct and patient, every leaf quivering and straightened out in the hard wind. The stormy beauty of this design, the noble motion and passion in all parts of it, are as noticeable as its tender sense of detail and grace in effect of light.” The original drawings for the woodcuts, outlined with extreme delicacy and beauty with a hne brush point in India ink, were (all but one) purchased from Blake by Linnell and are still in the possession of the Linnell family. Slight and small as they are, they are yet among the loveliest of all his designs. “ The Hiding of Moses,” appearing in “ Remem- ber Me” (1825 ; No. 32 in the Catalogue), the last piece of engraving done by Blake for the publishers, calls for no special remark. The crowning labour of Blake’s life, his engraved illustra- tions of the “ Book of Job,” had its origin in the last commission which he received from his old friend and patron, Thomas Butts, for whom, in or about 1820, the designs were first executed in a series of twenty-five water-colour drawings. In 1823 he began, at the instance of Linnell, to make a duplicate set of the designs with a view to engraving them. The work was published in 1826, the year before his death. Full particulars of 1 “ William Blake, a Critical Essay” (new ed., 1906), pp. 73-74. 48 The Engravings of lEilliam Blake the volume will be found in the Catalogue (No. 33). It is, taken as a whole, beyond question Blake’s greatest achievement as an engraver. From early days he had been deeply moved by the history of the patriarch, which he would often parallel by the course of his own life. The subjects of two of his prints, the impressive line-engraving published in 1793 and the beautiful lithograph designed some fifteen years later, had already been drawn from it. But since those days his style as an engraver had undergone a considerable change. He had by this time entirely freed himself from the hard, mechanical manner which he had acquired from Basire. Much had in the meantime been learned by him from the great engravers whose works were represented in his own print collection. His attention, also, had lately been especially directed by Linnell to the works of the Italian engravers of the sixteenth century, with particular regard to Marc Antonio and Giulio Bonasone. With both of these he had of course been previously well acquainted. J. T. Smith recalls in his memoir how often he had “ seen him admire and heard him expatiate upon the beauties of Marc Antonio,” and in Blake’s own writings this master is several times mentioned with enthusiasm. Linnell appears himself to have been the possessor of a number of Marc Antonio’s prints, and he had also in his collection an example of Bonasone’s large print of Michelangelo’s “ Last Judgment,” which was doubtless an object of Blake’s frequent study. The influence of these models is the predominant one in the development of Blake’s latest style of engraving, which, however, none the less remains a strictly individual means of expression and shows no traces of any direct imitation. In the “Job ” he further reveals a grandeur of invention and a concentration of expression beyond all his past attainment, and truly, as Ruskin claimed for him in this connection, 1 “in expressing conditions of glaring and flickering light, Blake is ” here “ greater than Rembrandt.” Blake’s last important work, the series of designs from “ Dante,” is due, like the “Job,” to a commission received from 1 In his “ Elements of Drawing,” paragr. 257. The Engravings of JVilliam Blake his friend Linnell. His original drawings to the number of a hundred are still in the possession of the Linnell family, and are one of the most remarkable evidences of his extraordinary genius for the invention of design. The undertaking was begun about 1824 and remained unfinished at his death. In a letter to his friend, written shortly before the end, he speaks of himself as being “ too much attached to Dante to think much of anything else.” The work of engraving was begun in 1826 ; but he lived only to engrave seven of the designs (see No. 34 in the Catalogue). The most beautiful of these is the “ Paolo and Francesca, with the Whirlwind of Lovers,” and, of the remainder perhaps the most notable is the “ Dante striking Bocca degli Abbati’s head with his foot.” All, however, are powerfully designed, and carried out with an astonishing freedom and vigour. Among the finest of the unengraved designs are : — “ Dante and Virgil crossing towards the City of Dis,” “ The Gorgon-head, and the Angel opening the Gate of Dis,” “ Antaeus setting down Dante and Virgil in the last Circle,” “ Dante and Statius sleeping, Virgil watching,” “ Beatrice on the Car, Dante and Matilda.” To the last year of his life probably belongs a fine print, left unfinished, of “ Christ with a Bow, trampling upon Satan” (No. 35 in the Catalogue). The last piece of engraving ever completed by him was the “ Message Card,” embodying a pretty allegory, which he did for his friend George Cumberland (No. 36 in the Catalogue) . It is signed : — “ W. Blake inv. & sc. A. JE. 70, 1 8 27.” The story of how, at the end, upon his death-bed, he finished for Tatham an illuminated example of “The Ancient of Days striking the first Circle of the Earth,” is too well known to need to be repeated. 50 CATALOGUE I.— PRINTS ENGRAVED BY BLAKE FROM HIS OWN DESIGNS r Pi.ate 2 JOSEPH OF ARIMATIIEA AMONG THE ROCKS OF ALBION Engraved by W. Blake, 1773, from an old Italian Drawing. (1) 1 JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA AMONG THE ROCKS OF ALBION 1 Michael Angelo Pinxit. Engraved by W. Blake 1773 f rom an old Italian Drawing. Line ; 9 x 4f| in. Joseph is represented with a powerful, bearded head and a massive frame. He wears a soft conical cap and a loose garment, which falls to a little below his waist. He stands, facing the spectator (r.), with his arms folded and his eyes fixed upon the ground, upon a rocky base beneath a towering cliff by the sea. The dark water (1.) has a gently rippled surface which glimmers in a scanty sunlight, emerging from behind a thick cloud. A word of explanation appears below the print: — “This is One of the Gothic Artists who Built the Cathedrals in what we call the Dark Ages, Wandering about in sheep skins and goat skins, of whom the World was not worthy. Such were the Christians in all Ages”; — the allusion, of course, being to the tradition by which Joseph of Arimathea is believed to have come to Britain and to have founded the first Christian church there, at Glastonbury. 2 For the place after- wards given to Joseph of Arimathea in Blake’s system of mythology, see “Vala” viii. 332 (in Ellis and Yeats’s edition), where he is identified with Los, the spirit of Time and of Prophecy. The figure of Joseph is derived from that on the extreme right, in front, of Michelangelo’s fresco of the Crucifixion of St Peter in the Vatican (“ Cappella Paolina ”). 3 The “ old Italian Drawing,” used by Blake, — one, no doubt, done after the figure in question, — cannot now be traced. The landscape setting is probably Blake’s own. His print is a remarkable performance for a boy of sixteen. It is, also, interesting as showing his early love both of Gothic architecture and of the designs of Michelangelo. 2 (THE PENANCE OF JANE SHORE) A print of this subject is assigned by the late Dr Richard Garnett 4 to the year 1779, which is the approximate date of a drawing by Blake 1 Title engraved on the rock (right-hand upper corner). The general conception of the design being probably Blake’s own, and the interpretation of the subject being certainly his, the print, in spite of its indebtedness to Michelangelo, is here included among his original works. 2 Cp. No. 5, below. 3 It was identified for the writer by his friend, Mr Laurence Binyon. 4 See “ William Blake,” by Richard Garnett (1895), p. 9 : — “ Scarcely was he out of his articles than he produced (1779) two engravings from the history of England, “The Penance of Jane Shore,” and “King Edward and Queen Eleanor” (for the latter, see No. 11, below). These were after two water-colour drawings, selected from a much greater number with which he had amused the leisure hours of his apprenticeship.” 53 2 of the same title. 1 Dr Garnett is the sole authority for the existence of the print. It is absent from Blake’s prospectus of 10th October 1793, while the “Edward and Elinor” associated with it in Dr Garnett’s statement and otherwise known to exist, is to be found there. 2 “The Penance of Jane Shore ” does indeed occur in Blake’s rough draft of subjects for his little “History of England,” contained in the “Rossetti MS.,” 3 and a print of it may well have been included in that missing book; but, even so, its diminutive size and later date would prevent us from assuming it to be that referred to by Dr Garnett. It is at least possible that Dr Garnett was mistaken, and that no such print exists. 3 (GLAD DAY) W. B. inv. 1780. Line; io|x7§ in. A naked youth of god-like form stands tip-toe on a mountain top, with outspread arms and with his right foot raised from the ground in forward flight. The dawn is like a halo about his radiant features and flame- like hair; his limbs are clothed with light. The darkness vanishes beneath him ; a worm crawls to its hiding and a moth takes wing before his feet. The design is likely to have been inspired by the lines in “Romeo and Juliet — 4 “Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.” The subject was afterwards associated by Blake with one of the myths of his Prophetical Books, and some later impressions of the print have these lines engraved below: — “ Albion arose from where he labour’d at the Mill with slaves : Giving himself for the Nations, he danc’d the dance of Eternal Death .” 5 It may be noted that the youth’s head in this beautiful print is not unlike Blake’s own as drawn by his wife in the early days of his artistic career. 6 1 See Blake’s “Descriptive Catalogue” (1809), Number XVI. : — “The Penance of Jane Shore in St Paul’s Church. — A Drawing. — This Drawing was done above Thirty Years ago. . . .” The present writer is also acquainted with two slight sketches (one in water-colour, the other in pencil), both belonging to about the same date, which apparently served as studies for the drawing. 2 See Gilchrist’s “ Life” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. pp. 285-286. 3 See No. 9, below. 4 Act 111 ., sc. v., 11 . 9 & 10. 5 Cp. a passage in a letter to Hayley of 23rd October 1804 (see “ The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell, 1906, p. 170), where Blake contrasts the Light which he enjoyed in his youth with the years of despair which followed, when he became a “ slave bound in a mill among beasts and devils.” 6 Reproduced as the frontispiece to vol. iii, of Ellis and Yeats’s “Blake.” 54 r A Plate 3 ■ The shatter'd bark from adverse winds Rest in this peaceful haven finds , And when the storms of life are past Hope drops her anchor here at last. sl'IKt E TO “AN Hope drops ner aueuoj , elegy, set to music by thos. comm INS, 1786. (+) FRONT I 3 The Print Room has an example of “ Glad Day ” (bound up in a volume of miscellaneous designs by Blake) stamped with opaque colour in the manner commonly employed in the Prophetical Books. The pigment, which had suffered from the oxidisation of the white, has recently been restored by a chemical process to its original freshness and brilliancy. The impression produced is a superb one. The dawn bursts into rays of many-coloured light, orange, yellow, pink and blue, around the shining, youthful figure. The mountain top is clothed with lichens of many hues, The depths below are filled with black clouds. The moth and the worm are here both obliterated by the superimposed colour. The Art Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum has a pencil sketch for the design of “ Glad Day,” which is probably to be identified with the one entitled “The Genius of Morning,” sold at Southgate and Barrett’s 7 June 1854, lot 142. 1 4 AN ELEGY, SET TO MUSIC BY THOS. COMMINS, ORGANIST OF PENZANCE, CORNWALL London. Printed and sold by J. Fentum, No. 78, corner Salisbury St. Strand. The cover has a vignette, designed and engraved by Blake, illustrating four lines from the Elegy which are engraved below it : — “ The shatter’d bark from adverse winds Rest in this peaceful haven finds And when the storms of life are past Hope drops her anchor here at last.” W. Blake delt. &: sculpt. Publish’d July 1, 1786 by J. Fentum No. 78 Corner of Salisbury Street, Strand. Line ; oval, within a wreath, 6 § x 5^ in. (approximately). A little boat ( 1 .) has cast anchor in a creek ; from it a youth steps joyfully forth to meet his wife and child who stand, bathed in light, with open arms upon the shore. Beyond, a tree, and the open sea in the background, with storm clouds vanishing (].). The print, which has become scarce, is a pleasing example of Blake’s early days as a designer and engraver. The figures of the youth and his young wife resemble those of Joseph and Benjamin in the water-colour “ Joseph making himself known to his Brethren,” exhibited at the Academy of the preceding year and now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. The Print Room has an impression of the print tinted by hand. 1 See, also, Gilchrist’s “Life” (ed. 1S80), vol. ii. p. 276, No. 19. 55 5 (JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA PREACHING TO THE INHABITANTS OF BRITAIN) (Without title, signature or date. ? c. 1790.) In “Illuminated Printing”; 3tV x 4 t % in - The aged Joseph stands beneath a tree (r.) preaching to a multitude of people,— mostly young men and women, some of whom listen to his words with bowed heads and earnest looks, while others seem afflicted with remorse or despair. The staff, which he holds in his left hand, is planted in the ground, and begins to shape itself into the twisted stump of a thorn. With his right hand he points to a place beyond the audience, where a row of vertical strokes, indistinctly drawn, may perhaps be held to indicate the first outlines of the church, which he is alleged to have built of twisted twigs. In the background is the sea, with a promontory (r.). A sunset sky. The subject is taken from the legend, in which Joseph of Arimathea 1 is related to have come to Britain and to have founded the first Christian church there, at Glastonbury, where his staff, planted in the ground, is said to have become a thorn flowering twice a year. An example of the print, done in colours, may be seen in a volume of Blake’s designs in the Print Room. 2 Joseph is there robed in white, and his listeners are brightly attired in various colours. Another example (also in colours) was shown at the Grolier Club exhibition of Blake’s works in 1905 (No. 40 in the Catalogue). The print resembles both in style and size the illustrations of “ Songs of Innocence and Experience,” and is probably of about the same date. 6 (ADVERTISEMENT OF MOORE & CO.’S MANUFACTORY AND WAREHOUSE, OF CARPETING AND HOSIERY, CHISWELL STREET, MOOR-FIELDS) Blake d. & sc. (? c. 1790). Line; io| x 9f in* The design forms a frame round the text of the advertisement, and has the following couplet engraved beneath it : — “ Haec tibi Londini tellus dat munera : victa est Pectine Britannico jam Babylonis acus. Vid Mart. Lib. 14. Ep. 150.” 1 Cp. No. 1, above. 2 The watermark of the paper in this volume has the date 1794. 5 6 r i i4f u’Jiat a ' /vnc morw/iy it ,/,t ^ , tfruiria/t.arc r?// eryoyjng etc/ttJcncc Puiltshui by *7T Jo/i/wan .S cpt-^if 1 no 1 Plate 4 l-RON'l ISIMKCK TO WOLLSTONKCR A MS “ORIGINAL STORIES. 1791. (7 i) 6 In the lower part of the design is depicted the interior of a mill with [a) Common Carpet Loom (/>) Persia and Turkey Carpet Loom (c) Stocking Frame (the names engraved below each) ; above the mill are two little boys, one of them rolling up a carpet, also a little girl spinning. At each side, there is a column wrapped round with a carpet; and above, the Royal Arms, with the crest and Prince of Wales’s feathers on either side ; sunlight and clouds, behind. The Print Room has an example of the Advertisement, printed on Whatman paper. 7 ORIGINAL STORIES FROM REAL LIFE; WITH CONVERSA- TIONS, CALCULATED TO REGULATE THE AFFECTIONS, AND FORM THE MIND TO TRUTH AND GOODNESS. BY MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT London: Printed for J. Johnson, No. 7 2, St Paul’s Church-Yard. 1791. (i2mo.) Contains six plates, all designed and engraved in line by Blake. The frontispiece only, of the first edition, is signed; in the second (1796) edition, all the plates but one (No. v.) are signed, as follows: — i. (Frontisp.) “Blake, inv. & sc.” ii. “Blake, inv. & sculp.” iii. “Blake, i. & s.” iv, “ Blake in. & sc.” vi. “ Blake inv. sc.” The plates exist in three normal states: one of these being prior to the first edition, the second and third appearing respectively in the first and second editions ; these states differ from one another in little more than the degree of finish. The accompanying illustration (PI. IV.) is taken from an example in the earliest state. i “Look what a fine morning it is — Insects, Birds, & Animals, are all enjoying existence.” (Frontispiece) Blake d. & sc. Published by J. Johnson, Sept r . 1st. 1791. 4^x2^ in. Mrs Mason and her two charges, Mary and Caroline, are leaving the door for their morning walk ; she walks between them with her hands held out on either side over their heads, while they look up in admiration at the beautiful morning. ii “ The Dog strove to attract his attention. — He said, Thou WILT NOT LEAVE ME ! ” P. 24 Published by J. Johnson, Sept r . i, 1791. \\ x 2§ in. Illustrates the tale of a distraught father, standing over the deathbed of 57 7 his two children in a prison cell, while his dog strives to attract his ii attention by licking his hand. iii “ Indeed we are very happy !— ” P. 74 Same imprint as No. ii. 4I x 2§ in. Mrs Mason and the two children sit ( 1 .) before a cottage fire listening to a sailor’s sad tale ; her eyes are downcast, and the two children bury their faces in her lap. The sailor, with two of his children nestling up to him, sits facing them (r.). iv “ Be calm, my child, remember that you must do all the good YOU CAN THE PRESENT DAY.” P. 94 Same imprint as No. ii. 4! x 24^ in. Mrs Mason and the two children walk under some trees in sight of a ruined house. Mary trembles at the story of its owner, and is gently reproved by Mrs Mason, who, with her right arm, clasps her to herself. v ‘‘Trying to trace the sound, I discovered a little hut, rudely BUILT.” P. I 14 Same imprint as No. ii. 4^ x 2^ in. Mrs Mason stands (r.) listening to the music of a Welsh harper who sits in his hut ( 1 .). There is a background of Gothic ruins, with mountains beyond. A starlit sky. vi “ Oeconomy & Self-denial are necessary, in every station, to enable us to be generous.” P. 173 Same imprint as No. ii. 4^ x in. Mrs Mason and the two children, holding her hand, follow a miserable woman into a low garret, and find there a man sitting bowed in despair over the cinders in the grate, with his two half-naked children crouching near him upon the ground. Gilchrist writes of this little series of prints as follows 1 : — “ In this year (1791) Johnson employed Blake to design and engrave six plates to a series of “ Tales for Children,” in the then prevailing Berquin school, by Johnson’s favourite and protegee, Mary Wollstonecraft. . . . The designs, naive and rude, can hardly be pronounced a successful competition with Stothard, though traces of a higher feeling are visible in the graceful female forms — benevolent heroine, or despairing, famish- ing peasant group. The artist evidently moves in constraint, and the accessories of these domestic scenes are as simply generalised as a child’s : result of an inobservant eye for such things. . . . More designs 1 Gilchrist’s “ Life” (ed. 1880), vol. i. pp. 89-91. 58 7 appear to have been made for the little work than were found available, vi and some of the best were among the rejected. It may interest the reader to have a sample of him in this comparatively humble department. Possessing most of the original drawings, we therefore give a print from one. 1 There is, however, a terrible extremity of voiceless despair in the upturned face of the principal figure which, perhaps, no hand but that of him who conceived it could accurately reproduce.” 8 FOR CHILDREN, THE GATES OF PARADISE Published by W. Blake, No. 13 Hercules Buildings, Lambeth and J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard. 1793. (c. s\ x a\ in*) Existing examples of this small picture-book fall into four groups, as follows : — 1 The original issue, addressed to and doubtlessly intended for children, containing frontispiece (see No. i. below), title (as above, see No. ii. below) and sixteen plates (numbered 1-16: see Nos. iv.-xix. below). The example in the Print Room belongs to this issue. The Beckford example of the same, sold at the Hamilton Palace sale, in 1882, has, according to Mr Sampson, 2 “ the engravings in their earliest state, before the date and imprint on title and publisher’s imprint on plates were added.” Mr W. A. White (of Brooklyn, U.S.A.) has an example of the ordinary published state, obtained by him from the Rowfant library and originally belonging to Frederick Tatham, in which the title “For the Sexes” and the two leaves of “The Keys” (see below) have been inserted from another copy. 2 In the second issue, the original title (No. ii. below) is suppressed and in that which takes its place (No. iii. below), the attention of grown men and women is invited to the designs, the meaning of which is made further accessible to them by the presentation of “The Keys of the Gates,” in two leaves of rhymed argument (see Nos. xx. and xxi. below), with numbers attached referring to the numbers of the plates. The “ Keys ” are generally set at the end of the book. The plates are reworked and carried to a higher degree of finish ; several of them are modified in detail : — e.g. the eyes of the figure in the design entitled “Fire” (see No. viii. below) are blinded, in accordance with the explanatory text ; and the legends beneath the designs are in 1 On p. 90. — A woman wringing her hands in grief, with two children clinging to her. 2 See his “ Blake’s Poetical Works,” 1905, p. 366. Mr B. B. Macgeorge is the present owner of the Beckford copy. 59 8 some cases amplified. A new leaf, with a design accompanying the lines “To the Accuser” (see No. xxii. below) is also added, following “ The Keys,” at the end of the book. This issue seems to have followed the first after a lapse of some ten or a dozen years. The matter of the Argument is much in the vein of the “ Milton ” and “ Jerusalem,” with which, also, its symbolism is in close correspondence. The plan of these latter books was conceived by Blake during his sojourn at Felpham (from 1800 to 1803) and the work of engraving them was begun in the year after his return to London (1804); the present reissue of “The Gates of Paradise” may probably, therefore, be assigned to about the same period. An example of this issue, cited by Mr Sampson, 1 was then (1905) in the possession of Mr John Linnell junior, who had it from his father, Blake’s friend and patron. 3 The third issue belongs again to some years later. The plates are further retouched and finished, — they are in fact brought into line with Blake’s latest manner of engraving. The text both of the Prologue (upon the title page) and of “The Keys” has undergone revision. An example in Mr White’s collection (from the library of Thomas Boddington, sold in November 1895) ^ as a watermark with the date 1825. 4 In the last issue, the plates, otherwise the same as in No. 3, are to some slight extent still further retouched. Mr White has an example in this state. The prints are all engraved in line. i What is Man ! (Frontispiece) Publish’d by W. Blake, 17 May 1793. 3 x 2 T 3 F in. The design consists of a sprig of oak with two leaves, with a caterpillar crawling upon the edge of one of them, and a chrysalis with the head of a sleeping infant lying in the hollow of the other. The lines: — “ The Suns Light when he unfolds it Depends on the Organ that beholds it.” are added in the second and subsequent issues, between the original title and imprint. 0793 ) ii For Children. The Gates of Paradise, 1793. (Title) Published by W. Blake, No. 13 Hercules Buildings, Lambeth, and J. johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard. Measurement of the plate, 2,4 x 1 1 in. 1 See his “ Blake’s Poetical Works,” 1905, p. 368. 60 Plate 5 PLATES I. 8. I, AND 16 FROM “THE GATES OF PARADISE," 1793 (8, iv, xi, xv and xix) 8 Below the word “Children” is the diminutive figure of an angel or ii faery. This title was suppressed in the second and subsequent issues in favour of that which follows. iii For the Sexes. The Gates of Paradise. (Title) 2f x 1 1 in. The title is decorated with diminutive angels or faeries ; two of them, above, bending over the sun. This title, as already stated, takes the place of the preceding one in the second and subsequent issues. It is inscribed with a kind of prologue, for the text of which (“Mutual Forgiveness. . . . Altars high?”) the reader may be referred to Mr Sampson’s edition of the poems, 1 where some parallel passages from Blake’s other writings will also be found in the notes. The Prologue appears in the third and fourth issues in a slightly different form. 2 iv I found him beneath a Tree. (Numbered “ i ”) Publish’d 1 7 May 1793, by W. Blake. 2^x 2^ in. A woman, under a weeping-willow, with a baby in her left arm, uproots a mandrake, in the form of a baby, by its hair. v Water. (Numbered “ 2 ”) Publish’d by W. Blake, 17 May 1793. 2Tix2| in. A naked man sits upon a rock beneath a leafless tree in a deluge of rain, and gazes despondently into the waters of the flood which arises around him. The words, “Thou Waterest him with Tears,” 3 are added below the print in the second and subsequent issues, where also the design itself will be found to be a good deal worked upon and to some extent modified, e.g. in the roots of the tree. vi Earth. (Numbered “ 3 ”) Publish’d by W. Blake, 17 May 1793. 2§x2i in. A naked man, with an agonised expression, struggles out of a cave, the rocky walls of which press close upon him on every side. The words, “He struggles into Life” are added below in the second and subsequent issues. 1 “Blake’s Poetical Works,” 190J, pp. 372-373. 2 See ibid. 3 Cp. Isaiah xvi. 9, “ I will water thee with my tears.” 6l 8 Air. (Numbered “4”) Publish’d 1 7 May 1793 by W. Blake, Lambeth. 2| X 2| in. A naked man sits upon clouds, with his hands folded over his forehead, deep in thought and gazing before him with a despairing look. A starry sky. The words, “ On Cloudy Doubts &r Reasoning Cares,” are added below in the second and subsequent issues, where, also, the design itself will be found to be a good deal worked upon and slightly modified. viii Fire. (Numbered “5”) Pub d . by W. Blake, 17 May 1793. 3 jx 2| in. A naked figure, resembling Blake’s Satan, armed with shield and spear, stands amid flames, gazing defiantly upwards. The words, “That end in endless Strife,” are added below in the second and subsequent issues, where, also, the design itself, besides being a good deal worked upon, will be found to have undergone some modification in detail : — e.g. the eyes of the figure, as has been already stated, are blinded and a scaly appearance is given to the lower part of the body as well as to a portion of the surrounding flames. ix At length for hatching ripe he breaks the shell. (Numbered “ 6 ”) Publish’d by W. Blake, 17 May 1793. 2 x if in. A winged infant is hatched from an egg. Background of clouds and sky. x Alas! (Numbered “ 7 ”) Publish’d, 17 May 1793, by W. Blake, Lambeth. 2|-x i| in. A boy, in a garden, chases a flying faery with his hat. Another faery, knocked down already, lies prone at his feet. The words: — “ What are these? . . . the Female Martyr, Is She also the Divine Image? ” are added below in the second and subsequent issues. xi My Son ! My Son ! (Numbered “ 8 ”) Publish’d by W. Blake, 17 May 1793, Lambeth. 32^ x 2^ in. An old man of gloomy aspect sits beneath a tree (r.). His head is propped upon his left arm ; and in his right hand he has a sword. In front of him 62 8 (1.) a naked youth, brimming over with life and joy, brandishes an arrow xi in his left hand, and turns an exultant glance upon the old man whose face is averted from him. There is a mountainous background. xii I want! I want! (Numbered “9”) Pub d . by W. Blake, 17 May 1793. 2 T 5 _x if. A youth attempts to scale a ladder whose top rests in the hollow of the crescent moon. A man and a woman stand, watching him, close by. It is a starry night. xiii Help! Help! (Numbered “ 10”) Publish’d by W. Blake, 17 May 1793. 2f x ii£ in. A man, drowning in a stormy sea, lifts up one of his arms out of the water and cries out for help. The sky is dark with clouds. xiv Aged Ignorance. (Numbered “ 1 1 ”) Publish’d 1 7 May 1793 by W. Blake, Lambeth. 2|x2-f in. A spectacled old man, with long white hair and beard, sits under a tree ( 1 .) and, with a pair of scissors, clips the wings of a young Love. The sun sinks (r.). xv Does thy God, O Priest, take such vengeance as this? (Numbered “12”) Publish’d 17 May 1793 by W. Blake, Lambeth. 2-^x2^ in. The subject of the design is Count Ugolino in the Tower of Famine. 1 Ugolino sits, naked, upon the ground at the back of the dungeon. His hair stands up, and there is a wild stare in his eyes. His two grand- sons are crouched by him and press close to him on either side. His two sons sit, in mute despair, propped against the bare walls (r. & 1 .) in front. The figures are a good deal worked upon, and a greater variety of light and shade is introduced into the background, in the second and subse- quent issues. Mrs Graham Smith has a varnished water-colour on panel of the same subject by Blake, — similar to the above in treatment, only with the addition of tw ? o sorrowing angels, with many-coloured wings, who hover above Ugolino’s head ; this design is probably the one alluded to in a letter to Linnell of 25 April 1827. 2 There is a pencil sketch of Ugolino in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a drawing in india ink is also known to the writer. 1 See Dante’s “ Inferno,” c. xxxiii. 2 See “ The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell, p. 225 : — “ ... As to Ugolino, etc., I never supposed that I should sell them. ...” 6 3 8 Fear & Hope are — Vision. (Numbered “ 13”) XVI Without imprint. 2-| x 2f- in. A young woman sits up upon a bed of sickness (1.). Her husband sits by her side in front, and her two children are on the other side of the bed. The eyes of all are turned to the apparition of an aged man who descends to the foot of the bed, pointing upwards with a finger of his left hand. The print will be found to be a good deal worked upon in the second and subsequent issues. A halo appears around the old man’s head, and his body is surrounded with supernatural light; the faces of the children, too, are touched up and rendered less summary in execution. xvii The Traveller hasteth in the Evening (Numbered “ 14”) Publish’d 17 May 1793 by W. Blake, Lambeth. 2iV x if in. A man, with a staff in his hand, walks hastily over a meadow at the edge of a forest. His form is lit up with the rays of the setting sun, and he casts a long shadow behind him. xviii Death’s Door. (Numbered “ 15”) Publish’d 17 May 1793 by W. Blake, Lambeth. 2 \ x if in. A bent old man, leaning on a crutch, enters the doorway of the tomb. His hair is blown forward, and he seems hurried thither by the storms of the world without. A similar design occurs on p. 1 2 of Blake’s “ America,” also in the lower part of PI. 1 1 of Blair’s “ Grave” (see No. 42, xi., below). xix 1 HAVE SAID TO THE WORM, ThOU ART MY MOTHER & MY SISTER. (Numbered “ 1 6 ”) Publish’d by W. Blake, 17 May 1793. 2f x 7f in. A woman, clad in white grave clothes and with a wand held upright in her right hand, sits in a tomb beneath the ground. A worm crawls about her feet. The heads of two buried bodies appear above the mould (r.). The roots of trees descend into the earth, behind. Mr Stopford Brooke has an early water-colour drawing by Blake of a figure closely resembling that of the woman here depicted. Her robe is there of a livid blue colour, and she has a green mantle passed over her head ; she sits, gazing to the front, upon a gravestone, against a dark bluish-grey background (? a night sky) ; the worm is absent. 64 8 xx,xxi xxii The Keys of the Gates Inscribed on two plates, measuring respectively 4^ x 2 tV in. & 4^ x in. The two leaves containing “ The Keys of the Gates,” as has been already stated, appear only in the second and subsequent issues of “The Gates of Paradise ” ; they are decorated here and there with diminutive faeries. For the text of “The Keys ” the reader may be referred to Mr Sampson’s edition of the “ Poems,” pp. 373-376, where the following misreading may be noted : — 1 . 1 3, for — “ Two Horrid Reasoning ” read — “ Two(-)Horn’d Reasoning.” To The Accuser who is The God of This World A single leaf, engraved on one side only, appended by way of Epilogue to the second and subsequent issues, containing a poem of the above title (for the text of which, see Mr Sampson’s edition of the “ Poems,” p. 377), illustrated with a small design. A long winding serpent divides the title from the poem. The subject of the design engraved beneath the poem is as follows : — Satan takes flight on vast, indented wings upon which the sun, moon and stars are depicted, from the naked, sleeping form of a weary traveller, who reposes upon the ground with his staff by his side; the sun rises behind mountains in the distance. “The Gates of Paradise” appears as the last item in the list of books and prints advertised for sale in Blake’s prospectus of 10 Oct. 1793 1 : — “No. 10. The Gates of Paradise, a small book of engravings. Price 3s.” The original pencil sketches for all the designs are to be found in the “Rossetti MS.” 2 Some idea of the average measurements of the little book may be had from those of two fine examples : — one formerly belonging to Mr John Linnell, junior, 3 measuring 6|x4§ in.; another, that from the Rowfant library mentioned above, measuring 5^ x 4 in. In Mr W. M. Rossetti’s list of Blake’s works included in Gilchrist’s “ Life ” is the following entry 4 : — “ For Children : The Gates of Hell,” with a note, “ A slight sketch so inscribed, forming a frontispiece. It is dark midnight, with a figure entering a door.” This design (which is uncoloured), may well be for the title-page of a similar little book of prints which it had been Blake’s intention to issue as a companion to the above. 1 See Gilchrists “Life” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. p. 286. 2 A facsimile page from the “ Rossetti MS.” given in Mr Sampson’s “Blake’s Poetical Works ” (1905), Plate II., shows the original sketch lor Plate 11. (No. xiv., above). 3 See Mr Sampson’s “ Blake’s Poetical Works ”( 1905), p. 368. 4 Ed. 1880, vol. ii. p. 269, No. 135. The drawing is now in Mr Graham Robertson’s collection. E 65 9 THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND ( ? *793) Among “the several Works now published and on Sale at Mr Blake’s, No. 13, Hercules Buildings, Lambeth,” advertised in the prospectus of 10th October 1793, 1 there occurs the following item: — “(No.) 9. The History of England, a small book of Engravings. Price 3s.” No example of this little book is at present known to exist. It is probably a similar volume to the “Gates of Paradise” (No. 8, above), which follows it in the prospectus, with the same description and price. It is suggested by Mr Sampson, 2 and it is likely to be the case, that “the rough draft of subjects for a history of England written on the outer page of Blake’s Manuscript- and Sketch-book supplies a clue to the contents of this missing work.” The entry, as given by Mr Sampson, 3 reads as follows: — “ 1. Giants ancient inhabitants of England. 2. The Landing of Brutus. 3. Corineus throws Gogmagog the Giant into the sea. 4. King Lear. 5. ( del ) The Ancient Britons according to Ctesar. The frontispiece {del). 6. The Druids. 7. The Landing of Julius Csesar. 8. Boadicea inspiring the Britons against the Romans. The Britons’ distress & depopulation. Women fleeing from War. Women in a Siege {these three unnumbered subjects are a marginal addition ). 9. Alfred in the countryman’s house. 10. Edwin and Morcar stirring up the Londoners to resist W. the Conq r . 11. W. the Con q . crown’d. 12. King John and Mag Charta. A Famine occasioned by the Popish interdict {a marginal addition). 13. Edward at Calais. 14. Edward the Black Prince brings his Captives to his father. 15. The Penance of Jane Shore. 17. The Reformation of H. VIII. 18. Ch. I. beheaded {subjects 17, 18 are a marginal addition , subsequently deleted). 19 (16, 17 del). The Plague. 20. (17, 18 del). The fire of London. 16 (18 del). The Cruelties used by Kings & Priests. 21. (19 del). A prospect of Liberty. 22. (20 del). A Cloud.” Drawings by Blake of the subjects numbered 2, 4, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 19 are known to the writer; it is impossible, however, to say whether any of them are connected with the picture-book in question. 10 THE ACCUSERS OF THEFT, ADULTERY, MURDER {a) Our End is Come Publish’d June 5, 1793 by W. Blake, Lambeth. Line; 7 tV x 3| in. 1 See Gilchrist’s “ Life” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. p 286. 2 See his “ Blake’s Poetical Works ” (1905), p. 367. 3 Ibid. pp. 367-378. 66 10 When the senses are shaken (i b ) And the soul is driven to madness. Page 56 (Same imprint.) (c) A Scene in the Last Judgment. Satans’ (j/V) holy Trinity. The Accuser, The Judge & The Executioner W. Blake inv. & sculp. (Imprint deleted). 7| X 3J£ in. Three ferocious male figures stand together, surrounded by flames, in front of an open doorway. The central figure, wearing a crown, has terrible glaring eyes and presses both his hands to his head ; the figure on the r. holds up a drawn sword : and that on the 1., clad in a shirt of scaly armour, carries a spear. There exist of this print (commonly known as “ The Three Accusers ”) three well-defined states or issues, lettered respectively as ( a ), ( b ) and (r) above. The quotation, with the reference “Page 56,” which is attached by way of title to the second state, is from the “ Prologue, intended for a Dramatic Piece of King Edward the Fourth,” occurring on p. 56 of Blake’s “ Poetical Sketches ” ( 1783). In the third issue, in addition to the new title (“Satans’ Holy Trinity, etc.”) below, the. words, “The Accusers of Theft, Adultery, Murder,” are added upon the background of the print, over the heads of the figures. Besides this, the engraved surface is a good deal reworked and in the process, slightly enlarged, and some trifling changes appear in the design, — e.g. a laurel wreath is placed upon the head of the figure to r. An impression of the first issue (printed in green) appears as the frontispiece of an early example of “ The Marriage of Heaven and Hell ” in the Bodleian Library. One of the second was shown at the 1891 exhibition of works by Blake at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (No. 1 1 1 in the catalogue, lent by Mr E. W. Hooper). A certain number of coloured impressions were issued by Blake, in his special process of “Illuminated Printing.” There is an example of this kind (somewhat crudely coloured) in the Print Room, on paper with the watermark 1794. The three figures stand out against a dark background, beneath a crimson and orange cloud. The central figure has yellow hair and beard, and wears black armour covered by a bright red cloak bordered with yellow. The figure on the r., also with yellow hair, wears a blue garment; the third has dark hair and beard, and wears a yellow garment. There is a grassy foreground. Another example in colours (numbered “ 3 ” in ink) was exhibited in 1905 at the Grolier Club, New York (No. 39 in the catalogue). The heads of the Three Accusers appear engraved as a tail-piece on p. 304 of Gilchrist’s “ Life,” vol. i. 67 11 EDWARD & ELENOR William Blake. Published 1 8th Au(gust, ? 1793, 1)3 Hercules Buildings, Lambeth. 1 Line; i2^ x i8| in. King Edward and Queen Eleanor sit together beneath a canopy in the centre of the design. Eleanor sucks the poison from the wound. An aged physician behind her holds up the arrow which has been extracted from it. On the r. is a group of the Queen’s attendants and on the 1 . a company of warriors, in front of whom stands the Black Prince (as a little boy). The print is among those announced by Blake in the prospectus issued from Hercules Buildings, 10th October 1793, where it is described as “A Historical Engraving, size 1 ft. 6 \ in. by 1 ft. price 10s. 6d.” Gilchrist rightly speaks of it as “a meritorious but heavy piece of business, in the old fashioned plodding style of line-engraving, wherein the hand monotonously hatched line after line, now struck off by machine.” A drawing of “Edward and Eleanor” (presumably for the engraving), assigned to c. 1779, is included in the list of Blake’s works at the end of the “Life ” (ed. 1880, vol. ii. p. 20 7, No. 2). 12 JOB. “WHAT IS MAN THAT THOU SHOULDEST TRY HIM EVERY MOMENT.” Job vii. c. 17 & 18 v. Painted and Engraved by William Blake. (1793). Line; 13I x 195 in. The patriarch Job, who is an ancient figure with wrinkled brow and long hoary hair and beard, clothed in a dark robe, is seated upon a mat of rushes upon the ground (r.). Tears fall from his eyes and the gesture of his hands betrays unspeakable grief. His wife sits in front of him in the middle of the composition, with her hands clasped before her knees and her hair streaming behind, gazing at him with a look of wild sorrow' in her face. The three friends are crouched together upon the ground to 1 . The massive, rugged trunks of some trees make a background to the scene. A zigzag flash of lightning furrows the dark sky in the midst. The print is among those announced in Blake’s prospectus of the 10th October 1793 (“Job, a Historical Engraving. Size 1 ft. 7! in. by 1 ft. 2 in. : price 1 2s. ” ). The companion print of “Ezekiel ” does not appear in the prospectus; it w r as issued on the 17th October of the same year 1 The only example of the print to which the author has had access is an imperfect one in the Linnell collection, which has been cut in two and forms two pages of the MS. of “ Vala ” ; the central portion of the print is missing, and the part of the imprint which is here given in brackets is conjecturally inserted. It may possibly belong to an earlier date. See pp. 25-26. 68 JOB. “WHAT IS MAN THAT THOU SHOUI.DEST TRY HIM EVERY MOMENT. <1 t nil 12 and must be slightly the later of the two in date. The highly finished sepia drawings from which the “ Job ” and “ Ezekiel ” were engraved are in Mr Graham Robertson’s possession and are reproduced in his reissue of the first edition of Gilchrist’s “Life.” A rough sketch for the “Job” (india ink, pen and wash, 1 2^x17! in.) is or was in Mr Woolner’s collection. 13 EZEKIEL. “I TAKE AWAY FROM THEE THE DESIRE OF THINE EYES.” Ezekiel xxiv. (16) Painted & Engraved by W. Blake. Publish’d, October 17, 1793, by W. Blake, No. 13, Hercules Buildings, Lambeth. Line; i3|x i8f in. Ezekiel’s dead wife, wrapped in white linen, is laid out upon a bed (r,). Her pallid face is encircled by a supernatural light. Two pairs of angels, designed upon an arch beyond, seem almost to hover over her head. Ezekiel himself, an ancient bearded figure, kneels to 1 . in front, facing the spectator; his arms are folded and his tearless face wears a look of sorrowful resignation. A woman, bowed in mourning, with her hair streaming to her feet, sits upon the ground before the bed. On the other side of the bed are two other bowed mourners, and there is a bowed figure behind Ezekiel to 1 . An india ink drawing of this subject was lent by Mr Henry Adams to the exhibition of Blake’s works held at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1891. (See also Gilchrist’s “Life,” ed. 1880, vol. ii., p. 255, No. 5 and p. 265, No. 98 ; Binyon’s List of Drawings by Blake, in the Print Room, No. 13; and the preceding No. of the present Catalogue.) 14 (A DREAM OF THIRALATHA) (Without title, signature or date. ? 1793.) In “ Illuminated Printing”; 4fx6ji in. A single leaf with an allegorical design engraved below the six following lines of verse : — “ As when a dream of Thiralatha flies the midnight hour : In vain the dreamer grasps the joyful images, they fly Seen in obscured traces in the Vale of Leutha, So The British Colonies beneath the woful Princes fade. And so the Princes fade from earth, scarce seen by souls of men, But tho’ obscur’d, this is the form of the Angelic land,” The subject of the design is derived from the text. A semi-nude woman, bowed with grief, with her face buried between her knees, sits upon the 6 9 14 ground (r.) beneath the overbending stump of a tree. A little beyond, to 1., a nude woman stands and reaches out her hands to grasp “the joyful image” of her dream, in the form of an infant who flies headlong into her arms and kisses her lips. The piece is evidently a cancel leaf from one of the Prophetical Books, probably the “ America,” with which at least the formation of the writing, as well as the character and subject-matter of the verse, most nearly correspond ; the design itself has also a certain similarity to that on p. 14 of the same work, and exactly corresponds with it in width. Two examples, only, of the print are known to the present writer. One of these occurs in a volume of Blake’s designs in the Print Room ; the second was sold by auction in Messrs Hodgson’s rooms, on 14th January 1904(101 No. 223, bought by Mr Quaritch for £42). Both of these examples are coloured : the latter, with great delicacy and beauty. In each case, the whole surface of the print, including the writing, is completely covered with opaque colour: so that the engraved outline of the design is lost and the text is rendered illegible. The writer was able, however, in the latter instance, where the type had been more deeply impressed into the paper, to decipher it, with the aid of a mirror, from behind. The lines were first printed from the writer’s transcript, in the catalogue of the sale in question, but are here published, he believes, for the first time. The Print Room example is printed on Whatman paper with the watermark 1794. 15 (THE ANCIENT OF DAYS STRIKING THE FIRST CIRCLE OF THE EARTH) (Without title, signature or date. 1794). Relief etching; 9|x6 T V in. The subject is taken from “Paradise Lost,” Bk. VII., 11. 225-231 1 : — “ He took the golden Compasses, prepar’d In God’s Eternal store, to circumscribe This Universe, and all created things: One foot he center’d, and the other turn’d Round through the vast profunditie obscure, And said, thus farr extend, thus farr thy bounds, This be thy just Circumference, O World.” The Almighty appears within a ball of fire (apparently intended for the sun), upon the rim of which he kneels; bending down, he reaches out his left hand, with a pair of shining compasses, into the darkness below, and there describes the world’s circumference. His whole being is visibly 1 Cp., also, Proverbs viii. 27: — “When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth.” 70 15 moved with creative passion. His white hair and beard stream to one side, as if driven by a mighty gale. Rays of light shoot out from behind the fiery disc, and volumes of thick smoke roll on every side around it. The print was originally designed by Blake for the frontispiece of his “Europe” (1794), but was often issued by him separately. It is usually to be found in a coloured state, either tinted with water-colour, or stamped with colour by Blake’s special process. 1 Upon one of them, it will be re- membered, he was at work upon his death-bed. 2 This actual impression, done for his friend Tatham, is now in the Whitworth Institute at Manchester. 3 The design is there printed in yellow and illuminated with great beauty by hand ; the colours are red, yellow and deep blue above, deep blue and black below ; some gold is also used, and the signature (“Blake inv.”) is written in golden letters. Blake himself, it is related by Tatham, con- sidered this example the best he had ever finished. 4 Coloured impressions will be found to differ very considerably from one another ; as, in addition to the variety of tints employed, the original design itself is often modified in detail ( e.g . in respect of the pattern of the figure, the forms of the clouds, etc., etc.), in the process of colouring. The Print Room has a water-colour drawing, 6 professing to be Blake’s original study for “The Ancient of Days”; it is, however, only a feeble copy done by some other hand, from a coloured example of the print. 16 (SUBJECT RESEMBLING THE ECSTASY OF ST MARY MAGDALENE) (Without title, signature or date. ? 1794.) Relief etching; 2|x 2^ in. A nude figure of a woman is lifted through the air by six infant angels. Her hands are folded and her face (seen in profile, turned towards r.) wears a rapt expression. A nimbus surrounds her head. The subject of this extremely rare print is hard to define. The composi- tion is that usually associated with representations of the “ Ecstasy of St Mary Magdalene,” and is probably derived from an old print or drawing. Except, however, for the general character of the group, Blake’s design has little or no resemblance to any of the better-known versions of the subject. He may well have been acquainted with Differ’ s beautiful wood- cut. He had, we know, a great love for Differ, and collected his prints and often went to them for inspiration. This is at least the most likely source of the subject. In any case, Blake borrowed little more than the 1 See p. 33. 2 See “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell (1906), pp. 34 & 35. 3 Presented by the late J. E. Taylor. 4 See p. 35 of “The Letters.” A reproduction of it faces p. 34 of the same volume. 6 Reproduced facing p. 38 of Dr Garnett’s “William Blake.” 71 16 motive of the saint in ecstasy being lifted by six angels through the air. The landscape setting of the woodcut, as well as the figure of the hermit who witnesses the miracle, are both absent from his design, and his treatment of the group above is quite different. It is perhaps doubtful whether Blake would have been aware of the actual nature of the legendary scene depicted. We may, at all events, be sure that he did no more than make use of it here by way of symbol or allegory to illustrate one of his own mystical principles. A similar group occurs in several of his designs for the 44 Last Judgment,” and in one of his letters, containing a full analysis of an elaborate water-colour drawing of this subject now at Petworth, it is explained as follows : — 44 Before the throne of Christ on the right hand, the just, in humiliation and exultation, rise through the air with their children and families. . . . Among them is a figure crowned with stars, and the moon beneath her feet, with six infants around her, she represents the Christian Church.” This interpretation is, however, scarcely applicable in the present instance. The design, as will be seen below, appears originally to have been intended to accompany the 44 Songs of Experience ” ; although the fact of its being found in a single one only of the exisiting copies of the 44 Songs ” is sufficient to show that it was almost at once rejected. The poem, entitled 44 To Tirzah,” which replaces it in every other known copy, may possibly give a clue to the meaning. Tirzah was in Blake’s mythology the representative of Natural Religion, a form of doctrine for which he had a peculiar aversion, and it is against such tenets that the song is directed. Its theme is the re- generation of the soul from its natural existence. “ Whate’er is Born of Mortal Birth Must be consumed with the Earth To rise from Generation free.” On the robe of one of the figures at the foot of the page upon which the Song is printed, is the inscription: — 44 It is Raised a Spiritual Body,” and it seems not unlikely that it is this resurrection of the spiritual body that is here indicated. A similar instance of a plate designed for but rejected from the “Songs of Experience” is that inscribed with the song entitled “A Divine Image,” which is included only in an example the “Songs” known to have been printed after Blake’s death. The plate is etched in relief in the manner of the Prophetical Books. It is roughly executed. Only a single example of the print was until lately forthcoming, — in the collection of the Rev. Stopford A. Brooke; the impression is in the reddish-brown tint often used by Blake for the Prophetical Books, and is on white paper (unwatermarked) measuring 6 r?r x 3t# in. Another has since turned up in a copy of 44 Songs of Innocence 72 16 and Experience” recently advertised in one of Mr Tregaskis’s catalogues (Caxton Head Catalogue. No. 669. April 26, 1909. Item No. 76); the following extract is taken from the catalogue : — “ Blake. Songs of Innocence and Experience. 1789 & 1794* ; all the 54 pages of text and illustrations engraved by Blake, printed in tint, and afterwards hand- coloured by him, contemporary binding of citron morocco. . . . The present is a fine copy of the genuine original issue, on Whatman paper without a date. Instead of the poem ‘To Tirzah’ on the last page of ‘Songs of Experience’ there is an engraving in colours representing a nude figure borne aloft by winged cherubs. This is a design of excep- tional beauty, typical of Blake’s best work, and apparently unknown in any other copy of this book. It was replaced by the spiritual poem mentioned above.” 17 THE COMPLAINT AND THE CONSOLATION; OR, NIGHT THOUGHTS, BY EDWARD YOUNG, LL.D, London: printed by R. Noble, for R. Edwards, No. 142, Bond-Street, MDCCXCVII. (Folio). Contains 43 marginal illustrations engraved in line by Blake from his own designs. The descriptions given below are taken from a leaf containing an “ Explanation of the Engravings,” appended to the volume. The passages of the poem to which the pictures refer are in most cases indicated by an asterisk placed against them in the text. The measurement of the plates is 16 x 12^ in., approximately. i Night the First, on Life, Death and Immortality. (Frontispiece) Pub d . June 27th 1796 by R. Edwards, N°. 142 New Bond Street. “Death, in the character of an old man, having swept away with one hand part of the family seen in this print, is presenting with the other their spirits to immortality.” ii Night the First. “Swift on his downy pinion. . . .” (P.) 1. (Same imprint as above.) “ Sleep forsaking the couch of care, sheds his influence, by the touch of his magic wand, on the shepherd’s flock.” iii “What, though my soul fantastick measures trod. . . .” (P.) 4 (Same imprint.) “ The imagery of dreaming variously delineated according to the poet’s description in the passage referred to by the 73 17 “Till at Death’s toll. . . (P.) 7 IV W.B. inv & sc. Pub d . June 27, 1796, by R. Edwards N°. 142 New Bond Street. “ Death, tolling a bell, summons a person from sleep to his kingdom the grave.” v “Death! great proprietor of all ! . . .” (P.) 8 W.B. inv & sc. Pub d . June 27. 1796, by R. Edwards, 142 New Bond Street. “The universal empire of Death characterised by his plucking the sun from his sphere.” vi “Disease invades the chastest temperance, . . .” (P.) 10 (Same imprint as i.) “An evil genius holding two phials, from one pours disease into the ear of a shepherd, and from the other scatters a blight among his flock; intimating that no condition is exempt from affliction.” vii “Its favours here are trials, . . .” (P.) 12 W. B. inv. (No imprint.) “The frailty of the blessings of this life demonstrated, by a representa- tion in which the happiness of a little family is suddenly destroyed by the accident of the husband’s death from the bite of a serpent.” viii “The present moment terminates our sight; . . .” (P.) 13 (Same imprint as i.) “ The insecurity of life exemplified by the figure of Death menacing with his dart, and doubtful which he shall strike ; the mother, or the infant at her breast.” ix “The longest night . . .” (P.) 15 W. B. inv. and sc. (Same imprint as iv.) “ The author encircled by thorns, emblematical of grief, lamenting the loss of his friend to the midnight hours.” x “Oft bursts my song beyond the bounds of life; . . .” (P.) 16 W. B. inv. & sc. London. Pub d . June 21, 1796, by R. Edwards, 142 New Bond Street. “ The struggling of the soul for immortality, is represented by a figure holding a lyre and springing into the air, but confined by a chain to the earth.” 74 Plate 8 “DEATH! GREAT PROPRIETOR OF ALL! Young’s “ Night Thoughts," 179/. (17 v) 17 Night the Second. On Time, Death and Friendship. (P.) 17 xi (Frontispiece.) (Same imprint as i.) “Time endeavouring to avert the arrow of Death from two friends.” xii Night the Second. (P.) 19. “(With clarion shrill,) Emblem of that which shall awake the dead, . . W. B. inv. & sc. (No imprint.) “ A skeleton discovering the first symptoms of re-animation on the sounding of the archangel’s trump.” A slightly modified version of the same design appears on the title-page of Blake’s edition of Blair’s “Grave” (No. 40, ii., below). xiii “We censure nature for a span too short; . . .” (P.) 23 W. B. inv. & sc. (Same imprint as i.) “A man measuring an infant with his span, in allusion to the shortness of life.” xiv “ Time, in advance, behind him hides his wings. . , .” (P.) 24 W. B. inv. (Same imprint as i.) “ Our inattention to the progress of Time illustrated by a figure of that god , (as he is called by the poet) creeping towards us with stealthy pace, and carefully concealing his wings from our view.” xv “Behold him, when past by ; . . .” (P.) 25 W. B. inv. & sc. (Same imprint as iv.) “Time having passed us, is seen displaying his ‘broad pinions,’ and treading nearly on the summit of the globe, eager ‘ to join anew Eternity his sire.’” xvi “ Measuring his motions by revolving spheres ; . . .” (P.) 26 W. B. inv. & sc. (No imprint.) “ The same power in his character of destroyer, mowing down indis- criminately the frail inhabitants of this world.” xvii “ O treacherous conscience ! . . . ” (P.) 27 W. B. inv. & sc. (Same imprint as iv.) “ Conscience represented as a recording angel ; who is veiled, and in the act of noting down the sin of intemperance in a bacchanalian.” See No. 42, below. 75 17 “’TlS GREATLY WISE TO TALK WITH OUR PAST HOURS; ...” (P.) 3 1 XVH1 W. B. inv. & sc. (No imprint.) “ A good man conversing with his past hours, and examining their report. The hours are drawn as aerial and shadowy beings, some of whom are bringing their scrolls to the inquirer, while others are carrying their records to heaven.” xix “Like that, the dial speaks; and points to thee; ...” (P.) 33 W. B. inv. & sc. (Same imprint as i.) “ Belshazzar terrified in the midst of his impious debauch by the hand- writing on the wall. The passage marked out by the asterisk, sufficiently explains the propriety with which the story is alluded to by the poet, and delineated by the artist.” xx “Teaching, we learn; ...” (P.) 35 W. B. inv. s. (Same imprint as i.) “ A parent communicating instruction to his family.” xxi “Love, and love only, ...” (P.) 37 W. B. inv. & sc. (No imprint.) “The story of the good Samaritan, introduced by the artist as an illustration of the poet’s sentiment, that love alone and kind offices can purchase love.” xxii “Angels should paint it, angels ever there; ...” (P.) 40 W. B. inv. & s. London. Pub d . Jan: 4, 1797, by R. Edwards, 142 New Bond Street. “ Angels attending the death-bed of the righteous, and administering consolation to his last moments.” xxiii (The just man’s spirit rising to heaven.) (P.) 41 W. B. inv. & sc. London: Pub. Mar. 22, 1797, by R. Edwards, 142 New Bond Street. “ Angels conveying the spirit of the good man to heaven.” Cp. the similar subject in Blake’s edition of Blair’s “Grave” (No. 40, below). 76 ;;; &•*£,*. SU fj.<» >. ip/, b R v* A'- 3<-»J J> ' Plate 9 “WHERE SENSE RUNS SAVAGE BROKE FROM REASON'S CHAIN . . Young’s “ Night Thoughts,’ 1797 • (17 xxv ) 17 Night the Third, Narcissa. (Frontispiece.) (P.) 43 XX * V W. B. inv. & s. (No imprint.) “ A female figure, who appears from the crescent beneath her feet to have surmounted the trials of this world, is admitted to an eternity of glory: eternity is represented by its usual emblem — a serpent with its extremities united.” xxv “ Where sense runs savage broke from reason’s chain, ...” (P.) 46 W. B. inv. & s. London, Pub d . Jan: 1, 179 7, by R. Edwards, 142 New Bond St 4 . “The folly and danger of pursuing the pleasures of sense as the chief objects of life illustrated by the figure of Death just ready to throw his pall over a young and wanton female.” xxvi “And bore her nearer to the sun; ...” (P.) 49 W. B. inv. & s. London, Pub d . June 27, 1796, by R. Edwards, 142 New Bond Strb “ The author supporting a female figure, and presenting her to the sun ; whose aid he seems to solicit, and whose chariot is seen above, surrounded and in some measure obscured by clouds. The artist refers to the circumstance alluded to in the poem, of the author’s having attended his step-daughter (Narcissa) who was languishing in a decline, to a more southern climate.” xxvii “ The vale of death ! . . . ” (P.) 54 W. B. inv. & s. (Same imprint as xxiii.) “The vale of death, where the Power of darkness broods over his victims, as they are borne down to the grave by the torrent of a sinful life.” xxviii “ Ungrateful, shall we grieve their hovering shades. . . . ”( P.) 55 W. B. inv. & s. (No imprint.) “ His guardian angel sent to reprove a mourner for his improper indulgence of sorrow on the tomb of his friend : with one hand the angel touches the object of his errand, and with the other points to those realms of light in which the deceased was at rest from his labours.” 77 17 “Trembling each gulp, lest death should snatch the bowl. ...” xxix (P.) 57 W. B. inv. & s. (No imprint.) “Death with his uplifted dart just disclosing himself to a party of bacchanals; one of whom still continues his intoxicating draught, while his comrades discover symptoms of extreme alarm on the unexpected intrusion of so unwelcome a guest.” xxx “This King of Terrors is the Prince of Peace. . . • ” & s . (Same imprint as xxxiii.) “ A personification of Thunder directing the adoration of the poet to the Almighty in heaven.” xxxvii “ His hand the good man fastens on the skies, . . (P.) 86 W. B. in. & s. (No imprint.) “The exalted views of a good man beyond the pleasures of life, allegorically described by a figure in the clouds, with one hand fixed in the sky, and with the other pointing to the earth beneath him.” xxxviii “ Is lost in love ! thou great Philanthropist !” (P.)87 W. B. in. & s. (No imprint.) “ Christ represented as the great philanthropist, receiving and instruct- ing all ages and sexes.” xxxix f< But for the blessing wrestle not with heaven ! ” (P.) 88 W. B. in. & s. (Same imprint as in xxxiii.) “ Earnest prayer and intercourse with Heaven compared to the wrestling of Jacob with the angel for a blessing.” xl “ That touch, with charm celestial heals the soul. . . (P.) 9° W. B. in. 8c s. (No imprint.) “ The Saviour healing Affliction by a touch with his hand.” xli “ When faith is virtue, reason makes it so. . . ” (P.) 92 W. B. in. & s. (No imprint.) “ The harmony between Faith and Reason, illustrated by Faith writing down the dictates of Reason.” xlii “ If angels tremble, ’tis at such a sight ; . . •” ( p ‘) 93 W. B. in & s. (Same imprint as xxxiii.) “ Angels retiring in grief and wonder from their charge of a determined infidel.” xliii “The goddess bursts in thunder and in flame; . . •” (P-) 95 W. B. inv. 8c s. (No imprint.) “ A personification of Truth, as she is represented by the Poet, bursting on the last moments of the sinner ‘ in thunder and in flame.’ ” 79 17 It was the publisher’s original intention to issue the whole poem of the xliii “ Night Thoughts,” consisting of nine “ Nights,” in parts, with Blake’s illustrations. With this end in view, he commissioned from the artist a complete set of drawings, which were executed in water-colours, to the number of five hundred and thirty-seven. The two volumes containing these original designs remained for many years in the possession of the publisher’s family, from which they passed, at some date between 1863 and 1880, into the hands of Mr Bain, the bookseller, of the Haymarket. 1 By him they were sold to an American bookseller, and they are now in the collection of Mr W. A. White of Brooklyn (U.S.A.). They were lent by Mr White to the exhibition of Blake’s works at the Grolier Club (New York), in 1905. 2 The recto of the frontispiece of the second volume is inscribed with the publisher’s autograph, “ Richard Edwards, High Elms.” The following account of the composition of the books was contributed by the late Mr Frederic Shields to the second edition of Gilchrist’s “ Life” 3 : — “ There was published in Parts or ‘Nights,’ between 1742-1745, a quarto edition of the ‘ Night Thoughts,’ and a copy of the letterpress, 9 inches high by 6| inches wide, is inlaid, somewhat out of the centre, within a sheet of drawing-paper, measuring 17 by I2f inches. This (it all bears the watermark ‘ J. Whatman, 1794’) is again itself inlaid in a stronger edging of paper, bearing on its inner margin a ruled and tinted framework, which bounds and encloses the designs ; the whole page thus elaborately constituted measuring 21 by 16 inches. The space left between the inlaid text and the outer margin of the drawing-paper is, as before indicated, unequally distributed, being broad at the base and one side, and narrow at the top and opposite side. Filling these spaces, and covering both sides of the sheet, the designs are drawn with a brush in Indian ink, and then coloured, sometimes in pale tints only, sometimes with full depth and richness. At the beginning of each volume there is a frontispiece entirely filled with design, unbroken by text; and each Night has, to its pages of Title and Preface, approximate and suggestive inventions, besides those which illustrate the text of the poem.” A further note by Mr Shields on the character of the inventions is to be found elsewhere in the “ Life,” 4 as follows ; — “ In some, every inch of the available margin is quick with multitudinous invention ; and in others the whole interest is gathered to the broadest spaces and the remainder left as great breadths of light or gloom. As might be expected in so vast a task, they are very unequal both in conception and design. In succession 1 See Gilchrist’s “Life” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. p. 289. 2 No. 87 in the Catalogue. 3 Vol. ii. pp. 289-290. 4 Ed. 1880, vol. i. p. 136. 80 17 they are solemn, tender or playful, broken by frequent bursts of Titanic xliii inspiration under which the pages tremble. Then follow others painfully grotesque, or feebly uninteresting, but these are comparatively few; and the inspection of these unique volumes (which ought to belong to the nation) cannot fail to impress on the mind of every lover of Blake a loftier estimate of his gigantic powers than was before entertained.” Mr Shield’s descriptive notes of the designs themselves will be found at the end of the second volume of the “ Life.” 1 It is stated by Gilchrist that it was in the year 1796 that Blake received from Edwards his order for the drawings. 2 They must, however, have been taken in hand at a somewhat earlier date than this, as a number of them had already been engraved by the middle of that year. The watermark of the paper upon which they are drawn (see above) gives the year 1794 as the earliest in which they can have been begun. The same year appears in the watermark of several of the proofs described below, and the fine copy of the book in its published state, kindly lent to the writer by Mr Robson, for the purpose of the reproductions here given, is printed on Whatman paper of this date. It seems, therefore, likely that the order for the paper to be used in the undertaking (following close upon the commission for the drawings), was given in either that year or the next. It will be seen above that the date of the engravings ranges from 2 1 st June 1796 to 1st June 1797. The existing volume, composed of ninety-five pages and extending to the end of the Fourth Night of the poem, is the first and only published part of the contemplated edition. After this, through want of adequate support from the public, the project had to be abandoned. The preface, dated 22nd December 1796, is said to have been written by Fuseli (who may also be the author of the “ Explanation of the Engravings ”) ; it concludes with the following reference to Blake’s designs : — “ Of the merit of Mr Blake in those designs which form not only the ornament of the page, but, in many instances, the illustration of the poem, the editor conceives it to be unnecessary to speak. To the eyes of the discerning it need not be pointed out ; and while a taste for the arts of the design shall continue to exist, the original conception, and the bold and masterly execution ol this artist cannot be unnoticed or unadmired.” A certain number of copies of the book have the designs tinted in water-colours by the artist. 3 One of these, done for his patron, Mr Butts, was sold at the Crewe sale, 30th March 1903, for ^170, and is now in 1 Pp. 290-307. 2 See the “Life” (ed. 1880), vol. i. p. 135. 3 Collectors are advised, however, to beware of purchasing copies of the “ Night Thoughts,” purporting to be coloured by Blake himself, which are not well authenticated ; as a certain number of those with original colouring were tinted by Mrs Blake ; and copies with modern tinting are, also, sometimes offered for sale. F 17 the collection of Mr White, the owner of the original drawings. A xliii collection of twenty-four early proofs of the engravings was sold in the Butts Sale at Sotheby’s, 24th June 1903 (Lot 22). They were purchased, for ^15, 1 os., by Mr Tregaskis. A number of them are in an unfinished state, and almost all are before all letters ; a few are touched with pencil or wash by Blake — e.g. one of three proofs of the frontispiece to the Second Night has an additional figure put in in pencil. Three of them have watermarked dates, 1794 (two) and 1795 (one). An India sketch of a Young Woman and two Children kneeling by a Grave, reproduced in Gilchrist’s “Life” (ed. 1880, vol. i., facing p. 234), under the title of “Young burying Narcissa,” is in reality unconnected with the Poem of the “Night Thoughts”; a design nearly similar to it is engraved in reverse in Blake’s “ Songs of Experience ” in illustration of “The Garden of Love.” 18 LITTLE TOM THE SAILOR W. Blake inv. & sc. Printed for & Sold by the Widow Spicer of Folkstone for the benefit of her orphans, October 5, 1800. Woodcut upon pewter. Four plates were used: one for each of the two pictorial designs (measuring — upper, 4§x6§ in.; lower, 4-§x6 T s e in.); one for the Ballad (8 |x4j in.) ; and one for the imprint (ifx4§ in.). The above is a broadside, with the text of Hayley’s Ballad of “ Little Tom the Sailor” inscribed between two illustrations both designed and engraved by Blake. In the design at the top, little Tom is shown holding on to the mast of the sinking ship in a stormy sea, with the flag still flying on high; over his head an angel appears, with outspread arms parting the clouds and quelling the lightning. In that at the bottom, the widowed mother comes out of her cottage, carrying a pitcher. A little boy, standing in the cottage door (1.), gazes after her, and inside a little girl watches over an infant in its cradle. There is a landscape background, with a winding road, trees, some buildings in the distance and on the horizon a hill, and with a sunset sky. The ballad was written by Hayley, 22nd September 1800, for the widowed mother of a Folkestone sailor lad, named Tom Spicer, who had been drowned at sea. The broadsheet is mentioned in a letter from Blake to Hayley, dated 26th November 1800. 1 Ballad and imprint are executed in the ordinary method of relief-etching employed by Blake in the engraved books. The pictorial designs are examples of what he called “wood-cutting on pewter” (see p. 32). Some examples of the 1 See “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell, 1906, p. 85, facing which Blake’s two designs are reproduced. LITTLE TOM THE SAILOR Lower portion, 1800. (18) 18 print were issued plain, and some were coloured by hand ; the former are generally preferable. The example in the Print Room is coloured. 19 DESIGNS TO A SERIES OF BALLADS, WRITTEN BY WILLIAM HAYLEY, ESQ. AND FOUNDED ON ANECDOTES RELATING TO ANIMALS, DRAWN, ENGRAVED, AND PUBLISHED, BY WILLIAM BLAKE. WITH THE BALLADS ANNEXED, BY THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION Chichester : Printed by J. Seagrave, and sold by him and P. Humphry ; and by R. H. Evans, Pall-Mall, London, for W. Blake, Felpham, 1802. (qto.) Issued in four parts, 1 in blue wrappers, with fourteen engravings (including head and tail-pieces) by Blake (with the exception of two tail-pieces from the antique) from his own designs. The first part bears the price 2s. 6d. upon the wrapper. Number 1. i. (“ Adam and the Animals.” Frontispiece) “ Their strength, or speed, or vigilance, were giv’n In aid of our defects. In some are found Such teachable and apprehensive parts, That man’s attainments in his own concerns Match’d with th’expertness of the brutes in theirs Are oft times vanquished and thrown far behind.” Cowper’s “Task,” Book VI. Blake d. & s. Publish’d June 1, 1802 by W. Blake, Felpham. Line; 6|X5| in. Adam sits beneath a tree, surrounded by the beasts. His right hand rests upon the mane of a lion, crouched at his side. The serpent eyes a pair of doves in front. A horse and a sheep are at his left hand, and an eagle is perched upon the tree above. A peacock, a bull, etc., are on his right. Mentioned by Hayley in a letter of 16th May 1802: — “He (Blake) is at this moment by my side, representing on copper an Adam of his own, surrounded by animals, — a frontispiece to the projected ballads.” ii (Tail-piece on p. iv.) W. B. d. & s. Publish’d June 1, 1802, by W. Blake, Felpham. Line; in. A landscape, with a view of Chichester Cathedral and the sea. 1 Complete sets of all the four parts together are somewhat rare; Number 4 (“The Dog”) is frequently absent. 83 19 (The Elephant. Frontispiece to Ballad the First. Facing, p. 1) iii Blake d. & s. Publish’d June i, 1802 by W. Blake, Felpham. Line; 5 l x 3 l in - The elephant lifts a native gardener high into the air with his trunk. The gardener’s shed is on the r., and there is a temple in the background. iv (The Elephant. Head-piece to the Ballad, p. 1) Blake d. & s. Publish’d June 1, 1802 by W. Blake, Felpham. Line; oval, 2-|x 4§ in. A tiger is about to spring at the gardener who escapes through a window high up on the r. v (The Elephant. Tail-piece to the Ballad, p. 9) Blake sc. Publish’d, June 1, 1802 by W. Blake, Felpham. Stipple. Oval, 2^x3! in. An elephant “ From an Antique Gem.” The “ Size of the Gem ” is indicated in an oval, on the 1., below. Number 2. vi (The Eagle. Frontispiece to Ballad the Second. Facing p 10) Blake d. & s. Published July 1, 1802 by W. Blake, Felpham. Line; 5t 9 6 x 3 1 in - A young woman kneels with outstretched arms upon a rock at the edge of an overhanging clift about to rescue her child from an eagle’s nest. A slight pencil study (6^ x 5 X 7 T in.), for the design exists in the Print Room (1867 — 10-12 . . . 190) vii (The Eagle. Head-piece to the Ballad, p. 11) Blake inv. Publish’d July 1, 1802 by W. Blake, Felpham. Line; 2 xl x 3i in - The eagle swoops down upon the child asleep outside its mother’s cottage. A mountainous background. Mr Sydney Morse has a slight pencil study of an alternative design, in which the mother is represented as throwing herself upon the eagle as it carries off her child. viii (The Eagle. Tail-piece to the Ballad, p. 26) Blake in. Publish’d July 1, 1802 by W. Blake, Felpham. Line; 2 Jix 4 in. The child stands triumphantly over the body of the eagle. Number 3. ix (The Lion. Frontispiece to Ballad the Third. Facing p. 27) Blake in. & s. Publish’d Aug 9t 5, 1802 by W. Blake, Felpham. Line; 6| x 5 in. 84 19 A young African woman, with a bow, transfixes a lion beneath a palm ix tree, whither her husband has escaped from the animal’s jaws. Her little boy looks on at her side. x (The Lion. Head-piece to the Ballad, p. 27) Blake inv. & sc. Publish’d Aug st c , 1802 by W. Blake, Felpham. Line; oval, 213x311- in. The child leads his mother to the place of his father’s danger; they carry a bow and arrows with them. xi (The Lion. Tail-piece to the Ballad, p. 39) T. H. 1 del. Blake sc. Publish’d Aug st 5, 1802 by W Blake, Felpham. Stipple; oval, 2^x3^ in. A Lion, “ From an Antique.” Number 4. 2 xii (The Dog. Frontispiece to Ballad the Fourth: Facing p. 40) Blake inv. & sc. Publish’d Septr. 9, 1802 by W. Blake, Felpham Line; (plate measurement), 6^x5^ in. The faithful dog, Fido, jumps from the edge of a rock into the open jaws of a crocodile in the river below, in order to save from a like fate his master, who is bathing and is himself about to plunge into the water. The subject is contained within an ornamental border. xiii (The Dog. Head-piece to the Ballad, p. 41) Blake inv. s. (Same imprint as the preceding No.) Line ; (plate measurement), 3^X4§ in. Edward and Lucy, with Fido. xiv (Plate facing p. 51) Blake in. s. (Same imprint.) Line; (plate measurement), 6x4^ in. Lucy, beside the marble statue of Fido. The above four numbers 3 of the Ballads were all that were issued, out of a projected fifteen. The following account of the origin and scope of the undertaking is given by Hayley in the preface : — “ Having been, for some time engaged in a Work that required much sedentary and serious attention, I wished to indulge occasionally in such literary 1 Thomas Hayley, the son of Blake’s patron. 2 The particulars of the Fourth Number were kindly supplied to the writer by Mr B. B. Macgeorge, who possesses a complete set of the four parts of the “ Ballads ” in their original wrappers. 3 Gilchrist states (“ Life” ed. 1880, vol. i. p. 178) that three parts only were issued. 85 19 relaxation, as might relieve my own mind, and still more amuse a xiv friendly fellow labourer^ whose assiduous occupation gives him a better claim to such indulgence : — 1 mean my friend, Mr Blake, the Artist, who has devoted himself, with indefatigable spirit, to engrave the plates intended to decorate the volumes, in which 1 hope to render affectionate justice to the memory of Cowper. — ’There is hardly any kind of ingenious employment in which the mind requires more to be cheared and diverted, than the slow, and sometimes very irksome, progress of engraving; especially when that art is exercised by a person of varied talents, and of a creative imagination. — To amuse the Artist in his patient labour, and to furnish his fancy with a few slight subjects for an inventive pencil, that might afford some variety to his incessant application, without too far interrupting his more serious business, I chanced to compose, in hours of exercise and leisure, a few Ballads, upon anecdotes relating to animals, that happened to interest my fancy. They succeeded perfectly as an amusement to my Friend; and led him to execute a few rapid sketches, that several judges of his talent are desirous of converting to his honour and emolument. The favour that two or three Ballads obtained, in a private circle, induced us to enlarge the number; and to try their success in the world as a periodical publication. — It is proposed to publish every month, a Number, containing three Engravings, with one Ballad, at the price of Half-a-crown ; and to complete the whole series in fifteen Numbers, so that the purchaser will ultimately obtain a quarto Volume, containing forty-five Engravings, not to mention the Ballads, which indeed I wish to be considered as vehicles contrived to exhibit the diversified talents of my Friend for original design, and delicate engraving.- — -Since friendship induced this meritorious Artist to leave London (the great lucrative theatre of talents!) for the sake of settling near me, it seems to be a duty incumbent on me to use every liberal method, in my power, to obtain for his industrious ingenuity, the notice and favour of my Countrymen.” On the 25th April 1 803 Blake wrote to Butts 1 that “ the Ballads had been suspended ” owing to “ the pressure of other business,” and on the 26th October following he wrote to Hayley from London 2 : — “I called on Mr Evans (the bookseller — see the title-page), who gives small hopes of our Ballads ; he says he has sold but fifteen numbers at the most, and that going on would be a certain loss of almost all the expenses.” The project was, accordingly, abandoned, after the issue of the four parts. It was later resumed, with the publication of the i2mo edition in 1805. (See No. 20.) 1 See “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell (1906), p. 113. 2 See ibid. p. 132. 86 or/ P / J/ipy ttf&uy. Pub ‘{Ju ne id / 80 S by P F/uIbfis Nff B ridge Street BUuk Frecrs. From Hayley's “ Mallads," 1805 (-20 ii) 20 BALLADS, BY WILLIAM HAYLEY ESQ., FOUNDED ON ANECDOTES RELATING TO ANIMALS, WITH PRINTS DESIGNED AND ENGRAVED BY WILLIAM BLAKE Chichester: printed by J. Seagrave; for Richard Phillips, Bridge-Street, Blackfriars, London. 1805. (nmo.) Contains five plates, all designed and engraved in line by Blake. Nos. i., ii. and iii. are signed, “Blake inv. & s.” ; nos. iv. and v., “ Blake inv. & sc.” The frontispiece is imprinted, “Pubd. June 18, 1805, by R. Phillips, N. 6, Bridge Street, Black-Friers”; the remainder of the plates bear the same imprint, with “ No. 6 ” substituted for “ N. 6.” i The Dog. (Frontispiece) 4 t V x in - A naked youth, about to spring from a rock into a river, is stayed on the brink by the sight of his faithful dog leaping into the wide open jaws ot a crocodile below. ii The Eagle. (To Ballad the Third) 4iX2f in. A young woman kneels with outstretched arms upon a rock at the edge of an overhanging cliff, about to rescue her child from an eagle’s nest. Mr W. Graham Robertson has the original sketch, in india ink, for this design • it is probably the one sold at Sotheby’s, 29th April 1862 (lot 180, with another, £1, Palser). iii The Lion. (To Ballad the Ninth) 4 AX2| in. A young African woman, with a bow, transfixes a lion beneath a palm tree, whither her husband has escaped from the animal’s jaws. Her little boy looks on at her side. A sketch for this design was sold at Sotheby’s, 29th April 1862 (lot 1 8 1, with four others, 9s. M. Milnes, i.e. the late Lord Houghton). iv The Hermit’s Dog. (To Ballad the Eleventh) 4|X2J| in. A black dog scares the vultures from his master’s dead body ; one of them it has killed, while another swoops down between dark pine stems. The fallen master has a sword by his side and a Maltese cross upon his cloak. A hermit comes upon the scene to 1 . 87 20 The Horse. (To Ballad the Seventh) v , 7 . 4tx 2§ m. A mother, leading her child through a wood, is confronted by a fiery white horse, which her calm demeanour succeeds in taming. In front, is a pool, with arching pine stems beyond. Mr W. M. Rossetti mentions 1 “an oil-picture (?) on copper” of this subject:— “A fine miniature-like painting of the admirable engraved subject, some four inches or less in height. Coloured in yellowish-grey half-tints.” It belongs, he states elsewhere, to a Roman Catholic seminary in the environs of Wigan. The designs for this little volume are several times alluded to in Blake’s letters. 2 In a letter to Hayley of 22nd January 1805 he speaks of the publisher’s proposal to reissue the “Ballads” “ all together in a volume the size of the small edition of the “Triumphs of Temper,” with six or seven plates,” in a first edition of a thousand copies. On the 25th April following, he writes to say that the matter is settled : — “ The prints, five in number, I have engaged to finish by 28 th May. They are to be as highly finished as I can do them, the size the same as the seven plates, the price twenty guineas each, half to be prepaid by P(hillips). The subjects I cannot do better than those already chosen, as they are the most eminent among animals, viz. : the Lion, the Eagle, the Horse, the Dog. Of the dog species, the two ballads are so pre-eminent, and my designs for them please me so well, that I have chosen that design in our last number, of the dog and crocodile, and that of the dog defending his dead master from the vultures. Of these five I am making little high finished pictures, 3 the size the engravings are to be, and I am hard at it to accomplish in time what I intend.” At the end of the same letter is the draught of an advertisement of the “Ballads,” which however was not used for the purpose intended. On the 4th June in the same year, he expresses a fear that the print of “ The Horse ” is after all to be omitted, and entreats that it may not be so, as “ I consider (it) as one of my best ; I know it has cost me immense labour.” 21 (DEATH’S DOOR) (c. 1805.) It is stated by Gilchrist 4 that “one or two” of the plates for Blair’s 1 In Gilchrist’s “Life”(ed. 1880) vol. ii. p. 216, No. 74. 2 See “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell, 1906, pp. 179-181 183-185, 198; “The Horse” is there reproduced, to face p. 184. 3 Mr Graham Robertson’s sketch for “The Eagle,” mentioned above, is one of these. 4 In the “ Life” (ed. 1880), vol. i. p. 248. 21 “ Grave ” were already engraved by Blake himself, prior to the repudia- tion of Cromek of his bargain with the artist that he should be the engraver of his own designs ; “ a print of ‘Death’s Door,’ he adds, “ I have seen.” No example of any of the series engraved by Blake’s hand is known to the present writer. It seems to him at least possible that Gilchrist was mistaken. A small print entitled “ Death’s Door,” closely corresponding in design with the lower portion of the same subject in the “Grave,” 1 is to be found in “The Gates of Paradise” (see No. 8, xviii., above). 2 There, in any case, lies a likely source of confusion. The writer has had some correspondence on this subject with Mr Herbert Palmer (son of Samuel Palmer, the artist), who claimed to possess an example of the “ Death’s Door ” in Blair’s “ Grave,” engraved by Blake. The print in question was sent by its owner to Messrs Sotheby’s (whether for sale or not the writer is unaware), where permission to examine it was given by him to the writer. As, however, the permission was no sooner given than it was withdrawn, the writer was unable to verify the owner’s assertion. 22 (“LET HIM LOOK UP INTO THE HEAVENS & LAUGH IN THE BRIGHT AIR.” “ America,” p. 6, 1 . 7) (Without title, signature or date. ?c. 1805-10.) Relief etching ; 6fVx 3U in. This obscure design is divided horizontally into two compartments by a space decorated with various symbolic figures including a triangle, a circle and a square. The subject of the print, which is repeated with some modifications in each of the two sections, is a naked youth, visible only from a little below the shoulders downwards, who appears to be arising from the earth ; his posture closely resembles that of the risen body sitting upon the tomb in “Death’s Door” from Blair’s “Grave,” 3 only the position of the legs is reversed. In the lower section, the youth’s left hand rests upon a rock which projects from the ground just above two human heads, one of an old woman with a face much furrowed with deep lines and with her lips parted, the other a child’s; the bodies belonging to them seem to be planted in the earth. The place of these two heads is taken, in the upper portion, by the head and shoulders of a woman with an agonised expression and her lips wide apart as if in the act of wailing, together with the head of a cat, the bodies of both being 1 See No. 40, xi, below. 2 A somewhat similar design is, also, to be seen on p. 12 of Blake’s “ America.” 3 See No. 40, xi, below. 22 similarly imbedded. The youthful form has here risen a little higher, so that slightly less of it comes within the margin of the print, and an ascending lark appears on his right hand. The only known example of this print is bound up in a volume of miscellaneous Blake items in the possession of Mr B. B. Macgeorge of Glasgow. It is executed in the manner of relief etching employed by Blake in the Prophetical Books, and in style and character it most nearly resembles the illustrations of the “ Jerusalem.” On this account and in view of the connection with the design in Blair’s “Grave,” it may be conjecturally assigned in date to the end of the first decade of the nineteenth century. A solution of its enigmatic subject is not easy to find. If the attempt to explain it appear too fanciful, it is not more so than the design itself, and the suggestions made are at least consistent with the spirit of Blake’s mystical writings. The idea which seems to be pre- sented is the release of man from the tyranny of material existence and his regeneration into the Spirit. He arises, through Imagination, from his prison of clay, and his head, the symbol of his intellectual part, passes out of the design into the infinite and immaterial. The lark is Blake’s type of ecstatic joy. The heads with their bodies buried may be held to be those who, by the aid of the imaginative man, with difficulty struggle into the Light — the cat perhaps standing for the enslaved portion of the animal kingdom, escaping to its natural freedom. By the reduplication of the design, it is not impossible that the gradual process of redemption is intended. The presence of the cat and of the engraved symbols seem to suggest an Egyptian inspiration, and may perhaps have a magical signi- ficance. The figure of a nude man sitting, with a skull at his side, upon a rock and gazing into heaven (forming the head-piece to p. 6 of the “America”) has some analogies with the present design; and the following lines (one of which has been given by way of title above) from its accompanying text may be quoted here as throwing some light upon the spirit of this strange invention : — “ The morning comes. . . . The grave is burst. . . . The bones of death, cov’ring clay, the sinews shrunk & dry’d Reviving shake, inspiring move, breathing! awakening! Spring like redeemed captives when their bonds & bars are burst ; Let the slave grinding at the milk run out into the field ; Let him look up into the heavens & laugh into the bright air ; Let the enchained soul shut up in darkness and in sighing Rise and look out, his chains are loose, his dungeon doors are open, Let his wife and children return from the oppressor’s scourge.” 90 JOB IN PROSPERITY From a lithograph, c. 1807. (23) 23 (JOB IN PROSPERITY) Without title. W. Blake inv. (c. 1807.) Lithograph; 8^x 12^ in. Job, an ancient patriarchal figure with a long beard, sits in the midst upon a stone seat; his eyes are upturned and his outstretched arms rest upon God’s word, which lies open upon his knees. Three of his children, upon some steps below him, are engaged in the arts of painting, poetry and music — “ the three powers in man of conversing with Paradise which the Flood did not sweep away.” The face of the steps is decorated with Gothic ornament— Blake’s symbol of true art. Guardian angels hover on either side. A fruitful vine stem climbs up each side of the picture. Above, between parting clouds, a flood of light descends from heaven. This is a specimen of poly autography, as lithography was called in its early days. The design was drawn with a pen upon the stone by Blake himself and printed, in all probability, by G. T. Vollweiler. There is an example, printed on cream-coloured paper, in the polyautographic collection 1 in the Print Room. Another I have seen is printed on brown paper. The date of this lithograph is about 1 807. It is the only one designed by Blake. 24 CHAUCER’S CANTERBURY PILGRIMS Painted in Fresco by William Blake & by him Engraved & Published October 8, 1810, at N°. 28, Corner of Broad Street, Golden Square. Line ; 1 i|x 37I in. The names of the characters represented in the print are inscribed beneath it, as follows : — Reeve. Chaucer. Clerk of Oxenford. Cook. Miller. Wife of Bath. Merchant. Parson. Man of Law. Plowman. Physician. Franklin. 2 Citizens. Shipman. The Host. Sompnour. Manciple. Pardoner. Monk. Friar, a Citizen. Lady Abbess. Nun. 3 Priests. Squire’s Yeoman. Knight. Squire. For an account of the print, in Blake’s own words, see his two Pro- spectuses, printed in the Appendix (Nos. 4 and 5) ; cp. also the Preface to the illustrated Pamphlet, described in the following number, also printed in the Appendix (No. 6). The original painting is fully described by Blake in his “Descriptive Catalogue” ( 1 809), Number III ; 2 it is uow in the possession of Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Bart., M.P. The print^ according to Gilchrist, 3 was begun by Blake “in September or October 1809.” Early impressions of the print are the best, as the plate was later reworked 1 Vol. i. f. 93. 2 See Gilchrist’s “ Life ” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. pp. 14.2-152. 3 Ibid. vol. i. p. 279. 9 T 24 and rendered, as Gilchrist points out , C( rather black and heavy in effect ” ; 1 these later impressions lack the address, which follows the date in the imprint of the original issue, and have the line, “We gon to Canterbury God wote you spede,” added below. Blake’s original engraved copper- plate is still in existence, and modern impressions from it are of not infrequent occurrence. Examples tinted by Blake in water-colours are to be met with occasionally. Mr Robson (bookseller, of 23 Coventry Street), has one so tinted, which is said to have been presented by Mrs Blake to Tatham. 25 THE PROLOGUE AND CHARACTERS OF CHAUCER’S PILGRIMS, SELECTED FROM HIS CANTERBURY TALES: INTENDED TO ILLUSTRATE A PARTICULAR DESIGN OF MR WILLIAM BLAKE, WHICH IS ENGRAVED BY HIMSELF: and may be seen at Mr Colnaghi’s, Cockspur Street ; at Mr Blake’s, No. 28, Broad Street, Golden Square; and at the Publisher’s Mr Harris, Bookseller, St Paul’s Church Yard. Price two shillings and sixpence. M.DCCC.XII. The above pamphlet is an advertisement of Blake’s large plate of the Canterbury Pilgrims, 2 of which a section, on a reduced scale, appears as the frontispiece. In this section, the gate of the Tabard Inn is shown, with the tail end of the procession leaving it. The names of the characters represented are lettered, as follows, below: — i Reeve. Chattcer. Oxford scholar. Cook. Miller. Wife of Bath. Mer- chant. W. Blake inv. & sc. Publish’d Deer. 26, 18 1 1 , by Newberry, St Paul’s Ch : Yard. Line ; qfV X 2§ in. The variations from the corresponding portion of the large plate are trifling. The architecture of the gateway is changed in some details, and the inscription upon it here reads : — THE TABARDE INNE The Lodgynge Henry House for Bailly Canterbury Pilgrims ” Blake’s original drawing for the plate was sold at Sotheby’s 29th April, 1862 (Lot, 1 6 1 , £ 1 , 2s. Toovey). 1 See Gilchrist’s “ Life” (ed. 1880), vol. i. p. 280. 2 No. 24, above. 92 Plate 13 FRONTISPIECE TO “THE PROLOGUE AND CHARACTERS OF CHAUCER S PILGRIMS." 1812. (25 i) 25 (Vignette of a Gothic cathedral, surrounded by trees. ii At the foot of p. 58) The accompanying text consists of a preface (see No. 6 in the Appendix), followed by a series of extracts from Chaucer’s poem, in illustration of Blake’s design. 26 (THE CHAINING OF ORC) (Without title.) Type by W. Blake, 1813. Relief-etching; 41V X3I in. The youthful Ore, son of Los and Enitharmon, lies, with his wrists and ankles riveted to a rock, upon a couch of fire at the summit of Mount Atlas. His parents, with their respective emblems, the sun and the moon, as nimbuses about their heads, have chained him “with chains of jealousy ” and now, unable to release him, bend over him, howling in terror and despair. The dome of Golgonooza, surmounted by a cross, appears in the distance to the left. The same subject is similarly treated on p. 1. of Blake’s “ America.” For the myth, see “The Song of Los,” p. 1, 1 . 21 ; “ 1 Urizen,” ch. vii. 4; “ Vala,” v. 11 . 150-161. Mr W. M. Rossetti, in his list of Blake’s engravings, 1 erroneously gives the subject as “Adam and Eve” and the date 1817. The British Museum has Blake’s original pencil sketch for the engraving, with the composition reversed (measuring 4 |x2tI in.). It is lettered by Blake, in pencil, “Chaining of Ore.” (See Laurence Binyon’s “Catalogue of Drawings by British Artists ” (1898 vol. 1. pp. 129-130. 43. 15c.). 27 (MIRTH AND HER COMPANIONS.) (Without title, signature or date, c. 1815-1820.) Line (and stipple); 2 6 |x4tI in. The subject is taken from Milton’s “ L’ Allegro.” Mirth, in the form of a bright and comely girl, trips gaily forward, in the midst of her companions, over a grassy plain. She is clad diaphanously with a clinging robe. Her hair, bound with a fillet about her head, falls in long spiral tresses to her ankles. A ring of faeries encircles 1 See Gilchrist’s “Life” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. p. 280. 2 The plate exists in two states : — one, pure line, as that from which the reproduction is taken ; the other, worked up as a stipple engraving. The Linnell collection contains an example of the second state, in which the lettering below is deleted. 93 27 her head, which is also surrounded by a radiant glory. Her face is lit with smiles. At each side of her, a pair of her companions follows her, with dancing steps. One of them ( 1 .), “ the Mountain Nymph, sweet Liberty,” she leads by the hand. A troop of mirthful spirits, among whom are to be seen “ Sport that wrinkled Care derides ” and “ Laughter holding both his sides,” 1 fills the air around her. Beyond, the dawn bursts with an explosion of light into the heaven. Underneath the print is a faint inscription (the last part illegible), as follows : — “ Solomon says, Vanity of Vanities, all is Vanity & What can be ( ? Foolisher) than ( ? this) ?” Blake’s original drawing of the “Mirth and her Companions” is the first of a very beautiful series of twelve small designs in water-colour made by him for “L’Allegro” and “II Penseroso.” This set of drawings appeared in the Crewe sale and is now the property of Mr Alfred White. Each of them is accompanied by a slip of Blake’s handwriting, giving the extract from the poem and an explanatory note on the design. That attached to the present subject reads as follows: — “ i . Mirth. Allegro. “ ‘ Heart-easing Mirth. Haste thee, Nymph and bring with thee The mountain Nymph Sweet Liberty.’ “ ‘ These personifications are all brought together in the First Design, surrounding the Principal Figure which is Mirth herself.’ ” Mr Graham Robertson has a pencil sketch of a female figure floating among clouds, inscribed “ Mirth ” in Blake’s writing. 28 LAOCOON Drawn & Engraved by William Blake. 2 (? c. 1816-1817.) Line; i°ix 8|. The print is from a cast of the famous antique group. The drawing done by Blake at the Academy, for the print of Rees’s “Encyclopedia” (1815-1816) (see 105, vi, below), doubtless also served him on the present occasion. The subject acquires with Blake a mystical significance, and is character- istically inscribed (below) : — “ Jehovah 3 & his two Sons, Satan & Adam, 4 1 They are so lettered upon the print. 2 Signed upon the base of the statue. 3 The Hebrew symbol is here used. Blake’s view of Jehovah is tinged with Gnostic ideas. 4 Satan is here typical of Abstract Morality ; Adam is the Natural Man. 9+ Pi, ATE 14 MIRTH AND HER COMPANIONS c. 1815-1820. (27) 28 as they were copied from the Cherubim 1 of Solomon’s Temple by three Rhodians Sc applied to Natural Fact or History of Ilium.” The symbolical purpose of the design is further indicated in the title “The Angel of the Divine Presence ” written (with the Hebrew characters beneath it) above Laocoon’s head, and in the attributes “ Good ” and “ Evil ” attached respectively to the two serpents on either side. To the left of Laocoon’s head, tc Ophiouchos ” 2 is written, in Greek letters, and there are some Hebrew characters in the space above his left hand. The following sentences are engraved around the print 3 : — He repented that he had made Adam (of the lemale, the Adamah) 8c it grieved him at his heart. What can be Created Can be destroyed. Adam is only The Natural Man & and not the Soul or Imagination. All that we See is Vision from Generated Organs gone as soon as come. Permanent in The Imagination ; Considered as Nothing by the Natural Man. Divine Union Deriding and Denying Immediate Communion with God, The Spoilers say, Where are his Works That he did in the Wilderness? Lo ! What are these ? Whence came they ? These are not the Works of Egypt nor Babylon, Whose Gods are the Powers of this World, Goddess, Nature ; who first spoil 8c then destroy Imaginative Art. For their Glory is War and Dominion. Empire against Art. See Virgil’s Eneid, Lib. vi, v. 348 . There are States in which all Visionary Men are accounted Mad Men, such are Greece Sc Rome. Such is Empire or Tax. See Luke ch. 2 , v. i. The Gods of Greece Sc Egypt were Mathematical diagrams. See Plato’s Works. Art Degraded, Imagination Denied, War Governed the Nations. Satan’s Wife, The Goddess Nature, is War Sc Misery, Sc Heroism a Miser. Spiritual War. Israel deliver’d from Egypt is Art deliver’d from Nature Sc Imitation. The Gods of Priam are the Cherubim of Moses Sc Solomon, The Hosts of Heaven. What we call Antique Gems are the Gems of Aaron’s Breast Plate. Hebrew Art is called Sin by the Deist Science. The Old Sc New Testaments are the Great Code of Art. The Eternal Body of Man is The Imagination, that is God himself, The 1 I.e. the two Cherubim of carved and gilded olive wood, that stood on either side the Ark within the Oracle of Solomon’s temple. 2 =“ Holding a serpent,” the name of a constellation ; it occurs again in Blake’s “ Milton,” 37, 51, 3 The sentences are inscribed, with little regard to sequence, here and there over the whole ground, of the print. No attempt, therefore, has been made, in transcribing them, to preserve the actual order in which they stand ; and they are here arranged, as far as may be, in consecutive form. 95 28 Divine Body, (Some Hebrew characters are written here), Jesus. We are his Members. It manifests itself in his Works of Art. (In Eternity All is Vision). Jesus & his Apostles & Disciples were All Artists. Their Works were destroy’d by the Seven Angels of the Seven Churches in Asia, Antichrist, Science. The unproductive Man is not a Christian, much less the Destroyer. A Poet, a Painter, a Musician, an Architect, the Man or Woman who is not one of these is not a Christian. You must leave Fathers & Mothers & Houses & Lands if they stand in the way of Art. Prayer is the Study of Art. Praise is the Practise of Art. Fasting & c. all relate to Art. The outward Ceremony is Antichrist. The whole Business of Man Is The Arts & All Things Common. No Secrecy in Art. Without Unceasing Practise nothing can be done. Practise in Art. If you leave off you are Lost. Art is the Tree of Life. God is Jesus. Science is the Tree of Death. Good & Evil are Riches & Poverty & Tree of Misery propagating Generation and Death. Christianity is Art & not Money. Money is its Curse. For every Pleasure Money Is Useless. The True Christian Charity not dependent on Money (the life’s blood of Poor Families), that is on Caesar or Empire or Natural Religion; money, which is The Great Satan or Reason, the Root of Good & Evil in The Accusation of Sin. Where any view of Money exists Art cannot be carried on, but War only (Read Matthew c. x, 9 & 10 v.) — by pretences to the Two Impossi- bilities Chastity & Abstinence, Gods of the Heathen. If Morality was Christianity, Socrates was the Saviour. Is not every Vice possible to Man described in the Bible openly ? All is not Sin that Satan calls so, all the Loves & Graces of Eternity. Art can never exist without Naked Beauty displayed. 29 ON HOMER’S POETRY (&) ON VIRGIL (Without title, signature or date. ? c. 1820.) Relief Etching ; 4^x3^ in. A single leaf, engraved on one side only, consisting of an enunciation of aesthetic principles in two brief notes in prose, respectively entitled as above, decorated with small figures, etc. 1 The only example seen by the 1 See Mr Sampson’s “Blake’s Poetical Works” (1905), p. 343. 96 29 writer 1 is that from the Crewe collection, now in the possession of Mr W. A. White (Brooklyn, U.S.A.), which is bound up with examples of “ The Ghost of Abel ” (p. 206, below) and “ The Man sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour” (No. 31, below). 2 The leaf resembles ‘‘The Ghost of Abel” (dated 1822) both in the formation of its writing and in the character of its decoration, and probably belongs to about the same date. It is one of the pieces called by Gilchrist “ Sibylline leaves,” and said to have been “ now and then put forth by Blake. 3 30 THE PASTORALS OF VIRGIL, ILLUSTRATED BY 230 EN- GRAVINGS. BY ROBERT JOHN THORNTON, M.D. Third Edition. London, 1821. (2 vols. 1 2mo.) Among the illustrations are: — 1. Seventeen woodcuts by Blake, for the Imitation of Eclogue I. by Ambrose Phillips; facing pp. 13, 14, 15, 16 & 1 8 of voh i. 2. Three woodcuts by an unknown hand, from designs by Blake, illustrative of the three “Comparisons” in the last stanza but one of the same; facing p. 17 of vol. i. 3. An engraving by Byfield from a drawing by Blake of a figure of Polyphemus by Nicolas Poussin ; facing p. 21 of vol. i. 4. Portraits of Theocritus, Virgil, Augustus, Agrippa, Pollio, Gallus, Varus, Maecenas, Caesar and Epicurus, engraved by Blake, from antique busts and coins ; facing pp. 3 & 4 of vol. i., and pp. 229 & 360 of vol. ii. i (Thenot and Colinet.) Frontispiece. To face page 13. 2§x3j in. The young Colinet, crook in hand, leans sorrowfully against a tree (r.), upon which his shepherd’s pipe hangs. Thenot, a bearded old man, stands ( 1 .) reproaching him. The sheep are grazing between them. In the distance, a hut, with the sun just appearing over a hill. The following apology for the woodcuts is printed below the frontis- piece : — “ The Illustrations of this English Pastoral are by the famous Blake, the illustrator of Young’s ‘Night Thoughts,’ and Blair’s ‘Grave’; who designed and engraved them himself. This is mentioned, as they display less of art than genius, and are much admired by some eminent painters.” The painters alluded to are Lawrence, James Ward, Linnell and others. 1 Another example was included in a volume of miscellaneous sketches and engravings by Blake sold in Messrs Sotheby’s rooms on 9th Dec. 1905 (Lot 921, No. 22) and resold in the same place on 15th Dec. 1906 (Lot 482, No. 22). 2 Shown at the Grolier Club Exhibition of works by Blake (1905 ; No. 37 in the Catalogue). 3 See “The Life ” (ed. 1880), vol. i. p. 294. G 97 30 ii., iii., iv. & v. To face page 14 . (Four cuts ou one page.) ii (Colinet) ItVx 2xf in. Colinet stands near a tree (r.), with his arms languidly uplifted. Thenot, with outstretched hands, remonstrates with him (1.). The sun rises behind the hills. iii (Thenot) 1 \ x 2-ff in. Colinet reclines against a tree trunk (r.). Thenot sits beneath a fruit tree (1.), with uplifted arms. The sun has risen over the hills. iv (Colinet and Thenot) ifVx 2| in. Thenot (r.). and Colinet (1.), both with shepherd’s crooks, lean against trees. Lightfoot, with his dog, tends the straying ewes upon the hills in the background. Daylight. v (Colinet) 1 tw X 2 in. Thenot stands (1.) ; Colinet, by him, sways his arms in sorrow. To r. is the “ riven trunk.” vi., vii., viii. & ix. To face page 15 . (Four cuts on one page.) vi (Thenot) t t 5 6 X2 1 im To 1. the blasted tree; flattened crops, beyond. Night, with the moon eclipsed. vii (Thenot) i|x 2| in. The shepherd chases away a wolf from his sheep-folds. A dead sheep lies at his feet. A fox lurks to 1. viii (Colinet) i|x 2§ in. Sabrina’s “ silvery flood ” winds among pastures. Sheep to 1., and a hut among trees (r.) ix (Colinet) 1 f X 2 ff in. Colinet (1.) wanders along a road which winds among hills. Near him 98 Plate 15 i. THE BLASTED TREE. ii. "A ROLLING STONE,' ETC. iii. “FOR HIM OUR YEARLY WAKES AND FEASTS WE HOLD Thornton’s “Virgil,” 1821. (30, vi, x N xiii) 30 (r.) is a milestone, marked “ LXI Miles to London.” A sign post, beyond, ix and in the distance, a church steeple. x., xi., xii. & xiii. To face page 1 6 . x (Thenot) 1 ¥ x 3^ in. For “A rolling stone is ever bare of moss.” A youth rolls a path in front of a house. xi (Colinet) 1^x3 in. Colinet, by night, rests upon the greensward up against a willow trunk. To 1., a winding stream, over which a crescent moon shines. xii (Colinet) r t X3 At in * Colinet, with his shepherd’s pipe, walks among trees (r.) To 1., two boys are mocking. xiii (Thenot) ^IxdxV in * Three women dance (1.). Menalcas, with his wife and two children, watch them (r.). In the background, a classical building. xiv., xv., xvi. & xvii. To face page 18 . xiv (Thenot. To illustrate lines i, 2) ifx 3 in. Thenot and Colinet lead their sheep into the folds together (1.). A hut beyond. In the background, the sun sinks behind hills. xv (3, 4, 5, 6 ) 1 1 x 3 tV in - Thenot and Colinet eat their evening meal together in a hut. xvi (7> 8 > 9) l %X3j\ in * Boys joyfully returning with oxen and plough. The sun sinks on the horizon. xvii ( 10 ) i t« X 3xV in - 99 30 “The unyolked heifers, loitering homeward, low.” They are led by a xvii boy. xviii.-xx. (The three Comparisons.) To face page 17. xviii First Comparison. Birds flying over a cornfield xix Second Comparison. Ships on the ocean xx Third Comparison. A winding river The woodcuts do not appear in either of the two previous editions of the “ Pastorals.” For the present edition, Blake made a series of twenty-one india ink drawings, 1 seventeen of which he cut with his own hand upon the wood-blocks. These productions were at once decried by the other engravers employed upon the book, and the whole of them were in imminent danger of being rejected, when a timely warning came from the above-mentioned painters; but it was not before one of them (No. iii.) had been recut by another hand. In the end, although he was not permitted to complete the set himself, the seventeen, as originally cut by Blake, were published in the book ; but not, it is said, without some ruthless trimming of the blocks to make them fit the page. The engraver’s “ improved ” version of No. iii. may be seen side by side with Blake’s own cut (as published) in “The Athenmum” for 2 1 st January 1 843, p. 65, where it will be perceived that the former still retains enough of Blake’s imagination to be immeasurably less ridiculous than the three for the three “Comparisons” which were entirely removed from his hands. Three of the cuts, Nos. v., vi. & ix., were reprinted from the original blocks in vol. i. of Gilchrist’s “ Life ” (ed. 1880), facing p. 320. The whole seventeen were fairly well reproduced by the Unicorn Press, with an excellent introduction by Laurence Binyon. 2 They were also done, better, by Thomas B. Mosher (Portland, Maine, U.S.A.). Some beautiful little woodcuts were executed by the painter, Edward Calvert, in imitation of Blake’s series. xxi The Giant Polypheme. From a Famous Picture by N. Poussin. (Facing p. 21, vol. i.) Blake, del. Byfield, sculps. 1 Twenty of the drawings, including one which was never cut, are in the possession of the Linnell family. They may be counted among the loveliest of all Blake’s drawings. They are thus described in a letter (dated 21st Dec. 1862) from John Linnell Jun. to W. Rossetti, printed in the “ Rossetti Papers ” (compiled by W. M. Rossetti, 1903, p. 20): — “ There are twenty original drawings by Blake illustrat- ing the poem by Phillips in Thornton’s Virgil (I forgot to show you these drawings). They are delicately executed in India ink, more or less finished ; a trifle larger than the wood-engravings, and occasionally slightly varying from them. . . . One of these drawings (subject, the two shepherds standing together, and sheep etc. behind, same size as the others) is not engraved. We have no draw- ing of the larger block engraved by Blake, given in Thornton, as frontispiece.” Blake’s original wood- blocks belong also to the Linnell family. The remaining drawing (for the frontispiece) is lost. 2 “ Little Engravings Classical and Contemporary,” Number II. William Blake, M.DCCCC.II. IOO the MAN SWEEPING THE INTERPRETER'S PARLOUR 30 The original painting by Nicolas Poussin is now in the Hermitage xxi gallery ; the composition is reversed in the print. xxii.-xxvii. Ten portraits, each with a brief biographical note engraved below. xxii Theocritus. (Facing p. 3) Blake, del. et sculp. London, Published by Dr Thornton, 1821. 3ff x in. Bust of a bearded man, in profile, facing r. xxiii Publius Virgilius Maro. (Facing p. 4) Same imprint as No. i. 4X 2| in. Bust of a beardless youth, with long hair, £ face, looking towards 1 . xxiv Octavius Augustus Caesar. (Following the Virgil) Same imprint as No. i. 5x3! in. Bust of a shaven man, profile facing 1 . xxv A group of five medallions “ From Antique Coins.” Bust of the young Agrippa, with heads of Pollio, Gallus, Varus and Maecenas at the corners. (Following the above.) Blake del. et sculp. 54X3JI in. The bust of Agrippa, nearly full face, is surrounded by a laurel wreath. xxvi Caius Julius Caesar. (Facing p. 229, vol. ii.) Blake, del. et sculp. London, Published by Dr Thornton, 1821. 4rf x 3t 5 6 in* Bust, profile facing 1 . The most striking of the portraits, somewhat similar in character to the “ Visionary Heads.” xxvii Epicurus. (Facing p. 360, vol. ii.) Same imprint as above. 4 T V X 2£ in. Bust, full face. 31 (THE MAN SWEEPING THE INTERPRETER’S PARLOUR) (Without title.) Signed, W. B. inv. (? c. 1822.) ? “Woodcut on pewter” (see p. 32); 3 ^x6tV in. An ancient, demon-like figure (r.), with huge dragon’s wings, and with dishevelled hair and beard, sweeps vehemently into the air a thick cloud 101 31 of dust, peopled by evil spirits of diminutive form. A radiant, winged damsel descends some steps (1.) and lays the dust by sprinkling water from a bowl. A flood of light enters the room behind her. One of the rarest as well as one of the most beautiful of all Blake’s prints. An example of it was prefixed as frontispiece to the Crewe copy of “The Ghost of Abel” (dated 1822) ; so it is likely to have been pro- duced about the same time as the latter. We know that Blake’s young disciples at the end of his life used to speak of his home as “ The House of the Interpreter.” An example of the print in the Linnell Collection (prefixed to a copy of the “ Poetical Sketches ” presented to Linnell by Cumberland), is characteristically inscribed (in pencil) in Blake’s own hand : — “ The parable of the relapsed sinner & her 7 Devils.” 32 REMEMBER ME! A NEW YEAR’S GIFT OR CHRISTMAS PRESENT London, I. Poole. 8 Newgate Street. 1825. (i2ino.) Contains, among numerous engravings, the “ Hiding of Moses,” by Blake, accompanied by nearly 4 pp. of letterpress, pp. 32-35. Blake del. et sculpt.; Line 3!! X 2 }} in. Moses, asleep in a wicker cradle, is laid among bulrushes at the river’s edge. The mother on the bank swoons into her husband’s arms. A palm- tree (r.) overshadows them. Miriam stands, on the look out, beyond, upon some steps leading down to the river, upon the lowest of which is a Sphinx. The river winds over the plain into the distance. In the back- ground are the pyramids and some other buildings. The design is Blake’s own and may be that of the tempera picture “ Moses placed in the Ark of Bulrushes,” which is among the number of those lost from the Butts collection; it is described by Gilchrist 1 as follows: — “ The mother swoons into her husband’s arms ; the sister is on the watch, to give warning of any interruption. The Pyramids are prominent in the background.” The actual drawing (done in water-colours and measuring it^X 1 5 § in.), from which the print was engraved, is, there- fore, likely to be a replica of the above; it was executed for Linnell and is still in the possession of the Linnell family. 33 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOOK OF JOB, IN TWENTY-ONE PLATES, INVENTED AND ENGRAVED BY WILLIAM BLAKE, AUTHOR OF THE DESIGNS TO “ BLAIR’S GRAVE,” “YOUNG’S NIGLIT THOUGHTS,” &c. London : Published by the author, 3 Fountain Court, Strand, and 1 The “ Life” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. p, 235, No. 137. 102 33 Mr J. Linnell, 6 Cirencester Place, Fitzroy Square. March, 1826. Prints £ . . . Proofs £ . . d (Folio). The above title is from the printed label upon the cover of the volume. Each of the designs is enclosed within an ornamental border, which is variously decorated, and inscribed with verses or portions of verses (often inaccurately quoted) from the Bible. The measurements, both with and without the margin, are given in each case separately below. The prints are all engraved in line. i Illustrations of The Book of Job. Invented & Engraved by William Blake, 1825. (Title page) London: Published as the Act directs March 8: 1825 by William Blake No. 3 Fountain Court, Strand. 7§X5 it in.; 5x3^ in. The title ( “ Book of Job ” ) is also given in Hebrew characters, at the head of the page. Seven angels with scrolls form a decorative figure, resembling a pair of uplifted wings, around the lower part of the page. ii Thus did Job continually. (Job, i. 5.) (PI.) 1 W. Blake inv. & sculp. London : Published as the Act directs, March 8 : 1828 2 (sic) by Will” 1 . Blake, N. 3 Fountain Court, Strand. 7 tVx 5§ in. ; 3i x qf in. Job and his wife, with his seven sons and three daughters, are met together in prayer beneath a huge oak tree. The aged pair are seated side by side in the midst before the trunk of the tree ; the patriarch’s eyes are reverently upturned and his wife’s hands are clasped. The Word of God lies open upon their knees. Their daughters kneel in front of them, and their sons, each with his shepherd’s crook, on either side. A number of musical instruments hang upon the tree above their heads. A pair of rams and some sheep repose upon the ground in front, and the meadows, beyond, are filled with a multitude of sheep. In the background, to 1 . is a Gothic Cathedral and to r. a group of huts. The sun sinks ( 1 .) behind distant hills and a crescent moon rises, with a bright star near it (r.). In the margin, the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer is inscribed, above, upon overarching clouds. At the foot of the page is a burning altar, with ram’s heads at the ends, inscribed with II Cor. iii. 6 and I Cor. ii. 14. On either side of the altar the first two verses of the Book of Job are written. A ram (r.) and a bull ( 1 .) repose at each corner upon the ground. 1 The usuai publisher’s prices were five guineas for India proofs, four guineas for proofs, and three guineas for ordinary copies. Proof copies are so marked upon each print. 2 In error for 1825. 103 83 When the Almighty was yet with me, When my Children were iii about me. (xxix. 5.) (PI.) 2 W. Blake inv. & sc. London : Published as the Act directs March 8 : 1825 by Will" 1 . Blake N. 3 Fountain Court, Strand. 7 §x 5! in.; 5§x 4xV in. In the lower part of the design, Job, sitting out of doors upon a long bench or couch, with his wife at his side, is visited by two scroll-bearing angels (I.), to whom he displays the book of God’s Word. A group of his children (r.), engaged in reading, are arrested in their pursuit by the presence of the angels. Beneath the bench, upon which several of them repose, is a row of books, and, close to Job’s feet, a slumbering dog. Some sheep feed to 1 . There is a landscape background, with three vine- wedded trees in front and hills in the distance. In the heaven, above, the clouds roll apart like scrolls, revealing a vision of the Almighty, enthroned on high and surrounded by a vesica-shaped glory of white light, with the Divine Word upon his knees. Angels, bending on either side of the throne, lay at his feet the story of Job’s life. At the foot of the throne (in the middle of the design), is the figure of Satan, presenting himself before the Lord. He advances at long strides, enveloped in a sheet of flame in which the phantasmal shapes of Job and his wife are dimly reflected. His face is upturned towards the Almighty who points to the record of Job’s righteousness laid at his feet. Three other “Sons of God” accompany Satan before the throne, two on his right hand and one on his left. In the margin, beneath, is a pastoral scene, with a shepherd (r). and a shepherdess ( 1 .), folding their sheep. The design is overarched by a trellis-work of conventionalised vine stems, where divers kinds of birds roost and make their nests. High up at the sides, angels bend over a pinnacle of flame (r.) and a pillar of smoke ( 1 .). At the top, the words, “The Angel of the Divine Presence” and (in Hebrew characters) “ Jehovah is King” are inscribed above the figure of the Almighty. For the marginal verses see: — Dan. vii. 19; Job ii. 3; xix. 26; Is. lxiii. 16 ; Ps. xvii. 1 5 ; Job ii. 1. Mr F. W. Bourdillon has a tinted pen drawing (18x24 in.) by Blake, somewhat resembling the lower portion of this design ; it belongs, how- ever, to a much earlier period. \\ Thy Sons and thy Daughters were eating & drinking Wine in THEIR ELDEST BROTHER’S HOUSE (i. 1 8). (Pi.) 3 W. Blake inven. & sculp. London : Published as the Act directs March 8 : 1 8 25 by Will m . Blake No. 3 Fountain Court, Strand. 7f X 6 in. ; 5xVx 4xV in. The design is crowned by the figure of Satan, with huge bat-like wings outspread, darkly contrasting with a flickering background of lightning e -iy ft lake- invent Proof London. . ru.blt. 3 k 0 d. J.s the /-zf dirr'.ts Tv turh S Jc2-* by l 'LjI-'J'o, /V '3 fr-futaux. (Z'ourt. St>‘cmd. \Ve Oxenwre ? \owm« & the. 5 at earjy f subject, 4|x2i|. in. Salmonet is laid on the floor, while O’Hara c< skips about, as if he watched for an opportunity to make a push with safety to himself.” Mrs Jervoise runs out of the room. iii (Grandison’s painful interview with Clementina and her mother.) Plate XII., facing p. 442 (vol. iii.) Stothard del. Blake sculp. Published as the Act directs by Harrison and Co. Jan. 18, 1783. Outside measurement, 6^x4 in.; subject, 4 x 9 gX in. Sir Charles enters the room (r.). Lady Clementina rises from her seat, with a book in her hand, while the Marchioness turns away, with a handkerchief over her eyes. 141 50 THE LADY’S POCKET BOOK A periodical, edited by Dodsley. The numbers for 1782 and 1783 contain frontispieces engraved in line by Blake after Stothard. “The Lady’s Pocket Book” is not to be found in the British Museum, and the writer has been unable to meet with it elsewhere. The Robert Balmanno collection of Stothard ’s works in the Print Room contains, however, examples of the two plates, printed side by side on a single sheet. i The Morning Amusements of her Royal Highness the Princess Royal & her 4 Sisters Stothard del. Blake sc. Published by J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard, Nov 1 '. 1, 1782. 3II X 5 in. The Princess sits at a piano (r.), with her music master behind her. One of her sisters, with a child in her arms, stands over her. Another sister, sitting in front to 1., is doing needlework, and a fourth sits by her, teaching a child to read. ii A Lady in the full Dress, & another in the most fashionable Undress now worn T. S. d. W. B. sc. 3ifx2jnr in. The two ladies stand upon a lawn against a background of trees. 51 BELL’S EDITION. THE POETS OF GREAT BRITAIN COM- PLETE FROM CHAUCER TO CFIURCHILL. CHAUCER. Vol. xiii. London. Printed for John Bell, British Library, Strand. May 24th, 1783. The frontispiece (a circular design, within an ornamental border inscribed with the title as above) is engraved in line by Blake after Stothard. “ Sampson yhad experience That Women were ful trew ifound.” “In Praise of Women,” 11 . 81, 82. Stothard del. Blake sculp 1 . 4 T Vx 2-| in. Measurement of design, circular 2-| in. in diam. Sampson is discovered by three Philistines, asleep on Delilah’s knees. 52 SATAN Stothard del. Blake sc. Line ; a circular design (2§ in. in diam.), within an engraved framework (4^x2^ in.). Satan, armed with a spear, takes his flight through space. 142 52 The print was evidently intended for Bell’s edition of “The Poets of Great Britain ” (see the preceding No.), since it corresponds both in its measurements and in the pattern of its decorative border with the illustrations of that series ; it was not, however, made use of in that connection. An example of the print (a proof on India paper) in the Robert Balmanno collection of Stothard’s works in the Print Room (vol. i. No. 20) is included under the year 1779. 53 ORLANDO FURIOSO : TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN OF LUDOVICO ARIOSTO; WITH NOTES: BY JOHN HOOLE. In five volumes. Vol iii. London. M,DCC,LXXXIII. The frontispiece to vol. iii. is engraved in line by Blake after Stothard. Vol. 3. Page 164. Stothard del. Blake sc. 5§X4^ in. Orlando, naked and insane, casts from his shoulder an uprooted pine. His armour lies scattered upon the ground behind him. His horse tethered to a tree beyond, plunges in terror. Two rustics, in the background, peer through a gap in the trees. In the second (1785) edition the print faces p. 164 of vol. iii of the text. In the third (1791) edition, the poem was “reduced to xxiv. books ” and issued in two volumes; Blake’s engraving faces p. 461 of vol. i. The Robert Balmanno collection of Stothard’s works in the Print Room contains (vol. iii. 1 207) an impression of the plate marked Vol. 3. Page 164 and with the imprint : Published by Vernor & Hood, Deck 1, 1798. 1 Stothard’s original drawing appeared recently in a sale at Christie’s (16th March 1912; Lot 19). 54 MEMOIRS OF ALBERT DE HALLER, M.D. BY THOMAS HENRY Warrington, Printed by W. Eyres, for J. Johnson, No. 72, St Paul’s Church Yard, London, MDCCLXXXIII. (sm. 8vo.) The frontispiece is a portrait of Haller engraved in line by Blake after Dunker. Albert de Haller 2 Dunker d. Blake sc. Circular, 2xV in. in diam. Head and shoulders. Three quarter face, looking to r. A man with a shaven face and grey hair, wearing a cap. 1 From an edition Printed for Otridge Son, 1799, 5 vols. 2 Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777), Swiss anatomist and physiologist. H 3 55 A SELECT COLLECTION OF ENGLISH SONGS In three volumes. London : Printed for Johnson in St Pauls Church- yard. MDCCLXXXIIl. (8vo.) Seven of the illustrations were engraved by Blake after Stothard. Volume the first. i (Head-piece. P. i) Stothard del. Blake sc. 2 T Vx3§ in. A young cavalier kneels in adoration (r.) before a disdainful beauty sitting by a column ( 1 .). Landscape background. ii (Tail-piece. P. 85) Stothard del. Blake sc. 2 tVx 3§ in. A young woman sits (r.) upon a rock beneath an overhanging cliff by the sea ; she turns her head back over the water, and is dismayed by the sight of the naked body of a youth being borne by the waves towards her. The subject is evidently taken from the story of Hero and Leander. iii (Head-piece. P. 86) Stothard d. Blake sc. 1 2T0X3A- in. Cupid, leaning against a tree ( 1 .) plays on the lute before his mother, Venus, who is enthroned (r.), with three attendants (? the Three Graces), behind her. iv (Head-piece. P. to8) Stothard del. Blake sc. 2 210X33; in. A faithless lover departs, with his hat in his hand, from his angry mistress, who throws a letter, a necklace and a glove before him upon the ground. Wooded background, with a tower, to r. v (Tail-piece. P. 156) Stothard del. Blake sc. 2^x3! ^ n - A group of youths and girls dance in a ring before a fiddler who sits upon the ground (r.). vi (Head-piece. P. 157) Stothard del. Blake sc. 2 tVx 3§ in. A fair lady in fashionable dress sits writing ( 1 .) by the light of a lamp 1 and 2 So signed on a proof in the Robert Balmanno collection of Stothard’s works in the Print Room ; unsigned in the published state. 55 which Cupid holds behind her. A door (r.) opens upon a garden lit by vi the full moon. vii (Tail-piece. P, 170) Stothard del. Blake sc. 2-fa x 3 in. A young lady sits beneath an overhanging rock ( 1 .) by a stream with her head bowed in melancholy reverie ; an open book lies by her side. A pair of Loves armed with torch and bow fly away from her (r.). viii (Head-piece. P. 171) Stothard del. Blake sc. 2 Ax 2 A in. 1 o Jib A pair of young lovers converse together in a vine-decked arbour (r.). A church stands among trees in the background ( 1 .). Volume the second. ix (Head-piece. P. i) Stothard del. Blake sc. 2 T Vx3tV in. A group of youths sit drinking round a table. One of them proposes a toast. Vol. iii., containing the tunes for the songs, is without plates by Blake. The following account of these pleasant little prints is given by Gilchrist in the “Life” (ed. 1880, vol. i. pp. 51 and 52): — “To the latter year (1783) also, the first after Blake’s marriage, belong about eight or nine of the vignettes after the purest and most lovely of the early and best designs of the same artist (Stothard) — full of sweetness, refinement, and graceful fancy — which illustrate Ritson’s “ Collection of English Songs ” (3 vols. 8vo ) ; others being engraved by Grignon, Heath, &c. In the first volume occur the best designs, and— what is remarkable — designs very Blake-like in feeling and conception ; having the air of graceful translation of his inventions. Most in this volume are engraved by Blake, and very finely, with delicacy as well as force. I may instance in particular one at the head of the “ Love Songs,” a lady singing, Cupids fluttering before her, a singularly refined composition ; another, a vignette to “Jemmy Dawson,” which is, in fact, Hero awaiting Leander; another to “ When Lovely Women,” a sitting figure of much dignity and beauty.” “The Lady singing, Cupids fluttering before her” does not appear in any example of the “ Songs ” known to the writer, either at the head of the “ Love Songs ” or anywhere else, the head-piece to the “ Love Songs” being No i. above. k 145 56 THE FALL OF ROSAMUND (T. Stothard. W. Blake.) (Published by Macklin, 1783.) Stipple; circular, 12 in. in diam. An example of this print was seen by the present writer some time ago, when he omitted to take notes of it. The above particulars are mainly derived from Gilchrist’s “ Life ” (ed. 1880), vol. i. p. 5 1, and vol, ii. p. 281. 57 ROBIN HOOD AND CLORINDA J. Meheux inv. W. Blake sculpt. (Published by Macklin, ? 1783) Stipple; circular. An example of this print was seen by the present writer some time ago, when he omitted to take fuller particulars of it. 58 THE WIT’S MAGAZINE; OR, LIBRARY OF MOMUS, BEING A COMPLEAT REPOSITORY OF MIRTH, HUMOUR, AND ENTERTAINMENT. Vol. i. London: Printed for Harrison and Co. No. 18, Paternoster-Row. MDCCLXXXIV. ( 4 to.) The plate in each of the first five numbers was engraved in line by Blake. i The Temple of Mirth. (In the January number) Stothard del. Blake sculp. Published as the Act directs by Harrison & Co. Feby. 1, 1784. 6fx 9! in. The goddess of Mirth, enthroned in the middle, incites to merriment a company of ladies and gentlemen who are grouped on either side of her. The wall behind is decorated by a pair of humorous pictures, and in niches at the side there are busts of six celebrated wits and satirists. ii Tythe in Kind; or The Sow’s Revenge. (In the February number) Collings del. Blake sculp. Published as the Act directs, by Harrison & Co. March 1, 1784. 6|x8fW in. A parson, choosing a pig due to him in tythe, is attacked in the sty by the old sow who throws him to the ground and clings on to his coat-tails. The farmer, who brandishes a stick in the door of the sty, together with his wife and family, who look on beyond the paling, are enjoying the joke. 146 58 The Discomfited Duellists. (In the March number) 111 Collings del. Blake sculp. Published as the Act directs by Harrison & co. April i, 1784. 6|x8|in. The scene is in a coffee house, where one of the company is engaged in chastising a couple of young ensigns in the army for their gross language in the presence of the barmaid. He has already shivered the sword of one of them and menaces his face with a hot poker ; while the other is pre- vented by the bystanders from running him through the back. The scared barmaid gesticulates and cries out from the bar behind. iv The Blind Beggars’ Hats. (In the April number) Collings del. Blake sculp. Published as the Act directs by Harrison & Co. May 1, 1784. 6t 9 6 X 8| in. Illustrates a poem about a Florentine signior who becoming impoverished prays every day for riches to a certain Madonna at a street corner. Arriving one day before the image, he hears two blind beggars boasting of large sums of money concealed in their hats, which he accordingly snatches from their heads and makes off, leaving the two to belabour one another, each believing the other to be the thief. v May-Day in London. (In the May number) Collings del. Blake sculp. Publish’d as the Act directs, by Harrison & co. June 1, 1784. 6i%x8Jin. A company of May-day revellers are making merry with dancing and music in the street. Mr Rimmel (of Shaftesbury Avenue) has Collings’ original drawing for this plate on the same mount with an impression of the print. 59 ZEPHYRUS AND FLORA “ The gentle God flew o’er th’inchanting Ground Where Flora slept, & breath’d Perfumes around : Waking she smil’d, by Love’s soft Pow’r imprest, He, calmly sighing, hover’d o’er her Breast.” Stothard del. W. Blake sc. Published as the Act directs Dec 1 '. 17, 1784 by Parker 8 c Blake, No. 27 Broad St. Golden Square. Stipple; oval, 6f x 8 tV in. Flora, reclining half-naked in the meadow, is clasped in the arms of the winged youth Zephyrus. A quiver, full of arrows, hangs upon a tree above her head (1.) : a cup and a pitcher stand upon the ground by her pillow. The scene is a wooded landscape. H 7 60 CALISTO “ The Grove around a grateful Shadow cast ; She dropped her Arrows, & her Bow unbrac’d, She flung her self on the cool grassy Bed ; And on the painted Quiver rais’d her Head.” Stothard del. W. Blake sc. (1784.) Stipple; oval, 6f X7H in. Calisto, with her bow unstrung at her side and with her head resting on the quiver, lies asleep beneath a tree in a grove. Some arrows and a hunting horn lie near her upon the ground. A greyhound and another hound repose at her feet (1.). Companion print to the preceding No. 61 ROBERT MAY, ESQ^ Blake sc. (? c. 1 78 5.) The writer is acquainted with this print, but has no notes of any further particulars in regard to it. It is, as far as he remembers, a small print. 62 (THE RETURN OF THE JEWISH SPIES FROM CANAAN) (Stothard del. Blake sc.) (? c. 1785.) Line; 6 Ax4j in. The Robert Balmanno collection of Stothard’s works in the Print Room contains a proof impression, on India paper, of this plate, with the title, together with the designer’s and engraver’s names, written (as above) in pencil upon it. The two spies (r.), bearing upon their shoulders a huge bunch of grapes, appear before Moses and Aaron, who sit in the door of a tent (r.), with a company of Israelites standing around them. Moses has the horns of light upon his head. An illustration for a book unknown. It resembles those engraved by Blake for Maynard’s “ Josephus” (No. 63, below). 63 THE GENUINE AND COMPLETE WORKS OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS. BY GEORGE L 1 ENRY MAYNARD, LL.D. London: Printed for J. Cooke, No. 17, Paternoster Row. (c. 1785-1786.) (Folio.) Three of the plates in this volume are engraved by Blake, one after Stothard and two after Metz. 148 63 The Parting of Lot and Abraham, after seperating ( sic ) their i Flocks, &c. (Facing p. 13) Metz delin. Blake sculp. This and the two subjects following are enclosed in an elaborate ornamental framework, lettered at the top: — “Engraved for Maynard’s Josephus.” Line; outside measurement, 9|x6f in. ; subject, 6f X4§ in. Abraham and Lot clasp hands in front, beneath a tall tree. Behind, Sarah rides upon an ass, with a company of soldiers and of shepherds with their beasts. ii The Battle of Ain, & the Destruction of the City, by the Army of Joshua. (Between pp. 64 & 65) Stothard delin. Blake sculp. Line; outside measurement, 9§x6| in.; subject, 6f x 4j in. A troop of horse is closely engaged with infantry in front. The burning of the city is depicted in the background. The Robert Balmanno collection of Stothard’s works in the Print Room contains a proof of this plate, signed as follows : — Stothard del. Blake sc . ; and marked in pencil: — Joshua viii. 20. iii The Fugitive Shechemites Burnt and Suffocated in the Holds of their Retreat, by order of King Abimelech. (Facing p. 76) Metz delin. Blake sculp. Line; outside measurement, 9fx6| in.; subject, 6x1x4! in. The scene is on a hillside, burrowed with caves. The Israelitish soldiers light fires in front of the caves and suffocate the Shechemite men, women and children who have taken refuge there. The three plates engraved by Blake are undated. The book is said by Lowndes to have been published about 1790. But as the dates given upon other prints in the volume range from Oct. 1785 to Jan. 1786, it may probably be assumed that Blake’s work belongs also to a year or two before the actual publication of the work. 64 VENUS DISSUADES ADONIS FROM HUNTING “ Then sweetly smiling with a raptur’d mind, On his lov’d Bosom she her head reclin’d, And thus began : — ” Ovid, Met. B. x. Rdus. Cosway, R.A. et Primarius Pictor Serinissimi Walliae Principis, Pinxt. Guliels. Blake sculp. T 49 64 Publish’d by G. Hatfield. No. 67, Charlotte Street Portland Chapel Nov r . 21 st , 1787. Stipple, 5x6 x6yf in. (The subject is enclosed by a border, engraved in imitation of a frame, with a narrow mount inside cutting off the corners of the design. The actual design itself measures 3rf X 5 tV i n ») Venus reclines, naked, upon a coverlet spread over a grassy bank under the shadow of a tree. Her back is turned to the spectator. Adonis sits beside her upon a rock (1.), hunting spear in hand, and gazes into her eyes ; her head rests upon his knee and her arms are thrown around him. Cupid, beyond, clasps them together. His quiver and bow lie upon the ground in front, and a pair of doves play amorously by them. A hound sleeps at Adonis’ feet. There is a landscape background, with a hill, trees and water. Blake has here lent himself with singular felicity to the pretty manner of the time. Examples of the print are rarely met with. The plate was reissued in 1823. The later impressions are in colours and have the imprint London, Published June 2nd. 1823 by H. Gibbs 23 Gt. Newport St.” — the rest of the lettering (the title, etc.) being unchanged. Adonis’ robe is here coloured red : his sandals blue ; and a fillet of blue binds Venus’ hair. A reduced (3^x4^ in.) copy of the print, engraved by another hand, appears in : — The Rambler’s Magazine; or Fashionable Emporium of Polite Literature. London: Benbow, Printer and Publisher, Byron’s Head, Castle-Street, Leicester Square. 1823. Vol. ii. August 1, 1823. No 8. The copy faces p. 352 and is entitled: — “Venus dissuading Adonis from the chase”; it has no imprint, and bears neither painter’s nor engraver’s name. It is accompanied, on pp. 351-2, by a note on the tale of Venus and Adonis. 65 (AN AWE-STRUCK GROUP STANDING ON A ROCK BY THE SEA) (Engraved by Blake, from a drawing by his brother, Robert). 1 (No title, signature or date.) (? c. 1787.) Relief etching, iixfx8^ in. A group of about half-a-dozen figures press together (r.) at the edge of a rock by the sea and gaze with scared, anxious faces over the vacant waters before them. Foremost among them is a very old man with a long beard, to whom a woman, behind him, clings. By his side, a young woman with folded hands is clasped in the arms of a man beyond. 1 Robert Blake’s original drawing is in the Print Room, where an example of the print is also to be found. 150 VENUS DISSUADES ADONIS FROM HUNTING After Cosway, 1787. (64) . Plate 29 AN AWE-STRUCK GROUP STANDING ON A ROCK BY THE SEA After Robert Blake. ? 1787. (65) 65 Another woman, behind, utters cries. All seem to be the spectators of some awful scene or portent. A vivid streak of light (? meant for lightning or a comet) furrows the dense storm clouds which hang over them. A great impression of terror is produced by the design. 66 INDUSTRIOUS COTTAGER Painted by G. Morland. Engraved by W. Blake. London, publish’d May 12th. 1788, by J. R. Smith, No. 31, King Street, Covent Garden. 1 Stipple, 8^x 10 in. A country girl returns home, with a bundle of firewood on her head and a basket in her hand ; a little girl, also carrying firewood, walks by her side. They have passed a stile (r.), and are about to cross a plank over a stream. Trees in the background, with a cottage among them to 1 . An example of the engraving printed in brown, realised at Sotheby’s, 6 th March 1905. 67 THE IDLE LAUNDRESS Painted by G. Morland. Engraved by W. Blake. 2 (1788.) Stipple, 8|x io| in. The laundress sleeps in a chair outside her cottage. A washing table and a basket of clothes are by her side. A little boy enters by a gate (r.), and proceeds to steal the clothes off a line. A pig attacks a basket of potatoes on the ground. The cottage is overshadowed by a tree and there are trees also in the background. 68 APHORISMS ON MAN. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT OF THE REV. JOHN CASPAR LAVATER, CITIZEN OF ZURIC London, Printed for j. Johnson, St Paul’s Church-yard, 1788. (sm. 8vo.) The frontispiece is engraved by Blake after a design by Fuseli, illustrat- ing the words from Juvenal’s ninth Satire : — “ E caelo descendit yiHioOi aeavTov .” 1 Reprinted in 1803 by a new publisher, with the imprint: — London, Published Jany. 1st, 1803, by H. Macklin, Poet’s Gallery, Fleet Street; the reissue is worked up with line and otherwise re- touched. The original painting by Morland, in the possession of H. Darrel Brown, Esq., was exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in the winter of 1910-1911. 2 Reprinted in 1803 by a new publisher, with the imprint: — London, Publish’d Jany 1. 1803, by H. Macklin, Poet’s Gallery, Fleet Street ; the reissue is worked up with line and otherwise retouched. U 1 68 Blake sc. Line; qfx2| in. A cherub, bearing a stone tablet inscribed with the Greek saying, descends (r.) to a youth, seated in rapt meditation, and points out the letters to his upturned gaze. An hour-glass and some books are at the youth’s side upon the ground. The worked-over plate was subsequently used for an edition printed in Dublin, 1 in reference to which Gilchrist writes 2 : — “ If any deny merit to Blake as an engraver, let him turn from this boldly executed print of Fuselis mannered but effective sitting figure, ostentatiously meditative, of Philosophic Contemplation, or whatever it may be, to the weak shadow of the same in the subsequent Dublin editions of this little book.” An original impression was exhibited side by side with the reissue at the Boston exhibition of Blake’s works of 1891. The catalogue contains the following note 3 : — “The fainter of the two impressions has, at first sight, the look of a late impression from the worn plate. Closer inspection, however, leads to the belief that it is an earlier state of the plate, while the stronger shows a later state, after the plate had been gone over and brought up to color.” 69 ESSAYS ON PHYSIOGNOMY. BY JOHN CASPAR LAVATER. ILLUSTRATED BY MORE THAN EIGHT HUNDRED ENGRAV- INGS, EXECUTED BY, OR UNDER THE INSPECTION OF THOMAS HOLLOWAY. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY HENRY HUNTER, D.D. London. MDCC.LXXXIX. (3 vols. in 5 parts.) Contains three engravings by Blake, all in Volume I. i Democritus. (Facing p. 159) Rubens delin. Blake sculp. Line; 6§X5§ in. Bust, nearly full face, turned towards r. A bearded, satyr-like figure, with a laughing face and a bald head with a tuft of hair in front. ii (Tail-piece on p. 206) Blake sc. Line ; 5| x 2| in. A hand and arm, holding up a lighted candle with moths fluttering around it. 1 Also reissued, London, 1789 and 1794, with the plate worked over. 2 Gilchrist’s “ Life” (ed. 1880), vol. i. p. 61. 3 Museum of Fine Arts, Print Department. “Exhibition of Books, Water Colors, Engravings, etc., by William Blake,” 1891, p. 38, No. 124. “WHEN MY HERO IN COURT APPEARS, ETC. iggar's Opera, Act III. After Hogarth, 1790, second state. (71) 69 (A Head of Spalding.) P. 225. 111 Blake sculp. Line ; 5^x4! in. Head and neck of a man ; profile, looking to 1 .. An account of the head is given on the same page. 70 (A YOUNG LADY EMBRACING THE BUST OF A YOUTH IN A WOOD) Stothard d. Blake sc. ( ? 1789.) Line; 5^x3^ in. A young lady fondly embraces the bust of a youth set up on a pedestal in a wood. A youth, walking through the wood, surprises her. Probably an illustration to a book, which the author has been unable to identify. An example of the print in the Robert Balmanno collection of Stothard’s works in the Print Room is included under the year 1789. 71 BEGGAR’S OPERA, ACT III. “ WHEN MY HERO IN COURT APPEARS, &c ” From the Original Picture, in the Collection of his Grace the Duke of Leeds. 1 Painted by W m . Hogarth. Engraved by W m . Blake. Publish’d July i st . 1790, by J. & J. Boydell, Cheapside, & at the Shakspeare Gallery, Pall Mall, London. Size of the picture 24" by 30" long. Line; 214X 15! in. The subject of the print is a performance of Gay’s Beggar’s Opera , at Lincoln’s Inn Field, 1727. The names of the persons represented are given, as follows, in the Key to the Plate (which is imprinted, — Publish’d July 1 : 1790, by J. & J. Boydell, Cheapside, & at the Shakspeare Gallery Pall Mall) : — Performers 1. Macheath — Mr Walker. 2. Lockitt— Mr Hall. 3. Peachum — Mr Hippisley. 4. Lucy — Mrs Egleton. 5. Polly — Miss Fenton, afterwards Dutchess of Bolton. Audience 6. Duke of Bolton. 7. Major Paunceford. 8. Sir Robert Fagg. 9. Mr Rich, the Manager. 10. Mr Cock, the Auctioneer. 11. Mr Gay. 12 Lady 1 By whom it was purchased in 1762 from Mr Rich, of the Covent Garden Theatre ; the picture is a repetition of a previous version by Hogarth of the same subject. 1 53 71 Jane Cook. 13. Anthony Henley Esq 1 . 14. Lord Gage. 15. Sir Conyers D’Arcy. 16. Sir Tho s . Robinson. The plate exists in four states^ which are given as follows by J. B. Nichols, in his “Anecdotes of William Hogarth” (1833), P* 3 2 3 : — “First State, etching; second, finished proof before writing; third, open letters; fourth, letters filled up.” The first state is lettered as follows: — “Painted by Will" 1 . Hogarth, 1729. Etch’d by Will" 1 . Blake, 1788.” Publish’d October 29 : 1788 : by Ald ,n . Boydell & Co. Cheapside. The lettering of the first state is placed at the head of the present description of the print. The words “ The Size of the picture,” etc., are absent in the open letter proofs (third state). 72 (TIMON VISITED BY ALCIBIADES IN THE CAVE. 1 SHAKE- SPEARE’S T 1 MON OF ATHENS, ACT IV. SC. III.) (Engraved by Blake, from a drawing by Fuseli.) Published by W. Blake, Poland St. July 28: 1790. Line; 8§x 12^ in. Alcibiades, naked, wearing a helmet, accompanied by his two mistresses who are clothed in diaphanous attire and dance as they come, appear at the cave’s mouth ( 1 .). Timon, sitting naked within, glares fiercely at them. A spade rests against the wall of the cave, and a number of gold pieces lie upon the ground in front of him. There are trees on either side of the cave, and the sun sinks into the sea to 1. 73 THE PROTESTANT’S FAMILY BIBLE Harrison & Co., London. (1790. 2 ) (4to.) Five of the plates in this Bible are engraved in line by Blake, three after Raphael and two after Rubens. i Abraham and the Three Angels. Gen. xviii. 2 Raphael de Urbin del. Blake sc. Publish’d as the Act directs by Harrison & Co., No. 18 Paternoster Row. ii Lot’s Escape. Gen. xix. 26 Rubens del. Blake sculp. (Imprint as above.) 1 The print is without title. 2 The frontispiece has the date 2nd September 1790. '54 73 Joseph sold to the Ishmaelites. Gen. xxxvii. 28 111 Rubens del. Blake sculp. (Imprint as above.) iv The Israelitish Idolatry. Ex. xxxii. 19 Raphael de Urbin del. Blake sculp. (Imprint as above.) v Joshua passing the Jordan. Josh. iv. 16. Raphael de Urbin del. Blake sc. (Imprint as above.) The above particulars were kindly communicated to the writer by an owner of a copy of the book. It is some time since the writer himself has had an opportunity of examining the prints, but, they are, if his recollec- tion serves him, similar in character to the illustrations of Maynard’s “Josephus” (see No. 63) 74 (HEAD OF A MAN TORMENTED IN FIRE) Fuseli Pinxit. W. Blake sculpsit. 1 (? c. 1790.) Line; i3|x 10 ^ in. The head and neck (life-size) of a man tormented in flames. The head is upturned, with the eyes rolled back and a wide-open, howling mouth. Background of flames. 75 FALSA AD COELUM MITTUNT INSOMNIA MANES 2 (Engraved by Blake, from a drawing by Fuseli.) (? c. 1 790.) Line ; 8|x 14^ in. A young woman lies dreaming upon a couch (r.). Fler head hangs forward and her hair falls in ringlets over her forehead. Her left foot rests upon the ground. Her body is naked. A huge moth settles upon her r. leg. A Love, entering by an open window ( 1 .), shoots at her with bow and arrow. Two other Loves (one of them with bow and quiver) fly out of the window. A terminal figure of Silence stands over her, on the far side of the couch, and from underneath it in front, a grotesque figure with a human body and an elephant’s head creeps out and points to the above inscription written upon the floor. The rising sun is seen through the window. 1 The Print Room has a proof before letters so marked in pencil. A later impression, also in the Print Room, has the name Blake vety faintly engraved at the right hand lower corner. 2 The quotation is inscribed upon the floor in front. The example in the Print Room, from which the particulars here given are derived, is without either the designer’s or the engraver’s names and has no title or imprint. ! 55 76 EDMUND PITTS, ESq. Ad viv: del: J. Earle: Armig. GulieL Blake sculp. (? c. 1790.) Stipple; oval, 7|x5f 6 in. Half length ; profile, to 1 . A private plate. Scarce. 77 ELEMENTS OF MORALITY, FOR THE USE OF CHILDREN. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF THE REV. C. G. SALZMANN. ILLUSTRATED WITH FIFTY COPPER PLATES. In three volumes. London: Printed by J. Crowder, for f. Johnson in St Paul’s Church- Yard M,DCC,XCI. (1 2mo.) The German edition of this book, “ Moralisches Elementarbuch ” was published in Leipzig in 1785, with seventy plates designed and engraved by Chodowiecki. Forty-nine of these were re-engraved for the present translation (by Mary Wollstonecraft), one of them (vol. ii. pi. 20) being somewhat altered from the original ; and two newly designed plates (vol. ii. pis. 27 & 28) were added. The whole set of fifty-one plates are commonly stated 1 to have been engraved by Blake, whom at least one authority 2 supposes also to have been the designer of the two additional subjects. One, only, of the series (vol. i. pi. 10) is signed, but not with Blake’s name. 3 It is possible, however, in some instances, to find more or less certain traces of his handiwork. In the list which follows, only those prints are included, which, in the present writer’s opinion, can with any degree of probability be assigned to him. The plates are all engraved in line. Their imprints are as follows: — Yol. i. Frontispiece, — Published by J. Johnson in St Paul's Church 7 ard, Oct 1 '. 1, 1790; the remainder, — Published by J. Johnson , Oct 1 '. 1, 1790. Vol. ii. pis. 16 & 27, — Published by J. Johnson , Oct 1 '. 1, 1790; the remainder, — Published by J. Johnson , Jan v . 1, 1791. Vol. iii. all, — Published by J. Johnson , March 15, 1791. The third (1792) edition of “The Elements of Morality” has the same plates as the first, a good deal touched up. . 1 By Gilchrist (see “ The Life,” ed. 1880, vol. i. p. 91) and others. 2 The author of the catalogue of works by Blake exhibited at the Grolier Club (New York) in 1905 : see p. 102 of the Catalogue. The present writer is unable to accept the attribution to Blake of the two designs in question. 3 A signature, reading “ W. P. C., fee*' 1780,” is very faintly engraved at the r. hand lower corner of the print. The initials cannot be those of the designer, which were D. N. C(hodowiecki) : they are therefore likely to represent the engraver of the plate, which differs from those for which Blake is responsible and cannot anyhow be attributed to him. 156 77 Volume I. 1 Health is dearer to me than a whole Sack full of Gold. PI. 2, vol. i. 413 X 2f in. ii Stop ! Stop ! PI. 5, vol. i. 4rfx2f in. iii There he is ! There comes our dear Father. PI. 6, vol. i. 4 f X 2^. iv Pompey is dead ! PL 8 , vol. i. 5 x 2| in. (Possibly, but not certainly, by Blake.) v Patience can soften every pain. PI. 9, vol. i. 5X2ff in. Vi Is THERE ANY HOPE ? PI. I 2, Vol. i. 4fX2±f in. (Possibly, but not certainly, by Blake.) vii Your Compassion has saved my life. PI. 13, vol. i. 5X2^1 in. (Possibly, but not certainly, by Blake.) viii I hate you! PI. 14, vol. i. 5ix2f in. (Probably by Blake.) ix If we love others, they will love us in return. PL 15, vol. i. 5nrX2i| in. (Possibly, but not certainly, by Blake.) Volume II. x An Idle Man will never be Content. PL 16, vol. ii. 4if x 2if in. (Possibly, but not certainly, by Blake.) Volume III. xi Welcome dear Henry, & good Catherine. PL 33, vol. iii. 4ri X 2f in. (Possibly, but not certainly, by Blake.) 1 57 77 A Wicked man is more to be pitied than a cripple. PL 37, vol. iii. Xl ' 4! x 2 1 in. xiii See how much good a Single man can do! PL 39, vol. iii. 4fx2§ in. (Possibly, but not certainly, by Blake.) xiv O God ! Thou art just ! PL 47, vol. iii. 4^X 2| in. (Possibly, but not certainly, by Blake.) 78 OBSERVATIONS ON MAN. BY DAVID HARTLEY, M.A. REPRINTED FROM THE AUTHOR’S EDITION IN 1749 Printed for J. Johnson, No. 72, St Paul’s Church-yard. MDCCXCI. (4to.) The frontispiece is a portrait of Hartley, engraved in line by Blake after Shackelton. David Hartley, M.A. From a painting, by Shackelton. Blake sc. Published by J. Johnson, in St Paul’s Church-yard, March 1st 1791. Oval, 5 |X 4 § in. Bust. Nearly full face, turned a little towards r. A man of middle age, with a shaven face and wearing a wig. The portrait was re-engraved by J. Heath for the 5th (1810) edition, with the following note by the publisher: — “For the use of a portrait from which an engraving has been taken by Mr Blake . . . the bookseller returns his thanks.” 79 (a) THE BOTANIC GARDEN; A POEM IN TWO PARTS London. Printed for J. Johnson. MDCCXCI. (4to.) A plate entitled “Fertilization of Egypt,” engraved in line by Blake after Fuseli, faces p. 127. H. Fuseli, R.A. inv. W. Blake sc. London, Publish’d Deer. 1st. 1791 by J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard. 7ffx6^ in. The print illustrates the lines : — “ High o’er his head the beams of Sirius glow, And, Dog of Nile, Anubis barks below.” Anubis, a colossal dog-headed figure, stands astride the Nile, turned 158 79 away from the spectator, with his hands uplifted to Sirius who shines above. A cistu/n lies near him upon the bank ( 1 .). In the background, an ancient, winged figure with outspread arms (a sort of storm-god or Jupiter Pluvius) broods over a cataract, upon which he causes lightning and torrential rain to descend. The Pyramids are in the distance to r. Blake’s own drawing, in India ink, for the engraving, together with the original sketch by Fuseli, both upon the same mount, are in the Print Room. The design is reversed in the drawing and the cistum is absent. The author of the poem was Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of the great biologist. (Z>) The Third Edition of the above. London. Printed for J. Johnson. MDCCXCV. Contains a second plate, entitled “ Tornado,” 1 engraved in line by Blake after Fuseli, facing p. 1 6 8 . H. Fuseli R.A. inv. W. Blake sc. London, Published Augt. ist 1795, by J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard. 8^ x 6 § in. The print illustrates the lines : — “ You seize Tornado by his locks of mist, Burst his dense clouds, his wheeling spires untwist ; Wide o’er the West when borne on headlong gales, Dark as meridian night, the Monster sails Howls high in air, and shakes his curled brow, Lashing with serpent-train the waves below, Whirls his black arm, the forked lightning flings, And showers a deluge from his demon-wings.” A nude demon of terrific aspect advances over a tempestuous sea, grasping the lightning in his right hand and with his left propelling the storm clouds. He is whirled along on the dark pinions of a huge sea horse, who seizes his locks from behind and enfolds one of his legs with the scaly coils of his tail. The execution is vigorous but the design fails to produce its intended impression of terror. The print is omitted in the fourth (8vo) edition (1799), which contains a reduced (5^x3^) copy in reverse of the “Fertilization of Egypt,” facing p. 145. Some plates, illustrating the Portland Vase, which occur in the various editions of the Botanic Garden are also sometimes given to Blake. They do not bear his signature, but may possibly be from his hand. 1 The subject given in the list of engravings in Gilchrist’s “Life” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. p. 283: — “apparently from the Scandinavian Mythology (Thor battering the serpent (?). Fuseli. Forcibly executed Plate 9 x i\ in.”), is probably intended for the above ; if so, both subject and measurements are wrongly given. '59 80 FABLES BY JOHN GAY. EMBELLISHED WITH SEVENTY PLATES London. Printed for John Stockdale, 1793 . (2 vols. ; 8 vo.) Twelve of the plates, illustrating the following fables, are engraved and perhaps also designed by Blake. Each is signed : — Blake sc. Volume I. i Introduction to the Fables. The Shepherd and the Philosopher 3X3f in - ii Fable VI. The Miser and Plutus 3X3H in> iii Fable XIII. The Tame Stag 3X3l in - iv Fable XVI. The Pin and the Needle 3 x 3re in - v Fable XXII. The Goat without a Beard 3x3! in. vi Fable XXIV. The Butterfly and the Snail 3 ts x 3s in. vii Fable XXVIII. The Persian, the Sun, and the Cloud 3 x 3l in * viii Fable XXX. The Setting-dog and the Partridge 3 x 3rf j n- ix Fable XLI. The Owl and the Farmer 3X3fe in- Volume II. x Fable I. The Dog and the Fox 3rs x 3§ in. xi Fable XII. Pan and Fortune 80 Fable XVI. The Ravens, the Sexton, and the Earth-worm XH 3 r« x 3 H in - Six unfinished proofs of plates from the Fables were exhibited at the Boston exhibition of Blake’s works of 1891. 1 The Print Room has proofs of Nos. i. and ii. Blake’s designs were re-engraved, in an oval form, by another hand, for a smaller edition of the Fables, also published by Stockdale. 81 ANECDOTES OF MARY; OR, THE GOOD GOVERNESS. BY THE AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF THE DAVENPORT FAMILY London: Printed for E. Newberry, Corner of St Paul’s Church-Yard. M,DCC,XCV. The frontispiece (which has no name either of designer or engraver and is without imprint) is probably engraved by Blake. The Pleasures of Benevolence. Frontispiece. See p. 74, vol. i. Line; 5 i>< 3 in- Mary enters a garret and beholds a sick pauper wrapped in a blanket and crouched upon some straw in a corner of the room, with his wife’s arms thrown about his neck. 82 (CATULLUS AND NEPOS. Frontispieces) i C: Val: Catullus. Apud effigiem antiquam curiae senatus VERONENSI SUPERPOSITAM Xaverius Della Rosa, Veronae, delin. Blake sculpsit. London, Published March 19, 1795 by J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yd. Stipple ; 6^ e x 3jf in. Catullus is represented as a young man, with his hair falling in curls about his neck and an incipient beard ; he holds a book. Lettered in the right hand upper corner : — “ Frontispiece to Vol. I.” The author has been unable to trace the work for which this and the following portraits were engraved as frontispieces. A reproduction of the “ Catullus ” appears, under Blake’s name, as the frontispiece to Burton and Smithers’s “ Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus” (London: 1894). A note in the Introduction states that, “ The frontispiece to this volume is reproduced from the statue which stands over the Palazzo de Consiglio, the Council House at Verona, which is the only representation of Catullus extant.” 1 Museum of Fine Arts, Print Department. “Exhibition of Books, W r ater Colors, Engravings, etc., by W r illiam Blake,’’ 1891, p. 32, No. no (a). L 161 82 Cornel: Nepos. Apud effigiem antiquam curiae senatus veronensi ii SUPERPOSITAM Xaverius Della Rosa, Veronae, delin. Blake sculpsit. London, Published March 19, 1795, by J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard. Stipple ; 6J-J X4i in. Lettered in the right hand upper corner: — “Frontispiece to Vol. 2.” 83 JOHN BROWN, M.D. 1 Donaldson Pinxh Blake sculp 4 . London, Published May 1, 1795 by J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard. Line; oval, 5^x4^ in. Ilead and shoulders. Three quarter face to r. A man of past middle age, with a shaven face and wearing a wig. 84 NARRATIVE, OF A FIVE YEARS’ EXPEDITION, AGAINST THE REVOLTED NEGROES OF SURINAM, IN GUIANA . . . FROM THE YEAR 1772 TO 1777: BY CAPTN. J. G. STEDMAN. ILLUS- TRATED WITH 80 ELEGANT ENGRAVINGS, FROM DRAWINGS MADE BY THE AUTHOR London. Printed by J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard, & J. Edwards, Pall Mall, 1796. (2 vols. 4to.) Thirteen of the plates are marked, Blake Sculp *. and with the exception of Nos. ii., xii. and xv. (where the date of publication is Dec 1 '. I st . 1792), bear the imprint, London , Published Deer. 'id. 1793 ty J ’. Johnson , Si PauPs Church Tard. Nos. vii. and xiii., which have the same imprint, but are unsigned, appear also to be from Blake’s hand. All are line engravings. Volume I. i Coromantyn Free Negro, or Ranger, armed. (Facing p. 80) 7 bP 5 % in - ii A Negro hung alive by the Ribs to a Gallows. (Facing p. 110) in- in A Private Marine of Col. Fourgeoud’s Corps. (Facing p. 166) 7 11 x 5 § in. iv The Mecoo & Kishee Kishee Monkeys. (Facing p. 166) 7 \ x 5 tV in- 1 B. 1735, d. 1788 ; founder of the “ Brunonian ” system of medicine. 162 84 The Skinning of the Aboma Snake, shot by Cap. Stedman. (Facing v p. 1 74 ) 7tV x 5 t<5l in - xv Europe supported by Africa & America. (Facing p. 394) 7 T 6 X 5 fV in. Some later editions of the work have the plates in colour. 85 THOUGHTS ON OUTLINE, SCULPTURE, AND THE SYSTEM THAT GUIDED THE ANCIENT ARTISTS IN COMPOSING THEIR FIGURES AND GROUPES. TO WHICH ARE ANNEXED TWENTY-FOUR DESIGNS OF CLASSICAL SUBJECTS IN- VENTED ON THE PRINCIPLES RECOMMENDED IN THE ESSAY BY GEORGE CUMBERLAND London. Printed by W. Wilson, St Peter’s-Hill, Doctor’s-Commons ; And sold by Messrs : Robinson, Paternoster-Row ; and T. Egerton, Whitehall. MDCCXCVI. ( 4 to.) 163 85 Eight of the plates were engraved by Blake after Cumberland’s designs. The following reference to Blake’s share in the work occurs in the Appendix (p. 47) : — “ . . . One thing may be asserted of this work, which can be said of few others that have passed the hands of an engraver, which is, that Mr. Blake has condescended to take upon him the laborious office of making them, I may say, fac-similes of my originals : a compliment, from a man of his extraordinary genius and abilities, the highest, I believe, I shall ever receive ; — and I am indebted to his generous partiality for the instruction which encouraged me to execute a great part of the plates myself; enabling me thereby to reduce considerably the price of my book.” The “Thoughts on Outline” are mentioned by Blake in several of his letters. 1 For a notice of the author, see No. 36. i 1 2. Psyche Disobeys From an original Invention by G. Cumberland. Eng d . by W. Blake. Publish’d as the Act directs November 5, 1794. Line; oval, 45X5! in. Cupid reclines, naked, upon a bed, made in the form of a bow. Psyche, also naked, bends over him with a lamp. The figures are done in outline against a dark background. ii 1 3. Psyche Repents From the original Invention by G. Cumberland. Eng d . by W. Blake. Publish’d as the Act directs Nov r . 5, 1794. Line; oval, 4^x in. Psyche clings to one of Cupid’s ankles, as he flies from her, carrying his bow and quiver. Outline, against a dark background. iii 14. Venus Councels Cupid From an original Invention by G. Cumberland. Eng d . by W. Blake. Publish’d as the Act directs. Nov. 5, 1794. Outline engraving; 5 | x 4 § in- Venus, seated, looks up into her son’s eyes who stands beside her (r.) with his arm thrown round her neck ; he has a flower in his left hand ; his quiver hangs upon a sapling (1.). iv 15. The Conjugal Union of Cupid From an original Invention by G. Cumberland. Eng d . by W. Blake. Publish’d as the Act directs, Nov. 5, 1794. Outline engraving; 5 t irX 4 i in. 1 See “ The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell, Methuen, 1906, pp. 53, 54, 56, 66, 70. 164 85 Cupid stands ( 1 .) with his hands bound to a tree stump. Psyche (with iv wings) floats above him (r.). v 1 6. Cupid & Psyche From an original Invention by G. Cumberland. Eng d . by W. Blake. Publish’d as the Act directs, Nov r . 5. 1794. Outline engraving; 6|x 8| in. Cupid reclines, naked, upon a couch, with his head resting upon a quiver of arrows. Psyche, a draped figure holding a lamp, sits before a window beyond, gazing upon him. vi Iron Age “ Then cursed steel Sc more accursed gold Gave mischief birth & made that mischief bold.” Ovid, Iron Age. From an original Invention by G. Cumberland. Eng d . by W. Blake. Publish’d as the Act directs Nov r . 5. 1794. Outline engraving; 5|xql in. A kneeling woman clasps the knees of a stern male figure, with a sceptre ( 1 .) ; a satyr seizes her by the hair behind. Beyond, a woman brandishes a torch. To r. another satyr-like figure with a poniard, is held back by a nymph. vii Aristophanes clouds. Scene I. From an original Invention by G. C. Eng d . by W. B. Publish’d January 1, 1 795. Outline engraving ; 5fx8|-in. Strepsiades, a half-draped figure, sits up in the middle of a couch, reading a book. Pheidippides, wrapped in fleeces, lies asleep on the same couch (r.). An attendant stands over a lamp ( 1 .). The figures are lettered above in Greek characters, — Therapon, Strepsiades and Pheidippides. viii Anacreon. Ode LII. From an original Invention by G. C. Eng d . by W. B. Publish’d Jan y . 1, 1795. Outline; 4^x6^ in. A bacchanalian scene takes place in and around a sarcophagus. Two male figures stand inside the sarcophagus. One of them brandishes a thyrsus. Another seizes a satyr who sits on the ground outside, by the beard. A female figure (r.) is being lifted out of the sarcophagus by a winged youth. The front of the sarcophagus is decorated with a couple of dolphins. 165 85 The Print Room has two sheets of studies in pen and ink of classical viii figures by Blake, with inscriptions by Tatham connecting them with this volume. 86 ELEMENTS OF ALGEBRA, BY LEONARD EULER. TRANS- LATED FROM THE FRENCH In two volumes. (8vo.) London : printed for J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church-Yard, 1 797. A head of Euler, engraved by Blake from a medallion, serves as frontispiece to Volume I. Leonard Euler 1 Blake sculp. From a Medallion, as large as life, by Ruchotte, in the possession of John Wilmot Esq 1 . Stipple and line; q§X2| in. Head and neck. Profile, facing 1 . ; a shaven face, with rather coarse features and a double chin. Mentioned in a letter to Hayley, dated 4th May 1804. 2 “Mr Flaxman agrees with me that somewhat more than outline is necessary to the execution of Romney’s designs. ... I should propose to etch them in a rapid but firm manner ; somewhat, perhaps, as I did the e Head of Euler.’ ” 87 THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE AND BRITISH REGISTER FOR 1797. FROM JULY TO DECEMBER, INCLUSIVE Vol. IV. London. Printed for R. Phillips, No. 71, and sold by J. Johnson, No. 7 2 St Paul’s Church-yard, 1798. A portrait, engraved by Blake, of Joseph Wright of Derby, faces p. 289 (in the number for October). The late Mr Wright of Derby. 3 For The Monthly Magazine. Sept. 1797. Blake: s. Line ; 3§x2§in. Bust. Three-quarter face, looking to r. ; a shaven face, with lips slightly parted. The portrait is accompanied by 5! pp. of text, headed : — “ Memoirs of the Life and principal Works of the late Joseph Wright, Esq. of Derby.” 1 Leonard Euler (1707-1783) Swiss mathematician, physicist and astronomer. 2 See “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell (1906), p. 154. 3 Joseph Wright of Derby (b. 1734; d. 1797), painter of portraits, and of conversational and historical subjects ; his reputation was largely made by his fire or candlelight pieces. 166 88 A NEW AND IMPROVED ROMAN HISTORY. BY CHARLES ALLEN, A.M. EMBELLISHED WITH FOUR COPPER PLATES The second edition, London: printed for J. Johnson, No. 72 St Paul’s Church-yard. 1798. (i2mo.) The four plates are engraved by Blake after designs in the manner of Fuseli. Nos. i. and iv. are signed, Blake s . ; Nos. ii. and iii., Blake sc. All are imprinted, London , Published Deer. 1, 1797 by I. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard. i Mars and Rhea Silvia. P. 2 5 t x 3-nr in. ii The Death of Lucretia. P. 33 5 t x 3 l in - iii C. Marius at Minturnum. P. i 74 5|x3 e tV in. iv The Death of Cleopatra. P. 292 5 f x 3 t« in - The prints have little interest either from the point of view of design or engraving. 89 A NEW AND IMPROVED HISTORY OF ENGLAND. BY CHARLES ALLEN, A.M. AUTHOR OF THE ROMAN HISTORY, &c. EMBELLISHED WITH FOUR COPPER PLATES The Second Edition, 1 London: Printed for J. Johnson, No. 72, St Paul’s Church-yard. 1798. (i2mo.) Contains four plates engraved in line by Blake ; each bearing the imprint: London: Published Dec r . 1. 1797 by J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard. i Alfred and the Neat-herd’s Wife. P. i 5 Blake : s. 5|x 3! in. Alfred sits ( 1 .), with a bow in his hand and a big feather in his hat. A quiver of arrows hangs on a peg over his head. The angry housewife enters (r.) and angrily points to the burning cakes (r.). 1 The first edition (1793) is without plates. 167 89 King John absolved by Pandulf. P. 78 Blake, sc. 5rix 3J in. The King kneels, Jin front, before the Cardinal, who sits in a throne above him ( 1 .). Beyond, in front of a colonnade, stand two bishops and other figures. iii Wat Tyler and the Tax-gatherer. P. 128 Blake: s. 5f X3fV in. Wat Tyler brandishes a hammer over the prostrate form of the tax- gatherer. His scared daughter makes off to 1 . iv Queen Elizabeth and Essex. P. 224 Blake : s. 5 fix 3^ in. Elizabeth (r.), with a grand gesture, dismisses Essex from her presence. He sheaths his sword as he goes, looking towards the queen. A female attendant stands behind the queen (r.) and to 1. behind is a man. An archway, with trees beyond, in the background. 90 THE POETRY OF VARIOUS GLEES, SONGS, &c., AS PER- FORMED AT THE HARMONISTS London : Printed at the Philanthropic Reform, London-Road, St George’s Fields, 1798. (Sm. 4to.) The frontispiece is engraved by Blake. Harmonists (Frontispiece). Blake sc: ’Change Alley. 1 6ix4§ in. A group of three infant angels sits among clouds, singing from a book of music. Three other books (one of them lettered Catches Glees ) lie by their side. Above the word “Harmonists” is inscribed on clouds. At the top is a lyre wreathed with bay, with the head of an angel or muse above it. 91 A LETTER TO THE COMMITTEE FOR RAISING THE NAVAL PILLAR OR MONUMENT, BY JOHN FLAXMAN, SCULPTOR London 1799. (A 4to pamphlet, issued in bluish grey paper wrappers.) Contains three plates engraved by Blake. 1 An example of the book, shown to the writer by his friend, Mr Keynes, has the print so signed; it is unsigned in that in the British Museum. The address “’Change Alley,” which will be found to recur upon the prints numbered 93 and 103 below, is not Blake’s own, but probably that of the printer with whom he worked on these occasions. 168 91 A Colossal Statue 230 feet high : proposed to be erected on Greenwich i hill. Frontispiece. Blake sculp. Line; 7§X5| in. The following explanation of the plate is given at the end of the pamphlet : — “ Statue of Britannia Triumphant, with its pedestal and basement, 230 feet high; the pedestal decorated with the Portraits of His Majesty, and the Naval Heroes, Howe, St Vincent, Duncan, Nelson, &c., with wreaths of laurel on the altars, at the corners of the basement, to contain the names of Captains, &c.” The base of the statue is lettered: — “Britannia by Divine Providence Triumphant.” A scale of feet is given on the r. side. ii Plate 2. 1. Obelisk. 2. Column. 3. Meta. 4. Arch. 5. Pharos. 6. Temple. 7|x 5H in. A sheet of six outline designs illustrating the various forms of monument. iii A View of Greenwich Hospital with the Statue of Britannia on the Hill. 3ft X 7 § in. 92 REV. JOHN CASPAR LAVATER: OF ZURICH. BORN 1741. DIED 1801 Blake sculpt. Pubd. May 1. 1800, by J. Johnson, in Saint-Paul’s Church Yard, London, from a Drawing in his possession, taken in 1787. Line; an oval measuring io|x8| in., within an engraved mount 1 1 x 9§ in. Profile, facing 1 . A shaven face, with a noble outline and keen intellectual eyes. He wears a skull-cap. Mr W. M. Rossetti writes of this portrait 1 : — “A superb and masterly example. As an engraver merely, Blake ranks high on the strength of this plate alone. The lines of the face are especially noteworthy for their skilful play, firmness and delicacy,” 93 FOR THE NAVAL MONUMENT. WEDNESDAY, 28 MAY, 1800. Blake sc. ’Change Alley. 2 Line; 8|x5f in. An obelisk, with a medallion of the King’s head upon it, is set upon a sea-girt rock. In front of it stands an angel with a trumpet, surrounded 1 See Gilchrist’s “ Life ” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. p. 282. 2 For a note on this address, see No. 90 above. 169 93 by cherubs, three of whom unfold a scroll inscribed : — “ God Save The King.” A violin and some music, together with guns, shot, and an anchor lie upon the ground in front of the monument. A ticket of admission to a concert at the opera house in aid of the funds for erecting a naval column at Greenwich ; from Flaxman’s design. An example printed in red was shown at the exhibition of Blake’s works at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, in 1891 (No. 136); the Print Room has an impression in black. 94 AN ESSAY ON SCULPTURE: IN A SERIES OF EPISTLES TO JOHN FLAX MAN, ESCX R.A. BY WILLIAM HAYLEY, ES^ London. Printed by A. Strahan, Printers Street; For T. Cadell jun. and W. Davies, in the Strand. 1800. Contains three plates engraved by Blake. i Pericles, from a Bust in the Possession of Charles Townley Esq. To face the Title (Without signature). Publish’d June 14, 1800 by Cadell & Davis, Strand. Line. A circular medallion 2 in. in diam., within a wreath. Bust, wearing a helmet; in profile, facing 1 . Mentioned in a letter to Hayley, dated 6th May 1800: — “ 1 have also sent a proof of “Pericles” for your remarks. . . .” ii The Death of Demosthenes. To face page 126 “ He views this Outrage with indignant Eyes, And at the Base of Neptune’s Statue dies.” Epistle 5, verse 61. T. H. invenit. W. Blake sc. Outline engraving; 5 x71k in. Demosthenes sinks into the arms of a youth ( 1 .) before the base of the statue which is lettered, in Greek letters, Poseidoni. To r. there are three soldiers, with helmets, spears and shields. T. FL, the designer of the print, is Flayley’s son, Thomas, the subject of the medallion below. iii Thomas Hayley, the Disciple of John Flaxman from a Medallion. To face page 163 Blake sc. Published June 14, 1800 by Cadell & Davis, Strand. Stipple and line ; circular, in. (diam.). Profile, facing 1 . The youth has long thick hair falling to his shoulders. From a medallion by Flaxman. Thomas Alphonso Hayley, the natural son of William Hayley, was born 5th October 1780 and died early in 170 . '// //•'/■> /'rr / /'O. • //.■• // / sy * > _ /sro/rf } '//>// . Plate 31 PORTRAIT OF MICHELANGELO From Fuseli's “ Lectures on Painting,” i£oi. (95) 94 1800. He was the pupil of Flaxman, who afterwards executed a memorial iii of him in Eartham Church. In a letter to Hayley, dated ist April 1800, Blake alludes to his rendering of the medallion as “my attempt to express your or our much beloved’s countenance ” ; and on 6th May following, enclosing a proof, he adds — “ I send the shadow of the departed angel, and hope the likeness is improved. The lips I have again lessened as you advise, and done a good many other softenings to the whole.” Mr B. B. Macgeorge of Glasgow, in a volume of miscellaneous Blake items, has a carefully finished pencil drawing of the youth, also by Blake; it is not, however, connected with the medallion. The drawing of the medallion from which Blake executed his engraving is said by Gilchrist 1 to have been furnished by Howard. 95 LECTURES ON PAINTING, DELIVERED AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY MARCH 1801, BY HENRY FUSELI, P.P. WITH ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS AND NOTES London: Printed for J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church-yard. 1801. (4to.) The tail-piece to the third and last lecture (p. 151) is engraved by Blake, after a design presumably by Fuseli. It is lettered beneath: — “ Ancora imparo. M : Angelo Bonarroti.” Blake sc. Line ; 4fix 2yi in. The aged Michelangelo, with bent head and with a staff in his left hand, walks towards the r., turning an intent visionary gaze towards the spectator. The Coliseum appears in the background. The likeness is based upon well-known portraits, but the strength and awe which mingle in the eyes are peculiarly Blake’s own and serve to mark the character of him whom he considered the greatest of all visionary artists ; and even if the design be Fuseli’s, as seems to be the case, the print still remains an original and striking example of Blake’s work as an engraver. The design of a vignette upon the title-page (a bowed female figure, representing “ Silence ” ) engraved by F. Legat, sometimes ascribed to Blake, is by Fuseli. 96 THE LIFE AND POSTHUMOUS WRITINGS, OF WILLIAM COWPER, ESQ^ BY WILLIAM HAYLEY, ESCh Chichester: Printed by J. Seagrave; For J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church- Yard, London. 1803 (-1804). (3 vols. 4to.) 1 The “ Life ” (ed. 1880), vol. 1. p. 143. 171 96 Contains six plates engraved by Blake. Vol. I. i William Cowper. “ Carmine Nobilem.” Hor : (Frontispiece) From a portrait in Crayons Drawn from the Life by Romney in 1792. Engraved by W. Blake 1802. Publish’d Novembr. 5, 1802 by J. Johnson St Paul’s Church Yard. Line; 7 re X 5xi in. Bust, three-quarter face, looking towards 1 . ; wearing a white cap. The drawing was made by Romney while on a visit to Hayley at Eartham in 1792, and was the inspiration of Cowper’s sonnet “ To George Romney, Esq.” It has lately been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery. Blake also made a miniature copy of it, which is now in the possession of Canon Cowper Johnson ; it is alluded to in a letter from Hayley to Romney, dated 3rd February 1801 1 : — I have taught him (Blake), he says, to paint in miniature, and in truth he has made a very creditable copy from your admirable portrait of the dear departed bard, from which he will also make an engraving.” The drawing by Romney was re-engraved by Caroline Watson for the frontispiece of the 8vo edition of the “Life” (1805). ii Mrs Cowper, Mother of the Poet. (Facing p. 4) D. Heins Pinx. W. Blake sculpt. Publish’d Novembr. 5, 1802 by J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard. Line ; 6 A- x 5W in- An oval, in an oblong frame. Bust, full face, slightly turned towards 1 . In a low dress, with her hair falling over her shoulders. Vol. II. iii William Cowper — Author of “The Task.” (Frontispiece) T. Lawrence R.A. ad vivum del., 1 793 * W. Blake sculp. 1802. Chalk engraving ; 9^ x 61 in. An engraving in imitation of the original drawing. Bust, face, looking towards 1.; wearing a cap. Mentioned in a letter to Playley, dated 20th September 1804. 2 iv The Pheasant’s Nest. Cowper’s tame Hares. (Vignette on p. 415) Blake d. & sc. Publish’d Nov. 5, 1802 by J, Johnson St Paul’s Church Yard. 1 See “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell, 1906, p. 87. 2 Ibid. p. 167. 172 96 Vol. III. v A View of St Edmund’s Chapel, in the Church of East Dereham, Containing the Grave of William Cowper, Esqre. (Frontispiece) Francis Stone del. W. Blake sculp. Publish’d by J. Johnson, St Paul’s, 25 March, 1804. Line; 7fx5§ in. Alluded to in a letter from Flaxman to Hayley, dated 2nd January 1 804 ; 1 and on the 23rd February following, Blake himself wrote to Flayley 2 : — “ The plates of Cowper’s monument are both in great forwardness, and you shall have proofs in another week. I assure you that I will not spare pains, and am myself very much satisfied that I shall do my duty and produce two elegant plates. There is, however, a great deal of work in them that must and will have time.” vi A Sketch of the Monument Erected in the Church of East Dereham in Norfolk, In Memory of William Cowper Esq re . (Facing p. 416) Etch’d by W. Blake from the original Model by John Flaxman Esq r ., Sculptor to his Majesty. Publish’d by J. Johnson, St Paul’s, 25 March, 1804. A good many references to Blake’s work of engraving and to his collection of material for the ‘‘Life of Cowper” will be found in his letters. 3 The work was begun at Felpham. On the 11th September 1801 he wrote : — “ My principal labour at this time is engraving plates for Cowper’s ‘ Life.’ ” The plates for the third volume were undertaken after his return to London, and on the 1 8 th March 1804, he wrote to his employer: — “Engraving is eternal work. The two plates are almost finished. You will receive proofs of them from Lady Hesketh,” — “whose copy of Cowper’s ‘ Letters,”’ he adds, “ought to be printed in letters of gold and ornamented with jewels of Heaven, Havillah, Eden, and all the countries where jewels abound.” 97 THE TRIUMPHS OF TEMPER. A POEM : IN SIX CANTOS. BY WILLIAM HAYLEY, ESQ. WITH NEW ORIGINAL DESIGNS, BY MARIA FLAXMAN The twelfth edition, corrected. Chichester: Printed by J. Seagrave; For T. Cadell and W. Davies, Strand, London, 1803. (8vo.) Contains six plates, engraved in line, by Blake after Maria Flaxman’s designs. 1 See “The Letters of William Blake,” p. 133. 2 Ibid. p. 145. 3 Ibid. pp. xxx. 30, 87,93, 133, 145-6, 155, 160, 1 8 x . US 97 Canto I. Verse 29 (facing p. 2). 1 Maria Flaxman inv. & del. W. Blake sculp. Publish’d May 1, 1803, by Cadell & Davies, Strand. 4 §X 3 in. Sir Gilbert sits (r.) beneath a tree in an arm-chair, with a book. Serena brings him fruit in a basket. A lily grows by her side ( 1 .). Trees in background. ii Canto II. Verse 471 (facing p. 48) (etc., as in No. i.) 4 To X 3 t-6 in- Serena kneels in prayer, at her toilet-table. A lamp burns r. upon a stand. To 1 . is her bed, with a chair beside it. iii Canto III. Verse 201 (facing p- ^5 5 ) (etc., as No. i., but with sc. instead of sculp.') 4^x3! in. Serena, with folded hands, enters the cavern of Spleen, which is filled with evil spirits. iv Canto IV. Verse 328 (facing p. 97) (etc., as in No. i.) 4 re>< 2 u in- Serena (r.) sits with her parents ( 1 .) at a tea-table by a wandow ( 1 .). She turns away from the table and hangs her head reflectively over a volume of Chesterfield’s speeches which lies open upon a chair beside her. v Canto V. Verse 43 (facing p. 105) (etc., as in No. i.) 4 fe X 3! in. Quiet descends ( 1 .) on faery wings, bearing a filmy mantle which falls upon the sleeping Serena. Curtains part on either side of the design. vi Canto VI. Verse 294 (facing p. 154) (etc., as in No. i.) 4^x3! in. Serena at the masquerade. She removes her mask. A dark figure in bear skins and holding a club stands by her. Other figures in fancy dress, behind. Maria was half-sister to John FJaxman. In a letter to Butts, dated 10th 174 97 Jan. 1802 Blake writes:— “I am now engaged in engraving six small vi plates for a new edition of Mr Hayley’s ‘Triumphs of Temper,’ from drawings by Maria Flaxman, sister to my friend the sculptor.” Large paper copies of the book are occasionally met with. 98 (PORTRAIT OF ROMNEY) (? 1804.) A portrait of Romney was engraved by Blake for Hayley’s “ Life of Romney” (1809). It was, however, in the end rejected, and the task of engraving the portraits for the book was handed over to Caroline Watson. The author has been unsuccessful in his search for an example of Blake’s print. He was at w'ork upon it in the years 1803-4, and often alludes to it in his letters of that date. On 7th October 1803, he writes to Hayley : — “ I lose no moment to complete Romney to satisfaction,” and again on the 26th of the same month : — “ I go on finishing Romney with spirit.” On 23rd February following, he speaks of having shown his portrait to Daniel Braithwaite (one of Romney’s patrons) w r ho “knew it immediately and assured me he thought it a very great likeness,” adding later in the same letter: — “Mrs Flaxman and her sisters gave also their testimony to my likeness of Romney.” In a letter of 20th September 1804, he promises Hayley shall soon see a proof of the “ Head of Romney ” “ in a very advanced state.” . . . “ I have not yet proved it,” he explains, “ but soon shall, when I will send you one.” We learn from another letter to the same patron (dated 12th December 1804), that Blake made “a very high finished drawing of Romney” as a study for his engraving; “Flaxman,” he says, “is very much satisfied, and says that when my print is like that I need wish it no better, and I am determined to make it so at least.” The drawing turned up in a sale at Sotheby’s of 29th April 1862 (included, with several other drawings by Blake, in Lot 178 : purchased by a Mr Ford for 13s.), but has since disappeared. 99 SHAKESPEARE, EDITED BY ALEXANDER CHALMERS, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY FUSELI. Rivington. 1805 (10 vols. 8vo) Two of Fuseli’s designs, “Queen Katharine’s Dream” 1 (vol. vii., facing p. 235) and “Romeo and the Apothecary” (vol. x., facing p. 107) are engraved in line by Blake. 1 A painting by Fuseli of this subject was exhibited at the Academy in 1781. 175 99 Katharine, Griffiths & Patience. King Henry VIII., Act IV. Sc. II. “ Kath. Spirits of peace , where are ye ? Are ye all gone ? " Fuseli inv. Blake sculp. Publish’d May 12, 1804, by F. & C. Rivington, St Paul’s Church Yard.6x6 x 3§ in. The Queen awakes, as the spirits vanish. The feet of two of them are seen disappearing high up on the 1 . Patience, seated upon the ground (r.) by the bedside, telling her beads, looks up at her. The aged Griffiths is asleep over a book in a chair (r.). ii (Romeo and the Apothecary.) Romeo and Juliet, Act I. 1 Sc, I. “ Enter Apothecary Romeo. Come hither Man. — I see that thou art poor : Hold, there' s forty ducats : — ” FI. Fuseli R.A. inv. W. Blake sc. Publish’d by C. & F. Rivington. London. Jan. 14, 1804. 6^x3! i n * Romeo, entering r., in a plumed hat, holds up a purse before the apothecary (h), who eyes him keenly. The latter is a short lean figure, meanly clad, with a prominent nose and projecting chin and eyebrows; he holds a knife in one hand and a sprig of herbs in the other. A stuffed alligator hangs in the window, and other properties deemed suitable to an apothecary are seen about the room. The two prints for Fuseli’s Shakespeare are several times alluded to by Blake in his letters. On the 26th October 1803 he writes to Flayley : — “I have got to work after Fuseli for a little Shakespeare” ; and on the 23rd February following he forwards to him “ the twenty- two numbers of Fuseli’s Shakespeare that are out.” We learn from another letter to Flayley (dated 22nd June 1804) that he was paid five and twenty guineas each for the plates. On the 28th December 1804, he again speaks of them in a letter to Hayley : — “ I feel very much gratified at your approval of my “ Queen Catherine ” : beg to observe that the print of “Romeo and the Apothecary” annexed to your copy is a shamefully worn-out impression, but it was the only one I could get at Johnson’s. I left a good impression of it when I left Felpham last in one of Fleath’s Shakespeare : you will see that it is not like the same plate with the worn-out impression.” 100 THE ILIAD OF HOMER. ENGRAVED FROM THE COMPOSI- TIONS OF JOHN FLAXMAN R.A. SCULPTOR, LONDON London : printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme . . . (etc., etc.), March 1, 1805. (Oblong folio.) 1 Misprint for Act V. 176 100 Three of the plates in this (the second) edition are engraved by Blake. The plates in the first edition (1793) are all engraved by Piroli. i Homer invoking the Muse. I. 1. Plate 1 “ Achilles wrath to Greece the direful spring, Of woes unnumbered heavenly goddess sing ! ” Pope’s “Homer’s Iliad.” Blake sculp. 6fx9^ in. ii Minerva repressing the Fury of Achilles. Plate 2 “ While half unsheath’d appear’d the glittering blade, Minerva swift descended from above.” Pope’s “ Homer’s Iliad,” Book I. line 260. Blake sculp. 6|x xof- in. iii Thetis entreating Jupiter to honor Achilles. I. 511. Plate 5 “ Thus Thetis spoke but Jove in silence held The sacred councils of his breast conceal’d.” Pope’s “ Homer’s Iliad,” Book I. line 662. Blake sculp. 6-fix 8^ in. The “Homer” is twice alluded to in Blake’s “Letters.” In a letter addressed to Hayley, dated 2nd April 1804/ he writes: — “There is now in hand a new edition of Flaxman’s Homer , with additional designs, two of which I am now engraving ” ; and in another to the same, dated 4th May 1 804 2 : — “The price I receive for engraving Flaxman’s outlines of Homer is five guineas each.” 3 101 AN INQUIRY INTO THE REQUISITE CULTIVATION AND PRESENT STATE OF THE ARTS OF DESIGN IN ENGLAND. BY PRINCE HOARE London: Printed for Richard Phillips, no. 6, Bridge-Street, Blackfriars. By B. McMillan, Bow-Street, Covent-Garden. 1806. (8vo). Frontispiece by Blake, after Reynolds. 1 See “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell (1906), p. 147 (No. 34). 2 Ibid. p. 134 (No. 37). 3 Cp., also, an unpublished letter from Flaxman to Hayley, dated 1st May 1804 : — “ Mr Blake is to have from 5 to 6 guineas each from Messrs Longman & Rees for the plates of Homer, according to the labour.” M 177 101 The “ Graphic Muse ” S r . Josh a . Reynolds pinxt. Blake sc. Pub d . Feb y . 21, 1806, by R. Phillips, No. 6, Bridge Street, Blackfriars. Outline engraving; 3^x3^ in. The “ Graphic Muse ” is represented enthroned upon clouds, holding a scroll, marked “ Theory,” 1 in her right hand. Underneath the print these lines are inscribed : — . To explore What lovlier forms in Nature’s boundless store Are best to Art allied ...” It is also stated below that the design was — “ Sketched from the Picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds on the ceiling of the Library of the Royal Academy.” This painting, long ago removed from its original situation in Somerset House, hung until recently in the Diploma Gallery at Burlington House and has now been transferred to the Council Chamber. An account of the present volume and its frontispiece was contributed by Miss Katharine A. McDowall to The Burlington Magazine , No. x., pp. 113-115. 2 Its author, Prince Hoare, the painter, is several times sympathetically spoken of by Blake in his letters. 102 THE LIFE OF GEORGE ROMNEY, ESQ^ BY WILLIAM HAYLEY, ESCh Chichester : Printed by W. Mason, For T. Payne, Pall-Mall, London. 1809. (d-to.) Sketch of a Shipwreck, after Romney. (Facing p. 84.) Engraved by Blake. Published April 14th 1809 by Thomas Payne, Pall Mall. Line; 5^x7 in. From an oil sketch by Romney illustrating a story told in the travels of Thunberg, of a horseman, named Woltemad, at the Cape of Good Hope, rescuing from the sea the sufferers in a shipwreck. Blake’s letters contain a number of references to matters connected with Hayley’s “ Life of Romney,” 3 for which he was employed in the collection of material as well as in the capacity of engraver. In a letter to Hayley of 22nd June 1804 4 he speaks of Romney’s original sketch of the “Shipwreck” as being already in his hands; by the 20th 1 In the original, the legend upon the scroll reads: — “Theory is the knowledge of what is truly Nature.” 2 The volume is, however, by no means either so rare or so little known as it is there stated to be. 3 See “The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell, 1906, pp. 130-190 (passim ). 4 See p. 164 of “The Letters.” 178 102 September his print was practically finished 1 and on the 18th December a proof was sent to his employer. 2 A few finishing touches were added a year later, before the return of the sketch to its owner, Mr Sanders. 3 Blake seems to have taken Fittler’s dull illustrations of Falconer’s poem of “The Shipwreck” (1804) as his model, 4 and it is certain that he took immense pains to adapt himself to the taste of his patron. 5 The result is a laborious piece of work which is in no way characteristic of his genius. Blake also engraved a portrait of Romney for the “ Life ” ; it was not, however, made use of (see No. 99). 103 TICKET OF ADMISSION. THE COMPANY OF PROPRIETORS OF THE WEST MIDDLESEX WATER WORKS Blake sc. ’Change Alley. Line; 8 §x 6 ^ w in. The ticket is designed in imitation of a monumental slab. It is inscribed at the top: — “The Company of Proprietors of the West Middlesex Water Works. Opened on the 4th Deer. 1809, being the 50th year of the Reign of his Majesty George 3rd.” Below the inscription is a small design (measuring 2^x35 in.) representing a bearded water-god, with a wreath upon his head, sitting naked under a tree by the source from which the water issues; a draped nymph, with wings upon her head, presents him with a scroll ; a pile of water-pipes lies beyond, and in the background there are some houses and a church steeple. Underneath is the legend : — “ Fontes Perennis Aquae.” The lower part of the ticket is occupied with a list of Directors, and the Chief Clerk’s name appears in the r. hand corner of the base. 104 THE RIGHT HON. EARL SPENCER 6 (Engraved by Blake after T. Phillips R. A.) (?c. i8n.)Line; ni|X9 | in. Bust, three-quarter face looking to 1. A shaven face, strong and full of character. He wears a white necktie, and has the star of the garter upon his coat. The Print Room has a proof before letters, marked in pencil: — “Blake sculpt.,” “never published”; the paper upon which it is printed is 1 See p. 166 of “The Letters.” 2 See p. 172 of “ The Letters.” 3 See pp. 189-190 of “ The Letters.” 1 See p. 152 of “ The Letters.” 5 See pp. 166, 172, 173, 177 and 190 of “ The Letters.” 6 George John Spencer, second Earl Spencer, born 1st Sept. 1758, d. 1834 ; served in the ministries of Pitt, Fox and Grenville, and was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1794-1801 ; was a man of con- siderable culture and developed the library at Althorpe into one of the finest then in existence. 179 104 watermarked with the year 1811, which is the only indication of the date of the plate. A proof was sold in the Aspland Sale at Sotheby’s, 27th Jan. 1885 (Lot 10). 105 THE CYCLOPAEDIA; OR, UNIVERSAL DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, AND LITERATURE. BY ABRAHAM REES Seven plates engraved by Blake are to be found in the volumes contain- ing the illustrations to this Encyclopaedia. Volume I. of the Plates i Armour. Plate IV. & V. Blake sc. Published as the Act directs, Deck 10, 1818, by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, Paternoster Row. Line; io|x8^ in. Ten armed figures are presented, showing various types of ancient armour; a helmet and a croupi^re (or buttock-piece for a horse) are also illustrated. Volume II. of the Plates ii Basso Relievo. Plate IV. 1 Blake sc. Published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, London, Novemh 11th 1818. Stipple and line ; 1 1 x 7§ in. Fig. 1. Basso-relievo round a Capital in the Cathedral of Carrara. Fig. 2. Basso-relievo of Zethus Antiope & Amphion. Five examples of Pagan Altars (numbered 1-5) are also illustrated. Volume III. of the Plates iii Miscellany. Gem Engraving. Drawn by Farey. Engraved by W. Blake & W. Lowry. Published as the Act directs, 1819, by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, Paternoster Row. Line; io|x8i in. The three medallions below, showing a gem in the various stages of its production, are engraved by Blake. The pictures above of the instru- ments employed in the process are the work of Lowry. 2 1 The articles in the Encyclopaedia on “ Basso Relievo ” and on “ Sculpture ’’were written by Flaxman. See “ The Letters of William Blake,” edited by A. G. B. Russell (1906), p 136, where the following allusion to the former occurs in a letter from Flaxman to Hayley, dated 2nd January 1804: — “ ... I have troubled you, by Mr Blake, with a short tract written for Dr Rees’s Cyclopadia , on ‘ Basso Relievo,’ with one of the prints reierred to at the end of the article ; the rest are not yet engraven. ...” 2 A portrait of Lowry was afterwards engraved by Blake in collaboration with Linnell (see No. 109). 180 105 Volume IV. of the Plates IV Sculpture. Plate I. Blake sc. London, Published as the Act directs. Feb y . i, 1816, by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, Paternoster Row. Stipple ; 1 1 x 8| in. Six specimens of antique sculpture are here delineated : — (1) Hercules of Daedalus, from a small Bronze. (2) Cupid of Praxiteles, British Museum, &c. (3). Minerva of Dipoenus & Scyllis, in the Villa Albani. (4) Venus of Praxiteles, Perrier’s “Statues.” (5) Jupiter Olympius. See Pausanias, “ Ancient Statues, Coins & Gems.” (6). Minerva of the Airopoli, in Athens. See Hunter’s “Coins.” Blake’s drawing for the “ Jupiter ” was lent by the late Mr George Smith to the Burlington Fine Arts Club Exhibition of Works by Blake in 1876 (No. 228 in the Exhibition Catalogue) ; it is now in Mr Stopford Brooke’s collection. v Sculpture. Plate II. Blake, sculp. Published as the Act directs, Jan y . 1, 1816, by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, Paternoster Row. Stipple ; 1 1 x 8^ in. A group of “ Dirce ” and two figures, of the “Hercules Farnese” and “ Phocion,” are here copied from the antique. vi Sculpture. Plate III. Blake del. et sc. Published as the Act directs, Oct r . 1, 1815 by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, Paternoster Row. Stipple; n x8| in. The “ Laocoon,” 1 the “ Venus de Medicis ” and the “ Apollo Belvedere ” are here represented. vii Sculpture. Plate IV. Blake sculp. Published as the Act directs, March 1, 1816, by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, Paternoster Row. Stipple and line ; 1 1 x 8| in. The following specimens of antique sculpture, etc., of the East and West are here depicted (1) Durga Slaying Mahishasura, a Hendee group. (2) An Etruscan Patera in the British Museum. (3) A Colossal Statue at Thebes. (4) Persian Sculpture at Persepolis. (5) A Chinese Statue. (6) Persian Sculpture at Persepolis. 1 Cp. No. 28. Blake’s original drawing for the print of the “ Laocoon,” done from a cast of the antique group at the Royal Academy, is still in existence; it is inscribed by Tatham: “This draw- ing was made by Mr Blake in the Royal Academy, Somerset House, for a small plate he made of the ‘ Laocoon ’ for the article in the Encyclopaedia. The article itself was on ‘ Sculpture,’ being written by Flaxman. When Mr B. was drawing this, his old friend Fuseli came in and said, ‘Why, Mr Blake, you a student ; you ought to teach us.’ ” l8l 106 (WEDGWOOD’S BOOK OF DESIGNS) (? c. 1816.) Eighteen sheets of miscellaneous designs for pottery were engraved by Blake in outline for one of Wedgwood’s books of designs. The plates (each marked with Wedgwood’s name at the top) measure 8|x6| in. (approx.), and all (with the exception of pi. 5, which is signed Blake d. s .) are signed, Blake d. Iff sc. A complete set of the designs exists in the Linneil collection. The Print Room has four pages of proof sheets, which are without the name “Wedgwood” and, two of them, unsigned; there are also some marks of correction ; one of the sheets has the watermark “ 1816 Whatman,” showing that the work belongs to the latter years of Blake’s life. 107 COMPOSITIONS FROM THE WORKS DAYS AND THEOGONY OF HESIOD. DESIGNED BY JOHN FLAXMAN, R.A.P.S. ENGRAVED BY WILLIAM BLAKE Published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, London, Jan. 1, 1817. (Oblong folio.) A series of thirty-seven designs in outline, in a graceful (if rather empty) neo-classical style based on ancient vase-paintings and bas-reliefs. Volumes containing similar designs by Flaxman, illustrating Homer, TEschylus and Dante, all engraved by Piroli, had been previously issued. The present series has the greater merit of being engraved by Blake who, unlike his predecessor, has lost nothing of the charm and grace possessed by the original drawings. The plates are unsigned. Nos. 1, 2, 12-21, 24, 28-37 bear the date and imprint : — “Published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and (or, &) Brown, London, Jan. 1, 1817”; Nos. 3-1 1, 22, 23, 25-27 have the same imprint, with the date: — November 1, 1816. The quotations attached to the prints are from Elton’s “ Hesiod.” i (Title-page.) Plate 1 There, let me boast that victor in the lay I bore a tripod ear’d, my prize away” 5 Ji x 9 t in - ii 2. Hesiod’s “Works and Days.” (Title-page) Hesiod admonishing Perses “ Deep let my words oh Perses ! graven be Hear justice, and renounce the oppressor’s plea.” 4|x7tV in - 182 “ Bade Hermes last endue with craft refined.” 107 iii iv 3. Pandora Gifted 6 fx7A in - 4. Pandora Attired “ Adored Persuasion and the Graces young Her slender limbs with golden jewels hung.” 6§X9§ in. v 5. Pandora shown to the Gods 7f x 9f m. “ On men and Gods in that same moment seized The ravishment of wonder when they saw.” vi 6. Pandora brought to Earth “ He bade heaven’s messenger convey thro’ air To Epemetheus’ (sic) hands.” 5i x 6| in. vii 7. Pandora brought to Epimetheus “ But he received.” 6 nx9? ^ viii 8. Pandora, opening the Vase “ She lifts the lid. — She scatters ills in air.” 5 |x 8 T v in. ix 9. Golden Age 3^X5^ in. x 1 o. Good Daemons. “ Earth — wandering daemons they their charge began, The minister of good, and guards of Man ; ” 6 X I i| in. xi 11. Silver Age “ Nor would they serve the gods.” 183 3|x5r« in * 1 2. Brazen Age 107 x ii “ They by each other’s hands inglorious fell, In freezing darkness plunged, the house of hell. 5|x 9l in. xiii 13. Modesty and Justice returning to Heaven x 7i in - “ Justice and Modesty from mortals driven Rise to the immortal family of heaven.” xiv 14. Iron Age 5fx izf in. “ For spoil they wait And lay their mutual cities desolate.” xv 1 5. The Evil Race “ They thrust pale Justice from their haughty gates.” 6 x 8| in. xvi 16. The Evil Race “ The god sends down his angry plagues from high Famine and Pestilence; in heaps they die — ” 4fx8| in. xvii 17. The Good Race “ Genial Peace Dwells in their borders, and their youth increase.” Si X 1 »n. xviii 18. Pleiades “ When, Atlas born, the Pleiad stars arise.” 5r« x 9i in- xix 19. Pleiades. “ And when they sink below The morn-illumined west ’tis time to plough.” Sr, x 9i in- 184 107 xx xxi xxii xxiii xxiv XXV xxvi xxvii 37 {sic). The Happy Man “ He to whose note the auguries are given No rite transgress’d, and void of blame to heaven. — ” 6 x 95 in. 21. Theogony. (Title-page) “ They to Hesiod erst Have taught their stately song — ” 5rs x 9f in. 22. Hesiod and the Muses 6f x 1 i/ e in. “ And gave unto my hand A rod of marvellous growth a laurel bough.” 23. Jupiter and the Muses “ They the great spirit of their father Jove Delight in heaven — ” 4|x io| in. 24. Night. Love. Erebus. Chaos “Then Love most beauteous of Immortals rose — ” 6|x6 in. 25. Venus “ The wafting waves First bore her to Cythera’s heavenly coast.” 3i x 7§ in- 26. Venus “ Her Aphrodite gods and mortals name The foam born goddess.” 3fx8JL in. 27. Venus “ Her honors these From the beginning.” 185 6|x8^ in. 107 28. Sea Divinities XXV111 “ From Nereus and the fair haired Doris, nymph Of Ocean’s perfect stream, the lovely race Of goddess nereides rose.” 3|xi2f 6 in. xxix 29. Typhaon, Echidna. Geryon “ Echidna the untameable of soul Above a nymph with beauty blooming cheeks.” 4 f X 1 I in. xxx 30. Astraeus and Aurora “ The Morning to Astraeus bare the winds Of spirit untamed, west south and north.” 7f x?\ in. xxxi 31. Saturn and his Children “ Did Saturn huge Devour.” 3 |x 6 i i n . xxxii 32. Infant Jupiter “ Vast Earth Took to herself the mighty babe.” 4^X51 ^ xxxiii 33. The Brethren of Saturn delivered “ The brethren of his father too he loosed.” 6 ! ><5Te in * xxxiv 34. Gods and Titans “ Nor longer then did Jove Withhold his force.” 7 §x 8 in. xxxv 35. Giants and Titans “The war unsated Gyges, Briareus And Cottus bitterest conflict waged ” ?! x 7^ in. 186 l- Plate 32 MRS. Q. After Huet Yilliers, 1820. (108) 107 xxxvi 36. Furies. Cerberus. Pluto. Proserpine. Harpies. Death 4§x 1 of in. “ The hollow sounding palaces Of Pluto strong the subterranean god.” xxxvii 37. Iris 6^X5! in - “ Jove sends Iris down To bring the great oath in a golden ewer.” 108 MRS Drawn by Huet Villiers. Engraved by W. Blake. London, Published 1st. June 182,0, by J. Barrow, Weston Place, St Pancras. Stipple, printed in colours; nfx9 in. A lady, with auburn curls, in a white dress bound at the waist with green ribbon, sits on a stone balustrade by a river. She turns her head towards the spectator and is seen full-face. On the far side of the river there are some houses and a church. The view seems to be taken from the Thames at Eton, with the College chapel in the background. The sitter is Harriet Quentin, wife of Colonel, afterwards Sir George Quentin, the Brighton beauty and mistress of George IV. as Prince Regent. 1 Huet Villiers or Villiers-Huet, the designer of the print, was the son of Jean Baptiste Huet, the elder ; he flourished in Paris about 1805, painting miniatures and landscapes, and afterwards came to London, when he became a favourite of the court. For the companion print of “Windsor Castle,” see no. 133. In a sale at Christie’s, 27th Nov. 1901, this pair of prints realised £ 94 , 10s. 2 109 WILSON LOWRY, F.R.S.,M.G.S. &c. 3 Drawn from Life by J. Linnell, & Engraved by J. Linnell & W. Blake. Published as the Act directs Jan. 1, 1825, by Hurst, Robinson & Co., Cheapside, London. Line; 10x7! in. 1 For further particulars see the “ Memoirs of the Life of the Celebrated Mrs Q by Edward Eglantine, an 8vo pamphlet issued in 1822, with a reduced (4A x 3 in.) copy of Blake’s print as its frontispiece. The pamphlet is reprinted in Joseph Grego’s “Mrs Q and Windsor Castle,” 1906 (folio), where both Blake’s print and its companion are to be found (done full-size and in colours). * See “ Art Sales of the Year 1902,” where the editor notes : — “ Both were fine impressions with wide margins, and printed in colours.” 3 B. 1762, d. 1824, engraver. 187 109 Bust, three-quarter face, turned towards r. A man of middle age, clean shaven, with curly hair and rather coarse features. Gilchrist 1 states that Blake’s collaboration in the engraving took place in August-December, 1824. The print is reproduced in the late Dr Garnett’s “William Blake,” p. 61. 1 The “ Life” (ed. 1880), vol. i. p. 375. 188 IV.— I. PRINTS SIGNED BY ANOTHER ENGRAVER, BUT BELIEVED TO BE, EITHER WHOLLY OR IN PART, BLAKE’S WORK. 2. PRINTS COM- MONLY ATTRIBUTED TO HIM, BUT EITHER REGARDED AS DOUBTFUL OR NOT AC- CEPTED BY THE PRESENT WRITER 110 A NEW SYSTEM, OR AN ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT MY- THOLOGY: BY JACOB BRYANT. M.DCCLXXIV. (-M.DCCLXXVI.) (3 vols. folio) A number of prints signed by James Basire are contained in these volumes. Some of these are evidently either wholly or at least in part from the hand of Blake, who worked as his assistant from 1771-1778. Note particularly a Vignette of the Deluge on p. 601 of vol. iii. : — the dove returns to the ark (a strange crescent-shaped affair), with an olive leaf in its mouth ; a vast rainbow overarches the desolate waters ; a wreath of leaves and fruit surrounds the design ; the treatment of the water is here especially Blake-like (cp. his rendering of the sea in the print of “Joseph of Arimathea,” engraved only a very little earlier (in 1773); it is possible that the design, as well as the engraving, is Blake’s. Note also the figure of a nude woman in the centre of sheet inscribed “ Hieroglyphica Sacra” (vol. ii. pi. vi.). Ill THE LADY’S MAGAZINE (Published by Harrison & Co., 1770-1818.) It is stated by Gilchrist 1 that “during the years 1779 and onwards” Blake was employed by Harrison to engrave designs for this “and perhaps other serials.” This is most likely to be the case, since his friend Stothard, with whom at this date he did much work in collabora- tion, was from 1780 a frequent contributor of illustrations to “The Lady’s Magazine,” and, although there are none bearing Blake’s signature, he may well have been the engraver of some of them. A number of the prints done from Stothard’s designs are to be found in the Robert Balmanno collection of Stothard’s works in the Print Room. 112 MEMOIRS OF THOMAS HOLLIS, ESQ^ F.R. and A.S.S. London Printed MDCCLXXX. (2 vols. 4to.) A number of the plates in these Memoirs are signed by James Basire, the engraver with whom Blake served his apprenticeship (1771-1778). In some of them, as Gilchrist points out, 2 distinct evidence is to be found of Blake’s handiwork. The rendering of a sculptured monument, bearing the epitaph “ D M M. VLPIO AVG. LIB. FORTVNATO PHILETVS 1 The “ Life” (ed. 1880), vol. i. pp. 32 & 33. 2 In the “Life” (ed. 1880), vol. i. p. 19. l 9 l 112 PATR ET VLPIA PLUSIAS CONIVG. B M F,” 1 may be especially noticed for its Blake-like qualities : — note the winged head of a Love (beneath the inscription), with its shivering flamelike hair and its eyes that seem to open into another world. 113 AN ACCOUNT OF SOME ANCIENT MONUMENTS IN WEST- MINSTER ABBEY. BY SIR JOSEPH AYLOFFE, BART. London, Printed by J. Nichols, Printer to the Society of Antiquaries. 1780. (Folio.) Blake is probably the author of the drawings from which the prints in this volume are taken ; he is likely, also, to have assisted his master, Basire, in the work of engraving them. The plates (eight in number) are all signed: — J. Basire del. et Sc., and dated, April 23, 1780. See “Westminster Abbey,” by W. R. Lethaby, London, 1906, p. 371 (Appendix) : — “In the summer of 1 775 tapestries which had covered the tombs of the Presbytery were removed, and the paintings on these tombs and the sedilia were at once copied for, and published by. Sir Joseph Ayloffe. These copies are now in the library of the Society of Antiquaries, and are of such a character that they could have been drawn only by two men then in England, John Carter and William Blake ; and it is to the latter, I think, that we may assign them. . . . The drawings of which we have spoken are signed: — “Basire, 1 775-” And the engravings from these drawings are signed: — “J. Basire de. et sc., 1780.” 114 VETUSTA MONUMENTA: QUAE AD RERUM BRITANNI- CARUM MEMORIAM CONSERVANDAM SOCIETAS ANTI- QUARIORUM LONDINI SUMPTU SUO EDENDA CURAVIT Blake is likely to have assisted Basire in engraving some of the plates for this publication. 115 ARCH AEOLOGIA : OR MISCELLANEOUS TRACTS, RELATING TO ANTIQUITY. PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY OF ANTI- QUARIES OF LONDON. ( 4 to) It is likely, as Gilchrist suggests, 2 that Blake assisted Basire in engraving some of the plates for this publication. 1 One of a group of prints after sepulchral monuments and other antiquities at the end of vol. ii. (the Appendix to the Memoirs). 2 See the “ Life ” (ed. 1880), vol. i. p. 19. 192 116 THE GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE. BY WILLIAM FREDERICK MARTYN, ESQ^ London: Printed for Harrison and Co. MDCCLXXXII. (2 vols. 4to.) The two frontispieces to these volumes (i. Minerva instructing Britannia in the Use of the Celestial and Terrestrial Globes, ii. Britannia instructing Asia, Africa, Europe and America, in the Science of Geography : both designed by Stothard), are stated by Mr A. C. Coxhead in his work on Stothard 1 to be engraved by Blake. This, however, is not the case. Both are engraved by Heath and bear his signature. 117 SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS IN GREAT BRITAIN (BY RICHARD GOUGH). Vol. I., Part I. (1786); Vol. I., Part II. (1796). (Folio) A number of the plates in these volumes are done from drawings of ancient monuments which were executed by Blake during the period of his apprenticeship to Basire ; he is probably also the engraver of some of those bearing his master’s signature. See “A Father’s Memoirs of His Child,” by Benj. Heath Malkin, London, 1806, pp. xx. & xxi. (quoted on pp. 22-23). See, also, “ Nollekens and his Times,” by John Thomas Smith, London, 1828, vol. ii. : — “He (Stothard) spoke in the handsomest terms of his (Blake’s) talents, and informed me that Blake made a remarkable correct and fine drawing of the head of Queen Philippa, from her monumental effigy in Westminster Abbey, for Gough’s Sepulchral Monuments, engraved by Basire.” See, also, Gilchrist’s “Life” (ed. 1880), vol. i. p. 20: — “In the Sepulchral Monuments , vol. /., pt. 2 2 (1796), occurs a capital engraving as to drawing and feeling, ‘ Portrait of Queen Philippa from her Monument,’ with the inscription Basire delineavit et sculpsit ; for which, as in many other cases, we may safely read c W. Blake.’ In fact, Stothard often used to mention this drawing as Blake’s, and with praise. The engraving is in Blake’s forcible manner of decisively contrasted light and shade, but simple and monotonous manipulation. It is to a large scale, and gives the head and shoulders merely. Another plate, with a perspective view of the whole monument and a separate one of the effigy, accompanies it. In Part I. (1786), are similar ‘Portraits’ of Queen Philippa, of Edward III. & c.” 1 “ Thomas Stothard, R. A.” by A. C. Coxhead (1906), pp. 168 & 169. 2 An error for pt. 1, in which all Blake’s prints are contained. 193 N 118 THE INDUSTRIOUS COTTAGER (G. Morland. W. Blake) 178 7 (reprint 1803). Stipple; oval, 17x14 in, (approx.) A pair of prints corresponding in title and (approximately) in date (but different in treatment and dimensions), to this and the following Nos., has been already described above (see Nos. 66 and 67). The particulars here given are derived from an entry in “ Art Sales of the Year 1902,” in reference to Lot 184 sold at Christie’s, 27th Nov. 1901 : — “The Idle Laundress,” “ The Industrious Cottager ” ; both said to be engraved by Blake after G. Morland. The following note is appended by the Editor : — “ Both printed in bistre ; stipple. ‘ The Industrious Cottager ’ was framed to an oval, about 17x14 in. Published 1787 (reprinted 1803), with inscription in English and French. A girl is seated inside a cottage door mending some garment, a young man leans on the back of her high chair, holding a basin in the left hand and a spoon in the right, a dog and a basket are on the floor. Outside the cottage door are seen various kitchen utensils. ‘The Idle Laundress’ was engraved in 1788. The pair of prints fetched .£6.” Neither of the prints are known to the present writer; and it seems to him at least possible that their ascription to Blake is due to a confusion with the pair already described. 119 THE IDLE LAUNDRESS (G. Morland. W. Blake). 1788. Stipple; oval. c. 17 x 14 in. See the preceding number. 120 STOTHARI) AND FRIENDS PRISONERS DURING A BOATING EXCURSION 1 A print of this subject (after Stothard) is included in the list of Blake’s engraved works, which is appended to Gilchrist’s “ Life.” 2 It appears, how- ever, that the etching in question is the work of Stothard himself. Mrs Bray in her “ Life of Stothard,” 3 has the following note upon it : — “ In the British Museum amongst the folios containing Stothard’s works in the Print Room, an etching . . . may be seen, called a Boating Excursion. The etching is there stated 10 be by Blake; but Alfred Stothard says it was by his father. The drawing was sold at Christie’s sale, and is now in the possession of Mr William Sharpe, 4 of Highbury.” The etching is 1 For an account of the incident here depicted, see Mrs Bray’s “ Life of Stothard.” 2 The “ Life” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. p. 282. 3 “ Life of Thomas Stothard, R.A. By Mrs Bray, London, 1851, pp. 20 & 21. 4 Miss L. Sharpe, the writer is informed, is the present owner. 194 120 reproduced on p. 20 of the “Life of Stothard,” lettered: — “Stothard and his friends prisoners during a boating excursion at Upnor Castle on the Medway, from an etching by himself”; three figures are seen in front of an improvised tent, rigged up with sails suspended over a boat hook and oars ( 1 .) ; to r., the Medway, with the boat. 121 ELEMENTARY DIALOGUES, FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF YOUTH, BY J. H. CAMPE. TRANSLATED BY MR SEYMOUR. ILLUSTRATED WITH SIXTEEN COPPER PLATES London: Printed for Hookhamand Carpenter, Bond-Street ; 1798. (i2mo.) The plates in this volume are sometimes ascribed to Blake ; they do not appear to the writer to be in his manner ; they are in any case poorly engraved and of little consequence. 122 THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER ENGRAVED BY THOMAS PIROLI FROM THE COMPOSITIONS OF JOHN FLAXMAN SCULPTOR Rome 1793. (Oblong folio) The following statement is made by Gilchrist in his “ Life ” in reference to this work: — “ Piroli, a Roman artist, had been engaged to engrave the above-mentioned graceful compositions from the poets. His first set of plates,— those to the Odyssey , — were lost in the voyage to England, and Blake was employed to make engravings in their stead, although Piroli’s name still remained on the general title-page (dated 1793); probably as being likelier credentials with the public.” The present writer is unaware of the existence of any evidence in support of this assertion. Blake did engrave three plates for the second edition of the Iliad (1805), as well as the whole series of designs for the Hesiod ( see Nos. 100 and 107 above); and it is possible that some confusion may have arisen on this account. 123 GYMNASTICS FOR YOUTH, FREELY TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF C. G. SALZMANN. ILLUSTRATED WITH COPPER PLATES London: Printed for J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church-Yard, 1800. (8vo.) The plates in this volume (ten in number, including a folding frontispiece) are commonly ascribed to Blake ; but, to the present writer, they do not appear to be in his manner ; they are in any case poorly engraved and of little consequence. Their attribution to Blake is, no doubt, due to the 123 fact that he did engrave a certain number of the plates for the translation of the same author’s “ Elements of Morality,” published also by Johnson (see No. 77 above). 124 FABLES ANCIENT AND MODERN. BY EDWARD BALDWIN, ESCL 1 ADORNED WITH THIRTY-SIX COPPER-PLATES London: Printed for Thomas Hodgkins, at the Juvenile Library. (1805.) (2 vols. i2mo.) The illustrations to these Fables are often stated to be engraved by Blake, but the present writer is of the opinion that this is not the case. 125 (PRINTS ENGRAVED BY THOMAS BUTTS JUNIOR, UNDER BLAKE’S GUIDANCE) (c. 1806.) A little collection of these prints (of small size) was sold at Sotheby’s a few years ago from the Butts collection. They are the work of young Butts, the son of Blake’s patron, who in 1805 2 became Blake’s pupil and was instructed by him in the art of engraving. They are mostly in the classical style, some of them being copies from ancient designs. They are described, with several reproductions, in an article in The Connoisseur of October, 1907, written by Miss Ada Briggs, by whom one or two of them are wrongly attributed to Blake’s own hand, although their childish character is to some extent mitigated by his close supervision and perhaps by occasional touches from his hand. 126 THE PANTHEON OR ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE GODS OF GREECE AND ROME. BY EDWARD BALDWIN, ESQ^, 3 WITH ENGRAVINGS OF THE PRINCIPAL GODS, CHIEFLY TAKEN FROM THE REMAINS OF ANCIENT STATUARY London: Printed for Thomas Hodgkins, at the Juvenile Library . . . 1806. Contains twelve unsigned plates of inferior merit commonly ascribed to Blake ; the present writer can see no reason for accepting them as his. 1 Pseudon. — William Godwin. 2 On Christmas day. See the account between Blake and Butts, printed in Gilchrist’s “ Life ” (ed. 1880), vol. ii. p. 278 : — “ Dec. 25, 1805. On account of teaching your son, at 25 Guineas per annum, to com- mence on this day . . . ,£26. 5. o.” 3 Pseudon. — William Godwin. 196 126 i Jupiter. To face the title ii Juno. P. 51 iii Minerva. P. 52 iv Mars. P. 54 v Apollo. P. 55 vi Diana. P. 62 vii Venus. P. 65 viii Mercury. P. 68 ix Neptune. P. 73 x Vulcan. P. 74 xi Vesta. P. 78 xii Ceres. P. 81 127 THE HISTORY OF TELEMACHUS, THE SON OF ULYSSES. ABRIDGED FROM THE FRENCH OF FENELON. WITH FOUR COLOURED PLATES. Price One Shilling Published by Tabart & Co. at the Juvenile and School Library, No. 157, New Bond-Street. 1807. The four plates, coloured by hand, are attributed to Blake. Each of them is imprinted, “London, Pub. Dec. 1805 by Tabart & Co.” i Telemachus in the Island of Calypso. (Frontispiece) 2 f e X 3 f in- Young Telemachus, with the Aged Mentor, approach Calypso, who is attended by two women. The wrecked ship is in a bay to 1 . ii Telemachus strangling the Lion 21^3 f c in. Telemachus strangles the lion, which has sprung upon him, with his arms. There are rocks and palm trees in the landscape; also some sheep and goats, with two shepherds in the background to r. iii Telemachus accosting his Father 2|x 3f in. Telemachus and Mentor meet Ulysses, who is a tall figure in a red cloak, with a golden helmet and breastplate. Three sailors ( 1 .) haul in the ship. iv Minerva discovering herself 2if X 3 j| in. Telemachus bends the knee before Minerva, who stands above him to 1 ., 197 127 with her left arm stretched out. She wears a golden helmet and breast- iv plate, and holds a staff in her right hand. An example of this little book may be seen in the Library of the British Museum; the catalogue notes that the plates are attributed to Blake; but the present writer can see no reason for accepting them as his. 128 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF YOUNG PERSONS BY CHARLES LAMB. EMBELLISHED WITH COPPER-PLATES. In two volumes. Printed for Thomas Hodgkins, at the Juvenile Library. 1807 The twenty illustrations of the Tales, designed by William Mulready, are commonly stated to have been engraved by Blake. There is, as far as the writer is aware, no kind of evidence for this assumption, and, with the possible exception of the frontispiece 1 (which has a certain suggestion, but only, he thinks, an accidental one, of Blake’s handling), the prints do not, in his opinion, resemble his work. It must also be remembered that Blake had by this time won for himself a considerable reputation as an engraver, and it is unlikely that so considerable a series of engravings by his hand would have been permitted to appear unsigned. The “Etchings. Subjects from Shakespeare (sold at T. H. Burke’s Sale, Christie’s, June 21st, 1852)” which appear in the list of Blake’s engravings at the end of Gilchrist’s “ Life,” 2 are doubtless to be identified with the above. 129 THE EAGLE’S MASQUE. BY TOM TIT 3 Printed for J. Mawman, Poultry; by G. Woodfall. Paternoster-Row. 1808. (8vo ; issued in yellow paper wrappers.) Contains a frontispiece and five other plates, sometimes stated to be engraved by Blake ; but, in the present writer’s opinion, not his work. 130 MORAL TALES, EASTERN TALES, &c., BY DR JOHNSON. GOLDSMITH, See. 1809. (4 vols. i2mo) Several of the plates in these volumes are commonly ascribed to Blake. It is, however, some considerable time since the present writer has had an opportunity of examining them, and he is at this time unable to state whether or no this is the case. 1 The subject is “ Prospero and Miranda”; they stand together upon a rock at the edge of a tempestuous sea. 2 Ed. 1880, vol. ii. p. 280. 3 Pseudon. — William Mulready. 198 131 NEW THEATRICAL CHARACTERS, etc. (A collection of theatrical prints, designed by W. West and engraved by various hands, 1 c. 1812-1824.) The monogram W.B. is attached by their engraver to several of these prints. They are in consequence (erroneously, in the writer’s opinion) sometimes ascribed to Blake. A recent contributor to Notes and Queries even takes it for granted they are his. The form of the monogram is one never used by Blake, either for his engravings or drawings : and the prints themselves have no trace of his manner. It may be remarked that there were other engravers ( e.g . W. Bromley) with the same initials at work at the same time. One or more of the same group of prints are actually signed with the name Blake (without initial), a coincidence which, were it not for the full signature E. Blake appearing upon other prints by the same hand, might well have been an additional source of confusion to collectors. 132 A SERIES OF PRINTS TAKEN FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT, DESIGNED TO ILLUSTRATE MRS TRIMMER’S SCRIPTURE LESSONS. 2 1797 (reissued 1817). (i6mo) The prints (sixty-four in number) are frequently stated to be engraved by Blake ; but the present writer is of opinion that they are not his work ; the same applies to the numerous other little books of a similar character by Mrs Trimmer. 133 WINDSOR CASTLE 3 Drawn by J. B. Engraved by G. Maile. London, Published 1 June 1821 by j. Barrow, Weston Place, St Pancras. Stipple, printed in colours; ii-^. x 9-^ in. A young lady, bareheaded, with auburn curls, in a white dress, with a green ribbon round the waist, seated, in front of a balustrade, playing on a spinet, turned towards r., the head nearly full face towards the spectator. Windsor Castle and the river, in background to 1. This print is the companion of the “ Mrs Q- ” engraved by Blake in 1 A large collection (in seven or eight volumes) of these and similar theatrical prints may be found in the Print Room. 2 The companion volume, entitled: — “Scripture Lessons, designed to accompany a Series of Prints from the Old Testament.” By Mrs Trimmer. London. 3 A portrait of Elizabeth Henrietta (Conyngham), Marchioness of Huntly. 199 133 the preceding year (see No. 1 1 8 ). It is commonly supposed to be mainly Blake’s work, with only the finishing touches added by Maile ; but beyond the fact of its close resemblance, both in treatment and execution, to Blake’s print, I know of no evidence that this is the case. It may anyhow be assumed that the latter was taken by Maile as his model. 134 (THE GOTHIC FIEND) (Without title, signature or date : date uncertain.) Line. 8 §- x 4 ff in. The fiend is a foolish monster, and conventionally designed after a German formula. He has a huge mouth, with long rakelike teeth and a multitude of thin flamelike tongues. His head is crowned with a pyramid of seven horned demon heads, and there are demon faces upon his shoulders and loins. He has a scaly body and bird’s claws for feet. In either hand he holds a fork with a pair of hooked prongs. Four lesser fiends of a similar but simpler pattern, also armed with forks, accompany him, one kneeling and another standing on each side. The only example of the print known to the writer is in an album of miscellaneous Blake items, once, he believes, the property of Mr Muir, the author of the well-known facsimiles of the Prophetical Books, etc., and now in the collection of Mr B. B. Macgeorge of Glasgow. It is marked : — “ It is the Gothic fiend of our legends — the true devil — all else are apocryphal.” The engraving is in an empty mechanical style, wholly different from that of any of Blake’s authentic productions ; and, beyond the fact of its presence in the above volume, there is nothing to associate it with his hand . 1 ADDENDA 135 THE POETICAL MAGAZINE Blake is stated by J. T. Smith, in his “ Nollekens and his Times,” to have engraved plates after Stothard for this periodical. (See Symons’s “William Blake,” p. 372 n.). 1 Since the printing of the above entry, the writer learns from his friend, Mr Keynes, that “The Gothic Fiend” is to be found in vol. 2 of Dibdin’s “ Literary Reminiscences ” (1836), engraved by Audinet from a MS. in the Bodleian, and has no connection whatever with Blake. 200 136 JAMES UPTON, PASTOR OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH MEET- ING IN CHURCH STREET, BLACKFRIARS ROAD Painted and engraved by J n0 . Linnell. London, Published June I st 1819, by 1 . Line; 10^x7! in. Half length to front, with head | to r. ; a smooth face; r. hand uplifted with forefinger erect in the attitude of a preacher, 1. resting upon a book on a table behind which he stands. Engraved by Linnell, with Blake’s assistance, as is proved from the following extract from the diary of the former : “ At Rathbone Place, 1818 . . . here I first became acquainted with William Blake. . . .We soon became intimate, and I employed him to help me with an engraving of my portrait of Mr Upton, a Baptist preacher, which he was glad to do, having scarcely enough employment to live by at the prices he could obtain.” 1 The publisher’s name is omitted in the example of the print (an open-letter proof in the Linnell collection) from which the particulars given are derived. NOTE Titles not printed upon the originals appear throughout the Catalogue in brackets. 201 V.— LIST OF BOOKS PRODUCED BY BLAKE BY HIS SPECIAL PROCESS OF ILLUMINATED PRINTING LIST OF BOOKS IN ILLUMINATED PRINTING Note. — Books only (or ‘writings consisting of more than one leaf), engraved and illuminated in the special manner described on pp. 29 - 33 * are included in this list. Full bibliographical particulars of these works may be found in Mr Sampson's edition of the Poems, under the references given below. Single leaves, produced by the same process, whether with or without text, are catalogued as separate prints in Section I. THERE IS NO NATURAL RELIGION. (First and Second Series.) (? 1788 1) SONGS OF INNOCENCE. 1789 2 THE BOOK OF THEL. 17893 THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL (? 1790 4 ) VISIONS OF THE DAUGHTERS OF ALBION. 1793 6 AMERICA. 1793 6 SONGS OF EXPERIENCE. 1794 7 EUROPE. 1 794 8 THE BOOK OF URIZEN. 1794 9 THE BOOK OF LOS. 1795 10 THE SONG OF LOS. 1795 11 1 For bibliographical particulars, see “ Blake’s Poetical Works,” edited by John Sampson (1905), pp. 342-3. The present writer is disposed to believe that this pair of diminutive volumes are the first-fruits of Blake’s invention of Illuminated Printing ; in which case their date is fixed by the colophon to “ The Ghost of Abel ” (1822), his latest production in the same method, where it appears that “ W. Blake’s Original Stereotype was 1788.” This view is supported both by the somewhat tentative and experi- mental aspect of the books themselves, and by the fact that no other of the existing works of this description can be dated earlier than the following year, to which both “Songs of Innocence’’ and “The Book of Thel ” belong. It may further be suggested that the dedication of “ The Ghost of Abel” “To Lord Byron in the Wilderness” may be intended to re-echo the words inscribed upon the title-page of one of these two little books, “ The Voice of one crying in the Wilderness.” 2 See ibid. pp. 63-83. 3 Ibid. p. 332. 4 Ibid. pp. 332-3. The book is without date, but was probably issued in 1790. 5 Ibid. p. 334. 6 Ibid. pp. 334-5. ''Ibid. pp. 65-85. This book appears in the list of “ several Works now published and on Sale ” announced in Blake’s prospectus of 10th October 1793, a fact which seems to indicate that it was actually finished the year before that (1794) inscribed upon the title-page. 8 Ibid. p. 335. 9 Ibid. pp. 335-6. 10 Ibid. pp. 336-7. The text of this book is etched in the normal way, and not by the special process employed in the other books. 11 Ibid. p. 336. 205 THE BOOK OF AHANIA. 1795 1 MILTON. 1 804 2 JERUSALEM 1804 3 THE GHOST OF ABEL. 1822 4 OOTHOON. (Date unknown 5 ) 1 See “ Blake’s Poetical Works,” p. 337. The text of this book is etched in the normal way, and not by the special process employed in the other books. 2 Ibid. pp. 339-40. See, also, Blake’s “Milton,” edited by E. R. D. Maclagan and A. G. B. Russell (A. H. Bullen, 1907), pp. xii.-xvi. 3 Ibid. pp. 340-1. See, also, Blake’s “Jerusalem,” edited by E. R. D Maclagan and A. G. B. Russell (A. H. Bullen, 1904), p. 121. 4 Ibid. p. 341-2. Consists of only two leaves. No coloured example is known to the writer. 5 Ibid. p. 342. No example of this book is known to exist. It occurs in a list of works by Blake offered for sale by his widow to a Mr Ferguson (see Gilchrist’s “Life,” ed. 1880, vol. ii. p. 284), where it is thus described : — Outhoun (so spelt in the “ Life ” ; whether through an error on the part of Mrs Blake or of the transcriber, it is impossible to say), 12 Plates, 6 inches, more or less. Price £z. is. o. 206 APPENDIX APPENDIX 1 Memoranda of Blake’s Technical Methods, from the “Rossetti MS.” 2 Blake’s Prospectus of ioth October, 1793. 3 Fuseli’s Preface to Blake’s Edition of Blair’s “Grave/’ 1808. 4 A Leaf of Prospectus of Blake’s “ Chaucer,” 15th May, 1809. 5 A similar Leaf, c. 1810. 6 The Editor’s Preface to “ The Prologue and Characters of Chaucer’s Pilgrims, intended to illustrate a Particular Design of Mr William Blake,” 1812. 7 A letter from Blake to Dawson Turner, 9th June 1818. 8 Extract from a letter from Blake to George Cumberland, 12th April 1827. 1.— MEMORANDA FROM THE “ROSSETTI MS ” (p. 10) Memorandum To engrave on pewter : Let there be first a drawing made correctly with black-lead pencil ; let nothing be to seek. Then rub it off on the plate, covered with white wax ; or perhaps pass it through press. This will produce certain and determined forms on the plate, and time will not be wasted in seeking them afterwards. Memorandum To wood-cut on pewter: Lay a ground on the plate, and smoke it as for etching. Then trace your outlines, and, beginning with the spots of light on each object, with an oval-pointed needle, scrape off the ground, as a direction for your graver. Then proceed to graving, with the ground on the plate ; being as careful as possible not to hurt the ground, because it, being black, will show perfectly what is wanted. 209 o Memorandum To wood-cut on copper : Lay a ground as for etching ; trace, See., and, instead of etching the blacks, etch the whites, and bite it in. Note . — The above memoranda of three of Blake’s peculiar methods of engraving occur in his MS. note-book, called the “Rossetti MS,” formerly in the possession of I). G. Rossetti and now the property of Mr W. A. White of Brooklyn, New York. They are to be found on p. 10 of the MS., underneath the entries : — Note . — Tuesday [any 20, 1807, between Two & seven in the Evening Despair. Note . — I say I shan’t live five years. And if I live one it will be a Wonder. June 1793. 2.— BLAKE’S PROSPECTUS OF 10th OCTOBER 1793 October 10, 1793 To the Public The Labours of the Artist, the Poet, the Musician, have been proverbi- ally attended by poverty and obscurity ; this was never the fault of the Public, but was owing to a neglect of means to propagate such works as have wholly absorbed the Man of Genius. Even Milton and Shakespeare could not publish their own works. This difficulty has been obviated by the Author of the following productions now presented to the Public; who has invented a method of Printing both Letter-press and Engraving in a style more ornamental, uniform, and grand, than any before discovered, while it produces works at less than one-fourth of the expense. If a method of Printing which combines the Painter and the Poet is a phenomenon worthy of public attention, provided that it exceeds in elegance all former methods, the Author is sure of his reward. Mr Blake’s power of invention very early engaged the attention of many persons of eminence and fortune ; by whose means he has been regularly enabled to bring before the Public works (he is not afraid to say) of equal magnitude and consequence with the productions of any age or country: among which are two highly finished engravings (and two more are nearly ready) which will commence a Series of subjects from the Bible, and another from the History of England. The following are the Subjects of several Works now published and on Sale at Mr Blake’s, No. 13 Hercules Buildings, Lambeth. 210 1 Job, a Historical Engraving. Size i ft. 7^ in. by 1 ft. 2 in.: price 12s. 2 Edward and Elinor, a Historical Engraving. Size 1 ft. 61 in. by 1 ft. : price 1 os. 6d. 3 America, a Prophecy, in Illuminated Printing. Folio with 18 designs, price 10s. 6d. 4 Visions of the Daughters of Albion, in Illuminated Printing. Folio, with 8 designs, price 7s. 6d. 5 The Book of Thel, a Poem in Illuminated Printing. Quarto, with 6 designs, price 3s. 6 The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, in Illuminated Printing. Quarto, with 14 designs, price 7s. 6d. 7 Songs of Innocence, in Illuminated Printing. Octavo, with 25 designs, price 5s. 8 Songs of Experience, in Illuminated Printing. Octavo, with 25 designs, price 5s. 9 The History of England, a small book of Engravings. Price 3s. to The Gates of Paradise, a small book of Engravings. Price 3s. The Illuminated Books are Printed in Colours, and on the most beautiful wove paper that could be procured. No subscriptions for the numerous great works now in hand are asked, for none are wanted ; but the Author will produce his works, and offer them to sale at a fair price. 3. — FUSELI’S PREFACE TO BLAKE’S EDITION OF BLAIR’S GRAVE, 1808 The moral series here submitted to the Public, from its object and method of execution, has a double claim on general attention. In an age of equal refinement and corruption of manners, when systems of education and sedition go hand in hand; when religion itself com- pounds with fashion ; when in the pursuit of present enjoyment, all consideration of futurity vanishes, and the real object of life is lost — in such an age, every exertion confers a benefit on society which tends to impress man with his destiny, to hold the mirror up to life, less indeed to discriminate its characters, than those situations which shew what all are born for, what all ought to act for, and what all must inevitably come to. The importance of this object has been so well understood at every period of time, from the earliest and most innocent, to the latest and most depraved, that reason and fancy have exhausted their stores of argument 21 1 and imagery, to impress it on the mind: animate and inanimate nature, the seasons, the forest and the field, the bee and ant, the larva, chrysalis and moth, have lent their real or supposed analogies with the origin, pursuits, and end, of the human race, so often to emblematic purposes, that instruction is become stale, and attention callous. The serpent with its tail in its mouth, from a type of eternity, is become an infant’s bauble ; even the noble idea of Hercules pausing between virtue and vice, or the varied imagery of Death leading his patients to the grave, owe their effect upon us more to technic excellence than allegoric utility. Aware of this, but conscious that affectation of originality and trite repetition would equally impede his success, the author of the moral series before us, has endeavoured to wake sensibility by touching our sympathies with nearer, less ambiguous, and less ludicrous imagery than what mythology, Gothic superstition, or symbols as far-fetched as inadequate, could supply. His invention has been chiefly employed to spread a familiar and domestic atmosphere round the most important of all subjects; to connect the visible and the invisible world, without provoking probability, and to lead the eye from the milder light of time to the radiations of eternity. Such is the plan and the moral part of the author’s intention ; the technic part, and the execution of the artist, though to be examined by other principles, and addressed to a narrower circle, equally claim approbation, sometimes excite our wonder, and not seldom our fears, when we see him play on the very verge of legitimate invention ; but wildness so picturesque in itself, so often redeemed by taste, simplicity, and elegance, what child of fancy, what artist would wish to discharge? The groups and single figures on their own basis, abstracted from the general composition, and considered without attention to the plan, frequently exhibit those genuine and unaffected attitudes, those simple graces which nature and the heart alone can dictate, and only an eye inspired by both, discover. Every class of artists, in every stage of their progress or attainments, from the student to the finished master, and from the contriver of ornament, to the painter of history, will find here materials of art and hints of improvement ! Henry Fuseli. 4.— BLAKE’S CHAUCER. THE CANTERBURY PILGRIMS. THE FRESCO PICTURE, REPRESENTING CHAUCER’S CHAR- ACTER’S, PAINTED BY WILLIAM BLAKE, AS IT IS NOW SUBMITTED TO THE PUBLIC 1 The Designer proposes to engrave in a correct and finished line manner of engraving, similar to those original copper-plates of Albert Durer, 1 From a rare leaf of Prospectus, issued 15th May 1809. 212 Lucas von Leyden, Aldegrave, and the old original engravers, who were great masters in painting and designing; whose method, alone, can delineate Character as it is in this Picture, where all the lineaments are distinct. It is hoped that the Painter will be allowed by the public (notwith- standing artfully disseminated insinuations to the contrary) to be better able than any other to keep his own characters and expressions ; having had sufficient evidence in the works of our own Hogarth, that no other artist can reach the original spirit so well as the Painter himself, especially as Mr B. is an old, well-known and acknowledged engraver. The size of the engraving will be three feet one inch long, by one foot high. The artist engages to deliver it, finished, in one year from September next. No work of art can take longer than a year: it may be worked backwards and forwards without eud, and last a man’s whole life ; but he will, at length, only be forced to bring it back to what it was, and it will be worse than it was at the end of the first twelve months. The value of this artist’s year is the criterion of Society; and as it is valued, so does Society flourish or decay. The price to Subscribers, Four Guineas; two to be paid at the time of subscribing, the other two, on delivery of the print. Subscriptions received at No. 28, corner of Broad Street, Golden Square, where the Picture is now exhibiting, among other works, by the same artist. The price will be considerably raised to non-subscribers. 5.— BLAKE’S CHAUCER: 1 AN ORIGINAL ENGRAVING BY HIM FROM HIS FRESCO PAINTING OF SIR JEFFERY CHAUCER AND HIS NINE AND TWENTY PILGRIMS SETTING FORTH FROM SOUTHWARK ON THEIR JOURNEY TO CANTERBURY. THREE FEET 1 INCFI LONG, AND 1 FOOT HIGH; PRICE THREE GUINEAS The time chosen is early morning, before sunrise, when the jolly company are just quitting the Tabarde Inn. The Knight and Squire with the Squire’s Yeoman lead the Procession; next follow the youthful Abbess, her nun, and three priests ; her greyhounds attend her : “ Of small hounds had she that she fed With roast flesh, milk, and wastel bread.” Next follow the Friar and Monk ; then the Tapiser, the Pardoner, and the Somner and Manciple, After these “ Our Host,” who occupies the 1 From a rare leaf of Prospectus, issued c. 1810. 213 centre of the cavalcade, directs them to the Knight as the person who would be likely to commence their task of each telling a tale in their order. After the Host follow the Shipman, the Haberdasher, the Dyer, the Franklin, the Physician, the Plowman, the Lawyer, the poor Parson, the Merchant, the Wife of Bath, the Miller, the Cook, the Oxford Scholar, Chaucer himself, and the Reeve comes as Chaucer has described : “And ever he rode hinderest of the rout.” These last are issuing from the gateway of the Inn ; the Cook and the Wife of Bath are both taking their morning’s draught of comfort. Spectators stand at the gateway of the Inn, and are composed of an old Man, a Woman, and Children. This Inn is yet extant under the name of the Talbot; and the Landlord, Robert Bristow, Esq. of Broxmore near Rumsey, has continued a board over the Gateway, inscribed “This is the Inn from which Sir Jeffery Chaucer and his Pilgrims set out for Canterbury.” St Thomas’s Hospital which is situated near to it is one of the most amiable features of the Christian Church, it belonged to the Monastery of St Mary Overies and was dedicated to Thomas a Becket. The Pilgrims, if sick or lame, on their Journey to and from his Shrine, were received at this House. Even at this day every friendless wretch who wants the succour of it, is considered as a Pilgrim travelling through this Journey of Life. The Landscape is an eastward view of the country, from the Tabarde Inn, in Southwark, as it may be supposed to have appeared in Chaucer’s time; interspersed with cottages and villages; the first beams of the Sun are seen above the horizon; some buildings and spires indicate the situation of the Great City. The Inn is a gothic building, which Thynne in his Glossary says was the lodging of the Abbot of Hyde, by Winchester. On the Inn is inscribed its title, and a proper advantage is taken of this circumstance to describe the subject of the Picture. The words written over the gateway of the Inn are as follow: “The Tabarde Inn, by Henry Baillie, the lodgynge-house for Pilgrims who journey to Saint Thomas’s Shrine at Canterbury.” Of Chaucer’s characters, as described in his Canterbury Tales, some of the names or titles are altered by time, but the characters themselves for ever remain unaltered; and consequently they are the physiognomies or lineaments of universal human life, beyond which Nature never steps. The Painter has consequently varied the heads and forms of his person- ages into all Nature’s varieties ; the Horses he has also varied to accord with their Riders: the Costume is correct according to authentic monu- ments. Subscriptions received at No. 28, Corner of Broad Street, Golden Square. G. Smeeton, Printer, 17, St Martin’s Lane, London. 214 6.— THE PROLOGUE AND CHARACTERS OF CHAUCER’S PILGRIMS, SELECTED FROM HIS CANTERBURY TALES : INTENDED TO ILLUSTRATE A PARTICULAR DESIGN OF MR WILLIAM BLAKE. (1812 *) Preface The Borough of Southwark, so seldom visited by the Gentry of the Metropolis, was anciently the seat of Royalty, the residence of the Church and the station of the public Theatres. It extended from the Palace of King John in Bermondsey to that of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Lambeth; among the marks of its grandeur, St Thomas’s Hospital, London Bridge, and St Saviour’s Church, remain with their original foundations. The Tabbard, now called the Talbot Inn, likewise remains, and in memory of that singular Pilgrimage which the Poet Chaucer attended from thence, a board with the following inscription is placed over the gateway : “ This is the Inn where Geoffry Chaucer , Kgiight, and his nine and twenty Pilgrims , lodged on their Journey to Canterbury, Anno. 1388 .” The present Proprietor of the Inn, Robert Bristow, Esq. of Broxmore in Wiltshire, insisted on this mark of Antiquity being made a fixture to the Premises. To the genius and fancy of that celebrated Artist Mr Blake, it occurred, that tho’ the names and habits of men altered by time, yet their char- acters remained the same ; and as Chaucer had drawn them Four Hundred years past, he might as justly delineate them at the present period, and by a pleasant picture, bring to our imagination the merry company setting out upon their journey. As the Canterbury Tales may be too long a story for modern amuse- ment, I have selected the Prologue and the Characters, that the heads, as represented by Mr Blake, may be compared with the lineaments drawn by Mr Chaucer, and I think the merit of the Artist will be gener- ally acknowledged. The original reading is copied from the edition of Thomas Speight, printed Anno. 1687; and the Translation from Mr Ogle’s edition, 1741. If this small specimen should recommend the Print to the notice of the Encouragers of Art, it will gratify and amply repay the intention of The Editor. 1 See No. 25 of the Catalogue. 215 7-— A LETTER FROM BLAKE TO DAWSON TURNER, DATED 9 TH JUNE 1 8 1 8, WITH THE PRICES OF HIS BOOKS IN ILLUMINATED PRINTING . . . I send you a list of the different works you have done me the honour to inquire after. They are unprofitable enough to me, though expensive to the buyer. Those I printed for Mr Humphry are a selection from the different books of such as could be printed without the writing, though to the loss of some of the best things ; for they, when printed perfect, accompany poetical personifications and acts, without which poems they could never have been executed. £, s • a • America . . 1 8 prints folio 5 5 0 Europe .... . . 17 ,, folio 5 5 0 Visions. • . 8 ,, folio 3 3 0 Thel .... . . 6 ,, quarto 2 2 0 Songs of Innocence 28 ,, octavo 3 3 0 Songs of Experience . . 26 ,, octavo 3 3 0 Urizen . . 28 „ octavo 5 5 0 Milton .... . . 50 „ quarto 10 10 0 12 large prints, size of each about 2 ft. by 1 \ ft., historical and poetical, printed in colours Each 5 5 0 These last twelve prints are unaccompanied by any writing. The few I have printed and sold are sufficient to have gained me great reputation as an artist, which was the chief thing intended. But I have never been able to produce a sufficient number for general sale by means of a regular publisher. It is therefore necessary to me that any person wishing to have any or all of them should send me their order to print them on the above terms, and I will take care that they shall be done at least as well as any I have yet produced. — I am, sir, with many thanks for your very polite approbation of my works, your obedient servant, William Blake. 8.— EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM BLAKE TO GEORGE CUMBERLAND, DATED 12TH APRIL 1827, WITH THE PRICES OF HIS BOOKS IN ILLUMINATED PRINTING . . .You are desirous, I know, to dispose of some of my works, and to make them pleasing. I am obliged to you and to all who do so. But having none remaining of all I had printed, I cannot print more except at at a great loss. For at the time I printed these things I had a whole house to range in. Now I am shut up in a corner. Therefore I am forced to ask a price for them that 1 scarce expect to get from a stranger. I am 216 now printing a set of the “ Songs of Innocence and Experience ” for a friend at ten guineas, which I cannot do under six months, consistent with my other work ; so that I have little hope of doing any more of such things. The last work is a poem entitled “Jerusalem, the Emanation of the Giant Albion,” but find that to print it will cost my time the value of twenty guineas. One I have finished. It contains ioo plates. But it is not likely I shall get a customer for it. As you wish me to send you a list with the prices of these things, they are as follows : America . . . . . . . . . . .660 Europe . . . . . . . . . . .660 Visions, etc. . . . . . . . . . .550 Thel . . . . . . . . . . . * 33 ° Songs of Innocence and Experience . . . . . . 10 10 o Urizen . . . . . . . . . .660 217 INDEX INDEX [Note . — The numbers below refer to the numbers in the Catalogue.) “ 1 A Wicked Man is more to be pitied,’ ” etc., 77 (xii. ) “ Abel, Ghost of,” 29, 31 Academy, Royal, 4, 28, 40, 42 “ Accuser, To the,” 8 (xxii.) “Accusers of Theft,” etc., 10 Ackermann, R., 40 Adam, 28 “ Adam and Eve,” 26 “ Adam and the Animals, 19 (i.) Adams, Henry, 13 “Adventures of Sir L. Greaves,” 49D “ Advertisement of Moore & Co’s Manu- factory,” 6 “ ‘ Aeconomy and Self-denial,’ ” etc., 7 (vi.) “ Aged Ignorance,” 8 “ Aged Man addressing a Multitude,” 5 “ Agnello and Cianfa merging in a single Body,” 34 (iv.) “ Agrippa, Portrait of,” 30 (xxv. ) “Ain, Battle of,” 63 (ii.) “Air,” 8 (vii.) “ Alas ! ”, 8 (x.) Albion, 3 “ Alfred and the Neat-herd’s Wife,” 90 (i.) Allen’s “ History of England,” 90 — “ Roman History,” 88 “America,” Blake’s, 8 (xviii.), 14, 21, 22, 26 “‘An Idle Man,’” etc., 77 (x. ) “Anacreon, Ode LIE,” 85 ( viii. ) “ Ancient of Days,” 1 5 “Ancient Monuments,” Ayloffe’s, 1 1 3 “Ancient Mythology,” Bryant’s, no “Anecdotes of Mary,” 81 Angel of the Divine Presence, 28, 33 (iii.) Antiquaries, Society of, 113, 115 “ Aphorisms on Man,” Lavater’s, 68 “ Archaeologia,” 115 “ Aristophanes Clouds, Sc. i.,” 85 (vii.) “Armour,” Print illustrating, 105 (i.) “ ‘As when a dream of Thiralatha,’ ” etc., 14 “Asia and Africa,” 43 (i.) Aspland Sale, 104 “‘At length for hatching ripe,’ ” etc., 8 (ix.) “ Athenaeum, The,” 30 Atlas, Mount, 26 Audinet, Engraving by, 134 “ Augustus, Portrait of,” 30 (xxiv.) “ Awe-struck Group on a Rock by the Sea,” 65 Ayloffe’s “Ancient Monuments,” 113 Bain, Mr, 1 7 Baldwin’s “Fables,” 124 — “Pantheon,” 126 “Ballads,” Hay ley’s (4to), 19; (i2mo), 20 Balmanno Collection of Stothard’s Works, 43 - 44 - 47 ) 5 °) 5 2 ) 53 ) 55 (“*• and iv.), 62, 63 (ii.), 70, in Basire, James, 110, 112, 1 1 3 , 1 1 4, 1 1 5, 1 1 7 “Basso Relievo,” Prints illustrating, 105 “Battle of Ain,” 63 (ii.) “ ‘ Be calm, my child,’ ” etc., 7 (iv.) Beckford, William, 8 “ Beggar’s Opera,” 7 1 Behemoth, 33 (xvi.) Bell’s “ Chaucer,” 51 — “ Poets,” 52 “Bible, Protestant’s Family,” 73 Binyon, Laurence, 1, 26, 30 Blake, E., 13 1 — Robert, 65 “Blair’s Grave,” 8 (xviii.), 17 (xii. and xxiii.), 21, 22, 40 (xi.) “ Blind Beggars’ Hats,” 58 (iv.) “ Bocca degli Abbati, Dante striking,” 24 (vii.) 221 Index Boddington, Thomas, 8 Bodleian Library, io Bonnycastle’s “ Mensuration,” 47 Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 10, 13, 37, 68, 80 “ Botanic Garden,” Darwin’s, 79 Bourdillon, F- w -> 33 (*'*•)> 40 Bray’s “ Life of Stothard,” 120 Briggs, Ada, 125 “Britannia Triumphant, Statue of,” 91 (i.) British Museum (Print Room) , passim Broad Street, Golden Square, 24, 25, 59 Brooke, Rev. Stopford A., 8 (xix.), 16, 33 > io 5 (*▼•) Brown, H. Darrel, 66 “ Brown (John), Portrait of,” 83 Bryant’s “ Ancient Mythology,” 1 10 “ Buoso Donati attacked by the Serpent,” .34 (v.) Burger’s “Leonora,” 38 Burlington Fine Arts Club, 37, 66, Burlington House, 101 “Burlington Magazine,” 101 “ Butterfly and Snail,” 80 (vi.) Butts Collection, 17, 33, 35, 40 (vii.), 125 — Thomas, 19 — - Thomas (junior), 125 Byfield, 30 (xxi. ) “Byron (Miss), visiting Miss Emily Jervoise,” 49E (i. ) “ Caesar, Portrait of,” 30 (xxvi.) “ Calisto,” 60 Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, 4 Campe’s “ Elementary Dialogues,” 121 “ Canterbury Pilgrims,” Chaucer’s, 24, 25 Carter, John, 1 1 3 “Catullus, Portrait of,” 82 (i.) Cave, 8 (vi.) “ Celebrated Graman Quacy,” 84 (xiv.) “ Cervantes,” Smollett’s, 49A Chaining of Ore, 26 Chalmers’ “ Shakespeare,” 98 ’Change Alley, 89, 93, 103 “Chaucer,” Bell’s, 51 “Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims,” 24, 25 “ Chaucer’s Pilgrims, the Prologue and Characters of,” 25 Cherubim, 28, 33 (xv.) Chichester Cathedral, 19 (ii. ) “Children, For (The Gates of Paradise),” 8, 8 (i.) “Children, For (The Gates of Hell),” 8 “Christ descending into the Grave,” 40 (ii. ) “ Christ with a Bow, trampling upon Satan,” 35 Christie, Messrs, 53, 108, 118, 128 Chodowieki, 77 “Circle of the Falsifiers,” 34 (vi.) “Clarence’s Dream,” 45 “Cleopatra, Death of,” 88 (iv. ) “ Colinet,” 30 Codings, Blake after, 58 (ii.-v.) Collyer’s “ Geography,” 43 “Colossal Statue 230 feet high,” 91 (i.) “ Commins (Thos. ), Elegy set to Music b y>” 4 “Conjugal Union of Cupid,” 85 (iv.) “Connoisseur, The,” 125 “ Conscience and the Recording Angel,” 17 (xvii.), 42 “ Coromantyn Free Negro,” 84 (i.) Cosway, Blake after, 64 “Counseller, King, etc., in the Tomb,” 40 ( iv 0 “Covenant, The,” 33 (xix.) Cowper, Blake’s Portraits of, 96 (i. and iii.) “ Cowper, Hayley’s Life of,” 96 Cowper’s Grave, 96 (v.) “ Cowper’s Tame Hares,” 96 (iv.) “Cowper’s Monument,” Print of, 96 (vi.) “Cowper, Mrs, Portrait of,” 96 (ii.) Coxhead, A. C., 1 1 6 Crewe Sale, The, 17, 27, 29, 31, 33 Cromek, R. H., 21, 39, 40 Cumberland, George, 36, 85 — “ Message Card,” 36 — “ Thoughts on Outline,” 85 “Cupid and Psyche,” 85 (v.) “Cyclopaedia,” Rees’s, 28, 105 “D AMON AT D elia’s Tomb,” 48 (i.) “ Dance of the Peasants,” 49B “ Dante, Illustrations of,” 34 Dante’s “Inferno,” 8 (xv.) “Dante striking Bocca degli Abbati,” 34 ( vii -) Darwin’s “ Botanic Garden, 79 “David pays the Landlady,” 49c 222 Index “ David Simple,” 49, 49c “Day of Judgment,” 40 ( viii.) “ Death of Cleopatra,” 88 (iv.) “Death’s Door,” 8 (xviii), 21, 22, 40 (xi.) “Death of the Firstborn,” 37A “ Death of the Good, Old Man,” 40 (x.) “Death of Lucretia,” 88 (ii. ) “Death of the Strong, Wicked Man,” 40 (v.) “Deluge,” Vignette of the, 1 10 “ Democritus,” 69 (i.) “ Demosthenes, Death of,” 94 (ii.) “ Descent of Man into the Vale of Death,” 40 (vii.) “ Descriptive Catalogue,” Blake’s, 2, 24 Dew-Smith, Mrs, 38 (iii.) Dibden’s “ Literary Reminiscences,” 134 Dilke, Sir Charles, 33 (vii.) “ Discomfited Duellists,” 58 (iii.) “ Divina Commedia,” Designs for the, 34 Divine Image, 8 (x.), 16 Divine Presence, Angel of The, 28, 33 (iii.) Dodsley’s “ Lady’s Pocket Book,” 50 “‘Does thy God O Priest,’” etc., 8 (xv.) “Dog, The,” 19 (xii.), 20 (i.) “ Dog and Fox,” 80 Donaldson, Blake after, 83 “ Dream of Thiralatha,” 14 Druid, 32 (vi., ix., xiii., xiv. and xv.) Dunker, Blake after, 54 Diirer, Albrecht, 16 “Eagle, The,” 19 (vi.-viii. ) , 20 (ii.) “ Eagle’s Masque,” 129 Earle (J.), Blake after, 76 “ Earth,” 8 (vi.) East Dereham Church, 96 (v. and vi.) “ Ecstasy of St Mary Magdalene,” 16 “ Edinburgh Review,” 40 (viii.) “Edward III., Portrait of,” 117 “ Edward IV.,” 10 “ Edward and Elenor,” 2, 1 1 Edwards, Richard, 17 Elegy set to Music by Thomas Commins, 4 “Elementary Dialogues,” Campe’s, 12 1 “ Elements of Algebra,” Euler’s, 86 “ Elements of Morality,” Salzmann’s, 77 “ Elephant, The,” 19 (iii.-v.) Ellis and Yeats’s “ Blake,” 3 Enfield’s “ Speaker,” 45 “English Songs,” Ritson’s, 55 Enitharmon, 26 “ Epicurus, Portrait of,” 30 (xxvii.) “ Essays on Physiognomy, Lavater’s,” 69 “ Essay on Sculpture,” Hayley’s, 94 “ Euler (Leonard), Portrait of,” 86 Euler’s “ Algebra,” 86 “ Europe,” Blake’s, 1 5 “ Europe supported by Africa and America,” 84 (xv.) Evans, R. H., 19 “ Execution on the Rack,” 84 (xiii.) “Ezekiel,” 12, 13 “Fables,” Baldwin’s, 124 “Fables,” Gay’s, 80 “ Fall of Rosamund,” 56 “ ‘ Falsa ad Coelum,’ ” etc., 75 “Family of Negro Slaves,” 84 (xii.) Farey, Blake after, 105 (iii.) “ Father’s Memoirs of his Child,” 39 “ Fear & Hope are — Vision,” 8 (xvi.) Felpham, 8, 18, 19, 96 Female, The, 8 (x.) Fenning’s “ Geography,” 43 “ Fertilization of Egypt,” 79 Fielding, (Miss), “David Simple,” by, 49 c “ Fire,” 8 (viii.) “ Firstborn, Death of the,” 37A Fittler, 102 Fitzwilliam Museum, 4 “ Flagellation of a Female Samboe Slave,” 84 (viii.) Flaxman, John, 40, 86, 94, 96 (v. and vi. ), 105 Flaxman, Blake after, 91, 93, 100, 107, 122 Flaxman’s “ Hesiod,” 107, 122 — “Homer,” 100 — “ Iliad,” 122 — “ Letter to the Committee,” etc., 91 — “Odyssey,” 122 — Maria, Designs by, 97 Flea, Ghost of a, 41 Folkestone, 18 223 Index Foster, Messrs, 32 (xxi.) Fountain Court, 32 “ Fugitive Shechemites burnt,” 63 ( iii. ) Fuseli, Henry, 17, 40, 47, 88, 98 — Blake after, 68, 72, 74, 75, 79, 95, 9 8 — “ Lectures on Painting,” 95 Fuseli, “Shakespeare,” 98 “ Gallus, Portrait of,” 30 (xxv.) “ Gambols of the Ghosts,” 40 “ Garden of Love,” 18 Garnett, Richard, 2, 15, 109 “ Gates of Paradise,” 8, 9, 21 Gay, (John), “ Fables ” by, 80 “Gem Engraving,” Print illustrating, 105 (>“•) “ Genius of Morning,” 3 “Geographical Magazine, Martyn’s,” 116 “ Geography, New System of,” 43 “ Geography, System of,” 43 “ Ghost of Abel,” 29, 31 “ Ghost of a Flea,” 41 Gilchrist, H. H., 33 (xxi.) Gilchrist’s “ Life of Blake,” passim Gilchrist, Mrs, 37 “ Glad Day,” 3 Glastonbury, 1, 5 “ Glees, etc., Poetry of Various,” 89 Gnosticism, 28 “ Goat without a Beard,” 80 (v.) Goldsmith’s “Moral Tales,” etc., 130 Golgonooza, 26 Gothic Architecture, 1, 7 (v.), 23, 25 (ii.), 33 (ii. and v.) “Gothic Fiend,” 134 Gough’s “ Sepulchral Monuments,” 1 1 7 “ Grandison, Sir Charles,” 49, 49E “ Grandison’s Painful Interview,” 49E (iii.) Grandison repelling O’Hara and Salmonet, 49E (ii.) “ Graphic Muse,” 101 “Grave,” Blair’s, 8 (xviii.), 17 (xii.), 21, 22, 40 (xi.) “ Greaves, Sir Launcelot,” 49, 49D “ Greenwich Hospital, View of,” 91 (iii.) “ GrifFolino and Capocchio,” 34 (vi.) Grolier Club (New York), 5, 10, 17, 29, 33 ( xix -) “'Group of Negroes,” 84 (vi.) “ Gymnastics for Youth,” Salzmann’s, 123 “Haller (Albert de), Portrait of,” 54 Hamilton Palace Sale, 8 “ Harmonists,” 89 “Hartley (David), Portrait of,” 78 Hartley’s “ Observations on Man,” 78 Hayley, Thomas, 94 (ii. and iii-) — William, 18, 40, 86, 94, 98 — — “Ballads by,” (4U)), 19; (i2mo), 20 Hayley, William, “ Essay on Sculpture,” 94 “ Life of Cowper,” 96 “ Life of Romney,” 99, 102 “Triumphs of Temper,” 97 “ ‘ He struggles into Life,’ ” 8 (vi.) “ Head of Man tormented in Fire,” 74 “‘ Health is dearer to me,’ ” etc., 77 (i. ) Heins, (D.) Blake after, 96 (ii.) “ Hell, Gates of,” 8 “Help! Help!”, 8 (xiii. ) Henry’s “ Memoirs of Haller,” 54 Hercules Buildings, 8, 10, 11, 13 “ Hermit’s Dog,” 20 (iv. ) Hervey’s “ Geography,” 43 “Hesiod,” Flaxman’s, 107 “Hiding of Moses,” 32 “ History of England,” Blake’s, 2, 9 “ History of England,” Allen’s, 90 Hoare, Prince, 101 Hoare’s “ Inquiry into the State of the Arts,” 1 01 Hodgson, Messrs, 14 Hogarth, Blake after, 71 “Hollis, Memoirs of,” 112 “Homer Invoking the Muse,” 100 (i.) Homer’s “Iliad,” xoo — “ Odyssey,” 122 “ Homer’s Poetry, On,” 29 Hoole’s “ Orlando Furioso,” 53 Hooper, E. W., 10 “H orse, The,” 20 (v.) Houghton, Lord, 20 (iii.) Humphrey, Ozias, 40 ( viii. ) Huntly, Marchioness of, 133 “ ‘ I FOUND HIM BENEATH A TREE,’ ” 8 (iv. ) “ ‘ I hate you ! ’ ”, 77 (viii.) “ ‘ I have said to the Worm,”’ etc., 8 (xix.) 224 Index “ ‘ I take away from thee the Desire of thine Eyes,’ ”13 “ ‘ I want ! I want ! ’ ”, 8 (xii.) “Idle Laundress,” 67, 1 1 8, 119 “ ‘ If we love others,’ ” etc., 77 (ix. ) “Iliad,” Flaxman’s, 100 Illuminated Printing, 3, 5, 10, 14, 15, 16, 2 9 > 37 > 37 A Imagination, 35 “ ‘ Indeed we are very happy ! ’ ”, 7 “Industrious Cottager,” 66, 118 “ Inquiry into the State of the Arts,” Hoare’s, 101 “Interpreter’s Parlour, Man sweeping the,” 29, 31 “Iron Age,” 85 (vi. ) “‘Is there any Hope ? ’ 77 (vi.) “ Isaiah,” 8 (v.) Israelitish Idolatry, 73 (iv.) Jackson, T. W., 33 (xvi.) Jehovah, 28 “Jerusalem,” Blake’s, 8, 22, 32 (xvi.), 35 “ Jewish Spies, Return of the,” 62 “Job ” (1793), 12 “ Job, Book of,” 33 “Job in Prosperity,” 23 “ Joseph of Arimathea among the Rocks of Albion,” 1, 1 10 “ Joseph of Arimathea preaching to the Inhabitants of Britain,” 5 “ Joseph and his Brethren, 4 “Joseph sold to the Ishmaelites,” 73 (iii.) Johnson, Canon Cowper, 96 (i.) Johnson, J., passim Johnson’s “ Moral Tales,” 130 “Josephus,” Maynard’s, 62, 63, 73 “Joshua passing the Jordan,” 73 (v.) “ Katharine, Griffiths & Patience,” 98 v 0-> Keynes, G. L., 89, 134 “ Keys of the Gates,” 8 (xx. and xxi.) “ King John absolved by Pandulf,” 90 (ii.) “Lady in the Full Dress,” etc., 50 (i.) “ Lady’s Magazine,” 1 1 1 “ Lady’s Pocket Book,” 50 “ L’Allegro,” Milton’s, 27 Lamb’s “Tales from Shakespeare,” 128 “ Laocoon,” 28, 105 (vi.) Lark, 22 “ Last Judgment,” 16, 40 (viii.) “ Last Judgment, A Scene in the,” 10 “ Launcelot Greaves,” 49D Lavater’s “Aphorisms,” 68 — “ Essays on Physiognomy,” 69 — “ Portrait of,” 92 Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 30 — Blake after, 96 (iii.) “Lectures on Painting,” Fuseli’s, 95 Legat, F., 95 “ Leonora,” Burger’s, 38 “‘ Let him look up into the Heavens,’ ” 22 Lethaby, W. R., 113 “Letter to the Committee,” Flaxman’s, 91 “ Leviathan,” 33 (xvi.) “ Limes, Capsicum,” etc., 84 (xi.) Linnell, John, 30, 33, 34, 41, 136 — Blake after, 109, 136 — John (junior), 8 — Collection, The, 1 1, 27, 30, 33, 34, 36, 106 “Lion, The,” 19 (ix.-xi.), 20 (iii.) Lithograph by Blake, 23 “Little Tom the Sailor,” 18 “ ‘ Look what a fine Morning it is ! ’ ” etc., 7 (i.) Los, 1, 26 “ Los, The Song of,” 26 “ Lot and Abraham, Parting of,” 63 (i.) “ Lot’s Escape,” 73 (ii). Lowndes’s “ Manual,” 63 Lowry, Wilson, 105 (iii.) — Portrait of, 109 “ Lucifer showing the Pope his Destiny in Hell,” 37A “ Lucretia, Death of,” 88 (ii.) Macgeorge, B. B., 8, 19, 22, 40 (i.), 9 + (»>■)> 1 3 + “ Maecenas, Portrait of,” 30 (xxv.) Maile, G. 133 “ Malebranche quarrelling,” 34 (iii.) “Malebranche tormenting Ciampolo,” 34 (ii.) “Malkin’s Memoirs of his Child,” 39, 117 “ Mambrino’s Helmet, Doubts concerning,” 49 A ('•) “ Man sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour,” 2 9 > 3 1 p 225 Index Manchester, Whitworth Institute, 1 5 Mandrake, 8 (iv. ) “ Marius at Minturnum,” 88 (iii.) “ Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” 10 “Mars and Rhea Silvia,” 88 (i.) Martyn’s “Geographical Magazine,” 116 “ Mary, Anecdotes of,” 81 Maxwell, Sir John Stirling, 24 “ May (Robert), Portrait of,” 61 Maynard’s “Josephus,” 62, 63, 73 McDowall, Katharine, 101 “ Mecoo & Kishee Kishee Monkeys,” 84 ( iv -) . . , “ Meditaciones Poeticas,” Mora’s, 40 “ Meeting of a family in Heaven,” 40 (iii.) Meheux (J.), Blake after, 57 “ Mensuration,” Bonnycastle’s, 47 Metz, Blake after, 63 (i. and iii.) Michelangelo, Blake after, 1 “ Michelangelo, Portrait of,” 95 “Milton,” Blake’s, 8, 28 — “ II Penseroso,” 27 — “ L’Allegro,” 27 — “Paradise Lost,” 15, 35 “ Minerva repressing the Fury of Achilles,” 100 (ii.) “ Mirth and her Companions,” 27 “Miser and Plutus,” 80 (ii.) “ Monthly Magazine,” 87 “ Moore & Co’s Manufactory, Advertisement of,” 6 “Moral Tales,” etc., 130 “ Moralisches Elementarbuch,” 77 Morgan, J, Pierpont, 33 Morland, Blake after, 66, 67, 118, 119 “ Morning Amusement,” after Watteau, 46 “ Morning Amusement of the Princess Royal,” 50 (i.) Morse, Sydney, 19 ( vii. ) “ Moses placed in the Ark of Bulrushes,” 32 Mosher, Thomas B., 30 Muir, William, 134 Mulready, William, 128, 129 “ ‘ My Son ! My Son ! ’ ”, 8 (xi.) National Portrait Gallery, 40 Natural Religion, 16 “Naval Monument, For the,” 93 “Naval Pillar or Monument,” 91 “Negro hung alive,” 84 (ii.) “ Nepos, Portrait of,” 82 “ New System of Geography,” 43 “New Theatrical Characters,” West’s, 131 Nichols, J. B., 7 1 “Night Thoughts,” Young’s, 17, 40 (i., vii. and x.), 42 “Noah and the Rainbow,” 33 (xix.) “ Nollekens and his Times,” 40, x 1 7 “Notes and Queries,” 131 “ Novelist’s Magazine,” 49 ‘“O God! Thou art just,’ ” 77 (iv.) “ ‘ O how I dreamt of things impossible,’ ” 38 (i.) “ Obelisk,” etc., 91 (ii.) “ Observations on Man,” Hartley’s, 78 “ Odyssey,” Flaxman’s, 122 “ ‘ On Cloudy Doubts & Reasoning Cares,’ ” 8 (vii.) Ophiouchos, 28 “ Ore, Chaining of,” 26 “ Original Stories,” Wollstonecraft’s, 7 “Orlando Furioso,” Hoole’s, 53 “ Our End is Come,” 10 “ Owl and Farmer,” 80 (ix.) Palmer, Herbert, 21 “Pan and Fortune,” 80 (xi.) “Pantheon,” Baldwin’s, 126 “Paolo and Francesca,” 34 (i.) “ Paradise, Gates of,” 8 “Paradise Lost,” 15, 35 Parker & Blake, 59 “Parting of Lot and Abraham,” 63 (i.) “ Pastorals of Virgil,” 30 “ ‘ Patience can soften every pain,’ ” 77 (v.) “ Paye, Miniature by,” 39 “ Penance of Jane Shore,” 2 “ Pensero, II,” Milton’s, 27 “ Pericles,” 94 (i. ) Perry, 38 “Persian, Sun, and Cloud,” 80 (vii.) Petworth Park, 16 Pewter, Woodcut upon, 18, 31 “ Pheasant’s Nest,” 96 (iv.) “ Phillipa, Head of Queen,” 117 Phillips, Richard, 20, 101 Phillips, T. (R.A.), 40 — Blake after, 104 Index “Pin and Needle,” 80 (iv.) Piroli, Thomas, ioo, 107, 122 “Pitts (Edmund), Portrait of,” 76 “ Pleasures of Benevolence,” 81 “Poetical Magazine,” 135 “ Poetical Sketches,” 10 “ Poetry of various Glees, &c.,” 89 Poland Street, 72 “ Pollio, Portrait of,” 30 (xxv.) Polyautography, Specimens of, 23 “ * Pompey is dead ! ’ ”, 77 (iv.) Portland Vase, 79 Poussin, Nicolas, 30 (xxi.) Print Room (British Museum), passim Printed Drawings, 37, 37A “Private Marine of Col. Fourgeoud’s Corps,” 84 (iii.) “ Prologue and Characters of Chaucer’s Pilgrims,” 25 “Prospectus,” Blake’s (iothOct., 1793), 2, 8, 9, 11, 12 “Protestant’s Family Bible,” 73 “Proverbial Philosophy,” Tupper’s, 40 “ Proverbs,” 1 5 “Psyche Disobeys,” 85 (i.) “Psyche Repents,” 85 (ii.) “ ‘Q;,’ Mrs,” 108, 133 Quaritch, Mr, 33 “ Quato and Saccawinkee Monkeys,” 84 (ix.) “ Queen, To the,” 40 “Queen Elizabeth and Essex,” 90 (iv.) “Queen Katharine’s Dream,” 98 (i.) Quentin, Harriet, 108 “Quixote (Don), Adventures of,” 49A “Quixote (Don), Death of,” 49A (ii.) “ Rambler’s Magazine,” 64 Raphael, Blake after, 73 (i., iv. and v.) “ Ravens, Sexton,” etc., 80 Reason, 35 Rees’s “Cyclopaedia,” 28, 105 Relief-etching, 5, 14, 15, 16, 18, 22, 26, 29 > 3 L 37 , 3 7 A » 65 “ Remember Me ! ”, 32 “ Rendez-vous de Chasse,” 46 “ Reunion of the Soul and the Body,” 40 (xii.) Reynolds, Blake after, 101 Richardson’s “ Grandison,” 49E Rimmel, Mr, 58 (v.) Ritson’s “English Songs,” 55 Robertson, W. Graham, 12, 20 (ii. ), 27, 33, (v., xiv., xx. and xxi.), 34 (i.), 38 (iii.) “Robin Hood and Clorinda,” 57 Robson, Mr, 4, 17, 24 “ Roman History,” Allen’s, 88 “ Romeo and the Apothecary,” 98 (ii.) “ Romeo and Juliet,” 3 Romney, Blake after, 96 (i. ), 102 “ Romney, Blake’s Portrait of,” 99, 102 “ Romney, Hayley’s ‘ Life of,’ ” 99, 102 Rosa (Xaverius della), Blake after, 82 “Rosamund, Fall of,” 56 Rossetti, W. M., 8, 20 (v. ), 30, 92 “ Rossetti MS.” 2, 9 “ Rossetti Papers,” 30 Rowfant Library, 8 Rubens, Blake after, 69 (i), 73 (ii. and iii.) Ruchotte, Blake after, 86 Russell (A. G. B.), “The Letters of William Blake,” by, passim “Sacred to Simplicity,” 48 (iv.) “St Edmund’s Chapel, View of,” 96 (v.) (“ St John the Baptist addressing a Multi- tude”) (see under “Joseph of Arimathea,” 5 ) “ St Mary Magdalene, Ecstasy of,” 16 Salaman, Miss Louisa, 40 Salzmann’s “ Elements of Morality,” 77 — “ Gymnastics for Youth,” 123 Sampson, John, 8, 9 “ ‘ Sampson yhad experience,’ ” 5 1 Satan, 8 (viii.), 28 — (Engraving), 52 “ Satans’ holy Trinity,” 10 Schiavonetti, Luigi, 40 Scott (John), “Poetical Works of,” 48 Scott, W. B., 32 (xxi.) “Scripture Lessons,” Mrs Trimmer’s, 132 “ Sculls of Lieut. Leppar, etc.” 34 (vii.) “Sculpture,” Prints illustrating, 105 (iv.- vii.) Seagrave, J., 19, 20, 96, 97 “ ‘ See how much good a Single Man can do ! ’ 77 (xiii. ) “ Sentimental Journey,” 49, 49B “Sepulchral Monuments,” Gough’s, 117 227 Index “ Seraph,” Whitaker’s, 42 “ Serena,” 97 “ Setting-dog and Partridge,” 80 (viii.) “ Sexes (For the), The Gates of Paradise,” 8 (iii.) Shackelton, Blake after, 78 “ Shakespeare,” Fuseli’s, 98 “Shakespeare, Lamb’s Tales from,” 128 — “Henry VIII,” 98 (i.) — “ Romeo and Juliet,” 3, 98 (ii.) — “ Timon of Athens,” 72 Sharpe, Miss L., 120 — William, 1 20 Shaw, Mr, 35 “ Sheckemites, Fugitive,” 63 (iii.) “Shepherd and Philosopher,” 80 (i.) Shields, Frederic, 17, 40 (i. and xi.) “Shipwreck, Romney’s Sketch of a,” 102 “ Shore, Penance of Jane,” 2 “Sibylline Leaves,” 29 “ Sir Launcelot and the General Election,” 49 ° “Skeleton Re-animated,” 40 (i.) “Skinning of the Aboma Snake,” 84 (v.) Smith, George, 37A, 105 (iv.) — Mrs Graham, 8 (xv.) — John Thomas, 40, 117, 135 Smollett’s “Don Quixote,” 49A — “ Sir Launcelot Greaves,” 49D “ Solomon says Vanity of Vanities,” 27 Solomon’s Temple, 28 “Songs of Experience,” 16, 18 “ Songs of Innocence & Experience,” 5 Sotheby, Messrs, 20 (ii. and iii.), 25, 29, 33» 35> 40 (vi.), 48 (iv.), 66, 99, 104, 125 “ Soul exploring the recesses of the Grave,” 40 “ Soul hovering over the body,” 40 (ix.) Southgate and Barrett, Messrs, 3, 40 (i.) “Spalding, Head of,” 69, (iii.) “ Speaker,” Enfield’s, 45 “ Spencer (Earl), Portrait of,” 104 Stedman’s “ Surinam,” 84 Sterne’s “ Sentimental Journey,” 49B Stone (Francis), Blake after, 96 “ ‘ Stop ! Stop ! ’ ”, 77 (ii.) Stothard, Thomas, 7, 120 Blake after, 43-45, 47-53, 55 > 5 6 > 58-60, 62, 63, 70, ( 1 17), 135 “ Stothard and Friends Prisoners,” 120 Stothard, Unknown Subject after, 44 Strange, J. C., 33 (xxi.) “Surinam Planter,” 84 (x.) “ Surinam,” Stedman’s, 84 Swinburne’s, “ Blake,” 40 Symons, Arthur, 40 “ System of Geography,” 43 “Tame Stag,” 80 (iii.) Tatham, Frederick, 8, 15, 24, 34 (i.), 85 “ Telemachus, History of,” 127 “ Temple of Mirth,” 58 (i.) “That end in endless Strife,” 8 (viii.) “ The Dog strove to attract his attention,” 7 (“•) “The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked,” 37A “ The shatter’d bark from adverse winds,” 4 “The Sun’s Light when he unfolds it,” 8(i.) “The Traveller hasteth in the Evening,” 8 (xvii.) “ Thenot,” 30 “Theocritus, Portrait of,” 30 (xxii.) “Thetis entreating Jupiter,” 100 (iii.) “‘There he is ! . . . our dear Father,’” 77 (iii-) “ ‘ There is, who deems all climes, all seasons, fair,’ ” 48 (ii.) “ Thiralatha, Dream of,” 14 “ Thor battering the Serpent (?),” 79 Thornton’s “ Vigil,” 30 “ Thou Waterest him with Tears,” 8 (v. ) “ Thoughts on Outline,” Cumberland’s, 36, 85 “ Ticketof Admission (WaterWorks),” 103 “Timon visited by Alcibiades,” 72 “ Tirzah, To,” 16 Tom Tit, “Eagle’s Masque,” by, 129 “ Tornado,” 79 “Three Accusers,” 10 Tregaskis, Mr, 16, 17 Trimmer (Mrs), “Scripture Lessons,” by, 132 “ Triumphs of Temper,” 20, 97 “ ‘ Trying to trace the sound,’ ” etc., 7 (v.) “ Tythe in Kind,” 58 (ii. ) Ugolino (Count) 8 (xv.) 228 Index “Upton, Portrait of,” 136 “ Urizen,” Blake’s, 126 “Vala,” (Blake’s), 1, 26 Varley’s “ Zodiacal Physiognomy,” 41 “Varus, Portrait of,” 30 (xxv.) Vatican (“Cappella Paolina”), 1 “Venus Councels Cupid,” 85, ( iii. ) “ Venus dissuades Adonis from Hunting,” 64 “ Venus dissuades Adonisfrom the Chase,” 64 “Vetusta Monumenta,” 114 Victoria and Albert Museum, 3, 8 (xv.), 18, 40 (v.) Villiers-Huet, Blake after, 108 “ Virgil, On,” 29 “ Virgil, Pastorals of,” 30 “Virgil, Portrait of,” 30 (xxiii.) Vision, 8 (xvi.) “Visionary Heads,” 30 (xxvi.) Vollweiler, G. T., 23 Ward, James, 30 “‘Warriors! let the Wretches live!’”, 48 “ Wat Tyler and the Tax-gatherer,” 90 (iii.) “Water,” 8 (v.) Watteau, Blake after, 46 Watson, Caroline, 99 Wedgwood’s “ Book of Designs,” 106 “Welcome dear Henry,” 77 (xi.) “ West Middlesex Water Works (Ticket), ” 103 Westminster Abbey, 113, 117 West’s “New Theatrical Characters,” 13 1 “‘What are these? . . . the Female Martyr,’ ” 8 (x.) “ ‘ What is Man ! ’ ”, 8 (i.) “‘What is Man,’” etc. (Job. vii., 17 and 18), 12 “ ‘ When the senses are shaken,’ ” 10 “Whirlwind of Lovers,” 34 (i.) Whitaker’s “ Seraph,” 42 White, Alfred, 27 — W. A., 8, 17, 29, 32 Whitworth Institute (Manchester), 1 5 “ Widow embracing her Husband’s Grave,” 4 ° Wilmot, John, 86 “Windsor Castle,” 108, 133 “Wit’s Magazine,” 58 “Woman wringing her hands in grief,” 7 Wollstonecraft, Mary, 77 Original Stories by, 7 Woodcuts, Blake’s, 30 Woodcuts upon pewter, 18, 31 Worm, 8 (xix.) “Wright of Derby, Portrait of,” 87 “Young burying Narcissa,” 18 “Young Lady embracing the Bust of a Youth,” 70 Young & Sons, Messrs H., 46 Young’s “Night Thoughts,” 17,40 (i., vii. and x.), 42 “ ‘ Your Compassion has saved my life,’ ”77 (vii.) “Zephyrus and Flora,” 59 “Zodiacal Physiognomy,” Varley’s, 41 229 [%> I