Books and Writers

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William Blake

Male : Artist, Poet, Mystic & Engraver. Apprenticed to the engraver James Basire 1772-9. Married Catherine Boucher in 1782 and, together they wrote, illustrated, printed and bound their own books. Blake perfected the process of illuminated printing
Nationality : English Place of Birth : London (Broad Street)

Date of Birth : 1757 Date of Death : 1827 Age : 70

Education : Pars Drawing School, Strand, London & Royal Academy of Arts, London
Poetical Sketches
(1783 Joseph Johnson, London)
(1868 Basil Montagu Pickering, London)
(1926 Noel Douglas, London) - Ltd Ed Facsimile 250
(1927 Scholartis Press, London) - incl an essay by Jack Lindsay
(1927 Payson & Clarke)

All Religions Are One
(1788)
(1970 Trianon Press for the William Blake Trust - 662 copies)

There is No Natural Religion
(1788)
(1971 Trianon Press - 616 copies)

The Book of Thel
(1789)
(1928 Gollancz, London & Payson & Clarke, NY - 850)
(1928 Payson NY) - Ltd Ed 1700
(1930 Book Club of California) - 300 printed at Windsor Press
(1965 Trianon Press for William Blake Trust - 426 copies)

Songs of Innocence
(1789)
[An illuminated book with 23 poems & copperplate engraved plates
Only 23 copies are known to exist, and each copy is different]

(1893 Oxford) (1954 Trianon Press - 800 copies)
(1910 Herbert & Daniel) - Honor C Appleton
(1912 Dent) - Charles & Mary Robinson
(1926 Benn)
(1927 Medici Society, London) - Jacynth Parsons

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
(1790-93)
(1868 London)
(1927 Dent)
(1960 Trianon Press for the Blake Trust, London) - 240 numbered of 480
(1975 OUP) - Edited by Geoffrey Keynes

Vision of the Daughters of Albion
(1793)
(Facsimile) (1932 Dent)
(1959 Trianon Press - 446 copies)

The Gates of Paradise : For Children
(1793)
(1868 Trianon Press - 700 copies)

America : A Prophecy
(1793)
(1963 Trianon Press - 526 copies)

Songs of Experience, Showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul
The second part of Songs of Innocence
[Of this only 26 copies exist]
(1794)
(1839 Wm Pickering & W Newbery, London)
Offered in 1998 for £750
(1866 Basil Montagu Pickering, London) - Edited by R H Shepherd
(c1899 D Nutt) - Songs of Experience
(1900 Herbert & Daniel) - Honor C Appleton
(1927 Benn) - Songs of Experience
(1955 Trianon Press - 240 copies)
(1967 Hart-Davis)

Europe : A Prophecy
(1794)
[A hand-coloured copy of this sold at auction in 1971 for £24,000]
(1969 Trianon Press for William Blake Trust - 526 copies)

The First Book of Urizen
(1794)
(facsimile) (1929 Dent)
(1965 Trianon Press - 526 copies)

The Book of Ahania
(1795)
(1973 Trianon Press for William Blake Trust - 808 copies)

The Book of Los
(1795)
(1976 Trianon Press - 538 copies)

Milton : A Poem
(1804)
(1967 Trianon Press - 380 copies)

Jerusalem
(1804-20)
(1951 Trianon Press - Facsimile. 516 copies)
(1974 Trianon Press - 558)

Illustrations of the Book of Job
(1825 London)
(1902 Dent) - Ltd Ed 1000
(1937 Dent, London / Dutton, NY - 120)

Others
Twenty Seven Drawings
(1925 Carl J Smalley, Kansas)
The Prophetic Writings
(1926 Clarendon Press) - 2 vols
Poetry & Prose
(1927 Nonesuch Press) (1956 Nonesuch Press) - edited by Geoffrey Keynes
Pencil Drawings
(1927 Nonesuch Press) - Ltd Ed 1550. Edited by Geoffrey Keynes
Poetical Sketches : intro by Eric Partridge with Essay by Jack Lindsay
(1927 Scholartis Press)
The Land of Dreams : 21 Poems by William Blake
(1928 Macmillan NY) - Pamela Bianco
The Note-Book of William Blake : Called the Rossetti MS
(1935 Nonesuch Press) - 650
America A Prophecy
(1947 United Book Guild, London)
Catalogue of Original Works by Blake, the Property of the late Graham Robertson
(1949 Christie, Manson & Woods, London)
A Cradle Song, The Divine Image, A Dream Night
(1949 Valenti Angelo, NY)
- 125 signed by Publisher
Engravings
(1950 Faber) - intro by Geoffrey Keynes
Blake's Pencil Drawings : Second Series
(1956 Nonesuch Press) - Ltd Ed 1440
Vale or the Four Zoas : A Facsimile of the MS
(1963 Clarendon Press)
America A Prophecy
(1963 Trianon Press) - 480
The Prophetic Writings
(1964 Clarendon Press) - 2 vols
Tiriel
(Facsimile) (1967 Clarendon Press)
Auguries of Innocence
(1968 Grossman, NY) - Wood engravings Leonard Baskin
The Blake-Varley Sketchbook of 1819 in the Collection of M D E Clayton-Stamm
(1969 Trianon for Heinemann) - 2 vols
All Religions Are One
(1970 Trianon, London) - 636
William Blake's Water-Colour Designs for the Poems of Thomas Gray
(1972 Trianon Press - 100)
(1972 O'Hara, Chicago)
The Poems of William Blake
(1973 Ltd Eds Club, Cambridge)
London
(nd. 1976 Taurus Press, London) - 150 signed by Paul Peter Piech
The Complete Portraiture of William & Catherine Blake
(1977 Trianon) - 500
William Blake's Designs for Edward Young's Night Thoughts : Complete Edition
(1980 Clarendon Press) - 2 vols. Slipcase
The Letters with Related Documents
(1980 Clarendon Press. 3rd Ed) - edited by Geoffrey Keynes
The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake
(1981 Yale UP) - 2 vols. Edited by Martin Butlin

COLLECTED EDITIONS
The Poems
(1874 B M Pickering, London) - Edited by E H Shepherd
Works by William Blake
(1876 PP for Circulation)
The Poems, with Specimens of Prose Writings
(1885 Scott)
The Poems
(1887 Pickering & Chatto. New Ed)
Works
(Ed E J Ellis & W B Yeats) (1893 Lawrence & Bullen) - 3 vols. 200 Large paper
Poetical Works
(Ed John Sampson) (1905 OUP) - 2 vols
Poems
(1911 Blackie) - Edited by Alice Meynell
The Writings of William Blake
(1920 Nonesuch Press) - 1500. 3 vols. Edited by Geoffrey Keynes
Offered for £315 in 1998
The Poems
(1921 Florence Press, London) - edited by John Sampson
Writings
(Ed G Keynes) (1925-1939 Nonesuch Press) - 3 vols. 1500
Offered for £400 in 1998
The Complete Writings of William Blake : Edited by Geoffrey Keynes
(1966 OUP)
The Poems
(1973 Ltd Eds Club, Cambridge)
William Blake's Writings
(1978 Clarendon Press) - 2 vols. edited by G E Bentley Jnr
The Complete Poetry of William Blake : Edited by David V Erdman
(1988 NY)
The Complete Illuminated Books
(2000 Thames & Hudson £39.95) - Edited by David Bindman

BOOKS ILLUSTRATED BY BLAKE
Robert BLAIR : The Grave - A Poem
(1808 T Bensley for R H Cromek) - 1st Blake edition
(1813 T Bensley for R Ackermann) - Blake
(1847 A L Dick, NY) - with illus from designs by Wm Blake
(1982 Scolar Press) - William Blake
Jacob BRYANT : A New System, or, An Analysis of Ancient Mythology
(1774-5 T Payne) - 3 vols
Erasmus DARWIN : The Botanic Garden
(1789 & 1791 J Johnson) - 2 vols
Richard GOUGH : Sepulchral Monuments in Great Britain
(1786-96 J Nichols,
T Payne and GG & J Robinson) - 2 vols
William HAYLEY : The Life, and Posthumous Writings of William Cowper, Esq
(1803-4 J Seagrave for J Johnson) - 3 vols
John Caspar LAVATER : Aphorisms on Man
(1788 J Johnson)
Essays on Physiognomy
(1788-98 John Murray) - 3 vols. Blake's illus in Vol 1
Capt J G STEDMAN : Narrative of a Five Years' Expedition Against the Revolted Slaves of
Surinam in Guinana in the Wild
(1792-3 Johnson, London)
Publius VIRGIL : The Pastorals of Virgil
(1821 J McGowan for Rivington & Others. 3rd Ed)
[Blake's illus did not appear in 1st & 2nd Eds]
Mary WOLLSTONECRAFT : Affections and Form the Mind to Truth & Goodness
(1788 J Johnson)
(1791 J Johnson. 2nd Ed)
Offered in 1999 for £1200
Original Stories for Children
(1791 J Johnson, London)
Edward YOUNG : The Complaint, and the Consolation, or Night Thoughts
(1797 R Noble for R Edwards)
---------------
Little Thumb and the Ogre
(1788 R Dutton) - William Blake
Charles GARDNER : William Blake the Man
(1919 Dent)
John MIlton : On the Morning of Christ's Nativity
(1923 CUP)
The Illustrations for Thornton's Virgil
(1937 Nonesuch Press) - 1000
Thomas GRAY : Designs for Gray's Poems
(1972 Trianon Press) - 100
Blake's Illustrations of Dante
(1978 Trianon Press) - 376
On the Morning of Christ's Nativity : Milton's Hymn with illus by Blake
(1981 Whittington Press) - 350

Pictures
" A Vision of the Cycle of the Life of Man"
(Arlington Court, Nr Barnstaple)

READING
1863-1900
Alexander Gilchrist : The Life of William Blake, "Pictor Ignotus"
(1863 Macmillan) - 2 vols.
[This was completed by his wife]
(1907 JL, Bodley Head)
Alfred T Story : William Blake : His Life, Character & Genius
(1893 Swan Sonnenschein) - 280 Large Paper

1901-1925
I Langridge : William Blake - A Study of His Life & Art Work
(1904)
(Ed) A G B Russell : Blake's Letters (1906 Methuen)
Arthur Symons : William Blake
(1907 Constable)
E L Cary : The Art of William Blake
(1907 Moffat Yard, NY)
Edwin J Ellis : The Real Blake - A Portrait Biography
(1907 Chatto & Windus)
Archibald G B Russell : The Engravings of William Blake
(1912 Grant Richards) - 500
Geoffrey Keynes : A Bibliography of Blake
(1921 Grolier Club, NY) (1931 OUP)
S Foster Damon : Blake - His Philosophy and Symbols
(1924 Boston)

1926-1950
Mona Wilson : The Life of William Blake
(1927 Nonesuch Press) - 1480
(1948 Hart-Davis)
Thomas Wright of Olney : The Life of William Blake
(1929 Thomas Wright) - 2 vols
Denis Saurat : Blake and Modern Thought
(1929)
J Bronowski : William Blake and the Age of Revolution
(1944 & 1965)
Geoffrey Keynes : Blake Studies
(1949)

1951-1965
Keynes & Edwin Wolf : Blake's Illuminated Books - A Census
(1953 Grolier Club, NY)
D V Erdman : Blake - Prophet Against Empire
(1954)
George Wingfield Digby : Symbol and Image in William Blake
(1957 Clarendon Press)
Harold Bloom : Blake's Apocalypse
(1963)
Geoffrey Keynes : A Study of the Illuminated Books of William Blake
(1964 Trianon Press) - 525 copies
Jean H Hagstrum : William Blake - Poet and Painter - An Introduction to the Illuminated Verse
(1964 Chicago UP)
G E Bentley Jnr & Martin K Nurmi : A Blake Bibliography
(1964 Minnesota UP)
(Ed) Geoffrey Keynes : The Letters of William Blake

1966-1990
Ruthven Todd : William Blake the Artist
(1971 London)
R R Easson & R N Essick : William Blake, Book Illustrator
(1972 American Blake Foundation) - 100
D Foster Damon : A Blake Dictionary :-The Ideas and Symbols of William Blake
(1973 Brown UP)
Geoffrey Keynes : The Complete Portraiture of William and Catherine Blake
(1977 Trianon Press) - 500 copies
G E Bentley Jnr : Blake Books - Annotated Catalogues of Blake's Writings
(1977 OUP)
Jack Lindsay : William Blake
(1978)
N D Paley : William Blake
(1978 Phaidon)
(Ed) Martin Butlin : The Paintings & Drawings of William Blake (1981 London)

AFTER 1991
James King : William Blake - His Life
(1991 Weidenfeld & Nicolson £25)
Joseph Viscomi : Blake and the Idea of the Book
(1993 Princeton UP £35)
G E Bentley : Blake Books Supplement
(1995 OUP £85)
Peter Ackroyd : Blake
(1995 Sinclair Stevenson £20)
G E Bentley Jnr : The Stranger from Paradise - A Biography of William Blake
(2001 Yale UP £25)

Related Writers

William Cowper
Dictionary
Thomas Gray
Jack Lindsay
John Milton
Edward Young


See also

Edward Bawden
Bibliographical Series
Robert Laurence Binyon
Burlington Fine Arts Club
Cape, Jonathan
Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Everyman Series 501-1000
Fanfrolico Press
Nonesuch Press, The
Pelican Books
In Print 1994 Penguin Classics
Charles Robinson
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Traveller's Library, The