William Blake in the Desolate Market 9780773590298

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William Blake in the D e s ol at e M a r k e t

William Blake in the

D e s o l at e M a r k e t

G.E. Bentley Jr

McGill-Queen’s University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca

© McGill-Queen’s University Press 2014 isbn 978-0-7735-4306-5 (cloth) isbn 978-0-7735-9029-8 (epdf) isbn 978-0-7735-8167-8 (epub) Legal deposit first quarter 2014 Bibliothèque nationale du Québec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. McGill-Queen’s University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Bentley, G. E. (Gerald Eades), 1930–, author William Blake in the desolate market / G.E. Bentley Jr. Includes bibliographical references and index. Issued in print and electronic formats. isbn 978-0-7735-4306-5 (bound).–isbn 978-0-7735-9029-8 (epdf).– isbn 978-0-7735-8167-8 (epub) 1. Blake, William, 1757–1827. 2. Blake, William, 1757–1827 – Finance, Personal. 3. Engravers – Great Britain – Biography. 4. Poets, English – 18th century–Biography. I. Title. pr4146.b45 2014

821’.7

c2013-907794-4 c2013-907795-2

f ro nti s p ie ce Blake, “Oft bursts my song beyond the bounds of life” (27 June 1796), engraved for Edward Young, Night Thoughts (London: R. Edwards, 1797), pl. 16. Plate size 32.6 x 41 cm. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Notice that the soaring bard is receiving a harp but is still chained to earth. (For a similar motif of a soaring bard with a harp, see Illus. 11 here). The pages with engravings were printed twice, once with the type-set text and once, on a rolling press, with the engravings. On this page, the text is slightly askew and the “16” in type overlaps the empty engraved box left for it.

Dedicated to my beloved Beth

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contents

Colour plates follow page 44 Illustrations ix Tables xi Abbreviations xiii Notes on Sources xv A Note on the Value of Money xvii Acknowledgments xix Introduction: Blake in the Marketplace / 3 1

Blake as a Commercial Engraver, 1772–1827 / 8

2

“A Blaze of Reputation”: The Mathew Salon and Poetical Sketches (1783) / 30

3

The Print Shop, 1784–1785 / 34

4

Blake as a Teacher, 1784–1827 / 37

5

The Blakes as Printers, 1784–1827 / 41

6

Blake as a Painter, 1779–1827 / 45

7

Blake as Publisher of Works in Conventional Typography / 69

8

Blake’s Works in Illuminated Printing, 1789–1827 / 82

9

Summary of Blake’s Career / 103 Appendix: Blake’s Patrons / 106 Notes / 193 Bibliography / 211 Index / 215

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1 I l l u s t r at i o n s

1 Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797), p. 16, Blake’s engraving of his own design 2 “The Fall of Rosamond” (1783) engraved by Blake after Stothard 3 Blake, America (1793) (copy M), pl. 9 4 “Zephyrus and Flora” (1784) engraved by Blake after Stothard 5 Virgil, Pastorals, ed. R.J.Thornton (1821), woodcuts by Blake and Anon. 6 Blake, Poetical Sketches (1783) (copy K), title page 7 Portrait of “William Cowper” engraved by Blake after Romney for William Hayley, Life … of William Cowper, Esqr. (1802) 8 “Europe supported by Africa & America” engraved by Blake after J.G. Stedman for Stedman’s Narrative ... to Surinam (1796), coloured 9a and 9b Blake, Songs of Experience (1794) frontispiece, from Songs (F, L) 10a and 10b Blake, “Infant Joy,” from Songs of Innocence (1789), from Innocence (G) and Songs (F) 11 Blake, “The Pindaric Genius receiving his Lyre” for the title page of Thomas Gray, Poems (1790) 12 Blake, “Night the Third, Narcissa,” engraving coloured by Blake for Young, Night Thoughts (1797) (copy Q), p. 43 13 Blake, “The Christian Triumph,” engraving coloured by Blake for Young, Night Thoughts (1797) (copy Q), p. 65 14 Blake, watercolour of “The Grave Personified” (1805) intended but not used for Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

illustrations

15 Blake, watercolour of “Widow Embracing the Turf which Covers Her Husband’s Grave” (1805) intended but not used for Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 16 Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), engraved title page designed by Blake and engraved by Louis Schiavonetti 17 Blake, Visionary Head of Socrates (1820), sketch 18 Blake, “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims” (1810), engraving 19 Blake, Illustrations of the Book of Job (1825), title page 20 Blake, “When the Morning Stars Sang Together” (1805), watercolour, later engraved for his Illustrations of the Book of Job (1825), pl. 15 21 Blake, Illustrations of the Book of Job (1825), pl. 14 22 Blake, Illustrations of the Book of Job (1825), pl. 20 23 “Wherefore dost bruise me?” for Blake’s Illustrations of Dante (1838) 24 “Christ Appearing to the Apostles after the Resurrection, colour print 25 “Hiding of Moses” designed and engraved by Blake for Remember Me! (1824) 26 Adam and the beasts designed and engraved by Blake for William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802), frontispiece to Ballad 1 27 Blake, Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (copy J), title page 28 Blake, “Jacob’s Ladder” (1805), watercolour 29 Blake, Europe (1794) (copy A) pl. 2 (title page), colour-printed 30 Blake, Europe (1794) (copy H) pl. 12, coloured 31 Blake, Europe (1794) (copy A) pl. 12, hand-tinted 32 Blake, Europe (1794) (copy D) pl. 12, colour-printed 33 Blake, The Book of Thel (1789) (copy R) pl. 2 (title page)

x

1 ta b l e s

1.1 1.2 1.3 4.1 5.1 6.1 7.1 7.2 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 9.1 9.2

Separate commercial engravings by Blake 14 Unpublished separate engravings by Blake 16 Blake’s earnings as a commercial engraver 18 Blake’s earnings as a teacher 40 The Blakes’ earnings from printing commercial plates 43 Blake’s earnings as a painter 57 The known distribution of the Designs to a Series of Ballads 73 Copies of works in conventional typography inherited by Catherine Blake 81 The costs of copper in Blake’s illuminated printing 83 Paper needed for printing works in illuminated printing, 1789–93 86 Costs of materials 86 Dates of printing Blake’s works in illuminated printing 88 Hybrid copies of Songs of Innocence and of Experience 90 Sales of works in illuminated printing, 1789–1827 91 Blake’s own book prices, 1793, 1818, 1827 99 Blake’s lifetime earnings 105 Income by type of work 105

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1 A b b r e v i at i o n s

BR (2) Blake Cunningham

G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Records, 2nd ed. (2004) Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly A.C. Cunningham, “William Blake,” The Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1830), in Bentley, Blake Records, 2nd ed., 627–60, where the paragraphs (¶) are numbered Gilchrist Alexander Gilchrist, Life of William Blake, “Pictor Ignotus” (1863) Thel (N–1818) Dates of works in illuminated printing indicate when that copy was printed (see Joseph Viscomi, Blake and the Idea of the Book, 376–81) #292 Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake (1981), entry number 292

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1 N ot e s o n S o u r c e s

G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Books: Annotated Catalogues of William Blake’s Writings in Illuminated Printing and Blake Books Supplement: A Bibliography of Publications and Discoveries about William Blake, 1971–1992, supplemented in “William Blake and His Circle,” provide the provenances of Blake’s works. Bentley, Blake Records, 2nd ed., abbreviated as BR (2), supplemented as in Blake Books, provides the facts about Blake. Many of the economic facts dealt with here are set out in Bentley’s essays “Blake’s Heavy Metal: The History, Weight, Uses, Cost, and Makers of His Copper Plates” and “‘What Is the Price of Experience?’: William Blake and the Economics of Illuminated Painting.” Robert Blair, The Grave, “List of Subscribers,” (1808) is the primary basis for the comprehensive “List of Blake’s Patrons” in the appendix below. William Blake’s Writings, edited by G.E. Bentley, Jr, is the source of quotations from Blake’s writings.1 Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, provides the provenances of Blake’s paintings and drawings.

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1 a N ot e o n t h e va l u e of m o n e y

Converting the monetary values of one period to those of another is intricate, approximate, and unsatisfactory. When the periods are widely separated, say 1772 to 2013, or the currencies differ, as in pounds sterling (£) and dollars ($), the approximation is far rougher and the satisfaction far less. And of course the figures in 2013 currency will not be the same as in 2015. Values may change dramatically during a short period. Copper, which was central to Blake’s engraving work, increased in cost enormously during the years Blake was making most use of it. The wholesale cost of a hundred-weight (112 lb) of copper was £3.18.0 in 1788 and £6.10.0 in 1799,2 the increase being largely due to the urgent need for brass cannon and copper sheathing for warships in the wars against revolutionary France. Blake offered his own Songs of Innocence (1789) at 5s. in 1793, £3.3.0 in 1818, and £5.5.0 in 1827.3 A few costs may indicate what money would buy in Blake’s time. A journeyman printer earned about £2 for a 72 hour week, plus beer.4 About 1784 Blake bought a rolling press for printing copper plates, “a very good one which cost him forty pounds.”5 In 1800 Blake paid £20 a year6 for his six-room thatched cottage in the farm village of Felpham, Sussex. In 1805 in a public house in Poland Street, where Blake once lived, one could “have a dinner served up that only costs them 13d. a head, which I am sure is as cheap as any person can have such a dinner in any part of Great Britain,” according to the artist David Wilkie.7

a note on the value of money

Cromek claimed that about 1805 the Blakes “were reduced so low as to be obliged to live on half-a-guinea a week.”8 In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), on the death of Mr Bennet, the genteel Bennet ladies will be reduced so low as to be obliged to live on £150 a year, and the munificent Fitzwilliam Darcy has an estate which produces £10,000 a year.9

xviii

1 Acknowledgments

I am as always deeply in debt for books and for persistent friendship in the world of Blake studies, particularly to Robert N. Essick, Morton D. Paley, and Joseph Viscomi, “My friend[s], my old companion[s].”1 Long may their friendship and their scholarship flourish. The facts in the book derive largely from G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Records, second edition. These facts have been assembled and organized here in a new context, and some information is newly recorded. No previous work has dealt extensively with the financial aspects of Blake’s career. Blake Records, second edition, attempts to record all the contemporary facts about Blake of any kind, including financial; Blake Books records all the bibliographical facts about Blake. There has been no previous comprehensive estimate of Blake’s earnings and very few estimates of his earnings even for individual pictures or copies of books. The book has profited from the work of scholars focusing on Blake in his historical context, such as Jacob Bronowski, William Blake, 1757–1827: A Man without a Mask; Mark Schorer, William Blake: The Politics of Vision; David V. Erdman, Blake: Prophet against Empire: A Poet’s Interpretation of the History of His Own Times; Michael Ferber, The Social Vision of William Blake, Jon A. Mee, Dangerous Enthusiasm: William Blake and the Culture of Radicalism in the 1790s; Historicizing Blake, edited by Steve Clark and David Worrall; Blake, Politics, and History, edited by Jackie DiSalvo, G.A. Rosso, and Christopher Z. Hobson; and Saree Makdisi, William Blake and the Impossible History of the 1790s.

acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful for generous help with this book to Mark Abley, my crafty McGill-Queen’s editor. My most poignant debt is expressed in the dedication to my beloved Beth. p o s t s cri p t Romney’s self-portrait for Hayley’s Romney (1809), lost from 1805 to 2013, was discovered and purchased by Robert N. Essick and described and reproduced by Mark Crosby in Blake (2013).

xx

William Blake in the D e s ol at e M a r k e t

Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buy Vala, Night 2

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1 I n t r od u c t i o n Blake in the Marketplace What is the price of Experience? do men buy it for a song Or wisdom for a dance in the street? No it is bought with the price Of all that a man hath, his house, his wife, his children. Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buy Vala, Night 2, p. 35, 2: 11–14

Catherine Blake said of her husband, “I have very little of M.r Blake’s company; he is always in Paradise.”1 He had learned To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour.2 He was most comfortable living in his imagination, in the realms of gold. The world of pence and penury meant little to him. But he could not live only in paradise. Blake earned his living in a number of different ways: •

Engraver for booksellers and printsellers. Engraving is the profession to which Blake was apprenticed (1772–79) and which he practised all his adult life. The chief patrons for his engravings were booksellers3 and printsellers. The most important books were those in which all the major engravings were designed by Blake.4 The records for booksellers and printsellers who commissioned Blake’s commercial engravings are fairly complete, though usually we do not know how much Blake was paid for a commission.

•

Printseller (1784–1827), for a time with his own printshop (1784–85). Very little information survives about the printshop which the Blakes

william blake in the desolate market

shared with James Parker in 1784–85. We know only two prints which they published (Illus. 2, 4). The brevity of its inventory and shop-life suggest that the partnership was not profitable. •

Teacher of painting and engraving (1784–1827). Blake was a teacher all his life. Often he taught for love, but sometimes he was paid for his tuition. Thomas Butts paid him £26.5.0 a year for teaching engraving. The £52.10.0 Blake was paid for taking Thomas Owen as an apprentice in 1788 was largely for teaching him the art and mystery of his craft as an engraver. He may have done a good deal more teaching than we know about, for instance in the girls’ school of Elizabeth Butts, and he may have earned substantial sums as a teacher.

•

Printer of engravings for the booksellers (1802–03).

•

Designer and painter (1779–1827) for book and printsellers and for private patrons. The most successful, that is the most prosperous, painters of Blake’s time were portrait painters such as Sir Joshua Reynolds and Blake’s admirers George Romney and Sir Thomas Lawrence, who worked on commission. Blake characteristically made his pictures and then waited for a buyer. Many of his finest works, such as the second and third sets of his twelve great colour prints of 1795 (Illus. 24), were still on his hands when he died thirty years later.5 His most accommodating patron was Thomas Butts, who paid Blake in advance for unnamed and, indeed, often not-yet conceived works. We know a good deal about the patronage of Thomas Butts and John Linnell, but the record of other patrons is very patchy.

•

Poet6 and prophet, from the simple typeset poetry of Poetical Sketches (1782) to the elaborately illuminated America: A Prophecy (1793) and Jerusalem (1804[–20]). Blake had an entrée into fashionable society and patronage when he was introduced to the generous bluestocking Harriet Mathew, whose “house, No. 27, in Rathbone-place, was then [c. 1784] frequented by most of the literary and talented people of the day.”7 She encouraged him to sing his songs at her musical conversaziones and fostered the publication of his Poetical Sketches (1783) (Illus. 6). However, Blake mocked such earnest salons in his Island in

4

introduction

the Moon (?1784), and he largely neglected to distribute copies of his Poetical Sketches. A good deal of information survives about the prices Blake asked for his works in illuminated printing, and sometimes we know when they were printed, who bought them, and how much and when he was paid. We can also estimate plausibly his expenses, enough, for instance, to deduce that his illuminated books did not earn money beyond their expenses until, around 1793, he learned to etch on both sides of the expensive copper plates. His prospectus “To the Public” (1793) advertised his invention of illuminated printing as producing “works at less than one fourth of the expense” of conventional engraving, and the prices then for his illustrated books were wonderfully modest, 3s. to 10s. 6d. But over the years the production of the illuminated books became more and more elaborate, and on 12 April 1827 he wrote, “I am now Printing a Set of the Songs of Innocence & Experience for a Friend at Ten Guineas which I cannot do under Six Months.” This is no longer printing on a commercial scale or selling at commercial prices. We rarely know who was the first owner of copies of Blake’s original works. For only a few patrons is the surviving information likely to be comprehensive. The collections of his chief patrons Thomas Butts and John Linnell may be fairly fully recorded, but for the rest our information is likely to depend upon the chance of contemporary inscriptions or auction sales. ch arit y, 1822– 30 In 1822 the Royal Academy voted Blake £25 because he was “laboring under great distress,”8 and perhaps about the same time “Sir Thomas [Lawrence] … sent him a 100£ [in] bills … which had relieved his distresses, and made him and his wife’s heart leap for joy.”9 After Blake’s death, his widow Catherine felt so secure that when, on 5 January 1830, application on her behalf was made to the charity of The Artists General Benevolent Institution, it “was withdrawn at her desire.”10 Blake was comparatively obscure, but can more buyers for their works before 1827 be confidently identified for William Wordsworth or John Constable or J.M.W. Turner – or even Lord Byron?

5

william blake in the desolate market

“mo ney fl ie s f ro m me ” 11 “The Goddess Fortune is the devils Servant”12

Blake loved to work, and his hands were never idle, but deadlines bustled him. His practical wife, who probably did the shopping, learned early that reminders about pounds and pence fretted him. It put him out very much when Mrs. Blake referred to the financial topic, or found herself constrained to announce, “The money is going, Mr. Blake.” “Oh, d— the money!” he would shout; “it’s always the money!” Her method of hinting at the odious subject became, in consequence, a very quiet and expressive one. She would set before him at dinner just what there was in the house, without any comment until, finally, the empty platter had to make its appearance: which hard fact effectually reminded him it was time to go to his engraving for a while.13 The Blakes had periods of prosperity, as is indicated by two stories by his disciple Frederick Tatham. On one occasion, he lent “£40 nearly all he had at that time by him” to a “free thinking Speculator.” And on another “Thieves … carried away Plate to the Value of 60 Pounds & clothes to the amount of 40 more.”14 As Hayley wrote on 3 April 1803, “He is an excellent creature, but not very fit to manage pecuniary Concerns to his own advantage.” If, as Blake wrote, “I seldom carry money in my pockets,”15 one reason was that he didn’t have much money to carry. In his impudent letter to Blake of May 1807,16 Cromek wrote that in 1805 “you and Mrs. Blake were reduced so low as to be obliged to live on half-a-guinea a week!” This is absurd, but it is true that after 1795 the Blakes often lived in straitened circumstances. Already by 1797, Blake was not “out of need of money.”17 Linnell wrote that when they met in 1818 Blake had “scarcely enough employment to live by at the prices he could obtain,”18 and about 1821 “before I knew his distress he had sold all his collection of old prints to Mess Colnaghi & Co.”19 Money scarcely interested Blake: “he called … money-making the ruin of all high aspirations. ‘Were I to love money,’ he said, ‘I should lose all power of thought; desire of gain deadens the genius of man. I might roll 6

introduction

in wealth and ride in a golden chariot, were I to listen to the voice of parsimony. My business is not to gather gold, but to make glorious shapes, expressing god-like sentiments.’”20 And to Crabb Robinson on 18 February 1826 “he spoke of his horror of Money. Of his turning pale when money had been offerd to him.”21 But he was always richer than he realized, for Catherine “always kept a guinea or sovereign for any Emergency, of which Blake never knew.”22 He knew – doubtless his wife helped him to remember – that he was not a good businessman. He described himself in a letter of 28 December 1804 as “the Dreamer over his own Fortune.” In his letter of 30 January 1803 Blake wrote confidently, “I know the Public are my friends and love my works & will embrace them whenever they see them,” and in his address “To the Public” (1804) in Jerusalem pl. 3 he wrote that his “Giant forms” have “reciev’d the highest reward possible; the love and friendship of those with whom to be connected is to be blessed.” However, before the work was printed, he deleted “love,” “friendship,” and “blessed,” leaving enigmatic blanks in the sentence. The change in his attitude toward the public is probably related to the failure of his exhibition in 1809–10.

7

1 B l a k e a s a C o m m e r c i a l E n g r av e r , 1772–1827

Blake’s training as an engraver from 1772 to 1779 was rigorous, comprehensive, and old-fashioned. His master, James Basire, Engraver to the Society of Antiquaries, was a well-known line engraver, especially of architectural and antiquarian subjects. His style was dry and linear, and he set his young apprentice to copy, first on paper and then on copper, some of the illustrations to Jacob Bryant, Analysis of Ancient Mythology (1774–75); Richard Gough, Sepulchral Monuments in Great Britain, vol. 1 (1786, 1796); and Sir Joseph Ayloffe, Monuments in Westminster Abbey (1780). Since the master conventionally put his name to the work of his apprentices, as a guarantee that the work was professionally completed, we can only guess as to which of these designs Blake worked on. Before he begins work, the apprentice makes sure he has to hand “The tools necessary for an engraver … [which] are gravers, a scraper [a threeedged tool for scraping off the bur raised by the graver], a burnisher, an oil-stone [for sharpening the gravers], a sand-bag, an oil rubber, and some good charcoal [for polishing the plate].” Other materials needed are copper prepared for the graver with the rough, sharp edges bevelled (to avoid tearing the paper) and the surface polished till it gleams, paper for proofs, a “black-lead pencil” for copying the design, turpentine varnish and a “camel’s hair brush” for applying it, lamp black for mixing with the turpentine varnish, virgin wax and a feather with which to smooth it, a “sharp-pointed tool” for tracing through the wax (Blake calls it “an oval pointed needle”), aqua fortis (nitric acid) for etching, and a sun-screen.1 For each new engraving, Blake had to have fresh supplies of copper, paper, aqua fortis, turpentine varnish, lamp black, virgin wax, and charcoal. By far the most expensive of these was copper.

blake as a commercial engraver

The polished copper plate is laid on a “sand-bag or cushion … for the conveniency of turning it round in any direction.” The picture is copied “with a black-lead pencil,” the plate is covered with virgin wax, the pencil design is transferred to the wax and then traced through the wax onto the copper “with a sharp-pointed tool.” “The plate is now to be warmed, and the wax is cleaned off.” Usually the design is at least partly etched with aqua fortis. A wall of wax is built round the margins of the copper, and the acid is poured onto the copper. The length of time needed for each bite is very difficult to judge. Then the acid is poured off, the “lines to be made no deeper must be stopped with turpentine varnish, mixed with a little lamp-black, and laid on with the camel’s hair pencil,” and then the plate is bitten again, perhaps repeatedly. Finally the design on the copper is finished with a graver. Blake wrote out directions for etching and engraving, perhaps for instructing his brother Robert. Let there be first a drawing made correctly with black lead pencil, let nothing be to seek, then rub it off on the plate coverd with white wax, or perhaps pass it thro the press … lay a ground on the Plate & 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 shew perfectly what is wanted.2 And in his letter to George Cumberland of 6 December 1795, he explained: As to laying on the Wax it is as follows: Take a cake of Virgins Wax (I dont know What animal produces it) & stroke it regularly over the surface of a warm Plate (the Plate must be warm enough to melt the Wax as it passes over), then immediately draw a feather over it & you will get an even surface which when cold will recieve any impression minutely. Note: The danger is in not covering the Plate All over. … The pressure necessary to roll off the lines is the same as when you print, or not quite so great. 9

william blake in the desolate market

Between the engraver and the sun is a screen “to keep off the glare.” Blake was sent day after day to make sketches of the tombs in Westminster Abbey. “It was when he was one day secluded in the dim vaulted solitude of Westminster Abbey that he saw … one of his visions. The abbey and galleries of the old cathedral … suddenly filled with a great procession of monks and priests, choristers and censer-bearers, and his entranced ear heard the chant of plain-song and chorale, while the vaulted roof trembled to the sound of organ music.”3 When Blake finished his apprenticeship in 1779, he was thoroughly trained in the conventional styles of his trade, and he readily obtained work of a straightforward kind for books with titles such as Fencing Familiarized (1780), Introduction to Natural Philosophy (1782), and Complete Geographical Dictionary (1782). Soon he began receiving commissions for engraving plates after more imaginative designers such as Raphael (Protestant’s Family Bible [?1781]) and especially his friend Thomas Stothard, who designed gracefully sentimental book illustrations (Illus. 2, 4).4 Most of these commissions were for modest octavos. Blake’s commissions for engravings were frequent in the 1780s and early 1790s. However, about 1794 he made a huge commitment to illustrations for Young’s Night Thoughts (Illus. 1, 12, 13), and for the period from 1800 to 1803 he lived almost exclusively under the patronage of William Hayley in the seaside village of Felpham in Sussex. On 10 January 1802 Blake wrote from Felpham, “I find on all hands great objections to my doing any thing but the meer drudgery of business & intimations that if I do not confine myself to this I shall not live … This from Johnson & Fuseli brought me down here & this from Mr H[ayley] will bring me back again for that I cannot live without doing my duty to lay up treasures in heaven is Certain & Determined.” The amount paid for engravings depended upon a number of factors. One was the degree of finish required, from the simple outlines of Flaxman’s Iliad and Hesiod, for which Longman paid £5.5.0 each, to the elaborate, laborious high finish of “The Fall of Rosamond” (1783) (Illus. 2) for which Macklin paid £80. The basic element of engraving was the outline, and on 19 August 1813 Flaxman called “M.r Blake the best engraver of outlines,” omitting almost all the shading. The payment for such plates was much less than for highly finished engravings. Blake made eight outline prints for George Cumberland’s Thoughts on Outline (1796), for which he was 10

blake as a commercial engraver

paid £16.16.0 (probably the price of friendship rather than commerce), and he made forty-eight plates after Flaxman’s designs, chiefly for The Iliad (1805) and Hesiod (1817) for £5.5.0 each.5 He also laid in the outlines for Linnell’s engraved portraits of “John Upton” (1819) and “Wilson Lowry” (1825). A second factor was the degree of finish. Naturally, highly finished plates required far more labour than outlines, and their cost was correspondingly higher. Louis Schiavonetti wrote to Cromek on 21 July 1807 about his large engraving (25.3 x 32.0 cm) of Blake’s design for the Last Judgment for Blair’s Grave: Because of “the quantity of work that there is … [I] am persuaded that you will find Sixty Guineas a very reasonable price.” (Note that Schiavonetti seems to have made no prior agreement with Cromek about price.) The engraving cost of a large, highly finished plate could be formidable. R.H. Cromek promised Schiavonetti £8406 for his engraving after Stothard’s painting of the “Canterbury Pilgrims,” the same subject and exactly the same dimensions (97.05 x c. 35.7 cm) as Blake’s print of his own “Canterbury Pilgrims” design (Illus. 18). The time required to complete such a large, highly finished plate was likely to be measured in years rather than months. In 1809 Blake wrote boldly of his “Canterbury Pilgrims” plate: “The Artist engages to deliver it, finished, in One Year from September next,”7 and its imprint is dated 8 October 1810. Stothard’s “Canterbury Pilgrims” plate took more than eight years to complete and was worked on by Louis Schiavonetti (d. 1810), R.H. Cromek (d. 1812), Nicholas Schiavonetti (d. 1813), William Bromley, Francis Engleheart, and James Heath. Another factor in calculating payment was the size, from 6.8 x 9.2 cm for Bonnycastle’s Mensuration (1782) to 43 x 31 cm for Boydell’s Shakspeare (1803; Blake’s plate is dated 1799) and 43.5 x 21.8 cm for Stuart & Revett’s Antiqvities of Athens, vol. 3 (1794). Naturally, large plates required much more time than small ones with the same degree of finish and cost proportionately more. Another was the purpose for which the engraving was intended. In most books, prints are somewhat incidental to the text,8 providing usually expendable graphic illustrations of the text. However, in separately issued prints, the quality of the design and engraving are crucial to its success. Consequently, a higher standard was usually required of engravers for separate prints, and payment for them was correspondingly higher. Strik11

william blake in the desolate market

ing examples of this are the designs Blake engraved for Thomas Macklin: Watteau, “Morning Amusement” and “Evening Amusement” (10 and 21 August 1782), Meheux, “Robin Hood and Clorinda” (30 March 1783), and Stothard, “The Fall of Rosamond” (1 October 1783) (Illus. 2), all of them circular or oval 8.5 or 12⬙ in diameter. And, finally, the price for an engraving depended upon the reputation of the engraver. Some engravers, such as William Sharp, apparently did all their own work, but some, such as James Heath, were notorious for touching up the work of their journeymen and signing them, and some, such as Cromek, signed engravings which they had scarcely touched. The fee paid to the engraver was not all profit. The engraver had to pay for expendable supplies such as acid (for etching), varnish, charcoal (for polishing the plate), and paper and ink (for pulling proofs). The engraver probably ordinarily supplied the copper, which became the property of the patron, and copper was very expensive.9 The three quarto-size copper plates for Flaxman’s Naval Pillar (1799) cost 12s. 8d.,10 the thirty-seven folio-size copper plates for Flaxman’s Hesiod (1817) cost £13.13.0,11 and eighteen of the folio-size copper plates for Blake’s Illustrations to the Book of Job (1826) cost £3.5.7.12 The printing of a large line-engraving was a time-consuming and elaborate process. After the finished plate was highly polished, it was inked; then the ink was repeatedly wiped off, save for that in the engraved recesses, with cloths of different coarseness and then with the palm of the hand, and then prints were pulled on carefully dampened paper. By comparison, printing from relief-etched surfaces, as in Blake’s works in illuminated printing, was quite simple, for no wiping was required except perhaps for wiping off the borders and the ink which may have escaped into the etched recesses. The time needed for inking and printing a plate in illuminated printing such as America can be measured in minutes; I have done so repeatedly with electrotypes from Blake’s Songs. An indication of the difference in printing cost is the price (10s. 6d.) given in Blake’s prospectus “To the Public” (1793) for eighteen folio relief-etched prints from his America and for his single intaglio “Historical Engraving” of “Edward & Elinor.” For the 115 plates for his elegant octavo editions of poetry (1798– 1806), F.J. Du Roveray paid his distinguished engravers about £18.18.0 each, a remuneration with which few of them were gruntled.13

12

blake as a commercial engraver

The munificent print-publisher Thomas Macklin was far more generous.14 The fees he paid to twenty-eight of his engravers for fifty-eight large engravings ranged from £40 to £700 and averaged over £120. Thomas Macklin (1760–1800) was one of the most energetic and successful print-publishers of his time, and his great illustrated Bible (1791– 1800) was a worthy rival of the Boydells’ illustrated Shakspeare (1786– 1803) and Bowyer’s illustrated edition of Hume’s History of England (1793–1806). From Blake Macklin commissioned four separate plates published in 1782–1783, less than three years after Blake completed his apprenticeship. For the fourth of them, Stothard’s “The Fall of Rosamond,” (Illus. 2), Macklin paid £80. Since all the prints were the same size, Blake may have been paid about £320 over a fourteen-month period by Macklin alone. And during the same period, 1782–83, he engraved thirty-one book illustrations. He may have been distinctly prosperous from his profession then. It is likely that Blake was paid similar sums for his single plates of “Venus Dissuades Adonis” by Richard Cosway (1787), published by Cosway’s brother-in-law George Hadfield, “The Idle Laundress” and “The Industrious Cottager” (1788) by the exceedingly popular and dissolute George Morland, published at 6s. by the printseller John Raphael Smith,15 “The Beggar’s Opera” (1788) after Hogarth for the extraordinarily ambitious and generous printsellers John and Josiah Boydell, the large advertisement for the carpet manufacturer Moore & Co. (?1797) after Blake’s own charming design, the “Rev John Caspar Lavater” (1800) published by Blake’s most frequent patron of these years, the bookseller Joseph Johnson, and perhaps “The Child of Nature” and “The Child of Art” (1818) after the artist-printseller C. Borckhardt, the portrait of “Revd Robert Hawker” after I. Ponsford (1820) published by the print seller Alexander A. Paris,16 the politically sensational “Mrs Q” (1820) after H. Villiers published by the radical printseller John Barrow,17 and the portrait of “Wilson Lowry” (1825) after his patron John Linnell, published by the booksellers Hurst & Robinson. These profitable, separately issued prints were engraved chiefly in the 1780s. The number of highly finished, large, separate prints Blake completed in 1788 is astonishing.18 Blake tried to participate in this lucrative market for separately issued prints by publishing prints himself. The first attempt was in his engraving

13

Table 1.1 Separate commercial engravings by Blake Designer

Title

Printseller

Date

Watteau Watteau Meheux Stothard Stothard Stothard R. Cosway Morland Morland Hogarth Blake Blake Blake Blake Blake Anon. Blake Borckhardt Borckhardt Linnell Ponsford Villiers Linnell

“Morning Amusement” “Evening Amusement” “Robin Hood & Clorinda” “The Fall of Rosamond” “Calisto” “Zephyrus & Flora” “Venus Dissuades Adonis” “The Idle Laundress” “The Industrious Cottager” “The Beggar’s Opera” “Edward & Elinor” “War” [“Our End Is Come”] “Job” “Ezekiel” “Moore & Co” ad “Rev John Caspar Lavater” “The Canterbury Pilgrims” “The Child of Nature” “The Child of Art” “James Upton” “Revd Robert Hawker” “Mrs Q” “Wilson Lowry”

Macklin Macklin Macklin Macklin Blake & Parker Blake & Parker Hadfield J.R. Smith J.R. Smith Boydell & Co Blake Blake Blake Blake Moore & Co. Johnson Blake Borckhardt Borckhardt Pontifex A.A. Paris I. Barrow Hurst, Robinson

1782 1782 1783 17831 1784 1784 1787 1788 1788 17882 1793 1793 1793 1794 1797? 1800 1810 1818 1818 1819 1820 1820 1825

1 In Macklin’s Poetic Description of Choice and Valuable Prints (1794), 62, 28, 70, “The Fall of Rosamond” and “Morning [and Evening] Amusement” were offered at 7s. 6d. plain and 15s. coloured, and “Robin Hood and Clorinda” at 4s. plain and 7s. 6d. coloured. 2 The print was frequently reissued in The Original Works of William Hogarth (1790, ?1795, 1822, ?1826, ?1830, ?1835, ?1838).

14

blake as a commercial engraver

of Stothard’s “Zephyrus and Flora” (1784) (Illus. 4) published by the firm of Parker and Blake at 27 Broad Street. Its comparative failure is indicated by the fact that only six copies of it have been located.19 In his prospectus “To the Public” (10 October 1793), Blake announced the publication of “two large 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 two finished engravings are presumably “Edward & Elinor” for the History of England and “Job” for the Bible, both dated 18 August 1793. Those “nearly ready” may be “The Accusers [War]” (5 January 1793) and “Ezekiel” (27 October 1794). “Job” and “Ezekiel” are really splendid engravings, but apparently none sold well – only two copies of “Edward & Elinor” have been located, four of “Job,” nine of “The Accusers [War],” and three of “Ezekiel.” Though the sales were slow, Blake kept prints of them through all his moves, and he still had copies when he died in 1827. Catherine sold copies of “Job” and “Ezekiel” on 3 March 1830 for £2.2.0 to the Bishop of Limerick. There are long gaps between the next commercially published separate prints in 1800 and 1818–25. The paucity of Blake’s work for the printsellers between 1801 and 1817 had a profound effect upon his income. The best known and most successful of Blake’s separate prints was his “Canterbury Pilgrims” of 1810 (Illus. 18).20 It was engraved in rivalry with Stothard’s “Canterbury Pilgrims” of almost identical dimensions published by R.H. Cromek, and its success is probably due at least in part to the methods of puffing Blake learned from Cromek’s publications of his designs for Blair’s Grave (1808) and Stothard’s “Canterbury Pilgrims” (see chapter 7). Blake made a surprising number of engravings for separate prints which were neither published nor intended for publication. For some of these prints we can provide a plausible context. “The Approach of Doom” (?1788), after a design by his beloved brother, Robert, is apparently an experiment with Blake’s just-developing method of illuminated printing. The portraits of Edmund Pitts (1793?) and Earl Spencer (1813) were probably commissioned for private circulation among friends of the subjects and might have been paid for handsomely. “Death’s Door” (1805) was a specimen in white line to show Cromek how Blake would transfer his design for Blair’s Grave to copper, a specimen which so horrified Cromek that he broke his promise to commission 15

william blake in the desolate market

Table 1.2 Unpublished separate engravings by Blake Date

Designer

Title

1773

Michael Angelo

1780 1788?

Blake Robert & Wm Blake Fuseli Fuseli Fuseli J. Earle Blake

“Joseph of Arimathea among the Rocks of Albion” “Albion Rose” (“Glad Day”) “The Approach of Doom”

1790? 1790? 1790 1793? 1794? 1805 1805 1805 1806? 1807? 1812 1813 1816? 1827

Blake Blake Blake Blake Blake Blake Phillips Blake Blake

Copies located

“Falsa ad Coelum” “Satan” (Head of a Damned Soul) “Timon and Alcibiades” “Edmund Pitts” “The Man Sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlor” “Lucifer & the Pope in Hell” “Let him look up into the Heavens” “Death’s Door” “Christ Trampling upon Urizen”1 “Enoch” (lithograph) “The Chaining of Orc” “Earl Spencer” “Mirth” George Cumberland’s calling card

2 4 1 1 6 1 10 15 2 2 1 18+ 2 1 3 2 30

1 The copper plate for “Christ Trampling upon Urizen” was repeatedly reprinted, probably between 1903, when it was rediscovered, and 2009, when it was given to the Pierpont Morgan Library.

Blake to engrave all the Blair designs. “Christ Trampling upon Urizen” (1806?) was a collaborative teaching exercise for Thomas Butts, and payment for it was presumably included in Blake’s fee for teaching. “Enoch” was an experiment with the techniques of lithography fostered by the entrepreneurs introducing them to England.21 And George Cumberland’s tiny card was printed for Cumberland to give to his friends. It is the only one of these obscure, unpublished, separate prints which reached a wide audience. 16

blake as a commercial engraver

For most of Blake’s commercial book prints, we know little more than the designer, engraver, imprint with bookseller’s name, and date. However, for two sets of engravings a great deal of information has survived. The first set is for William Hayley’s Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) with fourteen prints engraved by Blake after his own designs, and the second is Illustrations of the Book of Job (1826) with twenty-two prints by Blake after his own designs. Blake may be seen in Hayley’s letter to Flaxman of 7 August 1803 bargaining, pretty unsuccessfully, over the price of his engravings: Blake has made two excellent drawings of Romney one from his own large picture the other from our dear disciples Medallion — I thought of having both engraved for a single quarto volume of his Life — but Blake surprised me a little in saying (after we had settled the price of 30 Guineas for the first the price which He had for the Cowper [Illus. 7]) that Romneys head would require much Labor & he must have 40 for it — startled as I was I replied I will not stint you in behalf of Romney — you shall have 40 — but soon after while we were looking at the smaller & slighter drawing of the Medallion He astonished me by saying I must have 30G for this – I then replied — of this point I must consider because you will observe Romneys Life can hardly circulate like Cowpers & I shall perhaps print it entirely at my own risk – So the matter rests between us at present — yet I certainly wish to have both the portraits engraved. Blake worked for years on his engraving of the portrait of Romney,22 but neither it nor the medallion was included when the volume was published in 1809. bl ake’s e arni ngs as a co mme rci al e ngraver Table 1.3 omits plates engraved when Blake was an apprentice (1772– 79), printed in Bryant, Ancient Mythology (1774), Ayloffe, Ancient Monuments in Westminster Abbey (1780), Gough, Sepulchral Monuments of Great Britain, vol. 1 (1786), and Vetusta Monumenta (?1789), since payments would have been made to his master, James Basire. The table also omits experimental plates (such as “Death’s Door” and “Laocoon”) and 17

william blake in the desolate market

commercial plates for which Blake was the publisher: Stothard, “Zephyrus and Flora” (Parker & Blake, 1784), Stothard, “Calisto” (Blake & Parker, 1784), Fuseli, “Timon and Alcibiades” (1790), “The Accusers” (5 June 1793), “Edward & Elinor” (18 August 1793), “Job” (18 August 1793), “Ezekiel” (27 October 1794), and “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims” (8 October 1810). Blake would have been paid as a printseller for these prints he published himself, not as an engraver. The sources of information for Table 1.3 are chiefly G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Books, Blake Books Supplement, Blake Records, 2nd ed., and “William Blake and His Circle,” Robert N. Essick, The Separate Plates of William Blake, and his William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations, especially for reproductions. The date is that of the plate imprint, which sometimes precedes that on the book title page. Probably the engraver was paid when the bookseller added his dated imprint. Certainly this is true of Flaxman’s Hesiod (1817).23 Sizes of plates are rounded; for instance, 7.3 x 9.7 = 7 x 10. Occasionally the dimensions recorded are for the design size, when the platemark is not visible. Fees are rounded; e.g., £207.18.0 is given as £208; normally they were in guineas. Fees are estimates except for those displayed in italics. According to Blake’s letter of 22 June 1804, his former partner James Parker estimated that the fees for quarto engravings (17.8 x 17.1 cm) should be “30 Guineas the finishd & half the sum for the less finishd.” Table 1.3 Blake’s earnings as a commercial engraver * Also designed by Blake § Engraved in outline only, without shading Date Author and title

Publisher

Size (cm)

Number of plates

Fee

1779 ?John Donne, Poetical Works (1779)a 1780 Royal Universal Family Bible, ed. Herries (1780–1782)

John Bell

10 x 15

1

£16

Fielding & Walker

28 x 19

1

£26

18

Table 1.3 (continued) Date Author and title

Publisher

Size (cm)

Number of plates

Fee

1780 William Enfield, The Speaker (1780) 1780 [J.] Olivier, Fencing Familiarized (1780) 1781? Protestants Family Bible (?1780–1781) 1781 Royal Universal Family Bible (1782) 1781 Emlyn, New Order in Architecture (1781) 1781? Kimpton, Universal History of the Holy Bible (1781); Works of Flavius Josephus (1785–1786) 1782 Royal Universal Family Bible (1780–1782) 1782 John Bonnycastle, Introduction to Mensuration (1782) 1782 Ladies New and Polite Pocket Memorandum Book (1782)

Joseph Johnson

12 x 18

1

£21

John Bell

21 x 15

1

£21

Harrison & Co 15 x 20

5

£26

Fielding &Walker

28 x 18

3*

£76

?Henry Emlyn

36 x 53

1§

£32

J. Cooke

18 x 29

3

£76

Fielding & Walker

28 x 18

1

£26

Joseph Johnson

7x9

1

£11

Joseph Johnson

7 x 10 13 x 10

1 1

£11 £16

19

Table 1.3 (continued) Date Author and title

Publisher

Size (cm)

Number of plates

Fee

1782 William Nicholson, Introduction to Natural Philosophy (1782) 1782 Novelist’s Magazine, Vols 8–10 (1782) 1782 John Scott, Poetical Works (1782) 1782 Seally & Lyons, Complete Geographical Dictionary, Vol. 2 (?1784) 1782 Watteau, “Evening Amusement” (1782) 1782 Watteau, “Morning Amusement” (1782) 1783 Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, tr. Hoole (1783) 1783 Chaucer, Poetical Works (1783), Vol. 13 1783 Henry, Memoirs of Albert de Haller (1783) 1783 Meheux, “Robin Hood & Clorinda” (1783)

Joseph Johnson

8x5

1

£11

7 x 12

6

£66

9x9 10 x 8 11 x 8 24 x 18 25 x 18 25 x 19

1 1 2 1 1 1

£16 £16 £32 £26 £26 £26

Thomas Macklin

36 x 33

1

£53

Thomas Macklin John Hoole

36 x 33

1

£53

14 x 19

1

£22

John Bell

7 x 11

1

£11

Joseph Johnson

9 x 13

1

£16

Thomas Macklin

23 x 28

1

£42

Harrison & Co J. Buckland

John Fielding

20

Table 1.3 (continued) Date Author and title

Publisher

1783 Novelist’s Magazine, Vol. 10 (1783) 1783 Select Collection of English Songs [ed. Joseph Ritson] (1783) 1783 Stothard, “The Fall of Rosamond” (1783) 1784 Emlyn, New Order in Architecture (1784) 1784 Fenning & Collyer, New System of Geography (1784) 1784 Wit’s Magazine, Vol. 1 (1784)

1785 [Elizabeth Blower], Maria (1785) 1785 Fenning & Collyer, New System of Geography, Vol. 1 (1786) 1786 Thomas Commins, Elegy (1786) 1787 Rd Cosway, “Venus Dissuades Adonis” 1788 William Hogarth, Works (1788)

Size (cm)

Number of plates

Fee

Harrison & Co 7 x 12

2

£22

Joseph Johnson

8x6 9x7 10 x 8

1 1 7

£11 £11 £74

Thomas Macklin

33 x 39

1

£80

?Emlyn

36 x 53

1

£53

G. Wilkie

18 x 25

1

£26

Harrison & Co 23 x 17 23 x 18 23 x 19 24 x 19 Thomas Cadell 8 x 13

1 1 1 2 1

£22 £22 £22 £42 £16

Joseph Johnson

17 x 20

1

£25

J. Fentum

20 x 28

1*

£26

1

£33

1

£53

George 26 x 22 Hadfield J. & J. Boydell 40 x 54

21

Table 1.3 (continued) Date Author and title

Publisher

Size (cm)

Number of plates

Fee

1788 J.C. Lavater, Aphorisms on Man, tr. Fuseli (1788) 1788 J.C. Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy, tr. H. Hunter, Vol. 1 (Part 5, 1788) 1789 1788 Morland, “The Idle Laundress” (1788) 1788 Morland, “Industrious Cottager” (1788) 1780–89

Joseph Johnson

7 x 12

1

£22

John Murray

9x6 27 x 23 18 x 15 14 x 7

1 1 1 1

J.R. Smith

30 x 27

1

£32

J.R. Smith

31 x 27

1

£32

1790 C.G. Salzmann, Elements of Morality [tr. Mary Wollstonecraft] (1791) 1791 Erasmus Darwin, Botanic Garden, Part 1 (1791)

Joseph Johnson

7 x 12 7 x 13

4 9

£42 £95

Joseph Johnson

15 x 20 18 x 25 16 x 27 15 x 26 14 x 25 11 x 15

1 1* 1* 1 1* 1

£26 £26 £26 £26 £26 £22

7 x 11 7 x 12 7 x 13 8 x 12

1 25 5 1

£11 £263 £53 £11

}

71 engravings

1791 David Hartley, Joseph Observations Johnson on Man (1791) 1791 Salzmann, Elements Joseph of Morality [tr. Mary Johnson Wollstonecraft] (1791)

22

£40

£1,303

Table 1.3 (continued) Date Author and title

Publisher

Size (cm)

Number of plates

Fee

1791 Stuart & Revett, Antiqvities of Athens, Vol. 3 (1794) T1791 Mary Wollstonecraft, Original Stories from Real Life (1791)b

?Stuart & Revett

44 x 22

4

£126

1* 2* 1* 2* 1

£21 £42 £21 £42 £26

13 x 18 15 x 18

2 1

£42 £22

20 x 15

1

£22

11 x 18 12 x 20

1 1

£22 £22

18 x 24

1

£44

9x8 10 x 8 13 x 18 13 x 19 14 x 18 14 x 19 16 x 12 17 x 13 24 x 17 25 x 15 13 x 18

8 4 4 4 3 2 3§ 1§ 1§ 1§ 1

£84 £42 £84 £63 £63 £42 £6 £2 £2 £2 £21

Joseph Johnson

9 x 15 9 x 16 10 x 15 10 x 16 John Stockdale 21 x 25

1792 John Hunter, Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson (1793) 1792 J.G. Stedman, Joseph Narrative … to Johnson Surinam (1796) 1793 Bellamy’s Picturesque T. Bellamy Magazine, 1 (1793) 1793 James Earle, Joseph Operation for the Johnson Stone (1793) 1793 Sir James Earle, [?James Earle] “Edmund Pitts, Esqr” 1793 John Gay, Fables John Stockdale (1793) 1793 Stedman, Narrative … Joseph to Surinam (1796) Johnson

1794 Cumberland, Robinson Thoughts on Outline & Egerton (1796) 1794 Stedman, Narrative … Joseph to Surinam (1796) Johnson 23

Table 1.3 (continued) Date Author and title

Publisher

1795 John Brown, Joseph Elements of Medicine Johnson (1795) 1795 Catullus, Poems, Joseph [tr. J. Nott] (1795) Johnson 1795 Cumberland, Robinson Thoughts on Outline & Egerton (1796) 1795 Darwin, Botanic Joseph Garden, Part 1 (1795) Johnson 1796 George Cumberland, Wilson Hafod (1796) & Egerton 1796 Edward Young, Richard Night Thoughts Edwards (1797) 1797 Blake, “Moore Moore & Co & Co” advertisement 1797 Leonard Euler, Joseph Elements of Algebra Johnson [tr. F. Horner] (1797) 1797 Charles Allen, Joseph Johnson History of England (1797) 1797 Charles Allen, Joseph Johnson Roman History (1798) 1797 Monthly Magazine Richard Phillips (1797) 1797 Young, Night Richard Thoughts (1797) Edwards 1797 Young, Night Thomas Butts Thoughts (1797) 24 proofs

24

Size (cm)

Number of plates

Fee

11 x 13

1

£16

10 x 17

2

£42

23 x 19 21 x 16

1§ 1§

£2 £2

17 x 21

1§

£26

35 x 16

1?

£6

32 x 40 to 34 x 42

22*

1c

? x 35

1*

£33

7 x 11

1

£13

7 x 15

4

£63

8 x 15

4

£63

6x9

1

£12d

31 x 42 to 33 x 41

21*

… £1

Table 1.3 (continued) Date Author and title

Publisher

Size (cm)

Number of plates

1799 Darwin, Botanic Joseph Johnson 8 x 13 1 Garden, Part 1 (1799) 8 x 11 1 9 x 17 1 9 x 16 2 1799 John Flaxman, Letter Cadell & Davies 15 x 19 2§ to the Committee for 19 x 10 1§ Raising the Naval Pillar (1799) 1799 William Shakspeare, J. & J. Boydell 43 x 31 1 Dramatic Works, ed. George Steevens, Vol. 9 (1802) 1790–99 167 engravings

}

1800 Anon., “Rev. John Joseph Johnson 30 x 37 Caspar Lavater” (1801) 1800 William Hayley, Cadell & Davies 22 x 16 Essay on Sculpture (1800) 16 x 13 1800 [Hayley] Little Tom Widow Spicer 11 x 16 the Sailor (1800) 11 x 22 12 x 4 1801 Henry Fuseli, Joseph Johnson 14 x 7 Lectures on Painting (1801) 1802 William Hayley, R.H. Evans 9x7 Designs to a Series 11 x 8 of Ballads (1802) 11 x 15 11 x 16 14 x 17 15 x 6 16 x 17

25

1

Fee

£21 £21 £21 £42 £9

£53

£1,787 £30

2(1§) £42 1 £21 2* Probably 1* illustrated 1* in charity 1 £21

1* 6* 1* 2* 2* 1* 1*

As the work printed for Blake’s benefit, he may not have been paid for the engravings except in anticipated profits

Table 1.3 (continued) Date Author and title

Publisher

Size (cm)

Number of plates

1802 William Hayley, Joseph Johnson 12 x 16 1 Life … of William 13 x 16 1 Cowper, Vols 1–2 (1802) 14 x 18 1* 17 x 23 1 1803 William Hayley, Joseph Johnson 14 x 20 1 Life … of William 15 x 17 1 Cowper, Vol. 3 (1803) 1803 Hayley, Triumphs of Cadell & Davies 10 x 16 6 Temper (1803) 1804 Prince Hoare, Robson 18 x 20 1§ Academic Correspondence (1804) 1804 William Shakspeare, F.C. & J. 9 x 17 2 Plays, ed. Chalmers Rivington 10 x 16 1 (1804), Vols 7, 10 1804 Hayley, Life … of Joseph Johnson 14 x 20 1 William Cowper, 15 x 17 1 Vol. 3 (1804) 1805 Flaxman, Iliad (1805) Longman &c 35 x 25 3§ 1805 Hayley, Ballads Richard Phillips 9 x 15 5* (1805) 1806 P. Hoare, Inquiry Richard Phillips 17 x 11 1§ into the … Arts (1806) 1806 Malkin, A Father’s Longman &c 22 x 15 1e Memoirs of His Child (1806) Thomas Payne 18 x 13 1 1809f Hayley, Life of George Romney (1809) 1800–09 52 engravings

}

1811 Geoffrey Chaucer, Prologue (1812)

Newberry

26

8 x 13 7x5

1 1

Fee

£32 £32 £26 £26 £26 £26 £63+ £16

£53

£26 £36 £16 £53 £26 £26

£32 £638 £21 £11

Table 1.3 (continued) Date Author and title

Publisher

Size (cm)

Number of plates

Fee

1813 Thomas Phillips, “The Right Honourable Earl Spencer” (?1813) 1814 Flaxman, Hesiod (1817) 1815 Flaxman, Hesiod (1817) 1815 Rees, Cyclopaedia, Fascicle 66 (1816) 1815? [Wedgwood, Catalogue (?1816)]

?

26 x 37

1

£42

Longman &c

g

12§

£67

8§

£45 £11

Longman &c Longman &c

15 x 26

1

Wedgwood

17 x 23 17 x 24 18 x 23

14§ 3§ 1§ 14§

1816 Flaxman, Hesiod Longman &c (1817) 1816 Rees, Cyclopaedia, Longman &c Fascicle 68 (1816) 1816 Fascicle 67 (1816) Longman &c 1817 Rees, Cyclopaedia, Longman &c Fascicle 69 (1817) 1817 Flaxman, Hesiod Longman &c (1817) 1818 Borckhardt, “The C. Borckhardt Child of Nature” (1818) 1818 Borckhardt, “The C. Borckhardt Child of Art” (1818) 1818 Rees, Cyclopaedia, Longman &c Fascicle 78 (1819) 1818 Fascicle F (1819) Longman &c 1819 John Linnell, “James R. Pontifex Upton”h (1819) 1819 Rees, Cyclopaedia, Longman &c Fascicle F (1819) 27

}

£30 £74

15 x 25

1§

£21

19 x 27 18 x 22

1§ 1§

£21 £21

3§

£16

28 x 43

1

£26

28 x ?

1

£26

17 x 24

1§

£21

20 x 27 28 x 35

1§ 1§

£21 £16

16 x 21

1§

£21

Table 1.3 (continued) Date Author and title

Publisher

Size (cm)

Number of plates

Fee

1810–19

68 engravings

£553

A.A. Paris 1820 I. Ponsford, “Rev.d Robert Hawker” (1820) 1820 H. Villiers, “Mrs. Q” I. Barrow (1820) 1821 Virgil, Pastorals, ed. R.J. Thornton R.J. Thornton (1821)i

34 x 47

1

£42

25 x 35

1

£31

6x8 8x3 10 x 7 12 x 8 13 x 8 7 x 10

1* 16* 3* 3* 1* 1*

£3 £50 £32 £25 £11 £21

1824 Remember Me! [ed. I. Poole R.J. Thornton] (1824) 1824– John Linnell, Hurst, Robinson20 x 25 1§ 25 “Wilson Lowry”j (1825) 1825 Illustrations of the John Linnell 17 x 21 21* Book of Job (1826) 17 x 11 1* 1825– Illustrations of Dante John Linnell 27 x 35 7* 27 (1838) 1827 George Cumberland’s George 8x3 1* Calling Card (1827) Cumberland 1821–27 59 engravings T OTA L 417 engravings

}

£20

£146k £89l £3 £508 £4,790

Works inherited by Catherine Blake “Joseph of Arimathea among the Rocks of Albion” (1810–1820) (Essick #2B): “Job” (1793) (Essick #2B) and “Ezekiel” (1794) (Essick #2B) (the two sold 2 March 1830); “Canterbury Pilgrims” (1810–20) (Essick 3G, 3–7, 18, 26) and copper plate, “Man Sweeping the Interpreters Parlor” (Essick #2J). a

b

c

The print speculatively attributed to Donne’s Poetical Works is known only from a proof before letters. Blake’s five designs were copied in Marie Vollstonecraft Godwin, Marie et Caroline (Paris: Dentu, 1799), but of course no profit accrued to Blake or Johnson. Richard Edwards may have paid Blake for his forty-three folio engravings with 28

blake as a commercial engraver

d

e

f

g

h

i

j k l

copies of the printed Night Thoughts, rather than cash, for Blake to colour. See Table 6.1, Blake’s earnings as a painter. Blake’s engraving of “The late M.r Wright of Derby” for the Monthly Magazine (1797) is probably “the Head I sent you as a Specimen” for which “I had Twelve” guineas, according to his letter to John Trusler on 23 August 1799. The plate for Malkin was engraved by Blake and touched up and signed by R.H. Cromek. Blake’s engraving for Romney was commissioned and probably completed about 1805 but not published or, presumably paid for. The thirty-seven Hesiod plates range in size from 17 x 18 (pl. 32) to 38 x 26 cm (pl. 14). Blake laid in the outline for Linnell’s portrait of Upton, and Linnell finished the engraving. Six of Blake’s plates for Virgil are on copper, the rest on wood, his only woodcuts. He designed and engraved on wood twenty-one plates but three of these were re-engraved by others. The engraving of “Wilson Lowry” was by Linnell and Blake. Payments for Job were for designs and engravings. Payments for Dante were for designs and engravings.

During the years when his apprentice Thomas Owen was sufficiently skilful to be a real help, Blake was extraordinarily prolific as a commercial engraver. He produced 27 commercial plates in 1790, 34 in 1791, 9 in 1792, 29 in 1793, and 7 in 1794. But when he was immersed in the 537 watercolours and 43 engravings for Richard Edwards’s edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (Part I, 1797), his commissions from other booksellers fell off drastically: 6 in 1795, 3 in 1796, 11 in 1797, none in 1798, 4 in 1799. For the next six years, from 1800 to 1805, all but 4 of his commercial commissions came through his Felpham patron William Hayley. As Blake wrote to George Cumberland on 26 August 1799: “I am laid by in a corner as if I did not Exist & Since my Youngs Night Thoughts have been publishd even Johnson & Fuseli have discarded my Graver. But … I laugh at Fortune & go on & on.” And to William Hayley he wrote on 7 October 1803, “no one brings work to me … I suppose I must go a Courting which I shall do awkwardly … Yet I laugh & sing for if on Earth neglected I am in Heaven a Prince among Princes … at certain periods a blaze of reputation arises around me … but the flame soon dies again & I am left stupefied and astonishd.”

29

2 “A B l a z e of R e p u tat i o n ” T h e M at h e w S a l o n a n d P oe t i c a l

S k e tc h e s ( 1 7 8 3 ) at certain periods a blaze of reputation arises round me in which I am considerd as one distinguishd by some mental perfection but the flame soon dies again & I am left stupefied and astonishd. O that I could live as others do in a regular succession of Employment.1 Blake’s letter of 7 October 1803

In 1783 young William Blake, age twenty-six, not long emerged from his arduous apprenticeship as an engraver, suddenly burst upon the fashionable world – at least a fringe of the fashionable world. He was introduced to Harriet Mathew, the charming bluestocking wife of a popular clergyman, and at her musical conversaziones in Rathbone Place he encountered some of the rising stars of the age – the sculptor John Flaxman, later Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy; John Thomas Smith, who was to become Keeper of the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum; and perhaps the great portrait painter John Romney, R.A., who was an early admirer. There he was petted and cried up in a way extraordinary for an artisan. “There,” in Harriet Mathew’s Gothic salon, according to Smith, “I have often heard him read and sing several of his poems. He was listened to by the company with profound silence, and allowed by most of the visitors to possess original and extraordinary merit.”1 She not only provided auditors for Blake’s songs, but she “was so extremely zealous in promoting the celebrity of Blake, that upon hearing him read some of his early efforts in poetry, she thought so well of them, as to request the Rev.

“a blaze of reputation”

Henry Mathew, her husband, to join Mr. Flaxman in his truly kind offer of defraying the expense of printing them; in which he not only acquiesced, but, with his usual urbanity, wrote the … advertisement, which precedes the poems.”2 The modest title page of the little volume read POET I CAL SKET CHES. —————————————————By W. B. —————————————————LONDON: Printed in the Year M DCC LXXXI I I. The cost of printing the 4¾ sheets (76 pp.) in octavo may have been about £5 (Illus. 6).3 The Reverend Mr Mathew’s advertisement for this “production of untutored youth” was even more modest: “Con冕cious of the irregularities and defects to be found in almo冕t every page, his friends have 冕till believed that they po冕冕e冕冕ed a poetic originality, which merited 冕ome re冕pite from oblivion.” Consequently, as J.T. Smith wrote, “The whole copy of this little work … was given to Blake to sell to friends, or publish, as he might think proper.”4 However, Blake took scarcely any interest in the book. He couldn’t be bothered to proofread it – or, as Mr Mathew wrote, “his talents having been wholly directed to the attainment of excellence in his profe冕冕ion, he has been deprived of the lei冕ure requi冕ite to 冕uch a revi冕al of the冕e 冕heets, as might have rendered them le冕s unfit to meet the public eye.” For that matter, his friends couldn’t be bothered to proofread it either, for the printed text has “greeen,” “cares” for “ears,” “phlo冕ophic,” and “withs” for “withes.” Here was a splendid opportunity for fame and fortune, or, better, for reputation and patronage. Blake gave away some corrected copies, and John and Nancy Flaxman gave away others. These early owners included William Hayley (Copy S, 26 April 1784), John Hawkins (Y, by 10 May 1784), Isaac Reed (F, 15 May 1784), William Long (E, 1784), and George Cumberland (D, ?1784).

31

william blake in the desolate market

But Mr and Mrs Mathew are not known to have owned anything by Blake, not even a copy of Poetical Sketches, whose printing they sponsored. The kind of patronage Blake hoped for is indicated by a letter from John Flaxman of 18 June 1783: “M Hawkins paid me a visit & at my desire has employed Blake to make him a capital drawing for whose advantage in consideration of his great talents he seems desirous to employ his utmost interest.” And next spring, on 26 April 1784, Flaxman wrote again: “M. Hawkins a Cornish Gentleman has shewn his taste & liberality in ordering Blake to make several drawings for him, & is so convinced of his uncommon talents that he is now endeavouring to raise a subscription to send him to finish [his] studies in Rome … his generosity is such he would bear the whole charge of Blakes travels – but he is only a younger son, & can therefore only bear a large proportion of the expence.” John Hawkins (?1758–1841), antiquary and dilettante, became a good friend to Blake, and twenty years later the two men were still in amiable contact. In 1799 Blake showed Cumberland’s Bonasone to “Mr Hawkins my friend,” and in 1800 he hoped that Hawkins would settle near Felpham,5 which he did in 1806. On 23 October 1804 Blake wrote of “Our good and kind friend Hawkins” and “his former Kindness to me,” and on 28 October 1804 of “Our Dear Friend Hawkins.” But Hawkins scarcely became a patron to Blake. He did not take him to Italy. He did take two copies of Hayley’s Designs (1802),6 but there is no other record of pictures or books by Blake which he owned. Blake made scarcely any effort to profit from the publication of Poetical Sketches. The sheets were given to Blake unfolded, uncut, and unstitched. Perhaps there were about fifty copies; twenty-four can be traced today. Blake made desultory and apparently ad hoc corrections in a few copies (B–F, O, Q, S–T, V–W, Y), but he showed little interest in the volume beyond this. Later he gave a corrected copy (B) to his patron Thomas Butts about 1795, and another (C) inscribed “To Charles Tulke Esqre½ from Will. Blake” about 1810. Blake corrected five other copies (O, Q, T, V–W), but their original recipients are not known. Thus slightly more than half the known copies of W.B.’s Poetical Sketches were corrected by Blake and given away by him or for him. The other copies of Poetical Sketches, still unfolded and unstitched, were carried by Blake from one residence to another – from 23 Green 32

“a blaze of reputation”

Street (1782–84) to 27 Broad Street (1784–85) and thence to 28 Poland Street (1785–90), 13 Hercules Buildings (1790–1800), Felpham, Sussex (1800–03), 27 South Molton Street (1803–21), and 3 Fountain Court (1821–27), where he died. He, or perhaps his wife, took some pains to preserve the copies of Poetical Sketches, but they made little effort to dispose of them.7 So far as we can tell, Blake made no effort to “sell [it] to friends, or publish” it, as his friends hoped, even when the work was printed for him and the sheets put in his hands. He did not include Poetical Sketches in the lists of his works for sale in his prospectus “To the Public” (October 1793) or in his letters of 9 June 1818 and 12 April 1827. Apparently he received no cash profit at all from Poetical Sketches. Poetical Sketches includes some of the most wonderful poems of the late eighteenth century, but they were known to very few until some were printed twenty-three years later in B.H. Malkin’s A Father’s Memoirs of His Child (1806). And even this was privately printed.8 Blake was clearly uncomfortable at being exhibited as a prodigy at Mrs Mathew’s salons. His discomfort with such earnest musical gatherings is manifested in his manuscript Island in the Moon (?1784), with Signor Fallalasole, Mrs Gibble Gabble, and Miss Fillagreework and their talk of “Handels waterpiece” and Chatterton (1752–70): “Here was great confusion & disorder” (10). Amid the nonsense, “Hang Italian songs lets have English said Quid” the Cynic (12); Obtuse Angle sings “Holy Thursday” (later etched for Songs of Innocence), and “after this they all sat silent for a quarter of an hour” (14). Blake may well have allowed echoes of Mrs Gibble Gabble and Signor Fallalasole to be heard at Mrs Mathew’s musical conversaziones, and “it happened, unfortunately, soon after this period [1784], that in consequence of his unbending deportment, or what his adherents are pleased to call his manly firmness of opinion, which certainly was not at all times considered pleasing by every one, his visits were not so frequent.”9 The cheerful blaze of reputation which Harriet Mathew had so generously fanned at her conversaziones was scarcely fuelled by Blake, and the flame soon died again.

33

3 T h e P r i n t S h op, 1 7 8 4 – 1 7 8 5

In the first five years after the completion of his apprenticeship in 1779, Blake was busy and increasingly successful as a commercial engraver. His success probably encouraged him to think of expanding his horizons. When Blake’s father died in July 1784, each of the adult sons was set up in business. James, age thirty-one, continued in the family hosiery and haberdashery shop at 28 Broad Street (1784–1812), where he had been assisting his father for years. John, twenty-four, the parents’ favourite, was set up as a gingerbread baker at 29 Broad Street (1784–93), across the street from the hosiery shop. And William, twenty-six, was set up in a print shop at 27 Broad Street (1784–85),1 next door to the hosiery shop. Robert, twenty-one, William’s favourite, probably lived with William and Catherine at 27 Broad Street, and Catherine Elizabeth, twenty, lived with James at 28 Broad Street. At the time, “a Print shop was a rare bird in London,”2 but ambitious engravers were beginning to learn that far more could be earned by selling prints than by engraving them. The minor engravers John and Josiah Boydell and Thomas Macklin, along with Robert Bowyer, a minor miniaturist, opened print shops in London which became immensely fashionable. They multiplied their successes by publishing illustrated books on an enormous scale. The Boydells’s nine-volume folio Shakspeare (1791– 1802), Macklin’s six-volume folio Bible (1791–1800), and Bowyer’s fivevolume folio edition of Hume’s History of England (1793–1806) were the most majestic and ambitious illustrated literary publications which have appeared in the English-speaking world.

the print shop

The cost of setting up in trade as a printseller was generally “from 100 to 1000. according to the figure he would make in trade.”3 The costs included a shop, prints, and, if possible, a copper plate printing press. By this time Blake probably had his own press,4 “a very good one which cost him forty pounds.”5 He took as his partner James Parker, who had been an apprentice with him under James Basire. Parker was, as John Flaxman wrote, an engraver of “distinguished merit, … a punctual honest Man.”6 Perhaps Parker provided much of the stock of prints with which they began their new business.7 Blake’s prospects must have seemed entrancing to him. He would be close to his family, he would be working with his wife and his old friend Parker, he would teach his beloved brother Robert to paint, and, best of all, he could be self-employed, independent. One of the advantages of the print shop was that in it Catherine could make a substantial contribution to the family income. As Cunningham ¶11 explained, “His wife attended to the business, and Blake continued to engrave.” She became “an excellent saleswoman, and never committed the mistake of showing too many things at one time.”8 She also became a skilful, hard-working printer. She “wrought off in the press the impressions of his plates—she coloured them with a light and neat hand—made drawings much in the spirit of her husband’s composition.”9 Blake was proud of her skill as a printer. On 30 January 1803, he wrote to his brother: “My Wife has undertaken to Print the whole number of the Plates for Cowpers work which She does to admiration [Illus. 7] & being under my own eye the prints are as fine as the French prints & please every one.” She probably printed the only two engravings made for the new print shop of Parker & Blake: “zephyrus and flora” (Illus. 4) and “calisto” (ovals 25.3 x 25.3 cm), inscribed “Stothard del.,” “W. Blake. sc.,” and “Published as the Act directs Decr 17. 1784 by Parker & Blake No 27 Broad St Golden Square” (“Blake & Parker” in “Calisto”). And she may have been the one who colour-printed and hand-tinted some copies of them. But probably she didn’t print many copies, for only six of each have been traced.10 At this rate, they must have had difficulty paying Stothard’s customarily modest fees for designing the pictures. There is no evidence as to other prints they sold, but there can’t have

35

william blake in the desolate market

been many, and soon Parker & Blake were in financial difficulties. For a time, Blake “continued to benefit by Mrs. Mathew’s liberality, and was enabled to continue in partnership, as a Printseller, with his fellow-pupil Parker.”11 However, Mrs Mathew’s help proved to be only a stop-gap. “This speculation did not succeed … he [Blake] had a dispute with Parker—the shop was relinquished, and he removed to 28, Poland Street”12 in the autumn of 1785. When the firm broke up, Parker may have kept the stock in trade to continue the business at 27 Broad Street,13 where he paid the rates until 1794, while Blake moved out with the printing press. The print shop of Blake & Parker was a failure.

36

4 Blake as a Teacher, 1784–1827

Blake was used to teaching. He taught his brother Robert, and perhaps he taught in the girls’ school of Elizabeth Butts. He may have been speaking from personal experience when he wrote in a letter to Butts (22 November 1802) of “those [artistic] things which a Boarding School Miss can comprehend in a fortnight.” Blake’s most extensive and intensive teaching must have been to Thomas Owen, whom he took as an apprentice in June 1788 for a fee of fifty guineas. The most important clause of the indenture was that the Master “shall Teach and Instruct” his Apprentice in his “Art and Mystery,” “finding unto his said Apprentice, Meat, Drink, Apparel, Lodging, and all other Necessaries.”1 Presumably, therefore, Thomas Owen lived with the Blakes at 28 Poland Street from 1788 to 1790 and moved with them across the river to the large house at 13 Hercules Buildings for the balance of his apprenticeship from 1790 to 1795. His first lesson was probably that “Engraving is Eternal work,”2 and he and Blake worked together twelve hours a day, six days a week. The style of engraving Blake taught was old-fashioned line-engraving which he had learned as an apprentice with James Basire (1772–79), “the Style of Alb Durers Hist[o]ries & the old Engravers.”3 Like Blake when he was an apprentice, young Thomas was taught the most rudimentary skills of his trade: to grind gravers and planish plates and pulverize ink and dampen the paper for pulling proofs … When the young apprentice was allowed to take up a graver,

william blake in the desolate market

with the knob in the heel of his hand and his forefinger along the top of the blade, he was taught to push the tool away from him in straight lines, adjusting the copper on the sand-bag to alter the direction of the cut. By changing the angle of the blade, he could make the incision broad or narrow. He learned to represent shading by hatching and cross-hatching the plate, or by the newer method of dot-and-lozenge … and most intricate of all were twisting worm-lines.4 Thomas was taught to etch with aqua fortis, to write backwards so that the engraved words, reversed when printed, could be read straightforwardly, and to take proofs on the copper-plate press. After two or three years, Owen became sufficiently skilled to be a real help to Blake in his professional engraving work. Perhaps the less accomplished of the plates Blake signed in C.G. Salzmann’s Elements of Morality for the Use of Children (1791) were engraved by Thomas Owen.5 Owen must have met Blake’s friends of the time such as George Cumberland, Thomas Stothard, and Henry Fuseli,6 and his employers Joseph Johnson and Richard Edwards and John Stockdale. He probably encountered Mary Wollstonecraft, who translated Salzmann’s Elements of Morality (1790–91) and wrote Original Stories from Real Life (1791), for both of which Blake and Owen made engravings. He would also have known Blake’s friend the extravagant Captain John Gabriel Stedman, for whose Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam (1796) they made engravings dated 1792–93 (Illus. 8). In his Thoughts on Outline (1796), George Cumberland thanked Blake “for the instruction which encouraged me to execute a great part of the plates myself.”7 When Blake was about to move to Felpham in August 1800, John Flaxman wrote to Hayley: “I see no reason why he should not make as good a livelihood there as in London, if he engraves & teaches drawing, by which he may gain considerably as also by making neat drawings of different kinds.”8 Blake’s disciple Frederick Tatham tells a story of “A young man [who] passed his House daily … carrying a Portfolio under his Arm. He looked interesting & eager, but sickly. After some time Blake sent M.rs Blake to call the young man in; he came & he told them, that he was studying the Arts. Blake from this took a high interest in him & gave him 38

blake as a teacher

every instruction possible, but alas! … The young man shortly after fell sick” and died.9 Tatham also reports that Blake taught Drawing & was engaged for that purpose by some families of high rank; which by the bye he could not have found very profitable, for after his lesson he got into conversation with his pupils, & was found so entertaining & pleasant, possessing such novel thoughts & such eccentric notions, together with such jocose hilarity & amiable demeanour, that he frequently found himself asked to stay dinner, & spend the Evening in the same interesting & lively manner, in which he had consumed the morning. Thus he stopped whole days from his work at home, but nevertheless he continued teaching, until a remarkable effort & kind flirt of fortune, brought this mode of livelihood to an inevitable close. He was recommended & nearly obtained an Appointment to teach Drawing to the Royal Family. Blake stood aghast; not indeed from any republican humours, not from any disaffection to his superiors, but because he would have been drawn into a class of Society, superior to his previous pursuits & habits; he would have been expected to have lived in comparative respectability, not to say splendour, a mode of life, as he thought, derogatory to the simplicity of his designs & deportment … His friends ridiculed & blamed him by turns but Blake found an Excuse by resigning all his other pupils.10 One such family of high rank was apparently that of the Second Earl Bathurst (1714–94), the Lord Chancellor, who was, according to Linnell, one of Blake’s patrons.11 When he lived in Felpham, Blake was quite close to Lavant, where the Bathursts had a property. According to Gilchrist, “For Lady Bathurst12 … Blake taught for a time in her family, and was admired by them. The proposal was … that he should be engaged at a regular annual salary for tuition and services … as painter in ordinary, in fact, to this noble family.”13 Blake taught engraving to Tommy, the son of his patron Thomas Butts, “at 25 Guineas per annum,” according to his receipts for 1805–06, 1807, and 1808.14 According to Blake’s early friend J.T. Smith, “Trotter, the engraver, … 39

william blake in the desolate market

received instructions from Blake,”15 and the painter William Seguier (1771–1843) said that he had been “‘taught’ by the celebrated William Blake.”16 Blake gave “lessons” in art to Linnell’s wife, Mary Ann, on Sunday mornings in 1825,17 and he gave hints on art to The Antients and even to Linnell’s children. Many such teaching lessons may have been for love, such as those for the ailing student with the portfolio, but those for the Bathursts and for Thomas Butts were probably very profitable. Blake’s works as a teacher may have supplied him with a surprisingly substantial income. Table 4.1 Blake’s earnings as a teacher Date

Source of income

1787 1788 1795 1803 1805? 1806– 10

Teaching his brother Robert Apprenticeship fee for Thomas Owen Teaching George Cumberland engravinga Teaching Lady Bathurst drawingb Sickly young manc Teaching Tommy Butts (b. 1788) at £26.5.0 per year

a b c

Payer

— £52.10.0 — Bathurst Butts

BR (2), 75, for engravings for Thoughts on Outline (1796). BR (2), 678 footnote. BR (2), 679.

40

Sum

£21. 0.0 — £131.5.0

5 The Blakes as Printers, 1784–1827

Engravers’ apprentices were, of course, trained to pull working proofs of the master’s engravings on a rolling press, which is quite different from a press for movable type. For each new printing, the Blakes had to assemble paper, Frankfort black ink and often coloured inks, and olive oil.1 For these expendable supplies the most expensive by far was paper, which had to be moistened, preferably over night. Then they had to make sure that the tools were ready – the rolling press, ink stone, muller, and palette knife. The rolling presses were enormously bulky objects, often nine feet high and requiring a great deal of working space. When the Blakes “had a whole house to range in,” as they did in Lambeth from 1790 to 1800 and in Felpham from 1800 to 1803, they could devote a spare room to the press, but when they were “shut up in a Corner”2 in just two rooms, as they were in Fountain Court from 1821 to 1827, it was exceedingly difficult to set up for printing. The press must have taken most of the space ordinarily devoted to displaying Blake’s pictures and serving as his drawing and engraving studio. Next, the Blakes had to prepare the ink. “Frankfort black” from Frankfort on the Maine is “the best ink … It comes over in cakes, and is ground by the printer with a muller on an ink stone … [with] a paletteknife.” When printing works in illuminated printing they also needed coloured inks. Then, according to “Blakes Instructions to Print Copper Plates,” they had to

william blake in the desolate market

Warm the Plate a little and then fill it with ink by dabbing it all over two or three times. – then wipe off the superfluous Ink, till the surface is clean – then with the palm of the hand beneath the little finger rubbed over with a little of the Ink & smoothed with whiting by rubbing it on a Ball of it. Wipe the surface of the Plate till it shines all over [so that the ink remains only in the recessed engraved and etched lines] – then roll it through the Press with 3 blankets above the Plate, and pastboards beneath it next the Plank–Paper may be used instead of Pastboard.3 “After the prints are taken off, the plate is [meticulously cleaned and then] rubbed over with olive oil to prevent rusting.” Blake was a skilful though not a prodigious printer of ordinary engravings. The repetitive nature of plate-printing did not interest him, although occasionally he and especially Catherine printed runs of his commercial engravings, as in Hayley’s Little Tom the Sailor (1800), Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) (Illus. 26), and Life … of William Cowper (1803) (Illus. 27). When really fine commercial printing was needed, as with his wonderful engravings for Job (1825–26) (Illus.21, 22) and Dante (1826–27) (Illus. 23), his friend and employer John Linnell had long runs printed by the best commercial plate-printers of the time, James Lahee (Job [1826]), Dixon & Ross (Dante [1838]), and Holdgate Bros (Job [1874]). Blake wrote to Hayley on 26 November 1800, “Little Tom 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 favour’d tho’ they are rough like rough sailors. We mean to begin printing again to-morrow.” Probably very few copies of Little Tom were printed; only nine have been traced today. They were to be “Sold by the Widow Spicer of Folkstone for the Benefit of her Orphans,” the copies being supplied to her by Hayley. As the charity was Hayley’s, we may hope that the Blakes were paid for the printing. Little Tom was printed as a one-leaf broadside with four prints. The engravings were in relief, so printing them would have been simpler than if they had been line-engravings. In his letter of 30 January 1803 Blake wrote to his brother: “My wife has undertaken to Print the whole number of the Plates for Cowpers 42

the blakes as printers

work which She does to admiration & being under my own eye the prints are as fine as the French prints & please every one4… The Publishers are already indebted to My Wife Twenty Guineas for work deliverd.” For Blake’s engravings of his own writings, from Songs of Innocence (1789) to Jerusalem (1804[–20]), he and Catherine printed them with a skilful carelessness, dampening the paper before printing, wiping the borders free of ink, sometimes printing more than one plate in a single pass through the press or passing the plate through the press without re-inking it, printing in red or blue or green or even colour-printing (chiefly from 1794 to 1796), and touching up the prints on the paper. The prints often had an engaging accidental look which might fascinate the connoisseur but which would not be tolerated by a commercial printer. Blake and Catherine probably printed copper plates when he and James Parker had a print shop in 1784/85, but very little evidence of this has survived. Blake & Parker published only two of their own plates. Presumably they bought their other prints wholesale from printsellers. It was chiefly or perhaps exclusively through William Hayley that the Blakes printed copper plates in commercial quantities. Probably most of the commercial printing was done by Catherine Blake. Table 5.1 The Blakes’ earnings from printing commercial plates The number of copies printed and of receipts are estimates except for those in italics. Date

Author and title

Copies printed

Payment for Printing

1784

Stothard, “Zephyrus and Flora” Stothard, “Calisto” William Hayley, Little Tom the Sailor William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Balladsb William Hayley, Life … of William Cowper

20

£0.5.0a

20 20

£0.5.0 £0.5.0

1784 1800 1802 1803

—

7,000

43

£21. 0. 0c

william blake in the desolate market a

b

c

The payment for “Zephyrus and Flora” (Illus. 4) and “Calisto” is calculated at 3d. per pull; in 1838, printing 175 artist’s proofs of Blake’s folio Dante plates (Illus. 23) cost £2.15.0 or 3¾ d. per pull (Blake Books [1977], 544). The text of each ballad would have been printed all at once by Joseph Seagrave in Chichester, but the engravings would have been printed in small batches as needed. Designs to a Series of Ballads was printed for Blake’s benefit but at a loss, so there would have been no payment for printing the engravings. This would imply that some prints were pulled but not sold. However, no extra pull of the prints is known, although there is a proof before letters of the last engraving with “The Riddle Manuscript” on the verso. The payment for printing engravings for Hayley’s Cowper (Illus. 7) is calculated at the standard rate of 6s. per hundred pulls (Blake Books, 561–2) for 1,750 copies each of four plates (BR (2), 810). In his letter of 30 January 1803 Blake said his wife had been paid £21.

Printing was a mechanic art, and printers were paid but meagrely. A journeyman printer earned about £2 a week5 probably of six twelve-hour days, but often got beer as a perquisite. “Zephyrus and Flora,” (Illus. 4), “Calisto,” and Hayley’s Designs to a Series of Ballads (Illus. 26) were published for the benefit of Blake (plus Parker for the first two), and for printing the plates probably no money changed hands.

44

i l lus. 1 Blake, “Oft bursts my song beyond the bounds of life” (27 June 1796), engraved for Edward Young, Night Thoughts (London: R. Edwards, 1797), p. 16. Plate size 32.6 ⫻ 41 cm. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Notice that the soaring bard is receiving a harp but is still chained to earth. (For a similar motif of a soaring bard with a harp, see Illus. 11 here). The pages with engravings were printed twice, once with the type-set text and once, on a rolling press, with the engravings. On this page, the text is slightly askew, and the “16” in type overlaps the empty engraved box left for it.

il l us . 2 Thomas Stothard, “The Fall of Rosamond” (London: Tho.s Macklin N.o 39 Fleet Street, Oct.r 1, 1783), engraved by Blake for the munificent sum of £80. 30.7 ⫻ 30.7 cm. McGill University Library. Some copies were hand-tinted.

i l lus. 3 Blake, America (“Printed by William Blake in the year 1793”) (copy M, printed in 1807) pl. 9. Plate size 16.8 ⫻ 23.5 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Two boys asleep on a ram beneath a tree with exotically coloured birds, one of Blakes most idyllic images.

il l us . 4 Thomas Stothard, “Zephyrus and Flora” (London: Published as the Act directs Decr 17. 1784 by Parker & Blake No 27 Broad St Golden Square), 25.3 ⫻ 25.3 cm, second state, engraved by W. Blake for the print shop of Parker & Blake. Collection of Robert N. Essick, Altadena, California, copyright © 2003 William Blake Archive; used with permission.

il l us . 5 a & b The Pastorals of Virgil, With a Course of English Reading, Adapted for Schools, ed. Robert John Thornton, M.D. (London: Published by [seventeen booksellers and] Mr. Harrison, Agent for Dr. Thornton, 1821), “Illustrations of Imitation of Eclogue I” by Ambrose Philips, “To face page 15” and “To face page 17” (“First [Second] [Third] Comparison” (images c. 7.2 ⫻ 3.2 cm.), wood engravings plus letterpress, “To face page 15” by Blake, “To face page 17” by Anon. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Blake’s woodcuts for Virgil are the only ones he made. On one of them was a note that they are “by the famous BLAKE … This is mentioned as they display less of art than genius.” Henry Cole wrote in 1843, “When Blake had produced his cuts … a shout of derision was raised by the wood-engravers. ‘This will never do,’ said they, ‘we will show what it ought to be’ – that is, what the public taste would like.” The aquatic prints above “show what it ought to be.” Samuel Palmer described Blake’s woodcuts as “visions of little dells, and nooks, and corners of Paradise; models of the exquisitest pitch of intense poetry.”

i llus . 6 Blake, Poetical Sketches (1783) (copy K), title page. Leaf size: 13.9 ⫻ 22.3 cm. Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto. This is one of twenty-five known copies of Poetical Sketches.

i ll us . 7 George Romney, “William Cowper” (engraved by W. Blake, 5 November 1802) for the frontispiece of William Hayley, Life … of William Cowper, Esqr., Vol. 1 (London: J. Johnson, 1802). 14.3 ⫻ 18.4 cm. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Hayley paid Blake £31.10.0 for the engraving.

i l lus. 8 John Gabriel Stedman, “Europe supported by Africa & America,” engraved by Blake (1 December 1792) for Stedman, Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the Wild Coast of South America; from the year 1772, to 1777 … (London: J. Johnson & J. Edwards, 1796), Vol. 2, at p. 394. Coloured copy. 15.3 ⫻ 18.4 cm. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Blake and Stedman were good friends, and Blake’s engraving probably made Stedman’s amateur design more European and professional. A number of Large Paper sets of Stedman’s Narrative (1796) were coloured, using gold and often following the same colour pattern. It is not clear what Blake had to do with this colouring.

il lus . 9 a & b Blake, Songs of Experience (“1794 The Author & Printer William Blake”), frontispiece, pl. 28. 7 ⫻ 11 cm. A Copy F, printed 1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. In other copies, the shepherd’s clothes are blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, pink, red, yellow, or magenta. B Copy L, colour-printed 1795. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. In some copies a sun has been added or the child has a halo.

il l us . 10 a & b Blake, “Infant Joy” from Songs of Innocence (“1789 The Author & Printer William Blake”), pl. 25. A Songs of Innocence (copy G), Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Colour-printed in 1795. The blossoms are coloured blue. In other copies, the blossoms are red, yellow, or ochre. B Songs of Innocence and of Experience (copy F), Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Colour-printed in 1795, numbered “23” at top right corner. The blossoms are coloured red.

il l us . 11 Blake, “The Pindaric Genius receiving his Lyre,” watercolour, for the title page of Thomas Gray, Poems (1790). 32.5 ⫻ 42 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. For a similar motif of a soaring bard with a harp, see Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), p. 16 (the frontispiece here).

i ll us. 12 Blake, “Night the Third, Narcissa” (coloured copy Q), engraving for Edward Young, Night Thoughts (London: R. Edwards, 1797), p. 43. Plate size 32.7 ⫻ 41 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection). Narcissa, heaven-bound on the crescent moon, is escaping the Ouroboros, the serpent with its tail in its mouth, symbol of the endless revolutions of time.

i ll us . 13 Blake, “The Christian Triumph,” engraved by Blake (1 June 1797) for Edward Young, The Complaint, and the Consolation, or Night Thoughts (London: R. Edwards, 1797), p. 65, coloured copy (copy Q). 33.3 ⫻ 39.7 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Inscribed “This Copy was colored for me by Mr Blake | W.E.,” perhaps William Esdaile (1758–1837). Blake may have been given copies of Night Thoughts to colour and sell – twenty-eight coloured copies are known.

il lus . 14 Blake, “The Grave Personified” (1805), watercolour. 29.7 ⫻ 20.3 cm. H. Charles Price and Jessie Price, Dallas, Texas, copyright © 2003 William Blake Archive; used with permission. One of the twenty designs Blake sold to R.H. Cromek for £20 in the autumn of 1805 to be engraved by Blake for Cromek’s edition of Robert Blair, The Grave (1808). Eventually there were twelve engravings by Schiavonetti, but this one was not included. This and Cromek’s other drawings for The Grave disappeared from 1836 to 2001. Note the poppies falling from the female figure’s hands.

i l lus. 15 Blake, watercolour of “The Widow Embracing the Turf which Covers Her Husband’s Grave” (1805). 15.4 ⫻ 20.8 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Intended but not used for Robert Blair, The Grave (1808).

il l us . 16 Blake, title page for Robert Blair, The Grave, A Poem Illustrated by Twelve Etchings Executed from Original Designs (London: R.H. Cromek, 1808) engraved by Louis Schiavonetti. Plate size: 27.8 ⫻ 36.6 cm. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Called, in the description of the designs, “The Skeleton Re-Animated.” The Sheffield poet James Montgomery said that he sold his subscription copy because “several of the plates were hardly of such a nature as to render the book proper to lie on a parlour table for general inspection” (BR (2), 277), such as the ostentatious nudity of the “celestial messenger.”

i ll us. 17 Blake, Visionary Head of Socrates (1820, watermarked BASTED MILL 1820). 18.5 ⫻ 22.5 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. On 10 December 1825 Crabb Robinson remarked on Blake’s “Socratic countenance” and asked him: “‘What resemblance do you suppose is there between your Spirit & the Spirit of Socrates?[’] [‘]The same as between our countenances[’] – He paused & added – [‘]I was Socrates.[’] And then as if correcting himself[:] [‘]A sort of brother – I must have had conversations with him[’] – ”(BR (2), 421). Blake also drew a Visionary Head of “Xantippe wife of Socrates” in his Large Blake-Varley Sketchbook (BR (2), 350).

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il l us . 18 Blake, “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims” (“Painted in Fresco by William Blake & by him Engraved & Published October 8. 1810, at No 28. Corner of Broad Street Golden Square,” the address of his brother James), engraving. 97.05 ⫻ 25.7 cm. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims” was Blake’s most profitable print, advertised by methods he had learned from R.H. Cromek. The engraving is very fine indeed, demonstrating Blake’s mature excellence as designer and engraver. The unusual shape of the print suggests that it may have been designed to go over a fireplace. The horseman with the broad-brimmed hat is a self-portrait of Blake. The medallion above the cross on the wrist of the abbess reads “AMOR VINCIT OMNIA,” love conquers all. The design exhibits some curious horsemanship. The Wife of Bath is sitting sideways, the woman in front of the gesturing host is not holding her horse’s reins, the host seems to have only one rein, and the knight and the lady abbess seem to hold both reins on the right side of their horses’ necks. The host and the knight have spurs, but Chaucer (on the black horse at left), the bearded rider, and the ladies do not.

il l us . 19 Blake, title page of Illustrations of the Book of Job (London: William Blake [and John Linnell], 8 March 1825 [i.e., 1826]), designed and engraved by Blake. Plate size 16.5 ⫻ 21.3 cm. Victoria University in the University of Toronto.

i ll us . 20 Blake, “When the Morning Stars Sang Together” (1805–06) (Butlin #550 14). 18.4 ⫻ 28 cm. Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, 2001.76. One of nineteen (eventually, in 1821, twenty-one) watercolours illustrating The Book of Job drawn for Thomas Butts and engraved by Blake for Linnell in Job (1826).

il l us . 21 Blake, “When the morning Stars sang together, & all the Sons of God shouted for joy,” engraving by Blake (8 March 1825) for pl. 14 of Illustrations of The Book of Job Invented & Engraved by William Blake (London: William Blake No 3 Fountain Court Strand [and John Linnell], 1826). Plate size 16.6 ⫻ 10.8 cm. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Arms and wings have been added at the right and left of the watercolour to make the number of angel-stars seem infinite, and borders of the six days of creation have been added round the design (see Illus. 20).

i l lus. 22 Blake, “There were not found Women fair as the Daughters of Job,” Illustrations of the Book of Job (1826), pl. 20. Plate size 17.1 ⫻ 21.3 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. The panels behind Job represent his trials; the one directly behind him for “The Lord … out of the Whirlwind” is depicted in pl. “13.” In the panel at right, the falling ploughman is similar to the figure of “William” in Milton (1804–11), pl. 29.

il lus . 23 Blake, “‘Wherefore dost bruise me?’ weeping he exclaim’d,” unfinished engraving (1826–27) for Blake’s Illustrations of Dante ([London: John Linnell, 1838]). Plate size 27.5 ⫻ 35.1 cm. Victoria University in the University of Toronto, from the 1968 restrike.

ill us . 24 “Christ Appearing to the Apostles after the Resurrection” (1795). 58.5 ⫻ 44.5 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Signed at bottom left with Blake’s “WB inv.” “Christ Appearing” is one of a set of twelve Large Colour Prints sold to Thomas Butts (“Christ Appearing” delivered 7 September 1805) for £1.1.0 each (BR (2), 765). There are two and three pulls of most of the prints, but all the other pulls were still on Blake’s hands when he died. Ten years elapsed between the creation of this print (1795) and its sale to Butts (1805).

i l lus. 25 Blake, “Hiding of Moses,” designed and engraved for Remember Me! A New Years Gift or Christmas Present, 1825 (London: I. Poole [1824]). Plate size 7.0 ⫻ 9.9 cm. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. The text explains how the baby Moses was placed where Pharoah’s daughters bathed: “This is that precise point where the power of the painter would be called upon to exert the utmost stretch of his talents … None but an artist possessing the imagination and abilities of Mr. Blake could possibly accomplish a task so replete with difficulty.”

i ll us. 26 Blake, Adam and the Beasts of paradise, designed and engraved for the frontispiece to Ballad 1 of William Hayley, 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 (Chichester: J. Seagrave and P. Humphry; London: R.H. Evans, for W. Blake, Felpham, 1802). Plate size 16.2 ⫻ 17 cm. Victoria University in the University of Toronto.

i llus . 27 Blake, A Descriptive Catalogue (London: J. Blake, 28, Broad Street, Golden Square, 1809) (copy F), title page. Leaf size 11.5 ⫻ 15 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. With the crucial address of the exhibition added in manuscript: “At N 28 corner of Broad Street Golden Square.” Ten of twenty-six known copies bear Blake’s corrections; the rest were probably issued in 1824 (copy P) or posthumously.

il l us . 28 Blake, “Jacob’s Dream,” watercolour (1805). 29.2 ⫻ 37 cm. British Museum Print Room (Registration number: 1949.112.2) © Trustees of the British Museum. The watercolour was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1808 (called “Jacob’s Dream”) and in Blake’s exhibition in 1809 (called “Jacob’s Ladder”). In his Descriptive Catalogue (1809), pp. 60–1, Blake wished he could copy it and other drawings “in Fresco, on an enlarged scale to ornament the altars of churches, and to make England like Italy, respected by respectable men of other countries on account of Art.” It was acquired by his faithful patron Thomas Butts.

il l us . 29 Blake, Europe (“Printed by Will: Blake 1794”), title page, pl. 2, (copy A). Plate size 17.3 ⫻ 23.3 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Colour-printed in 1795.

il lus . 30 Blake, Europe (1794) (H, printed in 1795), pl. 12, 16.6 ⫻ 23.4 cm, uncoloured except for a grey wash. Harvard The range of effects Blake achieved at the same time with the same print is visible by comparing this uncoloured copy with a handtinted one (Illus. 31) and a colourprinted one (Illus. 32).

il lus . 31 Blake, Europe (1794) (copy A, printed in 1795), pl. 12. 16.6 ⫻ 23.4 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Hand-tinted (1795), angels broadcasting plagues. Blake’s friend George Romney bought this copy with other Blakes about 1795.

il lus . 32 Blake, Europe (1794) (copy D), pl. 12. 16.6 ⫻ 23.4 cm. British Museum Department of Prints and Drawings, © Trustees of the British Museum. Colour-printed (1794). It was bought about 1795 with America (copy H), Large Book of Designs (copy A), Small Book of Designs (copy A), Songs of Experience (copy H), and Visions of the Daughters of Albion (copy A) by Ozias Humphry, all but Visions colour-printed.

i l lus. 33 Blake, The Book of Thel (“The Author & Printer Will.m Blake 1789”) (copy R), title page, pl. 2. 10.7 ⫻ 15.5 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. In other copies, Thel’s dress is green, blue, or yellow, and the blossoms are yellow, blue, dark purple, green, or brown.

6 B l a k e a s a Pa i n t e r , 1 7 7 9 – 1 8 2 7

Blake’s vocation was as a commercial engraver, illustrating books for the booksellers. His avocation – and his passion – was as a painter in watercolours. As soon as he finished his apprenticeship as an engraver, he enrolled as a painter at the Royal Academy School (1779), he exhibited pictures at the annual May Royal Academy exhibitions in 1780 (1), 1784 (2), 1785 (4), 1799 (1), and 1808 (3), and at his death he was preparing his enormous picture of “The Last Judgment” for the exhibition of 1828.1 He also exhibited pictures at his own exhibition in his brother’s house in 1809–10 (16) and in that of The Associated Painters in Water Colour in 1812 (3). The purpose of such exhibitions was to gain publicity and sales for the pictures exhibited. In these respects, the exhibitions were failures for Blake. The eight pictures from the exhibitions of 1780, 1784, 1785, and 1799 were still in Blake’s portfolio when he died. All three pictures in the 1808 exhibition were sold, but one and perhaps all three had been commissioned before the exhibition. Most of the pictures in Blake’s own exhibition in 1809–10 were left on his hands, and the picture sold from the 1812 exhibition (Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims) had probably been sold before it was exhibited in 1809–10. Few of the pictures in the exhibitions were praised or even noticed in the press. George Cumberland described “the death of Earl Goodwin” in the 1780 exhibition as showing “a good design, and much character.” His pictures in the Royal Academy exhibitions of 1780, 1784, 1785, 1799, and 1808 were not noticed in the press, but Robert Hunt in the Examiner for 17 September 1809 attacked the “very badly drawn”

william blake in the desolate market

“wretched pictures” of “an unfortunate lunatic, whose personal inoffensiveness secures him from confinement.” Finally, the reviewer for The Lady’s Monthly Museum (June 1812) said that his “Canterbury Pilgrims” is “a picture of mongrel excellence” which readers will scarcely “view with pleasure,” and “Pitt” and “Nelson” are “too sublime for our comprehension.” The exhibition of Blake’s pictures added scarcely anything to his reputation or his pocket – except that they may have fostered the sale of the largest picture he ever made, “The Ancient Britons” (exhibited in 1809), perhaps at a price commensurate with its size. Some of his admirers especially prized his colouring, and after 1793 he coloured his works in illuminated printing more and more elaborately and sold them at multiples of the cost of uncoloured copies. In these works he became a professional colourist, working within engraved outlines. jo h n f l axman, f ri e nd and pat ro n One of Blake’s most effective patrons was “My Dearest Friend John Flaxman,” his “Sculptor of Eternity,”2 who gave Blake invaluable advice and support and recommended him to others. After his return from seven years in Italy (1787–94), Flaxman bought important books from Blake and occasional drawings. In particular, in 1797 he commissioned, for £10, Blake’s 116 illustrations for Gray’s Poems as a gift for his wife Nancy (Illus. 11). t h o mas but t s , wh i t e co ll ar mae cenas Blake’s most reliable and generous patron was Thomas Butts, a minor bureaucrat in the office of the Commissary General of Musters who spent a large proportion of his identifiable income on work by Blake. He bought his first works from Blake in the late 1790s, but he began on a spacious scale. As Blake told George Cumberland on 26 August 1799, “I have an order for fifty small Pictures [from the Bible] at One Guinea each.” Butts apparently provided canvas or copper as supports for the pictures, and Blake chose the subjects and painted the pictures at his own pace. Butts gave him sums, generally about £5, for which most of Blake’s receipts said merely “on further account.” 46

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Butts continued to buy pictures and books from Blake for over twenty years. Some of his most remarkable purchases were for the great colour prints (twelve) (Illus. 24), temperas from the Bible (fifty-three), watercolours from the Bible (seventy-three), Job (twenty-one) (Illus. 20), the “Canterbury Pilgrims” painting, and illustrations to Milton’s L’Allegro and Il Penseroso (twelve), Comus (six), and Paradise Lost (twelve). Within a very few years, Butts had so many pictures by Blake that he made a special gallery for them which he called his “dung hill,” perhaps because it was a converted stable, and which Blake called “your Green House” in his letter of 10 January 1802. He exchanged letters with Butts full of poems and jokes. Blake went to Butts “on tuesday Evening as usual” (as he said in his letter of 22 September 1800), and he invited Butts and his wife to visit them in Felpham. The relationship was clearly much closer to family than to patron and protégé. Blake had long, happy, and mutually profitable relationships with his chief patrons Thomas Butts and John Linnell, but with others he was sometimes difficult or even tempestuous. To Dr John Trusler, who declined to buy the painting of “Malevolence” Blake had made for him, Blake wrote on 23 August 1797: “That which can be made explicit to the Idiot is not worth my care … Every body does not see alike. To the Eyes of a Miser a Guinea is more beautiful than the Sun.” And in July 1816 Nancy Flaxman wrote to her husband: I have had some discourse with our Friend [perhaps C.A. Tulk] about Blakes book & the little drawings – It is true he did not give him anything for he thought it would be wrong so to do after what pass’d between them, for as I understand B– was very violent, Indeed beyond all credence only that he has served you his best friend the same trick [some] time back as you must well remember – but he bought a drawing of him.3 I have nothing to say in this affair. It is too tickilish, only I know what has happened both to yourself & me, & other people are not oblig’d to put up with B s odd humours – At least occasionally such outbursts were probably responses to wellmeant worldly advice. As Blake wrote to Butts on 10 January 1802, “I find on all hands great objections to my doing any thing but the meer drudgery of business & intimations that if I do not confine myself to this 47

william blake in the desolate market

I shall not live … This from Johnson & Fuseli brought me down here and this from Mr H will bring me back again for that I cannot live without doing my duty to lay up treasures in heaven is Certain & Determined.” Blake’s temper was not readily adaptable to genteel patronage even when it was well-meant. ri ch ard e dward s , p ubli s h e r o f ch urch -and -king pamph l et s The largest commission Blake ever received was from the young churchand-king bookseller Richard Edwards,4 scion of a great family of booksellers. After a very modest beginning in 1792 selling unillustrated, conservative political pamphlets in the shadow of his extraordinarily successful brother James, Richard Edwards, at the age of twenty-six, abruptly began publishing important illustrated books. The first and most important of these books was a folio edition of Edward Young’s popular Night Thoughts, with illustrations by the obscure William Blake, who had never previously engraved more than one of his own designs for commercial publication, Mary Wollstonecraft’s Original Stories (1791, with six small designs). The project may have been fostered by Blake’s friend Henry Fuseli,5 who was also a friend of Richard Edwards’s brother James. On 16 March 1796 Nancy Flaxman wrote: “One of the Edwards has inserted the letter press Close cut of young Night the into large Margins Making a folio Size; this a friend of ours is ornamentg with most beautifully [sic] designs in water colours; the man who does it, is himself a Native Poet & an Artist & sings his woodnotes unfettered by any rule whose genius soars above all rule …. I have some hopes it will be published eer I am much older.” Henry Fuseli supplemented this information in a conversation with the artistic gossip Joseph Farington on 24 June 1796: “Blake asked 100 guineas for the whole. Edwards said He could not afford to give more than 20 guineas for which Blake agreed. –Fuseli understands that Edwards proposes to select ab.t 200 from the whole and to have that number engraved as decorations for a new edition.” Clearly, Blake was expecting to be rewarded with reputation rather than gold. The undertaking was an enormous one, and it occupied much of Blake’s time for three or four years. First he made 537 watercolours on 48

blake as a painter

the folio sheets provided by Edwards, and then he engraved forty-three of them (Illus. 1, 12, 13) for the first of the four parts published in 1797. Unfortunately, at just this time Richard Edwards’s private life became complicated, and within a few months of the publication of the first part of Night Thoughts he had gone out of business. As a consequence, the publication of the first part was not undertaken with vigour, and the next three parts were never published. During this time Blake’s contacts with other booksellers dwindled.6 He wrote to George Cumberland on 26 August 1799: “as to Engraving … Since my Youngs Night Thoughts have been publishd Even Johnson & Fuseli have discarded my Graver.” Blake’s investment of time and reputation in Edwards’s edition of Young’s Night Thoughts went largely unrewarded. payme nt s f o r yo ung’s

NIGHT THOUGHTS

(1797)

Blake was paid £21 for the 537 watercolour drawings he made for Young’s Night Thoughts (1797)7 or 9d. per design. However, we do not know how much or even whether he was paid for his forty-three folio engravings from them. At the very least he should have expected £5.5.0 each for these very large plates (c. 33 x 41 cm), the sum he received for his smaller outline plates (c. 35 x 25 cm) for Flaxman’s Iliad (1805) and Hesiod (1817),8 a total of £225.15.0. It is possible that Blake was paid for his engravings for Night Thoughts not in cash but in copies of the book, valued at £5.5.0 for all four parts or £2.2.0 for the first part (£1.1.0 deposit and £1.1.0 on delivery of part 1).9 Blake could then colour and sell them for his own profit. Perhaps he was given about thirty copies. Twenty-eight coloured copies of Young’s Night Thoughts have been traced.10 Some of these coloured copies have contemporary inscriptions associating them with Blake. Copy Q is annotated “This Copy was coloured for me by Mr Blake | W.E.”; Copy R has “This copy colrd by W. Blake”; copy C is signed “W. Blake,” and copies C and W have notes that they were to serve “as pattern” for colouring. A surprising number of coloured copies of Young’s Night Thoughts can be traced to contemporary owners: [Rebekah] Bliss (d. 1819) (D), Thomas Butts (1757–1845) (A), Baron Dimsdale (1712–1800) (X), “W.E.” 49

william blake in the desolate market

(?for William Esdaile [1758–1837] or William Ensom [1796–1832]) (Q) (Illus. 12, 13), ?Richard Edwards (1768–1827) (B), Thomas Gaisford (G), John S. Harford Jr (1785–1866) (R), John Soane (1753–1837) (F), and Earl Spencer (1758–1834) (O). The Night Thoughts were coloured in two styles, one about 1797 (C– D, Q–R, U), and the other about 1805 (B, H–J, L, P). How much was Blake paid for these coloured copies of Young’s Night Thoughts? We have no direct evidence, but we can find a comfortable analogy in the prices of copies of works in illuminated printing of the same size. The prices in Blake’s Prospectus (1793) for uncoloured copies of America with eighteen folio plates was 10s. 6d. and for Visions of the Daughters of Albion with eleven folio plates was 7s. 6d., while the prices for coloured copies of them in his letter of 12 April 1818 were £5.5.0 (America) and £3.3.0 (Visions). Subtracting the prices of uncoloured copies of America (10s. 6d.) and Visions (7s. 6d.) from those for coloured copies (1818) indicates that the price for colouring America was 5s. 3d. per print and of Visions was 4s. 9d. per print. If Blake calculated 5s. for colouring each of the forty-three prints in Night Thoughts, he would have charged ten guineas per copy.11 Even at a more modest five guineas per copy, this would have come to £157.10.0 for thirty copies. With this he seems to have been content.12 wi l li am h ayle y, be ne vo l ent pat ro n Blake’s most hands-on, not to say controlling, sponsor was the successful poet William Hayley, under whose well-meant patronage Blake moved to Felpham in Sussex for the period 1800 to 1803. In Felpham he became Hayley’s artist-of-all-work. There he designed and engraved illustrations to Hayley’s poems and biographies, he painted miniatures of his friends, he copied Hayley’s ideas for designs to send to Hayley’s friends, and he decorated Hayley’s library with eighteen heads of the poets. In his generosity to Blake, Hayley was more anxious about Blake’s professional success than Blake was. He thought Blake “singularly … unfit in truth to take care of Himself in a world like this.”13 As Blake wrote to his brother on 30 January 1803, “he thinks to turn me into a Portrait Painter as he did Poor Romney, but this he nor all the devils in hell will never do.” And he told Butts on 25 April 1803, “what perhaps I

50

blake as a painter

should not dare to say to any one else, That I can alone carry on my visionary studies in London unannoyd & that I may converse with my friends in Eternity, See Visions, Dream Dreams & prophecy & speak Parables unobserv’d & at liberty from the doubts of other Mortals – perhaps Doubts proceeding from Kindness, but Doubts are always pernicious Especially when we Doubt our Friends.” e arl and co unt e s s o f e gre mo nt, ge o rge o’bri en wynd h am, th i rd earl and h i s co unt ess (el i zabe th i l i ve ) Blake had a brief but important connection with the Third of Earl of Egremont, the greatest patron of his day for contemporary artists, particularly J.M.W. Turner. The earl’s seat was at Petworth, Sussex, quite close to Felpham where Blake lived from 1800 to 1803, and Blake probably met him then through Hayley. He was one of the magistrates at Blake’s trials for sedition at Petworth (1803) and Chichester (1804). The earl was clearly sympathetic to Blake, but the first commissions from Petworth were from his countess. Blake’s great picture of “The Vision of the Last Judgment” (1808) was painted for her on the recommendation of Ozias Humphry (according to his letter of 18 January 1808), and in 1808 she commissioned Blake’s “Satan Calling Up His Legions.” The payments for these pictures were probably on the generous scale established by the earl. After Blake’s death, the earl called on Catherine Blake in her humble lodgings, and in August 1829 he paid her the enormous sum of £84 for “The Characters in Spenser’s Fairie Queene” (1825).14 This sum was sufficient to make Catherine independent, so that she was able to decline the charity offered to her by The Artists General Benevolent Institution on 5 January 1830. jo s e p h t h o mas (d . 1811), re cto r o f epso m John Flaxman wrote to Blake in Felpham on 31 July 1801: “The Rev.d Joseph Thomas of Epsom desires You will at Your leisure, make a few Sketches of the Same Size, which may be any Size you please from Milton’s Comus for Five Guineas, he also desires You will make two designs

51

william blake in the desolate market

in bister or Indian Ink, from Shakespeare’s Troylus & Cressida, Coriolanus, either of the 3 plays of Henry 6th, Richard the 3d or Henry the 8th, each design for one play for which he will give a Guinea each.” Blake replied somewhat tardily to this generous offer on 19 October 1801: “Mr Thomas your friend to whom you was so kind as to make honourable mention of me–has been at Felpham & did me the favor to call on me. I have promisd him to send my Designs for Comus when I have done them directed to you.” Thomas became an extraordinary enthusiast for Blake’s works, commissioning a number of major illustrations which, but for him, might never have existed. Nancy Flaxman wrote to her husband in September 1805 that “Mr T” “at Epsom … wishes as a great favor the loan of Blakes Gray [Illus. 11] to amuse himself with promising that it shall not go from his chamber or be wantonly shewn to anybody; he wishes to make a few copies from it–to keep with his Youngs Nights Thoughts & some other work he has of Blakes; he wishes to collect all B— has done, & I have a little commission to give to Blake for him–.” In all, Thomas commissioned Blake to illustrate for him Milton’s Comus (eight designs for £5.5.0, 1801), Paradise Lost (twelve designs, 1807), “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” (six designs for £12.12.0, 1809), and for his copy of the Shakespeare Second Folio (six designs, £6.6.0, 1806–1809). He also bought Songs (O, £10), subscribed (1805) to Blair’s Grave with Blake’s designs, and allowed Blake to copy the Paradise Lost designs for Butts15 in 1808. In return “William Blake Esq” subscribed to Thomas’s Religious Emblems (1808). Most of Blake’s designs illustrating Milton were sponsored by the Rev Joseph Thomas. the s cie nce o f p uff i ng: r.h . cro mek’s publ i cat ion o f bl ake ’s d e s i gns f o r bl ai r’s grave The Blake designs which were most widely known and published and which earned most money were those illustrating Robert Blair’s The Grave (Illus. 16). Unfortunately, Blake’s share of the earnings was only £21; the lion’s share of the £1,400 in subscriptions went to the publisher, R.H. Cromek. The work began with great promise. On 18 October 1805 John Flaxman wrote to Blake’s patron William Hayley: “M.r Cromak has employed Blake to make a set of 40 drawings from Blair’s poem of the Grave [Illus. 52

blake as a painter

14, 15], 20 of which he proposes [to] have engraved by the Designer and to publish them with the hope of rendering Service to the Artist.” The price Cromek paid for Blake’s twenty designs was £21, according to Cromek’s letter to Blake of May 1807. It seems likely that Blake accepted such a modest fee for the drawings and copyright because he anticipated receiving a far more substantial fee for the engravings. Blake asked £42 for the quarto plates to Hayley’s Romney (as Hayley wrote on 7 August 1803), and on 21 July 1807 Schiavonetti asked £63 for engraving Blake’s “Last Judgment” for Blair’s Grave. The payment for the engravings to Blair’s Grave is likely to have been over £500. On 21 November Flaxman wrote again: “on the Subject of Engravers you will be glad to hear that Blake has his hands full of work for a considerable time to come and if he will only condescend to give that attention to his worldly concerns which every one does that prefers living to Starving, he is now in a way to do well.”16 Blake’s role in the project diminished with each new development. In November 1805 Cromek issued a prospectus advertising “FIFTEEN PRINTS FROM DESIGNS INVENTED AND TO BE ENGRAVED BY WILLIAM BLAKE.” Blake is still to be the engraver, but the designs to be engraved have been reduced from twenty to fifteen. Within the month, Cromek issued a new prospectus, using standing type from the earlier prospectus, which called for “TWELVE VERY SPIRITED ENGRAVINGS BY LOUIS SCHIAVONETTI, FROM DESIGNS INVENTED BY WILLIAM BLAKE.” Not only was the number of designs reduced from fifteen to twelve, but the engraver was to be Schiavonetti, not Blake. Cromek set about gathering subscriptions with immense energy. He issued prospectuses,17 he exhibited the watercolours,18 he issued puffs19 which were brazen even by advertising standards, he travelled widely carrying his watercolours for display, particularly in his native Yorkshire,20 and he secured reviews.21 By such means, Cromek obtained about 700 subscribers at £2.2.0 or even £4.4.0, for a total of £1,470 or more.22 And after Cromek’s death in 1812 the plates were reprinted in 1813 and 1826. Blake’s pictures for Blair’s Grave were by far the most widely circulated and best known of all his designs in the nineteenth century, and almost all the profits went to Cromek.

53

william blake in the desolate market

What Blake Learned from Cromek’s Methods Cromek used the same methods in his publications of Blair’s Grave with Blake’s illustrations and of Stothard’s painting of “The Canterbury Pilgrims” and Schiavonetti’s engraving from it. Blake must have observed this with fascination and irritation. But he adopted a number of Cromek’s techniques which he had never used before. Like Cromek he issued a prospectus – “Blake’s Chaucer: The Canterbury Pilgrims” (1809). Like Cromek, he held an exhibition of his pictures; before this time he had exhibited only at public galleries like the Royal Academy. And like Cromek, he exhibited the pictures in his own house – or rather, in the house of his brother James. Like Cromek he issued flyers such as his “Exhibition of Paintings in Fresco” (1809), A Descriptive Catalogue, and “Blake’s Chaucer: An Original Engraving” (1810). He had never issued a flyer for an individual work before. But, unlike Cromek, he did not place advertisements in magazines and newspapers; advertisements cost money, but exhibitions could be managed chiefly through the good will of his brother James. And Blake did not travel through the provinces beating the bushes for subscribers. jo h n varl ey, pai nt er and as tro l o ger Linnell’s friend the ebullient John Varley was the sponsor and owner of many of Blake’s most extraordinary drawings. However, as far as we know, he did not pay for any of them. These are the Visionary Heads Blake drew for Varley after midnight, beginning in 1819 (Illus. 17). They filled three generous books kept by Varley, and there were many more drawings which were never included in the books, such as “The Ghost of a Flea.” Varley is, then, a major patron of Blake, though Blake gained nothing from the connection beyond a reputation for eccentricity. jo h n li nnel l , pai nte r and e ngrave r The last of Blake’s important patrons was John Linnell, a hard-headed, 54

blake as a painter

hard-working painter and engraver. George Cumberland Jr told his father in June 1818: “I have introduced him [Linnell] to Blake, they like one another much and Linnel has promised to get him some work.”23 Linnell said that Blake “had scarcely enough employment to live at the prices he could then obtain.”24 Linnell was only twenty-six years old at the time, with a growing family, but he assumed more and more responsibility for Blake. He found patrons for Blake; he employed Blake to lay in the outlines of his own engravings of “John Upton” (1819, £16) and “Wilson Lowry” (1824–25, £20); for Linnell Blake created many of his Visionary Heads (thirty-three, 1819 and following), his illustrations to Paradise Regained (twelve, £10, 1820), Paradise Lost (three, 1822), Book of Enoch (six, 1824), and his Illuminated Genesis Manuscript (eleven, 1826).25 Eventually Linnell adopted the arrangement Blake had had with Thomas Butts of paying him small sums “on Account.” To give Blake steady employment, Linnell commissioned Blake’s triumphal series of drawings and engravings for Job and Dante (Illus. 19–23). Linnell even drew up a formal document for the Job: Memorandum of Agreement between William Blake and John Linnell. March 25.th 1823– W. Blake agrees to Engrave the Set of Plates from his own Designs of Job’s Captivity in number twenty [eventually 22], for John Linnell – and John Linnell agrees to pay William Blake five Pounds p.r Plate or one hundred Pounds for the set part before and the remainder when the Plates are finished, as Mr Blake may require it, besides which J. Linnell agrees to give W. Blake one hundred pounds more out of the Profits of the work as the receipts will admit of it. Signed J. Linnell Will.m Blake N.B. J.L. to find Copper Plates. Linnell’s payments to Blake were about £1 per week between 1823 and 1825. When the work on Job was completed, it was summarized in a receipt: London July 14: 1826 Recievd of Mr John Linnell, the Sum of One Hundred and fifty 55

william blake in the desolate market

Pounds for the Copy-right & Plates (Twenty-two in number) of the Book of Job. Publishd March 1825 by Me: William Blake Author of the Work. Since Linnell did not clear his expenses of Job until long after Blake’s death, there was no supplemental bonus. Linnell made a similar arrangement with Blake for his folio watercolours (102) and engravings (seven) for Dante’s Divine Comedy made between 1824 and 1827. In March 1830 he wrote to Tatham, who disputed Linnell’s ownership of the Dante, “from Dec.r 1825 to august 1827 I paid to Mr Blake …103£ on account of the Drawings from the Poem of Dante’s Inferno, Purgatorio &c the Plates & whatever else he might intend for me–with the distinct understanding … that what he had in mind for me, was in return for the money advanced by me; it was left entirely to him to do little or much as most convenient or agreeable.” Linnell’s arrangements about Blake’s Job and Dante were exceedingly generous and just suited to Blake’s needs and inclinations. Blake was extraordinarily fortunate to have in his last years such a generous – and loving – patron. bl ake’s e arni ngs as a pai nte r Table 6.1, the table of vendible pictures, almost entirely based on Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake (1981) , omits apprentice work, the payment for which would have gone to Blake’s master James Basire, and sketches. Almost all are in watercolour, although many of the biblical designs are in tempera. Notice that even works Blake exhibited in 1780, 1784, and 1812, were not sold. He made three or four sets of his great colour prints, sold one set to Thomas Butts in 1805, offered a set to Dawson Turner in his letter of 9 June 1818, but apparently sold no more of them. Picture exhibitions, such as those at the Royal Academy and the Society of Painters in Water Colours, were designed as advertisements of works for sale, but it was only in 1799 that Blake began to sell his exhibition pictures, chiefly to Thomas Butts.26 Many of the dates are conjectural.

56

blake as a painter

Prices in italics derive from documentary records; all the rest are estimates. Drawings known to have belonged to Catherine Blake or Tatham and those whose early history is not known are listed in the section at the end, “Works Inherited by Catherine Blake.” Of the nineteen pictures which Blake exhibited (two of them twice), only five are known to have been purchased during Blake’s lifetime, by Butts and William Owen Pughe , and probably all five had been purchased before the exhibition. Table 6.1 Blake’s earnings as a painter DC = Descriptive Catalogue (1809) RA = Royal Academy exhibition WC = Associated Painters in Water Colours exhibition (1812) † = Recorded in the Debtor-Creditor account of Butts and Blake of 3 March 1806 (BR (2), 764–6). Date

Title

1776 “Figure from Michael Angelo’s ‘Last Judgment’” 1780 “Seven Shakespearean Subjects”

1784 “several drawings” (BR (2), 31)

1788 “Michelangelo after Fuseli”

1789 Innocence frontispiece 1789 Innocence “Introduction” 1789 “an ideal hell” 1779–89 1790 “The Vision of Queen Katharine” 1791 Mary Wollstonecraft, Original Stories (1791)

57

Number Buyer

Price

1

Flaxman

gift?

7

Butts

£1.1.0

3?

Hawkins

£3.3.0

1

Linnell

gift

1 1 1 15

“a friend” “a friend” “a friend”

1

Butts

£1.1.0

10

Joseph Johnson

£10.10.0

}

£1.1.0 £5.5.0

Table 6.1 (continued) Date

Title

Number Buyer

1792 “Los and Orc” 1793 Drawings on For Children (1793) 1795 Colour Prints: “Satan Exulting over Eve” , “Hecate” , “Pity” 1795 Colour Prints: “Christ Appearing” , “God [Elohim] Creating Adam” , “God Judging Adam” , “Good & Evil Angels” , “House of Death” , “Lamech and His Two Wives” , “Nebuchadnezzar” , “Newton” , “War”

1795 “Christ Overcoming the Incredulity of St Thomas” 1795 “Famine” , “Satan Exulting over Eve” 1796 Bürger, Leonora (1796)

1796 Young, Night Thoughts

1797 Young, Night Thoughts, 14 coloured copiesa 1797 Gray, Poems (1790)

1799 “The Last Supper” (RA 1799)

1790–99 1799– Temperas for the Bible

1 4

Linnell £1.1.0 Cumberland gifts

3

Butts

£3.3.0

9

Butts†

£9.9.0

1 2

Butts Butts†

£1.1.0 £2.2.0

2

William Miller Richard Edwards

£1.10.0

537 602

£21.0.0 £73.10.0

116

Flaxman

£10.10.0

1

Butts

£1.1.0

1,288 53

58

Price

£134. 8.0 Butts

£55.13.0

Table 6.1 (continued) Date

Title

1803 b 1800– “Heads of the Poets” 1803 1800 “The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes” (RA 1800) 1800 Thomas Alphonso Hayley

1800 Mrs Hayley, miniature 1800– Watercolours for the Bible 05 c 1801 Milton, Comus 1801 Miniatures of George Romney, after Romney , William Cowper after Romney , Cowper after Romney 1801 Miniature of Thomas Butts

1802 Miniature John Johnson 1802 Hayley’s ideas for Cowper’s Monument 1802 “Satan Calling Up His Legions”

1803 “Jephthah Met by His Daughter”

1805 Young, Night Thoughts, 14 coloured copies 1805 various, painted before 1800 1805 “Pestilence” , “Fire”

1805 “War” , “Famine” d 59

Number Buyer

Price

18

Hayley

£18.18.0

1

Butts

£1.1.0

1

Hayley

£1.1.0

1 83

Hayley Butts

£1.1.0 £87.3.0

8

£5.5.0

4

Joseph Thomas Hayley

1

Butts

£1.1.0

1 4

John Johnson £1.1.0 Hayley £1.1.0

1

Countess of Egremont Flaxman

1 602

£4.4.0

£21.0.0 £1.1.0 £73.10.0

14 2

Butts Butts

£14.14.0 £2.2.0

2

Butts

£2.2.0

Table 6.1 (continued) Date

Title

Number Buyer

20 1805 Blair, The Gravee 1805 Blair, The Grave: “Death 1 Pursuing the Soul” 1805 Blair, The Grave: “Death’s Door” 1

1805 Blair, The Grave: “The Descent 2 of Man into the Vale of Death” , “An Angel with a Trumpet” 1805 Job 19 1805 “An Allegory of Human Life” 1

1805 “The Spiritual Form of Nelson” 1 (DC, WC) 1805 “The Body of Abel Found by 1 Adam and Eve” (DC) 1806 Shakespeare, Second Folio 4

1806 Milton, Paradise Lost, “Satan 1 Watching the Endearments of Adam and Eve” 1806 “A Vision of the Last Judgment” 1

1806 “Last Judgment” 1 1806? “Adam and Eve in Paradise” 2 , head of a woman 1807 Milton, Paradise Lost 12

1807 Shakespeare, Henry VIII, 1 “Vision of Queen Katharine”

1807 “The Fall of Man” 1 1808 “The Vision of the Last 1 Judgment” 60

Price

Cromek Cromek

£21.0.0

Linnell

£1.1.0

Butts

£2.2.0

Butts Butts

£19.19.0 £1.1.0

Butts

£2.2.0

Linnell

£1.1.0

Thomas

£4.4.0

Butts

£1.1.0

Butts

£2.2.0

Flaxman Flaxman

£1.1.0 gifts

Thomas

£10.10.0

Butts

£1.1.0

Butts Countess of Egremont

£2.2.0 £21.0.0

Table 6.1 (continued) Date

Title

Number Buyer

1808 Milton, Paradise Lost 12

1808 “Canterbury Pilgrims” (DC) 1

1808 “The Holy Family” 1 1809 Descriptive Catalogue 11f 1809 “The Ancient Britons” (DC) 1

1809 Shakespeare, Second Folio 2

1809 Milton, “On the Morning of 6 Christ’s Nativity” 1809 Miniatures of Mrs Butts , 2 Tommy Butts 1809 “The Last Judgment” , “The Whore of Babylon” 2 1800–09 886 1810 “Adam Naming the Beasts” , “Eve Naming the Birds” , “The Virgin and Child in Egypt” , “Christ Blessing” , “The Holy Family: ‘Christ in the Lap of Truth’” 1811 “Allegory of the Spiritual Condition of Man” 1811 “The Judgment of Paris” 1812 “Philoctetes and Neoptolemus at Lemnos” 1812 “Chaucer, Procession of Canterbury Pilgrims”g 1815 Milton, Comus 1815 Milton, “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” 61

Price

Butts

£12.12.0

Butts

£5.5.0

Cumberland gift William £42.0.0 Owen Pughe Thomas £2.2.0 Thomas

£6.6.0

Butts

£2.2.0

Butts

£2.2.0 £455.13.0

5

Butts

£10.10.0

1

Butts

£5.5.0

1 1

Butts Butts

£2.2.0 £2.2.0

1

Robert Bristow Butts Butts

£10.10.0 £8.8.0 £6.6.0

8 6

Table 6.1 (continued) Date

Title

Number Buyer

1816 Milton, L’Allegro and Il 12 Penseroso 1819 The Small Blake-Varley Sketchbook 1819 The Large Blake-Varley Sketchbookh 1819 The Folio Blake-Varley Sketchbooki 1819 Visionary Heads of Satan 21 , Lot , “The Egyptian Taskmaster” #696, 696A>, Saul . Female Head , Socrates, etc. , Canute counterproof , Wat Tyler replica and counterproof , ?Henry VIII , “The Spirit of Voltaire” , “The Ghost of a Flea” , “The Man Who Taught Blake Painting in His Dreams” , a fiend , two types of insanity 1819 Visionary Heads of David 33 , Uriah and Bathsheba , Solomon , Job , Nebuchadnezar Coin , “Joseph and Mary and the Room They Were Seen In” , “Lais of Corinth,” etc. , A Young Fawn , Visionary Head of Boadicea , Mahomet , “Canute” , An Anglo-Norman King , “Queen Eleanor” and 62

Price

Butts

£12.12.0

Varley

gift

Varley

gift

Varley

gift

Varley

gifts

Linnell

gifts

Table 6.1 (continued) Date

Title

Number Buyer

counterproof , “Saladin and the Assassin” , “Richard Coeur de Lion” , “Faulconberg the Bastard” , “Edward I and William Wallace” , “Edward I” , “Edward III” , Wat Tyler replica ,“Owen Glendower” and replica , “Friar Bacon” and “Gray the Poet” , “Old Parr When Young” , “The Spirit of Voltaire” , Cancer replica , “The Man Who Taught Blake Painting in His Dreams” counterproof , The Lute Player + profile of a man , a king praying , “All Genius Varies Thus” 1810–19 89 1820 Designs for R.J. Thornton’s Virgil (1821) 1820 Visionary Head of Socrates

1820 A seated nude woman 1820 Milton, Paradise Regained j 1820 Portrait of John Varley 1820 “The Spirit of God Moved upon the Face of the Waters” and “John Varley as an Elephant”

1820 “Epitome of James Hervey’s Meditations among the Tombs’”

63

Price

£57.15.0

20

Thornton

£5.5.0

1

Varley

gift

1 12

Linnell Linnell

gift £10.0.0

1 1

Varley Kenny Meadows

gift gift

1

Butts

£5.5.0

Table 6.1 (continued) Date

Title

1821 Job 1821 Job 1821 “The Prophet Isaiah Foretelling the Destruction of Jerusalem” woodblock 1821 “The Sea of Time and Space”

1821 Sketches for “The Sea of Time and Space” 1821 “Winter,” “Evening,” “Olney Bridge” 1822 “The Wise and Foolish Virgins”

1822 Milton, Paradise Lost 1823 Job sketchbook 1824 “Moses Placed in the Ark of the Bulrushes” for Thornton’s Remember Me! (1824) 1824 The Book of Enoch 1824– Dante, Divine Comedy l 1824 “Christian with the Shield of Faith Taking Leave of His Companions,” for Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress 1825 Visionary Head of Achilles

1825 “The Wise and Foolish Virgins”

1825 “The Wise and Foolish Virgins”

1825 Shakespeare, Henry VIII, “Vision of Queen Katharine”

64

Number Buyer

Price

2 21 1

Butts Linnellk Linnell

gift

1 1

John Palmer Chichester £5.5.0 Flaxman gift

3

John Johnson £3.3.0

1

Linnell

£1.1.0

3 27 1

Linnell Linnell Thornton

£3.3.0 £2.2.0

5 104

Linnell Linnell

gift £103.0.0

1

Eliza Aders

gift

1

Varley

gift

1

William Haines Thomas Lawrence Lawrence

£1.1.0

1 1

£1.1.0

£15.15.0 £15.15.0

Table 6.1 (continued) Date

Title

Number Buyer

1825 Portrait of John Linnell , 5 “Donald the Hammerer” , “Timon” , “The Fiery Cross” , Lady Torrens and Family, after John Linnell 1825 Drawings from a Sketchbook 1

1825 “Dives and Lazarus in Hell” 1

1825 “Los Walking on the Mountains 1 of Albion” 1825 Studies for George Richmond’s 2 “Abel” 1825 A Vision of Hercules 1 1826 Illustrated Manuscript Copy 11 of Genesis 1826 William Upcott’s Autograph 1 Album 1827 “The Last Judgment”m 1820–27 235 T OTA L

1779–1827

2,513

Price

Linnell

gifts

Thomas Chevalier Lawrence

gift gift

Eliza Aders

gift

George gift Richmond C.H. Tatham gift Linnell gift Upcott

gift

£171.16.0 £819.13.0

Works Inherited by Catherine Blake in August 1827 #74–5, 99–100 (1775); #51–4, 57, 60–2, 64–5, 67, 71–2, 177–9, 179A, 184 (1779); #72–3, 76, 78–80, 83, 94, 96, 101–4, 104A, 106, 107–9, 111–17, 119, 119A, 120, 120A, 121–30, 133–9, 141–2, 145–8, 180–3, 185, 197A, 207–8 (1780); #143–4, 151 (1783); #187–8 (exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1784) (1784); #81, 85–7, 90–3, 95, 97, 110, 140, 149–51, 153–4, 155–7 (RA, 1785), 158–60 (RA, 1785), 161–71, 174–5, 684 (1785); #201 (Notebook) (1785–1805); #98 (1786), #198 1–12 (Tiriel), 200, 218–19, 235 (1789); #88–9, 189–90, 220– 2, 236–40, 242–3, 243A, 245–6, 248–54, 254A, 258–9 (1790); #173 (1791); #56, 58–9, 66, 68–70, 131–2, 202–6, 209–14, 223–9, 241, 256–7 (1793); #230 (1794); #105, 191–2, 223A, 232–4, 290, 292–3, 295–6, 298–300, 302–5, 307–9, 311–15, 317–19, 321–2, 324, 326–7, 329, 331–2, 332A, 333, 342, 658, 661 (1795); #338–9 (1796); #336, 340 (1797); #231, 341, 407–8 (1799); #344–5, 359, 368, 526, 564–5, 687 (1800); #369–74, 374A (1801); #360, 362, 364–5 65

william blake in the desolate market (1802); #199, 349, 516 (1803); #350, 560–3, 566–73 (1804); #77, 186, 350, 363, 366–7, 443–4, 465, 574–5, 580, 583, 586–91, 597–606, 609–10, 612, 617, 619, 621–3, 625–31, 633–4, 636, 650–1, 665, 683 (1805); #532–3, 581, 613–16 (1806); #530, 534–5, 582, 620, 624, 678 (1807); #643–4, 646–7, 652, 654–6, 659–61, 663 (1809); #118, 593–6, 648 (1810); #584–5 (1812); #361, 539–41, 592, 607, 678A, 679–80 (1815); #545 (1816); #756, 758–9, 764–6 (1819); #546, 682, 686, 763A, 788–800 (1820); #552–6, 772, 778–80 (1821); #558 (1823); #813, 815–17, 819–26, 829 1–19, 21–29, 830–4, 836–9 (1824); #674, 681, 781, 781A, 811 (1825); #805–7 (1826); #685 (1827); #835–82 (undated)

a b

c

d

e

f

For the calculations upon which this is based, see p. 50 above. On 26 August 1799, Blake wrote: “I am Painting small Pictures from the Bible … I have an order for Fifty small Pictures at One Guinea each.” On 6 July 1803 he wrote of seven drawings which are now “in great forwardness”: “Jephthath sacrificing his Daughter” , “Ruth & her mother in Law & Sister” , “The three Maries at the Sepulcher” , “The Death of Joseph” , “The Death of the Virgin Mary” , “St Paul Preaching” , and “The Angel of the Divine Presence clothing Adam & Eve with Coats of Skins” , all of which are signed by Blake and dated by him “1803.” Presumably these are the “7 Drawings” he sent with his letter of 16 August 1803. “Noah & Rainbow” , “Moses Striking the Rock” , “Samson breakg Bonds” , “Samson subdud” , “Christ girding Himself with Strength” , “Hell beneath is moved for thee” , “Ezekiel’s Wheels” , “Wise & Foolish Virgins” , “Christ Baptizing” , “Four & Twenty Elders” are listed in the Blake-Butts Debtor-Creditor account of 3 March 1806 as having been delivered on 12 May 1805, plus £1.1.0 for “Touchg up Christ Baptizing.” Of these, “Jacob’s Dream” (Illus. 28) and “Christ in the Sepulchre” were exhibited in the Royal Academy exhibition of 1808, and “Jacob’s Dream” , “Ruth the Dutiful Daughter” , “The Soldiers Casting Lots for Christ’s Garment” , and “Christ in the Sepulchre” were in Blake’s own exhibition (1809). These two watercolours appear in the Debtor-Creditor Account of 3 March 1806 (BR (2), 764). Blake’s nineteen long-lost watercolours for Blair’s Grave reappeared in 2001; “Death Pursuing the Soul” was separated from the other Blair designs because Cromek’s son T.H. Cromek believed that it was an “Illustration to ‘Urizen,’” as he inscribed it. The price Cromek paid is given in his impudent letter to Blake of May 1807. Twenty-one copies of the Descriptive Catalogue are known. Eleven identifiable early owners may have paid 2s 6d for each copy to Blake or his brother: Robert Balmanno (I), Thomas Butts (O), George Cumberland, Jr (U–V, 1809), Maria Denman (N), Francis Douce (H), Crabb Robinson (B, J, L, S, 1810), and Robert Southey (T, 1810). Others acquired copies much later, probably from Blake: Frederick Tatham (P, 1824) and Thomas Griffiths Wainewright (?F, ?1826), while 66

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g

h

i

j

k

at least two were acquired after Blake’s death from Catherine Blake by Samuel Boddington (E, ?1833) and John Linnell (K, 1831). (Early owners of copies A, C– D, G, and M are not known.) From these receipts, Blake had to pay for printing the Descriptive Catalogue, framing the pictures, etc. The exhibition was almost certainly a financial loss to him. See Bentley, “Pictura Ignota: Blake’s Most Seen, Least Known Painting.” The owner of the Talbot Inn was Robert Bristow. The Large Blake-Varley Sketchbook (not in Butlin), consists of “Canute” , “Solomon” counterproof , “Solomon” , “Cassibelane the British Chief” , “Cassibelane,” “Boadica” counterproof , “Cassibelane the British Chief,” “Merlin” counterproof, “Merlin” , “Queen Eleanor”“ , “Owen Glendower”“ , “King John” , “Hotspur” , King John counterproof , “Wat Tyler” , “The Tax Gatherer killed by Wat Tyler” , “King John” counterproof , “The Empress Maud” , “Wat Tylers Daughter” , “Wat Tylers Daughter striving to get loose from the Tax Gatherer,” “Canute” , “Wat Tyler in the act of striking the Tax Gatherer,” “Wat Tyler” counterproof , “Wat Tayler striking the Tax Gatherer” replica , “Fauconberg The Bastard” , “The Bastard Fauconberg,” “Hotspur,” “Owen Glendower,” “Alexander the Great,” “Henry the 5th,” “The Black Prince,” “Robin Hood,” “Pharoah who knew Joseph,” “Josephs Mistress,” “Perkin Warbeck,” “Vortigern,” “Rowena” (2), “Felton the assassinator of the Duke of Buckingham,” “Milton when a Boy,” “Milton when Young,” “Charlemagne,” “Miltons Youngest Daughter,” “Miltons Elder Daughter,” “Bertand de Gourdon,” “The Captain to Richard the First Who Flayd Bertand de Gourdon alive,” “Jack Sheppard under the Gallows,” “Colonel Blood who attempted to steal the Crown,” “The Great Earl of Warwick,” “Queen Isabella wife of Edward 2d,” “Robert Bruce King of Scotland,” “Geoffrey of Monmouth,” “Ossian” (2), “Cornelius Agrippa,” “Miss Blandy” + “Mother Brownrigg” + “Eloise” + “Countess of Essex who poisoned Overbury” + “Pope Joan,” “Catherine Hayes,” “Thomas a Becket,” “Mary Queen of Scots,” “Bothwell” (2), “Tom Nixion the Idiot author of the Prophecies,” “Pisistratus” (2), “a Daughter of Shakespeare,” “Xantippe wife of Socrates,” “Olympia” [mother of Alexander the Great], “Shakespeare’s Wife,” “Richard Savage the Poet,” “Sir Robert Lucy, Shakespeares Persecutor.” Entries with Butlin numbers were cut out; see BR (2), 348–50. The Folio Blake-Varley Sketchbook consists of Herod , “Corinna the Rival of Pindar” and “Corinna the Grecian Poetess” , “Pindar” , “Lais the Courtesan” + “Pindar” , “A Fiend” , “The Task Master Whom Moses Slew in Egypt” (see BR (2), 353–4). On 10 October and 19 November 1827 Linnell paid Blake £5 each “on acc.t of Drawings of Paradise regained” (BR (2), 806). On 8 February 1827 he “Left with Sir Tho Lawrence Blake’s Drawings of Par. Reg.d Pr[ice]. 50£,” and he also offered it to Chantry (BR (2), 455). Linnell paid Blake £150 for his Job, including sketchbook , finished watercolours, engravings, and proofs . 67

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m

Linnell wrote on 9 March 1831 that he paid Blake £103 “on acct of Dante” (watercolours and engravings), but the known receipts come to only £89.2.0 (BR (2), 811>. “ The Last Judgment” (1810–27), 5’ x 7’, “containing upwards of one thousand figures” (J.T. Smith (1828) (BR (2), 617), priced at £26.5.0 (Gilchrist, I, 358), was to be shown at the Royal Academy in 1828.

co s t o f co p pe r f o r pai nt ings Most of Blake’s paintings are on paper, a few are on wood or ivory (miniatures), and a few are on copper.27 All but one of the paintings on copper are temperas from Thomas Butts’s commission for pictures for the Bible at £1.1.0 each.28 The copper for six of these Bible temperas 29 would have cost £8.10.5¾30 or about £1.8.0 each. This is significantly more than the guinea each which Blake was paid for them. The only way Blake could have made a profit on these temperas on copper was if Butts paid for the copper. It seems likely that Butts supplied Blake with the supports – canvas, copper, etc. – for Blake’s pictures from the Bible. In his letter to Butts of 22 November 1802 Blake spoke of the “Canvas which I brought down with me” from London to Felpham. One may hope that he had also brought the copper for his Bible temperas.

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7 B l a k e a s P u b l i s h e r of W or k s i n Conventional T ypography

Most of the works Blake published were either single prints or his own etched Illuminated Books. He published only three significant works1 in conventional typography – his Poetical Sketches (1783) and Descriptive Catalogue (1809), and William Hayley’s Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) (Illus. 6, 27, 26). He was not conspicuously or even tolerably successful with any of them. Of Poetical Sketches, only twenty-five copies are known, only twelve of them corrected and distributed by Blake; Descriptive Catalogue survives in twenty-two copies, only half of them corrected and distributed by Blake and his brother and at least one copy was first sold after his death; and only eight complete sets of Designs to a Series of Ballads have been recorded. The history of Poetical Sketches is given in chapter 2. DESIGNS TO A SERIES OF BALLADS

(1802)

William Hayley wrote a series of poems about animals which were published as Designs to a Series of Ballads … Drawn, Engraved, and Published, by William Blake.2 Hayley gave the poems to Blake “in the sanguine Hope of putting a little Money in his pocket” (3 April 1803). The work was largely distributed by Hayley’s friends acting as balladmongers.3 The entire investment, rewards, and losses were Blake’s.

william blake in the desolate market

Credits and Debits for Designs to a Series of Ballads The chief cash costs for Designs to a Series of Ballads were for 1) copper plates for the six large and eight small engravings, 2) paper for text (watermarked “1802”) including separate blue covers, and 3) printing the 9¼ sheets of text and the covers by Joseph Seagrave in Chichester (the Blakes printed the engravings in Felpham). There was no cost for advertising (except in review-copies), and no payment to the author, the designer, and the engraver, except in possible profit from sales. There was no profit. The fourteen copper plates for Hayley’s Designs must have weighed 2,464.6 g (5½ pounds) and cost £3.13.1½.4 The text consisted of thirty-seven quarto leaves, with prints on pages iv, 1, 9, 11, 26, 27, 39, 41: Title page Preface

l.1 ll.2–3 Pp.i–iv

}

Ballad 1 Blue paper covers

ll. 4–8 Pp. 1–10 l.1

Ballad 2 Blue paper covers

ll. 9–17 Pp. 11–26 l. 1

Ballad 3 Blue paper covers

ll. 18–27 Pp. 27–40 l. 1

Ballad 4 Blue paper covers

ll. 28–33 Pp. 41–52 l. 1

9 ll., 2¼ 4o sheets

} } }

10 ll., 2½ 4o sheets

11 ll., 2¾ 4o sheets

7 ll., 1¾ 4o sheets

37 ll., 9¼ 4o sheets

Total

In addition, there are six leaves (1½ quarto sheets) with full-page prints for Preliminaries and Ballad 1 (2), Ballad 2 (1), Ballad 3 (1), and Ballad 4 (2). Each complete set of the Designs, all four parts, used 43 leaves, 10¾ quarto sheets. The text must have been printed by Seagrave in four print-runs, one in late May 1802 for the Preliminaries and Ballad 1, one in late June for 70

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Ballad 2, one in late July for Ballad 3, and one in early September for Ballad 4. The engravings, however, were only printed as they were called for – “we have Sold all that we have had time to print” (Blake’s letter of 30 January 1803) – and they weren’t called for very much. We do not know how many copies of the Designs were printed5 or what Seagrave’s charges were for printing and paper, but we may make estimates based on Blake’s statement in his letter of 28 December 1804 that he paid Seagrave £30 and on contemporary printing prices. On 10 October 1800 Thomas Bensley estimated that the cost of paper, printing, and hot-pressing 1,000 quarto copies of Thomson’s Seasons (5 sheets) for F.J. Du Roveray would be £15.15.0 per sheet (£78.15 in all).6 It is a mere informed guess that the print-run for Ballad 1 was 200 copies and that this was continued for Ballad 2 when the first sales for Ballad 1 seemed promising. When the sales for Ballad 2 proved disastrous, Blake must have reduced his print-order, perhaps to 150 copies, for Ballads 3 and 4. The expenses of printing and paper might have been as follows: cost of 200 copies of ballads 1 and 2 Printing 900 sheets (200 x 4½ sheets) at £15 per 1,000 sheets7 600 sheets for 3 full-page prints at £5 per ream of 500 sheets

£13.10.0 £6.0.0 £19.10.0

cost of 100 copies of ballads 3 and 4 Printing 450 sheets (100 x 4½ sheets) at £15 per 1,000 sheets 300 sheets for 3 full-page prints at £5 per ream of 500 sheets

£6.15.0 £3.0.0 £9.15.0

Total

£29.0.0

Presumably Seagrave printed copies of each ballad in Chichester and sent them to Blake in Felpham; Blake and his wife then printed engravings on text plates plus the full-page plates – but they printed them only as the need arose, not all at once. 71

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When there proved to be demand for only a few score copies,8 Blake was left with many copies of the text of the Designs. These were of no commercial value, but the paper alone had cost about £15. Blake cannily kept these printed sheets, even taking them back to London with him in 1803, at considerable trouble, and he drew on them for the rest of his life, including designs for Blair’s Grave (1805), Malkin’s Memoirs (1806), Job and Dante (c. 1824).9 The printing of the engravings was done by the Blakes. Hayley wrote to Lady Hesketh on 10 June 1802: “He & his excellent Wife (a true Help-mate!) pass the plates thro’ a rolling press in their own cottage together; & of course it is a work of some Time to collect a Number of Impressions.”10 Sales of the Designs to a Series of Ballads The first reports of sales were encouraging. On 3 July 1802 Hayley wrote that Ballad 1 is “marching triumphantly on the road of prosperity,” and as late as 30 January 1803 Blake wrote to his brother: “These Ballads are likely to be Profitable for we have Sold all we have had time to print. Evans the Bookseller in Pallmall says they go off very well.” However, Hayley told R.H. Evans on 3 April 1803: “He has paid a Bill of 30 £ for paper & the copies He has disposed of in the country have not produced more than half that sum11 to reimburse Him.” The £30 for Seagrave was apparently partly advanced by Hayley, for on 28 December 1804 Blake thanked Hayley for “the Twelve Guineas which you Lent Me when I made up 30 Pounds to pay our Worthy Seagrave in part of his Account.” Blake wrote on 26 October 1803: “Mr. Evans … 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,” and on 22 January 1805 he wrote that the London bookseller Thomas Phillips advised that “we must consider all that has been printed as lost, and begin anew.” The Designs to a Series of Ballads were printed by J. Seagrave in Chichester and sold by him and R.H. Evans in London “for W. BLAKE, Felpham.” We do not know how many copies Seagrave sold – perhaps he only provided the copy for the reviewer in the Sussex Chronicle & Chichester Advertiser (2 June 1802), which he printed – but we have good in72

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formation about how many were sold by Evans in London (fifteen, worth £1.17.6)12 and how many were disposed of by friends of Blake and Hayley (120, worth £15),13 mostly in the country. Blake’s probable expenses for the Designs were therefore for paper and printing (£30.0.0) and copper (£3.13.1½) or £33.12.1½ in all, and his probable receipts (£16.7.6) left him considerably out of pocket. Hayley’s generous gesture had been a disaster for Blake, not only in losing money but also in wasting his creative genius. Table 7.1 The known distribution of the Designs to a Series of Ballads #1 ano n., reviewer for Sussex Chronicle & Chichester Advertiser (2 June 1802), 172 #1 charlotte colli ns, 9 copies (2 of which were to replace damaged copies), 1 of which went to Mr Spilsbury (28 June 1802) #1 joh n fl axman’s copies went to mr [john] hawki ns (2 copies), mr [wi lli am] lo ng, mr [samue l] rogers; fl axman paid “for the whole of my copy” [i.e., £1.17.6 for 15 Numbers at 2s. 6d. each] (27 June 1802) #1 samuel greatheed received 6, but he sold none (mr court ney was sent a copy but it was “returned unpurchased”) (1 September 1802); he referred to them in his review of Hayley’s Ballads in the Eclectic Review (1 December 1805) #1 harrie t lady hesketh was sent “a Bundle of Ballads” from Hayley, which she disposed of to 3 bath li braries, l ord [will iam] and lady [mary] harcourt, richard h urd and dr randolph (2 copies, 1 to show to lord sp encer), and she kept one; she paid £5.5.0 for them all (BR (2), 129, 132, 135–6, 146), though by her own figures she only owed £1.5.0; Lady Hesketh received from Blake “two packets of ballads” [5 in each] (15 October 1802) #1 joh nny jo hnson was sent 20 copies and disposed of “several copies” (6 June, 7 July 1802) #1 e .g. marsh (“I hope to contribute my little assistance to the payment” (20 June 1802) #1 mrs th rockmorto n of Bath was sent it by conde r, bookseller of Bucklesbury, but we don’t know if she bought it (3 September 1802) #1–2 anon., reviewer for European Magazine (August 1802), 125–6 73

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Table 7.1 (continued) #1–2 isaac ree d (BR (2), 856) perhaps from Nancy Flaxman, who gave him Poetical Sketches (F) in 1784 #1–3 anon., reviewer for Poetical Register (1803), 410 (BR (2), 143 footnote) #1–3 Offered in r.h . evans catalogue (1804), Lot 1001, no price (BR (2), 143 footnote) #1–3 will iam hayle y (BR (2), 153) #1–3 anna seward from the booksellers (3 March 1803) #1–4 Thomas Butts, for mr [john] birch (Blake’s letter of 25 April 1803); Blake also sent “some Ballads” with his letter of 22 November 1802, perhaps the “4 Nos of Hayleys Ballads” in his receipt of 3 March 1806 (BR (2), 764); in his letter to Butts of 25 April 1803, Blake said “I now send the 4 Numbers for Mr Birch”; in the 1806 account with Butts is also a record of 3 Numbers to Mr Birch (7s. 6d.) #1–4 r.h. evans, the book’s London publisher, sold 15 numbers “at the most” (Blake’s letter of 26 October 1803) #1–4 hayley (BR (2), 153) #2 lady heske th received 5 (Ballads 3–4 were to come from her Bath bookseller), “as well as those I take in for my Sistr [the o do ra cowp er] and some other friends,” sent Blake £5.5.0 (28 June, 15 October 1802) #2 charl ot t e col lins was ready to take 7 (28 June 1802) #3 great he e d expected to receive copies (3 September 1802) #3 johnny johnson, some to be sent by Hayley (6 August 1802) #4 mrs fl axman, 5 copies sent via James Blake (Blake’s letter of 30 January 1803) #4 james blake, 5 copies, 2 of them for mrs [penelope carl eton] che twynd (Blake’s letter of 30 January 1803) and apparently 3 to Butts (“3 Hayleys Ballads + Brother,” account with Butts of 3 March 1806)

“e xh i bi ti o n o f pai nt i ngs i n f re s co ” (1809) Blake learned the effects of publicity in selling his works from watching Robert Hartley Cromek’s energetic and very successful promotion of the edition of Blair’s Grave (1808) with Blake’s twelve designs. For four years

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(1805– 08) Cromek devoted much of his time and financial resources to making the work widely known. He issued prospectuses, advertised widely in London and the provinces, exhibited Blake’s drawings at the Royal Academy, at his home, and in provincial cities, and solicited support from influential friends such as George Cumberland in Bath and William Roscoe in Liverpool, who were also Blake’s friends. Almost all this Blake could do – except giving up his art for the pursuit of money. Blake organized an exhibition of his own drawings, chiefly “The Canterbury Pilgrims” and “The Ancient Britons,” and he issued a four-page prospectus for his “Exhibition of Paintings in Fresco, Poetical and Historical Inventions” (1809), a broad-sheet flyer for “A Descriptive Catalogue” (1809), and a detailed account of the pictures in A Descriptive Catalogue of Blake’s Exhibition (1809) (Illus. 27). Once Blake had decided where the exhibition was to be, in his brother’s house, and what would go in the exhibition, he composed a flyer for it: EXHIBITION | OF | Paintings in Fresco, | Poetical and Historical Inventions, | BY. WM. BLAKE | - | … | … for Public Inspection and for Sale by Private | Contract, at | No. 28, Corner of BROAD STREET, Golden-Square. | - | “Fit Audience find tho’ few” MILTON. | - | Admittance 2s. 6d. each Person, a discriptive Catalogue included.14 | Watts & Co. Printers, Southmolton St. Its printer, Ann Watts, was in partnership with Edward Bridgewater, and their imprint is on “Blake’s Chaucer: The Canterbury Pilgrims” (1809) and “A Descriptive Catalogue” advertisement (1809). Her shop at 31 Southmolton Street was fourteen doors up from Blake who was at 17 South Molton Street. The cost for perhaps fifty copies of the flyer was probably only a few shillings. The flyer consisted of a folded folio sheet, four pages, watermarked “N HENDON[?] | 1802,”15 and it is dated “May 15. 1809” in manuscript in both surviving copies. It focuses on “The Ancient Britons” and “The Canterbury Pilgrims,” plus “Pitt” and “Nelson,” and there is a section on “The Invention of a Portable Fresco.” In it Blake remarked: “The execution of my Designs, being all in Water-colours … are regularly

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refused to be exhibited by the Royal Academy,16 and the British Institution has, this year, followed its example, and has effectually excluded me … it is therefore become necessary that I should exhibit.” One copy of the exhibition flyer was sent to Ozias Humphry with his letter of May 1809 enclosing “a ticket of admission,” though no such ticket has survived. Crabb Robinson copied out the last paragraph in 181017 and paraphrased the flyer in his essay on Blake in Vaterländisches Museum (1811).18 A D E S C R I P T I V E CATA L O G U E O F P I C T U R E S

(1809)

Blake also decided to issue A Descriptive Catalogue of the exhibition (Illus. 27), like those for the Royal Academy. When this was ready he issued a broad-sheet flyer for it entitled A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE | OF | BLAKE’s EXHIBITION, | At No. 28, Corner of | BROAD-STREET, | GOLDEN-SQUARE. . | … | Printed by Watts & Bridgewater, Southmolton-street. In it the Descriptive Catalogue, “Sold only at the Corner of BROAD STREET,” is priced at 2s. 6d., which entitles the buyer “at the time of purchase, to view the Exhibition”; “Admittance to the Exhibition [is] 1 Shilling; an Index to the Catalogue gratis.” Probably the flyer was sent to Blake’s friends such as Thomas Butts, who owned the only known copy. The “Index” is probably the “Index to the Catalogue” in the book itself. The cost of printing fifty copies must have been only a few shillings. The title of Blake’s account of his exhibition is A | DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE | OF | PICTURES, | Poetical and Historical Inventions, | PAINTED BY | WILLIAM BLAKE, | IN | WATER COLOURS, | BEING THE ANCIENT METHOD OF | FRESCO PAINTING RESTORED: | AND | DRAWINGS, | FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION, | AND FOR | Sale by Private Contract, | = | LONDON: | Printed by D.N. SHURY, 7, Berwick-Street, Soho, | for J. BLAKE, 28, Broad-Street, Golden-Square. | - | 1809

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The publisher recorded on the title page was Blake’s brother James, and perhaps this explains the choice of the jobbing printer Daniel Nathan Shury, whose shop at 17 Berwick Street near the corner of Portland Street was three streets from 28 Broad Street. The location of the exhibition “at N 28 Corner of Broad Street Golden Square” is given only in manuscript in copies of the catalogue sold at the exhibition. The printer, D.N. Shury, was at 17 Berwick Street, not “7, Berwick Street,” an indication of the casualness of the printing. Neither Blake nor Shury made much effort “deliberately [to] correct the printer’s sheets,”19 for the work is littered with literal errors and printing infelicities.20 The only manuscript corrections Blake bothered to make in the copies sold at the exhibition were the alteration of “idea of want” to “want of idea” and the crucial information on the title page that the exhibition was “At N 28 Corner of Broad Street Golden Square.” Probably he corrected only a few copies at a time as they were wanted by James Blake at the exhibition, for more than half the surviving copies lack these manuscript corrections.21 The catalogue was a duodecimo with thirty-six leaves, three sheets, plus two leaves of blue wrappers without text, the text-paper watermarked “1807 AP.” Shury may have printed about 100 copies at a cost of perhaps £4.0.0;22 twenty-two have been traced today. We know that many copies were still unsold in 1810; copy P was a gift in 1824 and copy K was first sold in 1831. The Descriptive Catalogue describes the sixteen frescos and watercolours in Blake’s exhibition, often with intemperate excurses on the nature of colouring and drawing and on the “villany” of contemporary connoisseurs. Blake condemns “the sickly daubs of Titian or Rubens” (50); “Rubens is a most outrageous demon” (56). “I have been scorned long enough by these fellows” (34). He also mocks the “dumb dollies” (30) of Stothard’s rival design of the “Canterbury Pilgrims” and Cromek’s prospectus for it. About two-thirds of the Descriptive Catalogue is devoted to his “Canterbury Pilgrims” (7–34) and “The Ancient Britons” (39–51). “The artist is an inhabitant” of Eden (41), and he sees “spiritual agency” (45) in all acts. “The Artist … [has] been taken in vision into the ancient republics, monarchies, and patriarchates of Asia” (3–4). “The

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Artist has endeavoured to emulate the grandeur of those [works of art] seen in his vision” (4), “some of them one hundred feet in height” (5). This goes far beyond the accepted hyperbole of advertising. The only explanation for many readers then and now is “madness.” The nine known or probable visitors to the exhibition (see below) may account for all eleven of the copies Blake corrected for sale. Cunningham ¶32 marveled at “The man who could not only write down, but deliberately correct the printer’s sheets which recorded, matter so utterly wild and mad,” but, according to Crabb Robinson, “Lamb was delighted with the Catalogue,” especially with the account of the “Canterbury Pilgrims.”23 The book made a strong impression on Leigh Hunt’s brother Robert, who reviewed it along with the exhibition in The Examiner. He wrote of Blake as “an unfortunate lunatic, whose personal inoffensiveness secures him from confinement.” The pictures are “very badly drawn,” and the Descriptive Catalogue “a farrago of nonsense, unintelligibleness, and egregious vanity, the wild effusions of a distempered brain.”24 An appropriate response to this was Cumberland’s comment in his own copy of the Descriptive Catalogue: “They say Blake was mad: If so Shakespeare & Milton were so too.”25 bl ake ’s e xh i bi ti o n (1809– 10) The exhibition was scheduled to open on 15 May 180926 and to close on 29 September 1809.27 However, it stayed open until well into 1810, for George Cumberland Jr wrote about it in October 1809, he bought two copies of the Descriptive Catalogue for his father in November, Crabb Robinson saw it on 23 April 1810, and he took Charles and Mary Lamb to it on 11 June 1810. Other visitors included Robert Southey,28 Robert Hunt (who reviewed it savagely), and William Hazlitt.29 Perhaps Ozias Humphry visited the exhibition using the “ticket of admission” Blake sent him in his letter of May 1809. Probably Thomas Butts was sent a “ticket of admission”; he owned a copy of the Descriptive Catalogue (O) corrected like others sold at the exhibition, and he had a copy of the “Descriptive Catalogue” flyer (1809) which Blake presumably sent him. And Seymour Kirkup, the friend of young Tommy Butts, must have

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been to the exhibition, where he saw and was deeply impressed by “The Ancient Britons”30 which was only visible there. Presumably after the scheduled closing date of 29 September 1809, “the Picture of the Canterbury Pilgrims, which is to be engraved,” was withdrawn, for it was offered for sale “only on condition of its remaining in the Artist’s hands twelve months” for engraving,31 and it was triumphantly published a year later, on 8 October 1810. Southey said of the exhibition, “Some of the designs were hideous … In others you perceived that nothing but madness had prevented him from being the sublimest painter of this or any other country.”32 The paintings and drawings in the exhibition were “FOR | Sale by Private Contract,” according to the Descriptive Catalogue, but the catalogue does not indicate the prices. Were negotiations carried on by James Blake, who presumably was always present when the exhibition was open? Did the painter supply him with a list of suggested prices? James Blake was, of course, a hosier and haberdasher, not a painter or a connoisseur. The paucity of sales may be explained in part by the inexperience of the salesman. The purpose of the exhibition was to sell the pictures exhibited. In this it was not very successful. Three of the four pictures Blake specially mentioned in his flyer for his “Exhibition of Paintings in Fresco” (1809), “The Canterbury Pilgrims,” “Pitt,” and “Nelson,” were presumably still for sale when they were loaned to the exhibition of the Associated Painters in Water Colour (1812). Eventually the faithful Thomas Butts acquired six pictures from the exhibition (#438, 456, 495, 500, 649, 653), but he scarcely needed an exhibition to persuade him to buy yet more Blakes. But the largest and perhaps the most important picture at the exhibition, “The Ancient Britons,” 10⬘ x 14⬘, may have been sold at the exhibition or very shortly thereafter. On 16 January 1811 the enthusiastic Welsh antiquarian William Owen Pughe wrote (in Welsh) about the picture of “The Ancient Britons” which Blake “was doing for me,” presumably touching it up. The price of such a huge work was likely to have been very substantial, perhaps £40. If the fee was so large, this sale alone would have justified the comparatively small expenses of the exhibition, the flyers, and the Descriptive Catalogue.

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“t h e cant e rbury p i l gri ms ” e ngravi ng Blake issued a proposal for his long engraving of “The Canterbury Pilgrims.” BLAKE’s CHAUCER, | THE CANTERBURY PILGRIMS. | - | THE FRESCO PICTURE, | Representing Chaucer’s Characters, painted by | WILLIAM BLAKE, | As it is now submitted to the Public, | … May 15th 1809. | = | Printed by Watts & Bridgewater, Southmolton-Street. It is a broad-sheet watermarked 1807 (as in the Descriptive Catalogue) produced by the same neighbourhood printers responsible for the flyers for his “Exhibition of Paintings in Fresco” and “A Descriptive Catalogue.” The cost for fifty copies can scarcely have been more than a few shillings. Blake probably sent copies to his friends as he did his other flyers. In the prospectus “The Artist engages to deliver it, finished in One Year from September next.” (It is dated 8 October 1810.) He invites subscriptions “At No. 28, Corner of BROAD-STREET, GOLDEN-SQUARE; where the Picture is now Exhibiting,” at £4.4.0; “The Price will be considerably raised to Non-subscribers.” In his own prospectus for his works in Illuminated Printing (1793), Blake had ostentatiously eschewed subscriptions: “No Subscriptions … are asked, for none are wanted.” It was only later that he printed them to order. “The Canterbury Pilgrims” was, at least in part, printed to order from the beginning. Next year, probably about the time the print was finished and ready for sale (8 October 1810), Blake issued another prospectus: Blake’s Chaucer | An Original Engraving by him from his Fresco Paint- | ing of Sir Jeffery Chaucer and his Nine and Twenty | Pilgrims setting forth from Southwark on their Journey | to Canterbury. | … G. Smeeton, Printer, 17, St. Martin’s Lane, London It is a carelessly printed33 quarto sheet of four pages watermarked H WILLMOTT | 1810, produced by George Smeeton at his shop opposite St Martin’s Church probably in about fifty copies for a few shillings. Copies were presumably sent to Blake’s friends such as Thomas Butts, 80

publisher of works in conventional typography

who owned one of the three surviving copies. The price is now £3.3.0. The text describing the scene depicted derives from Blake’s Notebook, 117–19. Subscriptions are still received [by James Blake at his house] “at No. 28, Corner of Broad Street, Golden Square.” These two trifling investments in publicity for “The Canterbury Pilgrims” seem to have borne sweet fruit, for fifty-four copies of the print produced by Blake and his wife have been traced, and there may well have been more. At £4.4.0 each, the price of a subscription in 1809, or £3.3.0, the price of a copy in 1810, or even £2.2.0, the price for which he sold it in 1826 to Mrs Aders,34 this represents a very substantial return, well over a hundred pounds. Even taking into account the cost of paper and of copper (£2.0.3),35 Blake must have done quite well from the sale of his print of “The Canterbury Pilgrims” (Illus. 18). The printing by Catherine Blake and the sales by James Blake were presumably done for love. Table 7.2 Copies of works in conventional typography inherited by Catherine Blake Descriptive Catalogue (A, E, I, K, M) Poetical Sketches (A, G–P, R, T–U, X)

81

8 B l a k e ’s W or k s i n I l l u m i n at e d P r i n t i n g , 1 78 9 – 1 8 2 7

Blake said that his brother Robert, who died in 1787, revealed to him in a night vision “the technical mode by which could be produced a fac-simile of song and design [on the same copper plate]. On his rising in the morning, Mrs. Blake went out with half a crown, all the money they had in the world, and of that laid out 1s. 10d. on the simple materials necessary for setting in practice the new revelation.”1 According to the engraver John Jackson, in Blake’s works in illuminated printing in order that the subject may be represented by lines in relief … the subject is drawn upon the plate in Burgundy pitch, or any other substance which will resist the action of aquafortis, in the same manner as copper-plate engravers in the ordinary process stop out the parts intended to be white. When the substance in which the drawing is made becomes set, or sufficiently hard, the plate is surrounded with a [wax] wall, as it is technically termed, and aquafortis being poured upon it, all the unprotected parts are corroded, and the drawing left in relief. This was the method generally adopted by William Blake … As it is difficult, according to Blake’s process, 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, … he was accustomed to wipe out the ink where it had touched in the hollows. As this occupied more time than the mere inking of the plate, his progress in printing was necessarily slow.2

works in illuminated printing

bl ake’s co s ts fo r maki ng wo rks i n il l umi nat e d p ri nt ing The new materials for etching and engraving each work in illuminated printing were copper, aqua fortis for etching, cakes of ink, linseed oil for mixing with the dry ink, turpentine varnish and lamp black (for protecting shallow parts of the plate from being bitten with further acid), virgin wax (for transferring the image to the copper) and a feather for smoothing it, and charcoal for polishing the copper plate. For printing the new copper plates, the costs were for ink, paper, and olive oil (to keep the plate from rusting). Of course, Blake already had his own engraving tools and rolling press. Of these costs, those for aqua fortis, ink, charcoal, the feather, lamp black, turpentine varnish, olive oil, and virgin wax were negligible, while the costs of copper and paper were formidable. The cost of the copper may be deduced by multiplying the surface dimensions of the print by the presumed thickness of the copper and then by the known cost of copper at the time.3 Copper was sold by weight. Table 8:1 shows the costs of copper for Blake’s illuminated printing. Table 8.1 The costs of copper in Blake’s illuminated printing Title, Date

Size

Number of prints

Number of new plates

Cost

All Religions Are One (?1788) There Is No Natural Religion (?1788) Songs of Innocence (1789) Book of Thel (1789) Marriage (?1790) For Children (1793) Visions (1793) America (1793) “To the Public” (1793) Europe (1794)

16o

10

10

£0.3.3

16o

19

19

£0.8.8½

8o

31

31

£2.10.6½

4o 8o 8o folio folio ?folio folio

8 27 18 11 23 2 18

8 23 18 11 23 2 1

£1.0.1½ £2.1.6¾ £0.14.3¼ £3.6.11 £6.17.0 £0.15.0 £0.2.2

83

william blake in the desolate market

Table 8.1 (continued) Songs of Experience (1794) Urizen (1794) Song of Los (1795) Book of Ahania (1795) Book of Los (1795) Milton (1804[–11]) Jerusalem (1804[–20]) Ghost of Abel (1822) For the Sexes (?1826) On Homer’s Poetry (?1826)

8o

23

1

£0.2.0¾

4o folio 4o 4o 4o folio folio 8o 4o

28 8 6 5 51 100 2 21 1

5 4 3 2 31 51 2 3 1

£0.8.11¾ £2.0.5¼ £0.11.4¼ £0.4.7 £7.6.7½ £15.2.1¼ £0.1.8 £0.5.7½ £0.1.1¼

The cost of the copper, of course, depended upon the size needed. For the first five of the works in illuminated printing, Innocence, Thel, Marriage, Visions, and America, he had incurred expenses for copper of £15.16.1¾ before he had printed a single copy. Blake seems to have thought of the process as experimental while he produced these works. After he had experimented with Thel (copy a) and the Marriage (copies K–M), he printed, probably in 1790, Thel (five copies), Songs of Innocence (twenty-one), and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (four). Only three years after that did he attempt to advertise them for sale. The prospectus (1793) offered them at 3s. (Thel), 5s. (Innocence), 7s. 6d. (Marriage, Visions), 7s. 6d. and 10s. 6d. (America). At these prices, he would have had to sell Title

Copies Needed to Sell to Pay for the Copper

Copies Printed by 1793

Thel Innocence Marriage Visions America

7 10 6 9 13

15 15 4 9 11

84

works in illuminated printing

Up to 1793, only Thel and Innocence can have been sold at a profit, considering only the cost of the copper. Beginning in 1794, Blake found a way of drastically reducing his costs for copper in works in illuminated printing. He began to etch new works on the backs of old ones. In a few cases where there was a disfiguring copper plate maker’s mark on the plate, he generally managed to obscure the defect in printing and colouring, so that the marks are visible chiefly or only in posthumous copies. In this way he etched most of the plates for Europe (1794) on the versos of the plates for America (1793), Songs of Experience (1794) on the versos of plates for Songs of Innocence (1789), Urizen (1794) on the versos of Marriage ([?1790]), Book of Ahania (1795) on the versos of Book of Los (1795),4 and almost half the plates for Milton (1804[–11]) and Jerusalem (1804[–20]) on the versos of their own plates. This was a saving for 136 copper plates and a formidable expense. The cost of paper would also have been substantial. We may calculate his paper costs for the first five years of printing his own works. In 1787 a ream (500 sheets) of Imperial Whatman paper, “the most beautiful wove paper that could be procured,” cost £4.2.0;5 176 sheets of it (28.5 per cent of a ream) would have cost about £1.13.7. Most of these early copies were printed on both sides of the leaf. The cost for paper would have been about twice as much per copy when Blake began about 1793 to print on only one side of the leaf. Coincidentally, his costs for copper after 1793 would have been far lower, because he began etching new works on the versos of old copper plates. There were, of course, other costs for materials. For printing works in illuminated printing, the costs of all these materials save the ink6 would have been negligible. In his prospectus “To the Public” (10 October 1793), Blake announced his invention of 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 … The Illuminated Books are Printed in Colours,7 and on the most beautiful wove paper that could be procured. No Subscriptions for the numerous great works now in hand

85

william blake in the desolate market

Table 8.2 Paper needed for printing works in illuminated printing, 1789–93 Title f o lios America (1793) Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793) q uarto s Book of Thel (1789) Marriage of Heaven and Hell (?1790) o ctavo Songs of Innocence (1789) Songs of Innocence in Songs of Innocence and of Experience duod ecimo For Children: The Gates of Paradise (1793)

Copies

Leaves

Sheets

C–I, K–L A–E, H–M

90 66

45 33

A–E, G–M, R–S A–C, H, K–M1

111 66

28 16½

371

46½

90

7½

A–M, U, V, X, Z B–F

A–E

}

176½

TOTAL

1 Marriage (K–M) consist of two-page fragments, probably proofs not for sale.

Table 8.3 Costs of materials1 Material green for ink ochre for ink raw sienna for ink spirits of nitre2 turpentine asphaltum for turpentine camel hair brush linseed oil

Cost 3d. in bladders 1–2d. per ounce 4d. per ounce, 6d. burnt or in bladders 4s. 6d. per pound 6–8d. per pint 6d.–1s. per ounce 1d. 6d. per pint

1 These prices come from The Artist’s Repository and Drawing Magazine, 4 vols (London, 1784–86), 2:19, 21, 60–2, 67 (cited in Viscomi, Blake and the Idea of the Book, 56, 251, 392–3). 2 Spirits of nitre is mixed with three to four times the quantity of water to make aqua fortis. 86

works in illuminated printing

are asked, for none are wanted; but the Author will produce his works, and offer them to sale at a fair price. Probably few copies of the prospectus were issued; none has been described in print since Gilchrist’s transcription was published in 1863. Blake produced his illuminated books in distinct printing sessions between 1789 and 1796, building up a stock for sale. When copies of a work ran low, he reprinted them. The dates of reprinting suggest the popularity, or at least vendibility, of Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience (1794, 1795, 1802, 1804, 1811, 1818, 1821, 1825, 1826, 1827). His other works were reprinted far less frequently: Visions (1794, 1795, 1818), Europe (1795), Urizen (1795, 1818), Marriage (1795, 1818, 1827), Thel (1795, 1818), America (1807, 1821), Milton (1818), and Jerusalem (1821, 1827). Ten copies of the Songs are hybrids, with Innocence and Experience combined from different printing sessions. sale s o f wo rks i n i l l umi nate d p ri nt ing, 1789–1827 We rarely know when works in illuminated printing were sold or for how much, but we can make some plausible assumptions. Most of the dates of sale are speculative. Copies of works in illuminated printing produced between 1789 and 1793 are lightly coloured or uncoloured – America (C–I, L), For Children: The Gates of Paradise (A–F). It seems probable that they were sold at the prices given in Blake’s Prospectus (1793). Coloured copies, and especially colour-printed copies (1794–96) will have sold for much more than uncoloured copies. It is likely that Blake printed and sold some copies of which we have no other record. Some copies were given away. America (B, printed in 1795) passed “From the Author | to C.H. Tatham Oct.r 7 1799,”8 and copy D (printed in 1793) was given to Crabb Robinson after 10 December 1825 when they first met. Songs of Innocence (A) was “given to his doctor.”9 Songs (I, 1795) “was given by Blake”10 to “H.W. Phillips” (who signed a flyleaf) or more probably to his father Thomas who painted Blake’s portrait in the spring of 1807.

87

Table 8.4 Dates of printing Blake’s works in illuminated printing1 All Religions Experience For Children For the Sexes Innocence Marriage No Natural Religion Songs Thel Urizen Visions † Italics

= = = = = = = = = = = = =

All Religions Are One Songs of Experience in Songs For Children: The Gates of Paradise For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise Songs of Innocence The Marriage of Heaven and Hell There Is No Natural Religion Songs of Innocence and of Experience The Book of Thel The First Book of Urizen Visions of the Daughters of Albion not coloured colour-printed

1789 Innocence (A–M, U–V, X, Z), Songs (B–F [Innocence only]) 1789–90 Thel (A–E, G–M, ?P, ?Q, R–S) 1790 Marriage (A, B†, C, H, K–M†) 1793 America (C–I†, K,2 L†, R–S), For Children (A–F†), Visions (A–E, H–M) 1794 Europe (B–E, F–G), Urizen (A, C–F, J), Marriage (E–F), No Natural Religion (A–D, G, M), Songs (B–E [Experience only], F–H [Experience only], T1 [Experience only], Visions (F) 1795 All Religions (A), America (A, B†), Book of Ahania (A), Book of Los (A), Thel (F), Europe (A, H†), Urizen (B), Marriage (D), Song of Los (A–F), Innocence (N), Songs (A, C, I, J, L, M†, O [Experience only], O/K†,3 R, W/N, S [Experience only], BB), No Natural Religion (L), Visions (G, ?Q) 1796 Large Book of Designs (A–B), Small Book of Designs (A–B) 1802 Innocence (O, R/Y), Songs (P [Innocence only], Q [Experience only]) 1804 88

Table 8.4 (continued) Innocence (P–Q), Songs (P [Experience only], Q [Innocence only]) 1807 America (?M), Jerusalem proofs 1811 Milton (A–C), Innocence (S), Songs (S [Innocence only]†) 1818 Thel (N–O), Urizen (G), Marriage (G), Milton (D), Songs (T2, U), Visions (N–P) 1820 Jerusalem (A†, C–D†) 1821 America (O†), Europe (K†), Jerusalem (B [chapter 1 only], E), Songs (V) 1822 Ghost of Abel (A–E†), On Homer (?A–F†) 1825 Songs (W, Y) 1826 For the Sexes (?A–D, J–M), Songs (Z–AA) 1827 Jerusalem (F†), Marriage (I), Songs (X) Posthumous† America (N, P–Q), Europe (I, L–M), For the Sexes (?E–I), Jerusalem (H–J), Innocence (T), Songs (a–o) 1 The table derives from Joseph Viscomi, Blake and the Idea of the Book, 376–81, except that For the Sexes is here dated ?1826. A few copies not known at the time Viscomi wrote (e.g., America (R–S), Thel (S), Europe (N), Urizen (K), For Children (F), For the Sexes (M–N), Song of Los (F), Innocence (Z), Visions (R–S)) have been added somewhat arbitrarily to his list. Note that the identification of works produced in a printing session, based on features such as paper, printing accidentals, printing on one side of the leaf or both, and colour of ink, is fairly reliable, but the dates of the printing sessions are more speculative. 2 Viscomi, “The Myth of the Commissioned Illuminated Book,” 71, suggests that America (K) was coloured by Catherine Blake. 3 The colouring of Songs K, M is posthumous.

89

william blake in the desolate market

Table 8.5 Hybrid copies of Songs of Innocence and of Experience Copy B–E F–H O P Q S

Innocence Printed 1789 None ??? 1802 1804 1811

Experience Printed 1794 1794 1795 1804 1802 1795

Copy-letters in italics (Europe D) identify colour-printed copies; prices in italics identify prices which are certain, not guesses. Blake’s extraordinarily low prices for his relief-etched works in 1793 were probably for copies with very light formulaic washes, many perhaps coloured by Catherine after a model by Blake. The prices probably increased steeply for heavily coloured copies, especially the colour-printed copies of 1794 to 1796. This was certainly Blake’s practice ten years later, when he charged Butts £6.6.0 for Songs (E) in 1806 and £10.10.0 to the Rev Joseph Thomas for a copy of the Songs.11 The only literary works by Blake with commercial publishers were The French Revolution (1791) and For Children: The Gates of Paradise (1793). Both bore Joseph Johnson’s name as publisher on the title page, with Blake as co-publisher of For Children. Of these, The French Revolution was never published – it is known only by a proof copy of book one printed on the rectos of the leaves. Only six copies of For Children are known, and it is not clear that Johnson sold any of them. In his letter of 9 June 1818 Blake wrote: “I have never been able to produce a Sufficient number for a general Sale by means of a regular Publisher.” Probably Johnson exhibited display copies of Blake’s works with reference to Blake for their sale. On 25 September 1794 Richard Twiss wrote to Francis Douce, “You will see several more of Blakes books at Johnsons in St. Ps Ch. yd.” About 1795, Blake printed large paper copies of his works,12 perhaps for display in Joseph Johnson’s shop. These consisted of a set on large paper (c. 27 x 30 cm) – The Book of Thel (G), the First Book of Urizen 90

Table 8.6 Sales of works in illuminated printing, 1789–1827 Copies sold

Date 1789–93

Price

America (C, E, I, K–L, R) @ 10s. 6d. Book of Thel (A–E, G–M, ?P, ?Q–R) @ 3s. For Children: The Gates of Paradise (A–C, F) @ 3s.a Marriage of Heaven and Hell (A–C) @ 7s. 6d. Songs of Innocence (B–C, F–L, U–V, X, Z) @ 5s. Innocence in Songs (B–D, F) @ 5s. Experience in Songs (B–D) @ 5s. “To the Public” Visions (A, C–E, H–M, Q) @ 7s. 6d. 1795 America (F, 1793) Europe (C, 1794) bound together Song of Los (D, 1795) Visions (B, 1793)

£10.6 £0.10.6 £1.10.0 £7.6

Book of Ahania (A, 1795) Book of Los (A, 1795) Europe (H, 1795) America (A, 1795)b Europe (A, 1795) First Book of Urizen (B, 1795) Marriage of Heaven and Hell (D, 1795) Songs (A, 1795) Visions (F, 1794)c Song of Los (A–C, E–F, 1795) @ £1.10.0 Songs of Innocence (N, 1795) Experience in Songs (G, 1794) Songs (J–K, O, 1795) @ £2.2.0 Songs (M, 1795 [uncoloured])

£1.1.0 £1.1.0 £10.6 £3.3.0 £3.3.0 £3.3.0 £3.3.0 £4.4.0 £2.2.0 £7.10.0 £5.0 £1.10.0 £ 6.6.0 £10.0

}

}

America (H, 1793) Europe (D, 1794) Large Book of Designs (A, 1796, 7 prints)

£3.3.0 £2.8.0 £0.12.0 £1.2.6 £3.5.0 £1.0.0 £0.15.0 £4.2.6

1796 bound together

91

£0.10.6 £4.4.0 £1.10.0

Table 8.6 (continued) Copies sold

Date

First Book of Urizen (D–F, J, 1794) @ £3.3.0 Marriage of Heaven and Hell (F, 1794) Small Book of Designs (A, 1796, 23 prints) Experience in Songs (H, 1794) Experience in Songs (N, 1794)

Price £12.12.0 £5.5.0 £3.9.0 £1.10.0 £1.10.0

1797 America (S) Book of Thel (S) Europe (N) First Book of Urizen (K) Visions (S)

}

£0.10.6 £0.3.0 £0.10.6 £0.10.6 £0.7.6

bound together for Flaxman

For Children: The Gates of Paradise (F)

£0.3.0 1798

Europe (E–G, 1794) @ £3.3.0

£9.9.0 1799

Marriage of Heaven and Hell (F, 1794) Songs (L, 1795) 1789–99 1800 First Book of Urizen (A, 1794) Songs (F [Innocence 1789, Experience 1794])

£5.5.0 £3.0.0 £105.7.6 £3.3.0 £3.3.0

1801 Songs of Innocence (D, M, 1789) @ 5s.

£0.10.0 1802

Songs of Innocence (O, R, 1802) @ £1.10.0

£3.0.0 1804

Songs of Innocence (F, 1793, Q, 1804) @ £1.10.0 Songs (P [Innocence 1802, Experience 1804]) Songs (Q [Innocence 1804, Experience 1802])

£3.0.0 £6.6.0 £6.6.0 1805

?America (A, 1795) Songs of Innocence (P, 1804)

£2.2.0 £1.10.0 1806 92

Table 8.6 (continued) Copies sold

Date

For Children: The Gates of Paradise (E, 1793)d

Songs (E, 1794)e 1800–09 1811 Milton (A, 1811) Songs of Innocence (S, 1811) Songs (S [Experience 1795, Innocence 1811]) Visions (G, 1795)

Price £0.3.0

£6.6.0 £29.3.0 £10.10.0 £3.3.0 £6.6.0 £3.3.0

1816 f

£6.6.0

Songs (BB)

1818 First Book of Urizen (G, 1818) £5.5.0 Marriage of Heaven and Hell (G, 1818) £5.5.0 Songs (T [Experience colour-printed 1794, Innocence 1818]) £6.6.0 Songs (U, 1818) £6.6.0 Visions (N, P, 1818) @ £3.3.0 £6.6.0 1819 Songs (U, 1818) £0.14.0 Jerusalem (C) chapter 2g 1810–19 £1.19.6 Songs (R)h 1820 Jerusalem (C) chapter 3i Jerusalem (C) [?chapter 4]j 1821 America (O) Europe (K)k Marriage (H)l America (G, 1793) Europe (B, 1794)

}

£5.5.0 £66.14.6 £0.1. 0.0 £0.15.0 £0.10.0 £0.10.0 £2. 2.0 £0.10.6 £0.10.6

bound together

Jerusalem (B [chapter 1 only], 1821) }(1821) Songs (V, 1821) 93

£5.5.0 £5.5.0

Table 8.6 (continued) Copies sold

Date

Price

1826 Milton (B, 1811) Songs (Z, 1826) Songs (AA, 1826)m Milton (D, printed 1818)n Visions (O, printed 1818)o

£10.10.0 £5.5.0 £5.5.0 £10.10.0 £1.1.0 1827

Europe pl. 1p Jerusalem (A, 1827)q Marriage (I, 1827) Songs (X, 1827)r 1820–27

£3.13.6 £5. 5.0 £5.5.0 £10.10.0 £57.16.6

Inherited August 1827 by Catherine Blakes “The Accusers,” 1 copper plate All Religions Are One (A, 1795) America (a) plus pl. 1 (2), 2, 3 (2), 4–6, 10, 15 (2), d Book of Ahania (A–B) Book of Los (A–B) Book of Thel (a), plus 8 copper plates Europe (a–c), pl. 1 (4), 2 (5), 4–5, 6 (3), 7 (3), 10, 12 (2), 17, 18 (2), plus 1 copper plate For Children: The Gates of Paradise (D, 1793) For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise (A–D, J–M, 1826), pl. 3, 6–7, 12, 14–15, plus 21 copper plates First Book of Urizen pl. 3, 5, 25 Ghost of Abel (B–E, 1822), plus 1 copper plate Jerusalem (D, 1820, E, 1821, the only complete coloured copy, F, 1827), pl. 1 (2), 4–6, 8, 9 (2), 11, 18, 19 (2), 20, 24–5, 28 (3), 30, 32, 35 (3), 37 (2), 38 (2), 41, 47–8, 50 (2), 51 (3), 53, 58, 74,78, 99–100, plus 53 copper plates “Laocoon,” 1 copper plate Large Book of Designs (B) Marriage of Heaven and Hell pl. 3–7, 14, 16, 20, plus 23 copper plates Milton pl. 38, plus 30 copper plates “Mirth,” 1 copper plate On Homers Poetry (A–F, 1822), plus 1 copper plate Small Book of Designs (B)

94

Songs of Experience, 2 copper plates Songs of Innocence, 31 copper plates Songs (W, 1795, Y), pl. 3 (2), 6, 7 (2), 9, 10 (2), 22, 24–5, 28, 30–1, 33, 37, 40 (2), 42 (2), 44 (2), 45–7, 48 (2), 51 There Is No Natural Religion (A–D, G, L–M, 1794–1795) Visions of the Daughters of Albion, pl. 6 plus 11 copper plates a

b

c

d

e

f

g h i j k

l m n

o

p

q

r

On 13 September 1794 Richard Twiss wrote to Francis Douce that “A Lady here mo [in Edmonton] has just shown me” “‘the gates of Paradise,’ 16 etchings. 24. ” o s v by “Blake N. 13 Hercules Build. Lambeth” (Bodley: MS Douce d. 39, f. 70 ). Romney’s copies of Blake’s works in illuminated printing – America (A), Europe (A), Urizen (B), Marriage (D), Songs (A), and Visions (F) – were mostly the largest known copies. John Flaxman acquired, after his return in 1794 from seven years in Italy, copies (untraced) of America (S), Thel (S), Europe (N), Urizen (K), and Visions (S), all bound together, plus For Children (F). Probably all but Urizen were uncoloured. The works in the bound volume may be those for which Flaxman paid Blake £2.2.0 in October 1797 (BR (2), 758); at the prices in the 1793 prospectus, these would come to £2.2.0. For Children (E) is inscribed on a fly-leaf as a gift “To Harriet Jane Moore [age 5] | from her friend Henry Fuseli | Nov. 22nd 1806.” The receipt for “Drawings, Songs of Innocence &c” is dated 9 September 1806 (BR (2), 766). Songs (BB, printed 1795) is inscribed on the Innocence title page “Bought of Blake May 1816.” BR (2), 774, 780. Linnell paid £1.19.6 for Songs (R) on 27 August 1819 (BR (2), 774, 780). Linnell’s account book identifies this payment only as “For prints” (BR (2), 780). Linnell’s account book identifies this only as “Balance of Jerusalem” (BR (2), 780). On 8 August 1821 Linnell paid £1 for “a Book of Europe & America not finished” (BR (2), 780), i.e., not yet coloured; there is no record of payment for the rich finishing of the books. Linnell paid £2.2.0 for Marriage (H) on 30 April 1821 (BR (2), 774, 780). Receipt for Songs (AA) of 29 July 1826 (BR (2), 776). Thomas Griffiths Wainewright wrote to Linnell on 28 March 1826, “I have lately purchased M.r Blake’s Milton.” “H.C. Robinson” wrote his name on the third fly-leaf, below which Edwin W. Field, to whom he gave it in 1865, added that it was “bought by him from Blake for | he thinks 1 guinea.” J.T. Smith wrote (1828) that Tatham paid “the truly liberal sum of three guineas” for “The Ancient of Days” (BR (2), 620). Jerusalem (A) was paid for by W.Y. Ottley the day before Blake died (BR (2), 790). In his letter of 12 April 1827 Blake wrote that “I am now Printing a Set of the

95

william blake in the desolate market

s

Songs of Innocence & Experience [X] for a Friend [T.G. Wainewright] at Ten Guineas.” According to J.T. Smith (1828), “his beloved Kate” survived him “in the fullest belief that the remainder of her days will be rendered tolerable by the sale of the few copies of her husband’s works which she will dispose of at the original price of publication” (BR (2), 626).

(G), There Is No Natural Religion (L), and Visions of the Daughters of Albion (G) – and a set on very large paper (c. 27 x 37 cm) – All Religions Are One (A), Europe (A) (Illus. 29), Marriage of Heaven and Hell (D), and Songs of Innocence and of Experience (A). Among Blake’s earliest patrons was the great portrait painter George Romney, whom Blake may have met with Flaxman and others at the Mathews’ salons in 1783–84. On 26 April 1784 Flaxman wrote that “M.r Romney thinks his historical drawings rank with those of M.l Angelo,” and Romney and Blake were probably friends.13 About 1795 Romney acquired an extraordinary set of Blake’s works in illuminated printing: America (A), Europe (A), First Book of Urizen (B), Marriage (D), Songs (A), Visions (F). All these copies were printed in 1794–95,14 all are on folio-size paper,15 most are the largest known copies (Urizen, Marriage, Songs, Visions), in all but Visions the leaves are numbered by Blake, and all are coloured (most other copies of America are uncoloured).16 The prices for these works in Blake’s prospectus “To the Public” (10 October 1793) – 7s. 6d. for Marriage and Visions, 10s. for Songs, 10s. 6d. for America – are implausible guides to what Romney may have paid for them, because all Romney’s copies are coloured, while the 1793 prices are for very lightly coloured copies, and all are folio size, while Thel and Marriage are ordinarily quarto and Songs octavo. The total price may not have been as much (£28.7.0) as Blake asked for ordinary-size coloured copies in 1818 – £2.2.0 for Thel and Marriage,17 £3.3.0 for Visions, £5.5.0 for America, Europe, Urizen, and Songs) – but it was probably quite substantial. One of Blake’s greatest admirers and most effective patrons was the distinguished miniaturist Ozias Humphry. According to Farington’s diary of 19 February 1796, Humphry “spoke warmly in favour of the designs of Blake the Engraver, as works of extraordinary genius and imagination.” About this time Humphry bought copies of America (H – 1793), 96

works in illuminated printing

Europe (D – 1794), and Songs (H – 1794), and he commissioned Blake to print “a selection from the different Books of Such as could be Printed without the Writing tho to the Loss of some of the best things,” as Blake wrote to Dawson Turner on 9 June 1818. These are called the Large Book of Designs (A – 1796), with eight prints bound at the end of Humphry’s copy of Europe, and the Small Book of Designs (A – 1796) with twentythree more prints, all colour-printed. It is difficult to estimate what Humphry paid Blake for these works. Humphry’s copies of America (H) with nineteen prints on ten leaves, Europe (D) with seventeen coloured prints on ten leaves, and the Large Book of Designs with seven colour-printed leaves are folios, and Songs (H) with seventeen colour-printed leaves and the Small Book of Designs with twenty-three colour-printed leaves are octavos. In Blake’s 1793 prospectus, uncoloured copies of America and of Songs of Experience with twenty-five designs are offered at 10s. 6d. and 5s. However, colour printing and masking the text in the Large and Small Books of Designs would have multiplied the labour and the value. If Humphry paid £10.10.0 for these five works he got a bargain. In 1818 Blake charged £13.13.0 for America, Europe, and Experience alone, and these were merely watercoloured, not colour-printed. Humphry served as a kind of artistic ambassador for Blake. He showed his copy of Europe to George Cumberland, who made notes in it. On 15 August 1797 Dr James Curry of Northampton wrote to Humphry: “As poor Blake will not be out of need of money, I shall beg you to pay him for me, and to take the trouble when you return to town of having a box made for the prints, & sending them” to me. Blake wrote to Humphry on 18 January 1808 with a description of his painting of a “Vision of the Last Judgment” which he had made on Humphry’s recommendation for the Countess of Egremont, and on 9 February 1809 Humphry wrote about it to the Earl of Buchan: “It is one of the most interesting performan.ces I ever saw; & is, in many respects superior to the last Judgment of Michael Angelo.”18 Blake’s old friend George Cumberland wrote on 18 December 1808: Dear Blake, A gentleman of my acquaintance to whom I was shewing your incomparable etchings last night, was so charmed with them, that he requested me to get him a compleat Set of all you have published 97

william blake in the desolate market

in the way of Books coloured as mine are;19 – and at the same time he wishes to know what will be the price of as many as you can spare him, if all are not to be had, being willing to wait your own time in order to have them as those of mine are. With respect to the money I will take care that it shall be reced and sent to you through my Son [in London] as fast as they are procured. To this generous letter Blake replied next day: Dear Cumberland I am very much obliged by your kind ardour in my cause & should immediately Engage in reviewing my former pursuits of printing if I had not now so long been turned out of the old channel into a new one that it is impossible for me to return to it without destroying my present course. New Vanities or rather new pleasures occupy my thoughts. New profits seem to arise before me so tempting that I have already involved myself in engagements that preclude all possibility of promising any thing. I have however the satisfaction to inform you that I have Myself begun to print an account of my various Inventions in Art for which I have procured a Publisher20 & am determind to pursue the plan of publishing what I may get printed without disarranging my time which in future must alone be devoted to designing & Painting; when I have got my Work printed I will send it you first of any body. Between 1807 and 1818, Blake seems to have reprinted none of his works in illuminated printing except for two copies of Songs of Innocence in 1811.21 During these years his stocks of his own works must have run very low. In 1818 he replenished his stocks by reprinting Thel (N–O), Urizen (G), Marriage (G), Milton (D), Songs (T2, U), and Visions (N–P). He must have had stocks of America and Europe still on hand, for he listed them for sale in 1818 though he did not reprint them until 1821. The prices were far higher in 1818 than in the prospectus of 1793. In his 1793 prospectus, Blake had said, “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.” 98

Table 8.7 Blake’s own book prices, 1793, 1818, 1827 Title

Coloured Printsa

America (1793)

no, 18 yes yes Book of Thel (1789) no, 8 yes yes Descriptive Catalogue (1809) 0 Europe (1794) yes, 18 yes pl. 1 yes, 1 First Book of Urizen (1794) yes, 28 yes For Children: The Gates no, 18 of Paradise (1793) Jerusalem (1804–[20]) no, 100 no yes, 100 Marriage of Heaven and no, 27 Hell (?1790) yes Milton (1804–[?11]) yes, 50 Songs of Innocence (1789) no, 27 yes, 28 Songs of Experience (1793) no, 27 yes, 26 Songs of Innocence and yes, 54 of Experience (1794) yes yes Visions of the Daughters no, 11 of Albion (1793) yes yes a

Size

Price

Date

Folio

£0.10.6 £5.5.0 £6.6.0 £0.3.0 £2.2.0 £3.3.0 £0.2.6 £5.5.0 £6.6.0 £3.3.0 £5.5.0 £6.6.0 £0.3.0

1793b 1818c 1827d 1793 1818 1827 1818 1827 1827e 1818 1827 1793

£2.9.0 £5.5.0 £21.0.0g £7.6 £2.2.0 £10.10.0 £0.5.0 £3.3.0 £0.5.0 £3.3.0 £1.19.6 £5.5.0 £10.10.0k £0.7.6 £3.3.0 £5.5.0

1819–21 1827f 1827 1793 1821h 1818 1793 1818 1793 1818 1819i 1826j 1827 1793 1818 1827

Quarto

Octavo Folio

Quarto “small” Folio

Quarto Quarto Octavo Octavo Octavo

Folio

Occasionally the number of “designs” specified by Blake in his prospectus (1793) is fewer than the total number of prints in the volume, as in Thel (6 designs on 8

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william blake in the desolate market

b

c

d

e

f

g

h I j k

prints), Marriage (14 designs on 27 prints), Songs of Innocence (25 and 28), Songs of Experience (25 and 26), and Visions (8 designs on 11 prints). None of the lists includes Poetical Sketches (1783) or Descriptive Catalogue (1809), perhaps because they contain no design. The details for 1793 derive from “To the Public” advertisement (10 October 1793), for lightly coloured copies. These “Works [are] now published and on Sale at Mr. Blake’s, No. 13, Hercules Buildings, Lambeth.” The list omits All Religions Are One, and There Is No Natural Religion, both of ?1788. Apparently Blake never offered them for sale. Prices for 1818 derive from Blake’s letter of 9 June 1818, probably for coloured copies. Marriage is not included in the 1818 list, although Blake printed copy G in 1818. Song of Los, Book of Los, and Book of Ahania, colour-printed in 1795 and never again, were omitted from the lists of 1818 and 1827. Prices for 1827 come from Blake’s letter of 12 April 1827, for coloured copies; “the Songs of Innocence & Experience … I cannot do under Six Months.” This is the copy of “The Ancient of Days” which Blake coloured on his deathbed for Tatham (BR (2), 620 footnote). Linnell’s General Account Book records under 31 December 1819, 10 December 1820, 4 February 1821 “2nd No of Jerusalem” (£0.14.0), “For prints” (£1), and “Balance of Jerusalem” (£0.15.0) (BR (2), 780). Cunningham ¶46 gives the price for the “tinted” copy of Jerusalem (E) as £26.5.0. Linnell’s receipt for Marriage (H) is dated 30 April 1821 (BR (2), 774). Linnell’s receipt of 17 August 1819 is for Songs (R) (BR (2), 774). Blake’s receipt for Songs (AA) to Mrs Aders is dated 29 July 1826 (BR (2), 774). Songs (E) was sold with an unspecified number of “Drawings” for £6.6.0, according to the receipt of 9 September 1806 (BR (2), 766). Gilchrist, 1: 124 (BR (2), 207), wrote that the Rev. Joseph Thomas (d. 1811) gave Blake £10.10.0 as “a present” for a copy of the Songs, with the prints finished “like miniatures,” but Thomas’s copy (Q) is uncoloured.

However, in 1818 he was no longer thinking of conventional publishing from a stock held in a shop, and he did solicit subscriptions. On 9 June 1818 he wrote to Dawson Turner, who had seen Ozias Humphry’s copies of America (H), Europe (D) (Illus. 32), Large Book (A) and Small Book of Designs (A), and Songs of Experience (H), mostly colour-printed, and who asked for “a List of the different works … unprofitable enough to me though Expensive to the Buyer.” The few I have Printed & Sold are sufficient to have gained me great reputation as an Artist which was the chief thing Intended 100

works in illuminated printing

But I have never been able to produce a Sufficient number for a 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 & I will take care that they shall be done at least as well as any I have yet Produced. Blake told Crabb Robinson on 18 February 1826 that “He will not print any more.” Thereafter most of the copies Blake printed were demonstrably or probably produced to order.22 By 1827 Blake had largely given up selling his works in illuminated printing, though if solicited nicely he would still print and colour them to order. By then the commissions came chiefly from good friends. He wrote to Cumberland on 12 April 1827: You are desirous I know to dispose of some of my Works & to make them Pleasin[g.] I am obliged to you & to all who do so But having none remaining of all that I had Printed23 I cannot Print more Except at a great loss for at the time I printed those things I had a whole house to range in; now I am shut up in a Corner therefore am forced to ask a Price for them that I scarce expect to get from a Stranger. I am now Printing a Set of the Songs of Innocence & Experience [X] for a Friend [Thomas Griffiths Wainewright] 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. Cumberland wrote to his son on 20 July 1827: “for Blake I have spared no pains but have no success. They [his friends in Bristol] seem to think his prices above their reach, yet they seemed very anxious to have his works.” Blake’s last great patron was the charming dilettante Thomas Griffiths Wainewright. He wished to collect “all of Mr B.s works executed by his own hand,” according to his letter to Linnell of 28 March 1826. He was “In great impatience to devour the treasure of his great mind” (letter of 29 March 1826). He acquired America (G, printed 1793), Descriptive Catalogue (F, 1809), Europe (B, 1794), For Children (B, 1793), Jerusalem (B, 1821) chapter 1, Marriage (I, 1827), Milton (D, 1818), Songs (X, 101

william blake in the desolate market

1827), as well as Blake’s “Canterbury Pilgrims” (1810) (Illus. 18), Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) (Illus. 1), and Job (1826) (Illus. 19, 21, 22). Most of these he could have obtained from Blake’s stock or from booksellers, but Marriage (I) and Songs (X) were direct commissions by Wainewright. He also planted a puff for Jerusalem in the London Magazine (1820). In February 1827 he wrote to Linnell: “His Dante is the most wonderful emanation of imagination that I have ever heard of. His fate is a national disgrace; while his pious content is a national example.” Through the munificence of patrons like John Linnell and Thomas Griffiths Wainewright in his last years, Blake was enabled to survive, and at his death he was “clear of even a sixpenny debt.”24

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9 s u m m a r y of B l a k e ’s c a r e e r

Blake’s earnings were highest in the 1780s (£1,465) and 1790s (£2,030). They declined in the period between 1800 and 1809 (£1,280), the reduction in his earnings for engravings (£640) being offset by the increased profits from his paintings (£460). The next decade was a disaster, at only £68 per annum (compared to £203 in the 1790s). His last eight years (1820–27), at £108 per year, were slightly better, very largely through the enlightened generosity of John Linnell. Throughout his life, the bulk of Blake’s income came from his work as an engraver. “Engraving is the profession I was apprenticed to & should never have attempted to live by any thing else if orders had not come in for my Designs & Paintings.”1 “Mr B … during a Period of forty Years [1769–1809] never suspended his Labours on Copper for a single day.”2 From 1780 to 1799, more than 90 per cent of his income derived from his commercial engravings. Blake’s income as a painter, generally at £1.1.0 per design, was rarely substantial, at £6 to £40 a year, and the commissions came from a very small number of patrons, chiefly Thomas Butts (1800–1827) and John Linnell (1819–1827), culminating in the watercolours for Job commissioned by Thomas Butts (1805–1806) and the engravings from them commissioned by John Linnell (1823). His income from other sources was welcome but small. Notice that at first, in 1793, Blake’s works in illuminated printing were to be published from a shop in the usual way and, according to the prospectus of 1793, “the Author is sure of his reward.” However, by 9

william blake in the desolate market

June 1818 Blake was printing his works in illuminated printing to order, and they were “unprofitable enough to me tho Expensive to the Buyer … The few I have Printed & Sold are sufficient to have gained me great reputation as an Artist which was the chief thing Intended.”3 But in 1793 he had clearly thought of them as a commercial venture. Blake’s works in illuminated printing provided only a small fraction of his income, never more than about 10 per cent. They were a luxury both to him and to the buyer. The poems for which Blake is best known today never provided an important part of his income. And they seem to have been valued more and more by his contemporaries not as books but as suites of extraordinary pictures. In the eyes of his contemporaries, Blake was an engraver who also painted pictures. Blake concluded that “Commerce is so far from being beneficial to Arts or to Empire that it is destructive of both … for the above Reason of Individual Merit being its Great hatred.”4 For Blake, “The Goddess Fortune is the devils Servant,”5 and “I laugh at Fortune & Go on & on.”6 I have Mental Joy & Mental Health And Mental Friends & Mental wealth, Ive a Wife I love & that loves me, Ive all But Riches Bodily. I am in Gods presence night & day And he never turns his face away.7

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summary of blake’s career

Table 9.1 Blake’s lifetime earnings

Table 9.2 Income by type of work

1780–89 Engraver Teacher Painter Illuminated Printing

Engraving Teaching Printing Illuminated printing Paintings Charity

1790–99 Engraver Painter Illuminated printing

1800–09 Engraver Teacher Printer Painter Illuminated Printing

1810–19 Engraver Painter Illuminated printing

1820–27 Engraver Charity Painter Illuminated Printing

£1,300 £50 £5 £110 £1,465

£1,790 £130 £110 £2,030

£640 £130 £20 £460 £30 £1,280

£550 £60 £70 £680

£510 £125 £170 £60 £ 865

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£4,790 £180 £20 £370 £825 £125

9 appendix B l a k e ’s Pat r o n s

This list includes only those works acquired during Blake’s lifetime (1757–12 August 1827). In particular, it ignores works disposed of by Catherine Blake and Frederick Tatham after Blake’s death. It also omits engravings signed by Basire (since Blake was not paid for them). In a congery of booksellers, the dominant one is the first one listed. For purchases, Blake must be the author or designer of the work. The sources of the information here are chiefly G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Books (1977), Blake Books Supplement (1995), Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly (1992 ff.), Blake Records, 2nd ed. (2004 – especially for Blake accounts and Job subscribers), Robert N. Essick, The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue (1983), Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake (1981) – recorded as “#146” – and the subscription list to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808, reprinted in 1813, [1870], &c). Note that the Blair subscription list is apparently incomplete, for on 14 August 1808 Cromek wrote to George Cumberland: “Through the d–d carelessness of my Printer your Name is omitted in the list.” The subscription list in Blair’s Grave is divided geographically: 226 names implying London (“N.B. Those Subscribers whose Residences are not attached to their Names live in London”), 51 in Liverpool (Lancashire), 66 in Birmingham (Warwickshire), and its Vicinity, 11 in Halifax (Yorkshire1), 7 in Pontefract (Yorkshire), 55 in Wakefield (Yorkshire), and its Vicinity, 48 in Leeds (Yorkshire), 67 in Manchester2 (Lancashire), 39 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Northumberland), 32 in Bristol (Gloucestershire), and 16 in Edinburgh. Cromek was also notably successful with patrons from Sheffield (5) and Bath (8). Note that the Bath subscribers

appendix

include the booksellers Barratt, Marshall, Meyler & Son, and Upham. The order of names in the Blair subscription list is not strictly alphabetical. In some cases the unalphabetical names may indicate the order in which Cromek received them, as with the five sequential names from Dudley and the eight from Tipton (both under Birmingham). “London” seems to imply where Cromek received the subscription, for it includes subscribers from Yorkshire to which Cromek made later forays. In the Blair subscription list, “Esq.” denotes a gentleman; “Mr” implies a lower social status, often commercial, such as attorneys, booksellers, engravers, printers, and surgeons. Artists elected to the Royal Academy were elevated to Esq. There are 598 Blair subscribers for 693 copies,3 including 46 painters, 10 sculptors, 27 engravers, 2 architects, 21 divines, 6 individuals with titles of nobility, 28 women, 28 booksellers, and 5 printsellers. For Blake’s engravings for Job (1826) there were 44 subscribers for 47 copies – and of course a good many more after his death. The usual commercial method of publishing by subscription was for a bookseller to send out prospectuses and advertise in the press and wait for the subscriptions to roll in. (If it was essentially a vanity publication, the author was expected to canvas all his friends.) Cromek sent out prospectuses and placed advertisements in the press, but he also displayed the watercolours in the most appropriate places, such as the Royal Academy, and he beat the bushes himself, in London, the Midlands (Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester), in his native North of England (Leeds, Halifax, Pontefract, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Wakefield), and in Edinburgh. symbo ls † denotes one of the fourteen distinguished subscribers listed in the two prospectuses of November 1805 # denotes the entry number in Martin Butlin’s catalogue raisonné, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake. Ackerman, Rudolph, bookseller, 101, Strand, London Published Robert Blair, The Grave (1813) Jose Joaquin de Mora, Meditaciones Poeticas (1826)

107

appendix

Adams, Mr Thomas, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Aders, Elizabeth (Ward), wife of Charles Letter from Blake: 29 December 1826 Drawings 1825 #784, #829 20 Illuminated Printing Songs (AA – £5.5.0 in 1826) Commercial Engravings “Canterbury Pilgrims” (1810) (copy 2 – £2.2.0 in 1826) Subscribed to Job (1826) Aldrich, Mr Thomas, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Allan, William See Mr Allen Allen, Mr, portrait painter, London [probably William Allan (1782– 1850), later R.A.] Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Allen, David, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Alsop, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Anderson, Dr Robert (1749–1830), Edinburgh, anthologist, ed. Robert Blair, Poetical Works (1794) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Appleby, Mrs, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Armitage, Edward, Esq., Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 108

appendix

Armstrong, Mr, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Arnould, bookseller, Spring Garden, London Subscribed to Job (1826) Askham, Mr William, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Astley, Francis D., Esq., Duckenfield Lodge, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Aubrey, Edward (?1754 in London – 1827 in Canada) Type-printed Work Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), signed “Edwd Aubrey 1809” on the engraved title page, prints coloured4 Audinet, Mr, London [probably Philip Audinet (1766–1837), engraver] Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Aylesford, The Right Hon. the Earl of, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Badley, Mr John, Dudley, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bail[e]y, Ed. Hodges, Esq. (1788–1867), R.A., sculptor Subscribed to Job (1826) Baldry, Mr John P., Shadwell Dock, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Balmanno, Robert (1780–1860) Illuminated Printing Innocence (U – 1789) Songs (B – 1794) Type-printed Work 109

appendix

Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (I) Subscribed to Job (1826) Commercial Engravings Chaucer, Prologue (1812) Banks, Mr George, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Barber, Mr T., Sheffield Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bardsley, Dr [Samuel Argent] (1764–1850), Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Barker, Mr George (1776–1845), Birmingham, and its Vicinity, lawyer Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Barker, Mr Robert, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Barker, Samuel, Esq., Lichfield Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Barnard, Mr William (1744–1849), London, engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Barnett, Mr John, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Barr, Mr John, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Barratt, Mr, bookseller, Bath Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 8 copies Barrow, I. [i.e., John] (1757–1858), Weston Place, London, printseller, witness of the will of Blake’s brother-in-law Henry Banes, lived (at least

110

appendix

from 1831 to 1838) at 3 Fountain Court (as the Blake’s did from 1821 to 1827) Published “Mrs. Q” (1820 – Blake engraving) Barry, B., Mr, bookseller, Bristol, friend of George Cumberland – took subscriptions for Blair’s Grave, early copies of which were to be seen at “Mr. Barry’s Reading-Rooms” Type-printed Work Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (V) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Barton, Mr John, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bassnett, Mr Henry, attorney at law, Manchester; Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bateman, J., jun, Esq., Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bathurst, Tryphena (1750–1807), widow of Henry, the Second Earl Bathurst, Lord Chancellor, or Georgina (d. 1841), his daughter-in-law Miscellaneous: Blake taught in the family and was, as it were, their “painter in ordinary”5 Baugh, Benj., Esq., Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Baxter, Miss, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Baxter, Mr T. [?Thomas (1782–1821), line engraver], London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bayley, Rev H[enry] V[incent] (1777–1844), M.A., sub-dean of Lincoln Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

111

appendix

Beckford, William (1760–1844), England’s richest son Illuminated Printing Urizen (F – 1794) Marriage (A – 1790) Milton (C – 1811) Beddome, Boswell, Esq. Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Beddome, Josephus, Esq. Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Beddome, Samuel, Esq., Clapham Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bedingfeld, Lady, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) †Beechey, Sir William (1753–1839), R.A., London, painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Beevor, Rev John, Claypole, near Newark Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Behnes, Mr, bookseller, Dean Street, Soho, London Subscribed to Job (1826) Belk, Mr Thomas, Pontefract Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bell, John (1745–1831), Strand, London, bookseller Published Geoffrey Chaucer, Poetical Works (1782 – 1 Blake engraving) J. Olivier, Fencing Familiarized (1780 – 1 engraving) Bellamy, T[homas] (1745–1800), London, bookseller Published Bellamy’s Picturesque Magazine (1793 – 1 Blake engraving) 112

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Bennett, Mr T.E., Bank of England, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bennucci, –, Esq., Clifton, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Benson, Mr R.B., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bentley, Miss, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Beve, Joshua, Esq., Chatham Place, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Beverley, Miss, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bewick, Mr Thomas (1753–1828), Newcastle-upon-Tyne, wood engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Birch, George, Esq., Hamstead Hall, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Birch, John, Esq. (1745–1815), Surgeon Extraordinary to the Prince of Wales, friend of Blake (see also Doctor, Blake’s, below) Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballads 1–3 and Ballads 1–4 Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bird, Mr E[dward] (1772–1819), painter, Bristol, friend of George Cumberland, in 1818 lived in Bristol and 29 South Moulton Street near Blake6 Illuminated Printing For the Sexes (F) on his attendance at Catherine Blake’s funeral,

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23 October 1831 Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies Bird, Mr Francis, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Blair, Robert, Esq. (1741–1811), Edinburgh, son of Robert Blair (1699–1746) the poet Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Blake, James (1753–1827), the poet’s brother, at 28 Broad Street, Golden Square, London; permitted his shop and house to be used for Blake’s exhibition (1809–1810) and to show his “Canterbury Pilgrims” engraving Letter from Blake: 30 January 1803 Type-printed Works published at his address “A Descriptive Catalogue” advertisement (1809) A Descriptive Catalogue (1809) Chaucer, Prologue (1812) Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) – found customers for them “Canterbury Pilgrims” (8 October 1810) published from his house Blayden, John, Esq., Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bliss, Mrs Rebekah7 (d. 1819), Enfield Illuminated Printing For Children (A – 1793) Songs (P – 1802) Commercial Engravings Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797) coloured copy (D) Boddington, Samuel, Esq., M.P., London Illuminated Printing America (P – 1827 ff)

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For the Sexes (C – ?1826) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bohn, John Henry Martin (?1757–1843), bookseller, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London Subscribed to Job (1826) Bone, Henry, Esq. (1755–1834), A.R.A., London, miniature painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Booth, B., Esq., Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Booth, Sir R.H. Gore, Bart, Sligo Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Borckhardt, Charles, printseller Published “The Child of Nature” (1818 – Blake engraving) “The Child of Art” (1818 – Blake engraving) Borel, Mr, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Boswell, James (1788–1822), London, son of Johnson’s biographer, barrister and author Illuminated Printing Songs (U – 1818) Boulton, Matthew Robinson, Esq. (1770–1841), Birmingham, and its Vicinity, son of the entrepreneur Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bourne, James, Esq., Dudley, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Bowyer, R[obert], Esq. (1758–1834),8 London, miniature painter and publisher Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies Boyd, Mr, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Boydell & Co, Cheapside, London, book and printseller Published Boydell’s Graphic Illustrations of the Dramatic Works of Shakspeare (?1803 – 1 engraving) The Original Works of William Hogarth (1790 – 1 engraving) Boydell, John [1720–1804] & Josiah (1752–1817), London, engravers and booksellers Published William Shakespeare, The Dramatic Works (1799 – 1 engraving) Boyle, Mr Robert, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Boyton, Miss, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bradley, Mr William, Halifax Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Brain, Mr William, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Brancker, Mr John, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Brandreth, Miss, Liverpool [perhaps related to Dr Joseph Brandreth of Liverpool] Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Bright, Richard, Esq. (1774–1840), Bristol, merchant Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Brisco, E.D., Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Brisco, Mr Fleming, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Brohier, Mr, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bromley, Mr William (1769–1842), Hammersmith, London, engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Brooke, John, Esq., Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Brown See Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, booksellers Brown, Mr J., Boston [?Lancashire] Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Brown, Mr James, sen., Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Brumfitt, Mr Thomas, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bubb, Mr, sculptor, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Buchan, Dr [Alexander Peter] (1764–1824), London, physician Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Buck, Mr Adam (1759–1833), London, miniature and portrait painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 117

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Buckland, J[ames] (?1711–90), London, print and bookseller Published John Scott, The Poetical Works (1782 – 4 engravings) Budworth, Captain Jo., F.S.A., Clifton Cottage, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bull, J., London Subscribed to Job (1826) Bull, John, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bullock, George (1782/3–1818), Liverpool, sculptor and cabinet-maker Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Burgess, Mr Samuel, Manchester [entered twice] Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Burton, Mr J[ames] D[aniel] (1784–1817), Wakefield, and its Vicinity, Wesleyan minister Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Bury, Rev Edward, London Subscribed to Job (1826) Bute, Marquis of [John Stuart (1744–1814), first Marquis of Bute] Illuminated Printing Innocence (M – 1789) Butler, Mr Thomas, Kirkstall-Forgo [sic], Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Butts, Elizabeth, wife of Thomas, London Manuscript: “The Phoenix | To Mrs Butts” (?1794) (not in William Blake’s Writings) Miscellaneous: Blake may have taught in her school for girls Drawing by Catherine Blake: #C1 (?1800) 118

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Butts, Thomas (1757–1845)9 was a clerk in the office of the Commissary General of Musters. He lived at 9 Great Marlborough Street (from 1789); in 1808 he was at Fitzroy Square, London Letters from Blake: 22 September, 2 October, Autumn 1800; 19 May, 11 September 1801; 10 January, 22 November (2) 1802, ?1802; 25 April, 6 July, 16 August 1803 Letter from Butts: September 1800 receipts, mostly “on account” 5 July 1805 7 September 1805 3 March 1806 30 June 1806 9 September 1806 29 January 1807 3 March 1807 2 June 1807 13 July 1807 6 October 1807 14 January 1808 29 February 1808 29 July 1808 3 November 1808

£5.7.0 £4.4.0 £16.7.4 £21.0.0 £6.6.0 £21.0.0 £28.6.0 £12.1.6 £15.15.0 £10.10.0 £26.5.0 £10.0.0 £10.10.0 £5.5.0

4 December 1808 7 April 1809 19 June 1809 10 July 1809 10 August 1809 4 October 1809 25 November 1809 16 January 1810 3 March 1810 14 April 1810 30 June 1810 14 July 1810 20 September 1810 18 December 1810

£5.5.0 £21.0.0 £10.10.0 £10.10.0 £10.10.0 £10.10.0 £20.0.0 £21.0.0 £10.10.0 £21.0.0 £5.5.0 £15.15.0 £10.10.0 £10.10.0

Illuminated Printing America pl. a (copper plate) (1793) Thel (L – 1789–90) Europe pl. 1 Ghost (A – 1822) Jerusalem (I – posthumous) Marriage (F – 1794) Milton (A or B – 1811) Songs (E – 1789, 1793, bought for £6.6.0 on 9 September 1806) He bought America (F), Europe (D), Song of Los (D), Visions (B), and Blair’s Grave (1808) at Cumberland’s sale at Christie & Manson (6 May 1835) Type-printed Works 119

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“Blake’s Chaucer: An Original Engraving” (1809) (B) “A Descriptive Catalogue” advertisement (1809) (A) Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (O) Poetical Sketches (1783) (B) drawings and large colour prints 1780 1790–93 1795

1799–1800 1800 1800–03 1800–05 1801 1803 1803–05 1805

1805–06 1805–09 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812

#84 1–7, 109 #247 #289, 291, 294, 297, 301, 306, 310, 316, 320, 323, 325, 328 (12 large colour prints, 8 of which Butts bought in 1805 for £1.1.0 each) #406, 409–32, 446 (series of 50 small Bible pictures at £1.1.0 each) #484, 495, 506, 517, 524, 526 #441, 451–6 (the first of 12 drawings for which Butts paid £1.1.0 in 1805), 475, 494, 496, 499, 503, 508–9 #433, 435–7, 439, 446, 457–61, 463, 468, 470, 474, 476–7, 482–91, 514 #376 #475, 507, 511–12, 516 #470, 474, 476, 482–3, 488, 491, 505, 510, 515, 519, 521 #193–6, 434, 438, 440, 442–5, 448–50, 462, 464–5, 467, 469, 471, 473, 478, 485 (“Christ Baptising” [£2.2.0]), 486–7, 490, 493, 497–8, 500–2, 504, 518, 520, 522, 525, 611, 637–8 ?#550 1–16, 18, 20–22 (watercolours for Job) #649 (“Nelson”) #466, 472, 513, 531, 639 #548, 641 #536 1–12 (Paradise Lost watercolours), 653 (“Canterbury Pilgrims”) #377-8 (miniatures), 523, 645 #669–71 #673, 675 #676

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1815

#528 1–8 (Comus), 542 1–6 (Milton, “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity”) 1816–20 #543 1–12 (Milton, L’Allegro and Il Penseroso) 1820 #770 1821–27 #550 17, 20 (watercolours for Job) 1826 ?#806 Teaching Thomas Butts Jr (1805–1810) at £26.5.0 a year Subscribed to Job (1826), Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Commercial Engravings “Canterbury Pilgrims” (1810) (3L, R) William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) as agent B.H. Malkin, A Father’s Memoirs of His Child (1806 – 10s 6d) Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797) coloured copy (A)

Cadell, T[homas], jun (1773–1836), and W[illiam] Davies (d. 1819), London, booksellers Miscellaneous: Took subscriptions for Blair’s Grave (1805 prospectuses) and published it Published John Flaxman, A Letter to the Committee for Raising the Naval Pillar (1799 – 3 engravings, £8.8.0) William Hayley, An Essay on Sculpture (1800 – 3 engravings) William Hayley, Triumphs of Temper (1803 – 6 engravings, £63) Calvert, Edward (1799–1883), London, painter and Blake disciple Illuminated Printing Songs (Y – 1825) Subscribed to Job (1826) Cannon, Rev Edward, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Capper, Walter William, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Cardon, Mr Anthony (1772–1813), London, engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 121

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Carlisle, [Fifth] Earl of [Frederick Howard (1748–1825)], London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Carr, Mr, Attorney at law, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Carr, Mr S, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Cartwright, Rev Joseph, Dudley, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Cartwright, Mr Thomas, Bewdley Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Case, Mr J.A., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Casson, Mr Abraham, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Casson, Mr George, Halifax Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Cawson, Mr John, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Cawthorne, Mr, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Chadwick, Mr Charles, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Chaffers, Mr Thomas, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Champernowne, Arthur (1767–1819) Illuminated Printing Innocence (O – 1802) Chantrey, Francis [Legg] (1781–1841), R.A., London, sculptor, knighted 1835 Illuminated Printing Songs (?S – 1795) Subscribed to Job (1826), Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Charlotte Sophia (1744–1818), Queen of George III, permitted The Grave with Blake’s illustrations to be dedicated to her Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Chase, J., Esq., London, Paymaster to the Royal Regiment of Malta Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Cheesman, Mr, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Chetwynd, Penelope Carleton (b. 1764),10 widow, friend of Hayley Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballad 4 (2 copies) Chevalier, Thomas (1767–1824), London, surgeon Drawings 1780–1785 #?80 (1780–1785) 1825–1827 #802 1–2 Commercial Engravings “Job” (1793) (D) “Ezekiel” (1804) (C) Chichester, Col. John Palmer, Arlington Court, Devon Drawing 1821 #803 (“The Sea of Time and Space”)

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Clarke, R.H., son of William Hayley’s friend James Stanier Clarke (?1765–1834) Illuminated Printing Innocence (B – 1789) Clarke, Theophilus, Esq. (1773–1832), A.R.A., London, portrait painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Clay, Mr Richard, Huddersfield, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Clayfield, Mr William, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Clerk, John, Esq. (1728–1812), Edinburgh, naval writer Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Clowes, Rev John,11 M.A., Ilam, Staffordshire Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Collins, Charlotte, poet Commercial Engravings agent for William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802 – £1.15.0) Colnaghi and Co., Messrs, [Paul Colnaghi (1751–1833)] London, printsellers Published Chaucer, Prologue (1812) (2 plates) Subscribed to Job (1826), Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 6 copies Colvard, Mr, attorney at law, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Constable and Co., Messrs. [Archibald Constable (1774–1827)], Edinburgh, booksellers Published Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) and took 12 copies Cooke, George Frederick, Esq. (?1746–1812), Covent Garden Theatre, London, actor Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)12 Cooke, John (1730/31–1810), 17 Pater-Noster-Row, London, bookseller Published Flavius Josephus, The Genuine and Complete Works of Flavius Josephus (?1785–86 – 4 engravings) Edward Kimpton, A New … History of the Holy Bible (?1781 – same engraving as in Josephus) Cope, Mr Charles, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Corbould, Richard, Esq. (1757–1831), London, painter, especially for book illustrations Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Corrie, Edgar, Esq., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Corrie, Mr Edward, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies †Cosway, Richard, Esq. (1741–1821), R.A., London, miniature painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Cowper, Theodora, cousin of William Cowper, sister of Lady Hesketh Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballad 1

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Cox, Peter, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Craufuird, Dr, Clifton Hot Wells, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies Crawshaw, William, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Croft, Rev Dr, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Cromek, R.H. (1770–1812), 23 Warren Street, Fitzroy Square (where Blair “Specimens may be seen” in November 1805) and 64 Newman Street, London, engraver, book and printseller Letter to Blake: May 1807 Drawings 1805 20 designs (£21) for Blair’s Grave (1808) plus a watercolour copy of Phillips’ portrait of Blake Published Robert Blair, The Grave (1808, 12 Blake designs) Crompton, Dr, Eton-House, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Crompton, Peter, Esq., Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Crowder, Mr Thomas, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Cumberland, George (1754–1848),13 London, dilettante, friend of Blake; he moved to Clifton, outside Bristol in 1799 Letters from Blake: 6 December 1795, 23 December 1796, 26 August 1799, 2 July 1800, 19 December 1808, 12 April 1827 from Cumberland to Blake: 18 December 1808 from Cumberland to Catherine Blake: 25 November 1827 126

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Illuminated Printing America (F – 1793) Thel (A – 1789–90) Europe (C – 1794) For Children (C – 1793) Song of Los (D – 1795) Songs (F – 1789, 1794) Visions (B – 1793) Type-printed Works Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (B, F) Poetical Sketches (1793) (D) Drawing ?1810 #672 Subscribed to Job (1826), Blair, Grave (1808) – his name was accidentally omitted from the subscription list14 Commercial Engravings George Cumberland, Thoughts on Outline (1796) (8 engravings, £16.16.0) “Enoch” (1806–1807) lithograph (B) “The Man Sweeping” (?1822) (D) Books Owned: Cumberland gave Blake a copy of his The Captive of the Castle of Sennaar (1796) Cumberland, George, jun, London Type-printed Work Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (B, F) Cunningham, Mr Alexander, Edinburgh Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Currie, Mr John, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Curry, James (?d. 1820) Illuminated Printing Prints Commercial Engravings Edward Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), perhaps a coloured copy15 127

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Dagley, Mr [Richard] (d. 1841), Doncaster, painter and engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Daniel, Rev E.T., Esq., Norwich Subscribed to Job (1826) Daniell, Thomas, Esq. (1749–1840), R.A., London, painter and printmaker Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Danvers, Mr Charles, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Davidson, John, Esq., Newcastle-upon-Tyne Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Davidson, Thomas, Esq., Newcastle-upon-Tyne Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Davidson, W.S. Subscribed to Job (1826) Davies, William (d. 1820), bookseller See T. Cadell, jun. & W. Davies Davis, Mr J., Warmley Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Dawson, Mrs, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Dawson, Mr, attorney at law, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Dawson, Benjamin Kennet, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Day, Mr John, Pontefract Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Deare, Philip, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Dearman, Mr J.P., Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Denham, Mr J.C., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Denman, Maria, Nancy Flaxman’s sister, London Letter from Blake: [?18 March 1827] Illuminated Printing Songs (O – 1795) Type-printed Work Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (?N) Commercial Engravings Flaxman, Hesiod, 15 proofs16 Denny, Sir Edward (b. 1796), King’s End House (1821) and Barbourne House, Worcester Drawings unidentified (see BR (2), 380) Commercial Engravings Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)17 Subscribed to Job (1826) Dibdin, Mr C[harles Isaac Mungo (1768–1833), known as Charles Dibdin the Younger], jun, London, theatre manager Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Dibdin, Thomas Frognall (1776–1847), bibliographer Illuminated Printing Thel (J – 1789–1790) Innocence (?S – 1811) Visions (G – 1795) 129

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Commercial Engravings Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797)18 Dilke, Charles Wentworth (1789–1864), critic Illuminated Printing Urizen (E – 1794) Dimsdale, Thomas (1712–1800), physician, created baron by Catherine the Great – or more probably his son Illuminated Printing Urizen (A – 1794) Innocence (R – 1802)19 Commercial Engravings Young, Night Thoughts (1797) coloured copy (X) Dinham, Joseph, sculptor Illuminated Printing For the Sexes (I – 1826) Disraeli, Benjamin (1804–81), First Earl of Beaconsfield, son of Isaac, prime minister Illuminated Printing “Accusers” (H) or his father D’Israeli, Isaac (1766–1848), author Illuminated Printing “Accusers” (C – or his son) America pl. d Thel (F – 1795) “Joseph of Arimathea Preaching” (F) Song of Los (B – 1795) Songs (A – 1795)20 Commercial Engravings Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797)21 Dixon, Mr John (c. 1740–1811), London, rich engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Dixon, Mr John, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Doctor, Blake’s [perhaps Blake’s friend John Birch] Illuminated Printing Innocence (A – 1789) Douce, Francis (1757–1834), antiquary and collector Illuminated Printing “The Accusers” (1793) (B) Thel (I – 1789–1790) Marriage (B – 1790) Type-printed Works “Blake’s Chaucer: The Canterbury Pilgrims” (1809) (B) Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (H) Commercial Engraving “Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims” (£3.3.0)22 Draper, Rev Dr, curate of St Antholin’s Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Dudley, The Library at, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Duff, Adam, Esq., Edinburgh Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Du Roveray, F.J., Esq.23 (1772–1849), London, bookseller Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Dutton, Mr, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Dyer, Charles George, London Illuminated Printing Marriage (B)24

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Dyer, Gilbert [jun] (b. 1776), bookseller, son of Gilbert Dyer (1743– 1820) Commercial Engravings Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797) coloured copy (?B)

E., W. (?William Ensom [1796–1832] or ?William Esdaile [1758– 1837]) Commercial Engravings Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797) coloured copy (Q – “This copy was coloured for me by Mr Blake | W.E.”) Eccles, Mr William, attorney at law, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Edwards, Mr Henry Lees, Haughend, Halifax Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Edwards, Richard (1768–1827),25 London, bookseller Drawings 1794–1796 #537, #330 1–537 (for Edward Young, Night Thoughts, £21) Published Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797 – 43 prints designed and engraved by Blake) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 6 copies Edwards, Mr Thomas (1762–1824), bookseller, brother of Richard, Halifax Drawings 1794–1796 #330 1–537 (for Edward Young, Night Thoughts) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies Egerton, T[homas], Whitehall, London, bookseller See Robinson & T. Egerton Published George Cumberland, An Attempt to Describe Hafod (1796 – 1 engraving perhaps by Blake) 132

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Eginton, Mr [Francis] (1736/7–1805), engraver, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Egremont, Countess of [Elizabeth Ilive] (1769–1822), wife (1801–03) of George O’Brien Wyndham26 (1751–1837), Third Earl of Egremont, art patron, Petworth House, Sussex Drawings 1800–1805 #662 (“Satan Calling Up His Legions”) 1808 #642 (“The Vision of the Last Judgment”) Emlyn, Henry (1728/9–1815), architect Published Henry Emlyn, Proposition for a New Order in Architecture (1781 – 1 engraving) Engleheart, George, Esq. (1750–1829), London, miniature painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) English, Mr Joshua, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Entwisle, John, Esq., Foxholes, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ethelstone, Rev C.W., M.A., Ardwick, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Evans, Mr James, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Evans, Rev John (1767–1827), Islington, Baptist minister Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Evans, Robert Harding (1778–1857), book and printseller, Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, later Pall Mall, London Published William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802 – 14 prints 133

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designed and engraved by Blake) Subscribed to Job (1826) Eyre, E., Esq., Lansdown Crescent, Bath Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Favell, Samuel, Esq., Grove Hill, Camberwell Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Fentum, J[onathan], 78 Salisbury Street, London, music seller, engraver, and bookseller Published Thomas Commins, An Elegy, set to Music (1786 – 1 print designed and engraved by Blake) Fielding, John (fl. 1776–96), 23 Paternoster Row, London, bookseller Published The Royal Universal Family Bible ([1781–1782] – 5 engravings) John Seally & Israel Lyons, A Complete Geographical Dictionary (1784? – 3 engravings) Fittler, James, Esq. (1758–1835), A.R.A., Marine Engraver to the King, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Flaxman, Ann, called Nancy (?1760–1820), wife of John, London Letter from Blake: 14 September 1800 Illuminated Printing Innocence (D) Songs (O) Drawings 1797–1798 #335 1–116 (watercolours for Gray’s Poems [1790]) Type-printed Work Poetical Sketches (F) with “Songs by Shepherds” †Flaxman, John, Esq. (1756–1826), R.A., London, Sculptor to the King, lifetime friend of Blake 134

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Miscellaneous: Helped Rev A.S. Mathew (q.v.) in “defraying the expense [?£5] of printing” Poetical Sketches (1783)27 Letters from Blake: 12, 21 September 1800, 19 October 1801 Illuminated Printing America (S)28 Thel (S) Europe (N) For Children (F) Innocence (D – 1789, coloured for Flaxman) Songs (O – 1795) Visions (S) Type-printed Work Poetical Sketches (1783) (E, S) Drawings 1775–80 #100 1797–98 #335 1–116 (watercolours for Gray’s Poems [1790]) 1803 #451 1806 #640 1821 #804 n.d. #835, 871 (gift) Subscribed to Job (1826), Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Little Tom the Sailor (1800), coloured copy Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) – found customers for 5 sets (£2.10.0) collection of 45 prints including “some early pieces of 1800” (probably Little Tom [1800]) and “Portraits of Mr and Mrs Cowper”29 (probably proofs for Hayley’s Cowper [1802], vol. 1 frontispiece (after Romney) and at p. 4) Fletcher, William, Esq., Erdington, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Flower, Mr, Islington Subscribed to Job (1826) Foljambe, Thomas, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 135

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Foot, Jesse, Esq. (1744–1826), London, surgeon and biographer Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ford, Mr W[illiam] (1771–1832),30 bookseller, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 12 copies and took subscriptions for Cromek Fosbrook, Mr Thomas, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Foster, John, Esq. (1740–1828), London, politician Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Foster, Mr John (1759–1827), Liverpool, joiner and architect Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Foulis, Mr [?James (1770–1842)], Edinburgh, portrait painter and sculptor Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Fox, Mr [Joseph] (1775–1816), dentist [and philanthropist], London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Fox, Dr, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Foxley, Dr, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Franceys, Mr S., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Frazer, Mr Edward, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Freer, Rev T.L., rector of Handsworth, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Fulton, Robert, Esq. (1765–1815), London, engineer and artist Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies †Fuseli, John Henry (Johann Heinrich), Esq. (1741–1825), London, R.A., Keeper of the Royal Academy, painter and friend of Blake Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Illuminated Printing For Children (E – 1793) Commercial Engraving “Canterbury Pilgrims” (copy 1) Fysh, Selby, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Gainsford, Mr, portrait painter, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Gaisford, Thomas (1779–1853), classical scholar Commercial Engravings Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797), coloured copy (G) Galton, Samuel, Esq., Dudson, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Gaskell, Daniel, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) George IV (1762–1830), King Subscribed to Job (1826) Gladstone, John, Esq. (1764–1851), Liverpool, merchant Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Goddington, Mr James, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Goodman, Mr Benjamin, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Gordon, Mr Price, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Gotha, Erbprinz Emil August von [Hereditary Prince of Gotha] Commercial Engravings Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797)31 Gott, Benjamin, Esq. (1762–1840), Leeds, cloth merchant and manufacturer Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Greatheed, Samuel Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) – found customers for 6 copies (£2.5.0) Greatrix, Samuel, Esq., Taxal 1 Lodge, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Green, Mr [James] (1771–1834), portrait painter, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Green, Mr John, jun, Dudley, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Green, Mr [Valentine] (1739–1813), printseller [and engraver], London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies Green, Mr [William] (1760–1823), landscape draughtsman, Ambleside Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies

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Gregson, James, Esq., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Gregson, Mr Matthew (1748–1824), Liverpool, antiquary and philanthropist Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Greville, Hon Charles, London [?mp] Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies Grice, Joseph, Esq., Handsworth, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Guillod, Mr G, Hampton-in-Arden, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Gutteridge, Mrs, Camberwell Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Guy, William, Esq., London, Hayley’s physician Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Gwinnett, Mr Thomas, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Hadfield, George, 67 Charlotte Street, London, printseller, brother of Maria Cosway Published “Venus Dissuades Adonis from Hunting” (1787 – Blake engraving) Hadley, Henry, Esq., Handsworth, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hague, Thomas, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

139

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Haines, William (1778–1848), Chichester and London, engraver (including for Hayley’s Romney (1809)) and miniaturist32 Drawing 1825 #480 (“The Wise and Foolish Virgins”) Halley, Mr, Rotherham, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Halliley, Mrs Robert, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Halls, Mr [John James] (1776–1853), London, painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hamer, Miss S., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hamilton, Emily (?1761–1815), Lady, Merton, Nelson’s mistress, Romney’s model Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hanly, Mr Richard, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hanson, Mr Edward, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hanson, Joseph, Esq., Strangeways, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Harcourt, Lord William (1743–1830) and Lady Mary (d. 1833) Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballad 1 Harding, Mr E[dward] (1765–1840), London, engraver and bookseller Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies

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Harford, John S[candrett], jun, Esq. (1785–1866), Bristol, biographer Commercial Engravings Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797), coloured copy (R) Hargreaves, Mr Thomas (1774–1847), Liverpool, miniature painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Harlow, Mr [Henry George] (1787–1819), portrait painter, London, precocious assistant to Thomas Lawrence Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Harris, Mr G.F., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Harris, John (1756–1846), bookseller, St Paul’s Church Yard, London Published Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologue and Characters of Chaucer’s Pilgrims (1812 – 2 plates designed and engraved by Blake) Harris, Winter, jun, Esq., Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Harrison [James II (1765–1847)] & Co, 18 Paternoster Row, booksellers Published The Protestants Family Bible (1780–81 – 5 Blake engravings) The Novelist’s Magazine, vol. 8 (1782 – 2 engravings) vol. 9 (1782 – 3 engravings) vol. 10 (1783 – 3 engravings) The Wit’s Magazine (1784 – 7 engravings) Harrison, Mr John, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Harrison, Mr William, 15 Little Tower Street, London, wine and book merchant, “Agent for Dr Thornton” in publishing Thornton’s Virgil

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(1821), which was entered at Stationers’ Hall as the “Property of Will Harrison”33 Subscribed to Job (1826) Harrop, Mr James, Manchester, son and successor of Joseph Harrop (1727–1804), publisher of the Manchester Mercury Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hartley, Mr Samuel, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Harvey, Mrs, Ardwick, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hawkins, John (?1758–1841), antiquary and dilettante Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballad 1 (2 copies)34 Drawings 1784 #152 (“several,” untraced) Hayley, William (1745–1820), Turret House, Felpham, Sussex, poet, Blake’s patron chiefly 1800–03 Letters from Blake: 18 February, 6 May, 16 September, 26 November 1800; 31 July, 7 October 1801, 19 September, 7, 26 October, 13 December 1803; 14, 27 January, 23 February, 12, 16, 23 March, 7, 9, 27 April, 4, 28 May, 22 June, 10 July, 7, 9 August, 28 September, 23 October, 5, 8, 28 December 1804; 19, 22 January, 22 March, 17 May, 4 June, 27 November, 11 December 1805 Letter to Blake: 17 April 1800 Manuscripts “Blake’s Memorandum” copy (1803) Genesis MS (Tasso) Type-printed Work Poetical Sketches (1783) (S) Drawings 1800–03 #343 1–18 (Heads of the Poets)

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1800 #344 1800–03 #374A 1801 #346, 348 (2), 353 (all miniatures) 1801–04 #354 (miniature) 1802 #355–8 Books Owned Hayley, Triumphs of Temper (1803) (gift “To | Mrs Blake | From the Author | 1803”) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Ballads (1805) – Hayley sent copies to friends William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballads 1–3 and 1–4 Haynes, Miss, Twickenham Lodge Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Haynes, David, Esq., Lonesome Lodge, Surrey Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Haythorne, John, Esq., Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hayward, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Heath, Mr Charles (1785–1848), engraver, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Heath, James, Esq. (1757–1834), A.R.A., Historical Engraver to the King, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Heaviside, John, Esq. (1748–1828), London, surgeon and anatomical museum proprietor Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Heber, Richard (1774–1833), book collector Type-printed Work Poetical Sketches (1783) (F) Hepworth, Mr Richard, Pontefract Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hervey, Mr James, Ancoats, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hervey, Mr William, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hesketh, Harriet Lady (1733–1807), Cowper’s cousin Drawing £5.5.0 in 1802 for not making her portrait35 Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) – found customers for 10 copies (£5.5.0) Heslop, Mr, Manchester [entered twice] Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hett, Mr William, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hewitson, Middleton, Esq., Newcastle-upon-Tyne Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Heywood, Arthur, Esq., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Heywood, Benjamin, Esq., Stanley-Hall, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Heywood, Benjamin A., Esq., Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Hill, Mr John, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hill, Rev Rowland (1744–1833), London, evangelical preacher Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hill, Samuel, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hine(?), Benjamin Commercial Engravings Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797), coloured copy (Y) Hobday, Mr [William Armfield] (1771–1831), Small Street, Bristol, portrait and miniature painter Miscellaneous: Cromek exhibited the engravings for The Grave in 1808 in “Mr Hobday’s painting rooms”36 Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hobday, Mr Samuel, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hodges, Mr, Soho, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hodges, Mr, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hodgson, Mr John, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hodson, Mrs, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Holcroft, Thomas, Esq. (1748–1809), London, novelist and dramatist Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Hold, Mr Joseph, Ardwick, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Holdsworth, Mr J., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hole, Mr Henry, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hollinshead, Lawrence Brook, Esq., Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Holmes, Mr, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Holt, Mr Thomas, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) †Hope, Thomas, Esq. (1769–1831), London, patron Miscellaneous: Hope appears in the two Blair prospectuses of November 1805 but not in the subscription list of 1808 Hope, Thomas, Esq., Felfham Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hoppner, John, Esq. (1758–1810), R.A., Portrait Painter to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hopwood, Mr William [(1784–1853), engraver?], London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Horde, Miss, Lansdown Crescent, Bath Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hornby, Mr J., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Horton, Captain, Howroyd, Halifax Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Howard, Frederick (1748–1825), Fifth Earl of Carlisle See Carlisle Howard, Thomas, Esq., Hattercliffe, Sheffield Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hume, David, Esq. (1757–1838), Edinburgh, judge Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Humphry, Ozias, Esq. (1742–1810), R.A., London, painter; see also his natural son William Upcott Letters from Blake: 18 January 1808 (3 versions), May 1809 Illuminated Printing America (H – 1793) Europe (D – 1794) Large Book of Designs (1795) (A –1796) Small Book of Designs (1795) (A –1796) Songs (H [Experience only] – 1794) Type-printed Work “Exhibition of Paintings in Fresco” (1809) (A) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hunter, Mr C[laudius Stephen] (1775–1851), London, solicitor, Lord Mayor of London (1811), baronet (1812) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Hurd, Richard (1720–1808), Bishop of Worcester Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballad 1 Hurst See Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, booksellers

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Hurst & Robinson, booksellers, London Type-printed Work “Blake’s Chaucer: The Canterbury Pilgrims” (1809) (B) Hyde, Mrs Nathan, Ardwick, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Inchbald, Rev P., Doncaster Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ingram, Francis, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Iremonger, Miss Elizabeth (fl. 1789–1813), major collector Illuminated Printing Songs (D – 1789, 1794)

Jabet, Mr Richard, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) James, Mr Francis, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Johnes, Thomas, Esq. (1748–1816), MP, Hafod, Wales, friend of B.H. Malkin Illuminated Printing Innocence (P – 1804) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Johnson, Rev John (Johnny) (d. 1838), Cowper’s nephew Drawings 1802 #347 (miniature) 1820–1825 #808–10 Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) – found customers for 20 individual ballads (£2.10.0) 148

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Johnson, Joseph (1738–1809), book and printseller, 72 St Paul’s Churchyard, London Miscellaneous: On 25 September 1794 Richard Twiss mentioned “Blakes Paradise … You will see several more of Blakes books at Johnsons in St. Ps Ch. y.d”37 No other bookseller is known to have displayed or sold Blake’s work in illuminated printing. Johnson took subscriptions for Blair’s Grave (1805 prospectuses) and published it Illuminated Printing For Children: The Gates of Paradise (1793) – Johnson was copublisher Type-printed Work The French Revolution (1791) – Johnson was listed as the publisher, but only a proof-copy is known Commercial Engravings Date of Author and Title Blake Publication (Size of Plate) Plates 1780 1782 1782 1783 1783 1785 1787 1789

1791

William Enfield, The Speaker 1 (11.8 x 17.6 cm) John Bonnycastle, An Introduction 1 to Mensuration (6.8 x 9.2 cm) William Nicholson, An Introduction 1 to Natural Philosophy (8.1 x 14.5 cm) Thomas Henry, Memoirs of Albert 1 de Haller (8.5 x 13.1 cm) Joseph Ritson, A Select Collection of 9 English Songs (c 10.2 x 7.6 cm) John D. Fenning & J. Collyer, A New System 2 of Geography (18.1 x 25.4 cm; 17.4 x 20.4 cm) “Rev. John Caspar Lavater” (30.2 x 36.7 cm) 1 Erasmus Darwin, The Botanic Garden Part 2 5 (15.4 x 19.6 cm; 7.4 x 25.3 cm; 15.6 x 27.4 cm; 15.3 x 24.6 cm; 14.4 x 24.6 cm) David Hartley, Observations on Man 1 (11.2 x 15.0 cm)

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Date of Publication

Author and Title (Size of Plate)

Blake Plates

44 C.G. Salzmann, Elements of Morality38 (c. 7.0 x 12.4 cm) 1791 Mary Wollstonecraft, Original Stories 6 39 from Real Life (c. 9.5 x 15.4 cm) 1793 James Earle, Practical Observations on the 2 Operation for the Stone (10.8 x 17.7 cm; 12 x 20 cm) 1795 Erasmus Darwin, The Botanic Garden, 1 Part 2 (17.0 x 21.4 cm) 1795 John Brown, The Elements of Medicine 1 (10.9 x 13.2 cm) 1796 J.G. Stedman, Narrative of … Surinam 16 (c. 13.5 x 18.3 cm) 1797 Charles Allen, A New and Improved History 4 of England (c. 8.2 x 14.7 cm) 1797 Leonard Euler, Elements of Algebra40 1 (6.8 x 11.0 cm) 1797 The Monthly Magazine (October) 1 (6.8 x 8.7 cm) 1798 Charles Allen, A New and Improved 4 Roman History (c. 8.2 x 14.7 cm)41 1799 Erasmus Darwin, Botanic Garden Part 2 5 (7.9 x 13.0 cm; 7.7 x 10.9 cm; c. 8.5 x 16.0 cm [3]) 1800 C.G. Salzmann, Gymnastics for Youth42 10 (6.8 x 11.4 cm [9 pl.]; 23.7 x 19.0 cm [fold-out print]) 1801 Henry Fuseli, Lectures on Painting 1 (12.5 x 11.2 cm) 1802, 1804 William Hayley, The Life … 6 of William Cowper43 (11.6 x 15.7 cm to 16.5 x 22.9 cm) Drawings 1791 #244 1–10 (for Mary Wollstonecraft, Original Stories) 1791

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Johnson, Mr Joseph, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Johnson, T., Esq., Holbeck, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Johnstone, Dr John (1768–1836), Birmingham, and its Vicinity, physician and biographer Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Jones, Mr Robert, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Jones, Samuel, Esq., Green Hill, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Jones, William, Esq., Broughton, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Kearsley, Mr [George II] (fl. 1791–1813), bookseller, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Kempton, Mr Peter, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Kennedy, Mr George, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ker, Charles Henry Bellenden (?1785–1871), London, dilettante, law reformer Drawings 2 unidentified drawings (£31.10.0)44 Kershaw, Edward, Esq., Stockport Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Kershaw, Mr Thomas, Eccles, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) King, Mr, surgeon, Clifton Hot Wells, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) King, Mr G.H., Glasgow Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Knott and Lloyd, Messrs, Birmingham, and its Vicinity [?booksellers] Miscellaneous: According to Aris’s Birmingham Gazette (21 July 1806), “Messrs. Knott and Lloyd, Birmingham, will give the Address of the Proprietor of the Work [Blair’s Grave], who will shew the original Drawings and Specimens of the Style of Engraving” Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 6 copies Koster, J.T., Esq., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Lace, Mr, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lamb, Charles (1775–1834), essayist, London Type-printed Work Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (S) Landseer, John, Esq. (1769–1852), F.A.S., Engraver to the King, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Langastre, Mr, London, crayon painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lawrence, Mr Richard, veterinary surgeon, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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†Lawrence, Thomas, Esq. (1769–1830), R.A., London, Principal Painter in ordinary to his Majesty Drawings 1825 #481 (“The Wise and Foolish Virgins” [£15.15.0], #549 (“The Vision of Queen Katharine” [£15.15.0]) Subscribed to Job (1826), 2 copies (one for the Royal Academy) Miscellaneous: gift of £100 in 182545 Lawzun, Mr, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lee, Mr, Surgeon, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lee, Mr Abraham, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lee, John, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lee, Thomas, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Legat, Mr Fran[cis] (1755–1809), Historical Engraver to the Prince of Wales, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lever, Darcey, Esq. (?1760–1839), Leeds, writer on seamanship Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lewis, Mr, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ley, Dr Hugh (1790–1837), physician, Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, London Subscribed to Job (1826)

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Linnell, John (1792–1882), London, painter, engraver, printseller, and intimate friend of Blake Letters from Blake: 11 October 1819; 25 March 1823 (Memorandum of Agreement about Job); ?March, [7 June], 11 October, 10 November 1825; 31 January, 31 March, [April], 19 May, 2, 5, 14, 16, 29 July, 1 August, 4 November 1826; 27 January, [February (2)], 15 March, 25 April, 3 July 1827 Illuminated Printing “The Accusers” (1793) (C) America (O – 1821, “not finished,” £1 for America and Europe, later coloured) Europe (K – 1821) and pl. 2, 11 Urizen pl. 21 For the Sexes (A–B – ?1826, K – 1825) Jerusalem (C – 1820, 14s. for chapter 2, 15s. for “balance”) “Laocoon” [?1826]) (A) Marriage (H – 1790 [£2.2.0], L–M – 1790) “Mirth” ([?1820]) (A) Songs (R – 1795, £1.19.6) Drawings 1792 #255 1799 #407–8 1805–09 #664 1816–20 #544 1–12 (Paradise Regained, £10) 1819–20 Visionary Heads #698–705, 713, 716–18, 720–1, 724–31, 733–8, 741, 743–6, 748, 751–2, 754–5, 757, 760–1, 767–8 1820 #769 1–20 (designs for Virgil) 1821 #551 1–21 (watercolours for Job) 1822 ?#479 (“The Wise and Foolish Virgins”), 537 1–3 (Paradise Lost) 1823 #557 1–27 (sketches for Job engravings) 1823–26 #559 1–6 (Job proofs with corrections) 1824 #774 1824–27 #812 1–102 (watercolours for Dante), 814, 818, 827 1–5 (designs for the Book of Enoch) 1825 #782, 785–7, 801 1826–27 #828 1–11 (Illuminated Genesis Manuscript) 154

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Manuscript: Vala (?1796–1807) Type-printed Works Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (K) French Revolution (1791) (A) Poetical Sketches (1783) (T), Descriptive Catalogue and Poetical Sketches bought for 2s. 6d. each from Catherine Blake in 183146 Published Job (1826 – £150 for 22 engravings) Commercial Engravings “Canterbury Pilgrims” (1810) George Cumberland’s card (1827 – D–F) “The Man Sweeping” (1822 – A, G, 1) “Mirth” (?1820) (A) “James Upton” (1818 – engraving, £9) “Wilson Lowry” (1824–1825 – engraving, £20) “Laocoon” (1826) Blake’s Illustrations of Dante (1838 – 7 folio prints designed and engraved by Blake) Books Owned Cennino Cennini, Trattato della Pitura (1821) Richard John Thornton, The Lord’s Prayer (1827) Miscellaneous: coal sent to Mr Blake in 1823–26 (£3.0.1, £1.17.0, £2.13.6, £2.19.6)47 Linnell, Mary Ann (Palmer) (1796–1865), London, wife of John Letter from Blake: [?15 February 1826] Books Owned Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, ed. Bishop Percy (1765) (“Mary Ann Linnell | The gift of Mr W- Blake”) Lister See Lord Ribblesdale Livesey, Mr, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lloyd, James, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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†Locke, William, jun, Esq. (1767–1847), Norbury Park Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Long, William (1747–1818), surgeon Type-printed Work Poetical Sketches (1783) (E – given by Flaxman in 1784) Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballad 148 Illuminated Printing ?Songs of Innocence (A – 1789; it belonged to Blake’s physician) Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, Paternoster Row, London, booksellers Miscellaneous: Took subscriptions for Blair’s Grave (1805 prospectuses) and published it Published John Flaxman, The Iliad of Homer (1805 – 3 engravings, £15.15.0) Benjamin Heath Malkin, A Father’s Memoirs of His Child (1806 – 1 print designed and engraved by Blake) Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, London, booksellers Miscellaneous: Took subscriptions for Blair’s Grave (1805 prospectuses), subscribed for 6 copies Published Robert Blair, The Grave (1808 – 12 prints after Blake’s designs) John Flaxman, Compositions from … Hesiod (1817 – 37 engravings, £207.18.0) Abraham Rees, The Cyclopædia (1820 – 7 engravings [£10.10.0 for “Laocoon” in 1811] dated 1815, 1816, 1818, [1819]) Lonsdale, Mr, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lonsdale, Rev Mr, New Miller Dam, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Lonsdale, Mr [James] (1777–1839), London, portrait painter, pupil of Romney Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lowder, John, Esq., Chapel House, Bath Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lowe, Mr Samuel, glass-painter, Handsworth, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lowthrop, James, Esq., Welton, near Hull Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ludlam, Jeff, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lumb, Mr Henry, attorney at law, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lumb, Mr Samuel, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lumb, Thomas, Esq., Silcoates, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Lupton, Mr Jonathan, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Maberley, Mr, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Macklin, Thomas (1760–1800), 39 Fleet Street, London, printseller Published “Evening Amusement” (1782 – engraving) “The Fall of Rosamond” (1783 – engraving, £80)

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“Morning Amusement” (1782 – engraving) “Robin Hood & Clorinda” (1783 – engraving) Maconochie, Alex[ander], Esq. (1777–1861), Edinburgh, lawyer and politician Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Mair, John, Esq., Plantation, near Glasgow Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Makin, Mr Robert, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Malkin, Benjamin Heath (1769–1842), M.A., F.S.A., Hackney, schoolmaster and antiquary Illuminated Printing Innocence (P – 1802) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Miscellaneous: The edition of Blair’s Grave with Blake’s designs was advertised in the first two of Cromek’s prospectuses (November 1805) with “A PREFACE CONTAINING AN EXPLANATION OF THE ARTIST’S VIEW IN THE DESIGNS AND A CRITIQUE ON THE POEM” “contributed by Benjamin Heath Malkin , Esq. M.A. F.S.A.” There is no “Preface” or anything signed by Malkin in The Grave (1808), but the description there “Of the Designs,” which serves as a kind of preface and which does give “the artist’s view in the designs,” may be by Malkin, and Malkin’s preface may have been converted to the introductory letter of 4 January 1806 about Blake printed in Malkin’s A Father’s Memoir’s of His Child (1806). This letter cites the prospectus of November 1805 and solicits subscriptions to Blair’s Grave. Much of it would be appropriate for the preface to Blair’s Grave. Cromek probably concluded that it drew unnecessary attention to Blake, whom he does not mention in some of his advertisements. Mallalieu, Mr James, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 158

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Manners and Miller, Messrs., Edinburgh Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Markland, Mr J[ames] H[eywood] (1788–1864), Ardwick, Manchester, antiquary Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Marsden, Mr James, Bradford, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Marsden, Mr John, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Marsh, Edward Garrard (1783–1862) Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballad 1? Marshall, Mr, bookseller, Bath Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 4 copies Martin, William, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Maskall, Miss, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Mason, Mr, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Masquerier [John James], Esq. (1778–1855), London, painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Mathew, Rev Anthony Stephen (1733–1824),49 Rathbone Place and Percy Chapel, Charlotte Street, London Miscellaneous: Mathew was persuaded by his wife “to join Mr. Flaxman in ... defraying the expense [?£5] of printing” Poetical Sketches (1783), to which he wrote the advertisement,50 but the 159

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Mathews are not known to have owned a copy of Poetical Sketches or any other work by Blake Mathew, Harriet, London, wife of A.S. Mathew, patroness of artists and musicians Miscellaneous: “by Mrs. Mathew’s liberality ... [Blake] was enabled to continue in partnership, as a Print-seller, with his fellow-pupil, Parker, in a shop, [at] 27 ... Broad-street” in 1784–178551 Maude, Mr James, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Mawson, Mr, Ardwick, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) M’Corquodale, Esq., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) M’Dowal, D.H., Esq., Walkinshaw House, near Paisley Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Meadows, Joseph Kenny (1790–1874), London, draughtsman Drawing 1820–1825 #690 Meredith, William [George], Esq. (?1756–1851), Harley Place, London, patron of Thomas Taylor Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), Job (1826) Meyler, W., and Son, booksellers, Bath Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies Milburn, Mr William, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Miller, Mr Richard, bookseller, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies

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Miller, Mr William (1769–1844), Old Bond Street, London, bookseller Miscellaneous: Took subscriptions for Blair’s Grave (1808) for Cromek Published Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Gottfried Augustus Bürger, Leonora (1796 – 3 prints designed and engraved by Blake) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 6 copies Miller, Mr William, Edge-Hill, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Mitchell, Mr, printer, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Molteno, Mr [Anthony], London, printer and bookseller Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 6 copies Montgomery, Mr James (1771–1854), Sheffield, poet Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Moore & Co. Published Carpet and Hosiery advertisement (?1797) Moore, Harriet Jane (1800–84) Illuminated Printing For Children (E – 1793, from Fuseli) Moorhouse, Mr Thomas, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Moses, Mr [?Henry (1782–1870), engraver], London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Moss, Mrs, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Moss, John, Esq., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Mottram, Mr Thomas, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Munkhouse, Rev Dr, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Murdoch, Mr, Edinburgh Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Murray, John (1778–1843), 32 Fleet Street, London, bookseller Published Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) John Caspar Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy (1789 – 4 engravings, £39.19.6) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 6 copies Muss, Mr Charles (1779–1824), enamel and glass painter, London Subscribed to Job (1826) M’Viccar, Duncan, Esq., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Nabb, Mr William, attorney at law, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Naylor, John, Esq., Belle-vue, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Neagle, Mr [?]James (1764–1822)], London, engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Newman, C. (b. 1804) Illuminated Printing Innocence (E – 1789) 162

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Nicholls, Mr Ambrose, Bank of England Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Nichols, John (1745–1826), printer Published James Stuart & Nicholas Revett, The Antiqvities of Athens, vol. 3 (1794 – 4 Blake engravings) †Nollekens, J., Esq., R.A. (1757–1823), sculptor, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Norris, Miss, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) †Northcote, James, Esq. (1746–1823), R.A. Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Norton and Son, Messrs, Bristol, booksellers Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Miscellaneous: Took subscriptions for Blair’s Grave (1808) (Bristol Gazette and Daily Advertiser, 30 June 1808) Nutting, Mr Joseph, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Ogborne, Mr [?John (1755–1837), engraver], London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ogler, Mr, surgeon, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) O’Kelly, Colonel, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Oldham, Rev John, M.A., rector of Stondon, Essex Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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†Opie, John, Esq. (1761–1807), Pr. [Professor] in Painting, IL A. [?i.e., R.A.], London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) (called “The late”) Orme, Mr Edward (1775–1848), London, engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies Orme See Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, booksellers Orme, Mr Joseph, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ottley, William Young (1771–1836), London, collector and writer on art Illuminated Printing Jerusalem (F – 1827, delivered the day Blake died, £5.5.0) Owen, Mr [?William (1759–1835), later William Owen Pugh(e) [q.v.], Welsh antiquary, London Subscribed before 1806 (when he changed his name to Owen Pughe) to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Owen, William, Esq. (1769–1825), R.A., London, painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Paillon, Mr, miniature painter, Glasgow Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Paley, Mr George, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Palmer, Edward, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Palmer, Samuel, Esq., Bourton on the Water Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 164

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Palmer, Samuel (1805–81), painter, disciple of Blake Illuminated Printing “Laocoon” (B) Palmer, Thomas, book and coal-seller, Bond Street, St Giles, London, father-in-law of John Linnell Subscribed to Job (1826) Palmer, William, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Paris, Alexander A. (fl. 1794–1833), 53 Long Acre, London, printseller Published “Rev Robert Hawker” (1820 – Blake engraving) Parker, James (1750–1805), engraver, Blake’s partner in a printshop Commercial Engravings “Calisto” (Blake & Parker, 1784) “Zephyrus and Flora” (Parker & Blake, 1784) William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) (all 4 Ballads) Parker, Joseph, bookseller, Oxford Subscribed to Job (1826) Parsons, William, Esq., Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Payne, T[homas] (1752–1831), Pall-Mall, London, bookseller Miscellaneous: Took subscriptions for Blair’s Grave (1805 prospectuses) Published Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) William Hayley, The Life of George Romney (1809 – 1 engraving, £31.10.0) Peel, Miss, Ardwick, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Peel, Mr R., Ardwick, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Peel, Sir Robert (1788–1850), calico printer and politician Illuminated Printing America (?Q – posthumous) Europe (L – posthumous) Perkins, Mr Henry, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Philips, Owen T., Esq., R.A., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Phillips, George, Esq., Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Phillips, Henry Wyndham (1820–68), London, portrait painter, son of Thomas Illuminated Printing Songs (I – 1795) Phillips, John Leigh, Esq. (d. 1814), Manchester Illuminated Printing Songs facsimile (Alpha) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Phillips, Richard (1767–1840), Bridge Street, London, bookseller Letters from Blake: [?June 1806, to editor of Monthly Magazine], 14 October 1807 Published William Hayley, Ballads (1805 – 5 prints designed and engraved by Blake, £105) Prince Hoare, An Inquiry into … the Art of Design (1806 – 1 engraving) Phillips, Robert, Esq., Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies 166

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Phillips, Thomas (1770–1845), R.A., portrait painter – painted Blake’s portrait in 1807 Illuminated Printing Songs (I – 1795) Commercial Engravings “The Right Honourable Earl Spencer” portrait after Thomas Phillips (1B) Miscellaneous: He gave permission for Cromek to have Phillips’s portrait of Blake engraved for Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), and Cromek inscribed a copy to him on 15 July 1808 Phillott, Charles, Esq., Bath Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Phipson, Thomas, jun, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Place, Mr Edward, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Pocock, Sir George (1765–1840) Subscribed to Job (1826) Pons, Rev Mr, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Poole, Mrs Harriet (called Pauline) (d. 1827), Levant, near Chichester, friend of Hayley and Blake Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Poole, I., Newgate Street, London, bookseller Published Remember Me! (1824 – 1 print designed and engraved by Blake) Pooley, J., Esq., Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Potts, Mr Thomas, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Poyntz, William Stephen, Esq. (1770–1840), London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Pratchett, Mr Richard, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Priestley, Miss, Thorpe, Halifax Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Prosser, Mr, Charing Cross, London Subscribed to Job (1826) Prossu, Mr William, Gloucester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Protheroe, Sir Henry, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Pughe, William Owen (1759–1834) [the Pughe was added in 1806], London, Welsh antiquary [see William Owen] Drawing 1809 #657 (“The Ancient Britons,”52 10⬘ x 14⬘) Pullan, Benjamin, Esq., Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Pullan, Richard, Esq., Leeds, Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Pye, Mr John (1782–1874), engraver, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Race, Mr Luke, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Radclyffe, Mr William (1783–1855), engraver, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Radford, Mr William, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Raimbach, Mr Abraham (1776–1843), engraver, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ramsay, Mr [?James (1786–1854)], portrait painter, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ramsden, Mr Rowland, Halifax Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Randall, Mr Joseph, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Randolph, Dr Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballad 1 Rardswell, Mr Charles, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Rawson, Mr George, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Reddish, Mr John, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Redhead, Mr William, jun, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Reed, Isaac (1742–1807), editor Type-printed Work Poetical Sketches (1783) (F) with “Songs by Shepherds,” given by Nancy Flaxman Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballads 1–2 Rees See Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, booksellers Reveley, H.I. Illuminated Printing Visions (C – 1793) Reveley, Willey Letter from Blake: [?October 1791] Letter to Blake: 18 October 1791 Commercial Engravings James Stuart & Nicholas Revett, The Antiqvities of Athens 3 (1796) (commissioned by Reveley in 1791) Rhodes, Mr Abram, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ribblesdale, Lord [family name: Lister], Gisburne Park, Yorkshire Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Richardson, Mr, printseller, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 4 copies Richardson, Mr Eben., Glasgow Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Richmond, George53 (1809–186), painter, disciple of Blake Illuminated Printing Europe pl. 4 Drawing 1825? #802 170

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Richter, Mr Henry [James] (1772–1857), painter, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies Riddell, Sir James, Mortimer, Berkshire Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Rider, Mr Matthew, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ridsdale, John, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Rigaud, John Francis, Esq. (1742–1810), R.A., London, history and decorative painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ring, Mr Joseph, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Rishworth, Thomas, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Rivers, Sir Henry, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Riviere, Mr [?David Valentine (1780–1854), drawing master] Subscribed to Job (1826) Rivington, F.C. and J., London, booksellers Published The Plays of William Shakspeare, ed. George Steevens, illustrated by Fuseli (1805 – 2 Blake engravings, £52.10.0) Roberts, Mrs, Piedwick, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Robertson, Mr A[ndrew] (1777–1845), Miniature Painter to his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 171

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Robinson, Mr, bookseller, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Robinson, Henry Crabb (1775–1867), lawyer, London, friend of Blake Illuminated Printing America (O – 1821) and pl. 2 Marriage (K – 1790) Songs (Z – 1826, £5.5.0) Visions (O – 1818) Type-printed Works Descriptive Catalogue (1809), 4 copies for 10s. (?B, ?J, ?L, S) Poetical Sketches (1783) (?A, ?O) Commercial Engravings Young, Night Thoughts (1797)54 Subscribed to Job (1826) 3 copies Books Owned Wordsworth, Excursion (1814) transcript of Blake’s notes Wordsworth, Poems (1815) (Robinson lent it to Blake) Robinson [John] (1753–1813), Paternoster Row, London, and T[homas] Egerton, Whitehall, London, booksellers See Hurst & Robinson, booksellers Published George Cumberland, Thoughts on Outline (1796 – 8 engravings) Robinson, P., jun, Esq., Norton, near Sheffield Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Robson, James (1733–1806), Old Bond-Street, London, bookseller Published Prince Hoare, Academic Correspondence (1804 – 1 Blake engraving) Robson, Mr John, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Rock, Mr Joseph, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Roffe, Mr, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Rogers, Mr Edward, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Rogers, Henry Illuminated Printing Innocence (C – 1789) Rogers, Samuel (1763–1855), poet Illuminated Printing Innocence (C – 1789) Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballad 1 Rogers, Rev Thomas (1760–1832) Wakefield, and its Vicinity, Church of England clergyman Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Romney, George (1734–1802), R.A., London, painter Illuminated Printing America (A – 1795) Europe (A – 1795) Urizen (B – 1795) Marriage (D – 1795) Songs [A] Visions (F – 1794) Rooth, Mr William, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Roscoe, William, Esq. (1753–1831), Liverpool, merchant and patron Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Roscoe, W[illiam] S[tanley], Esq. (1782–1843), Liverpool, poet, son of William Roscoe Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 173

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Rossi, John Charles Felix, Esq. (1762–1839), R.A., sculptor, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Roughsedge, Miss, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Roveray, F.J. du See Du Roveray, F.J. Royal Academy Miscellaneous: £25 to Blake from the Council in 1822 Rushforth, Mr Richard, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

S., J. Illuminated Printing Songs (L, bought 1799) Sadleir, Richard Vernon, Esq., Southampton Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Sandbach, Mr Samuel, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Sanders, Mr Mark, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Sanders, Mr William, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Schimmelpenning, Mrs [Mary Anne, née Galton], Bristol, author Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Schutz, Mrs, Gillingham Hall, Suffolk Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Scott, Mr J., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Scott, Mr John (?1774–1827), engraver, or (1784–1821), journalist, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Scott, Mr Robert (1777–1841), Edinburgh, prolific engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Seagrave, Mr [Joseph] (d. 1808), printer, Chichester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Seaton, J.F., Esq., Pontefract Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Seaton, John, Esq., Pontefract Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Seaton, Robert, Esq., Pontefract Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Seguier, William (1771–1843), painter Miscellaneous: Blake taught him,55 probably without a fee Serjeantson, Colonel, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Seward, Anna (1747–1809), poetess Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballads 1–3 Seybold, Mr, Bath Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Sharp, Rev S., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

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Sharp, Mr William (1749–1824), London, engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Sharpe, Mr John, Northend, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Sharpe, Mr John, attorney at law, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Shaw, Mr Joseph, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) †Shee, M[artin] A[rthur], Esq. (1769–1850), R.A., London, painter and author Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Sheffield, W.E., Esq., Sommers Town, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Shepherd, Mr, Bristol [?bookseller] Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 6 copies; he is presumably the same as Mr Sheppard, Bristol, who took subscriptions for The Grave Shepherd, Rev Wm, Gatacre, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Sheppard, Mr, Bristol bookseller Miscellaneous: He took subscriptions to Blair’s Grave (Bristol Gazette, 30 June 1808); he is presumably the same as Mr Shepherd of Bristol who subscribed for 6 copies Shipley, Miss Catherine Louisa, sister to Mrs Hare Naylor, friend of Elizabeth Iremonger Illuminated Printing Songs (D – 1789, 1794)

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Signet Library, Edinburgh Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Simcox, George, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Simpson, Stephen, Esq., Close, Lichfield Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Singleton, Mr Henry (1766–1839), London, painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Slater, Mr Christopher, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Smalpage, Daniel, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Smith, Mr Edward, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Smith, George, Esq., Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Smith, Mr John, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Smith, Mr John, Manchester; Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Smith, John Raphael (1751–1812), King Street, London, printmaker and printseller Published “The Idle Laundress” (1788 – engraving), “Industrious Cottager” (1788 – engraving) Smith, Mrs Richard, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 177

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Smith, William, Esq., Sandhill, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Smith, Mr William, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Smithson, Josiah, Esq., Rothwell, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Smithson, William, Esq., Heath, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Smyth, Rev John, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Smyth, John, Esq., Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 2 copies Soane, Sir John (1753–1837), R.A. London, architect Commercial Engravings Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797) coloured copy (F) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Somerville, Mr, Edinburgh Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Southey, Robert (1774–1843), poet laureate Type-printed Work Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (T) Sowden, Mr John, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Spencer, George John (1758–1834), Right Hon., Third Earl Spencer Commercial Engravings “The Right Honourable Earl Spencer” portrait after Thomas Phillips engraved by Blake

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Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797) coloured copy (O) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Spicer, Widow Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Little Tom the Sailor (1800 – 1 engraving, Blake may have made it free) Spicer, Mr William, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Spilsbury, Mr, Midhurst, Sussex Commercial Engravings William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) Ballad 1 Spooner, Isaac, jun, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Spratt, Mr T., Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Stanisforth, Samuel, Esq., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Startin, John, Esq., Spring-Hill, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Stead, Mrs, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Stead, Mr Richard, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Steer, William, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Stephen, George (1794–1879) Commercial Engraving 179

appendix

“Canterbury Pilgrims” (1810) Subscribed to Job (1826) – returned Stephenson, Mr John, Hull Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Stewart, Anthony, Esq. (1773–1846), miniature painter Subscribed to Job (1826) Stock, Dr, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Stockdale, John (1749–1814), Piccadilly, London, bookseller Published John Gay, Fables (1793 – 12 engravings by Blake) John Hunter, An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island (1793 – 1 Blake engraving) Stonehouse, John, Esq., Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) †Stothard, Thomas, Esq. (1755–1834), R.A., London, painter, friend of Blake Illuminated Printing Thel (E – 1789–90) Drawings 1777–1778 #R1 (Robert Blake’s sketchbook) 1806 #581 Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Stuart, John (1744–1824) See Bute, Marquis of Sumpster, Mr Francis, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Sutherland, Mr John, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 180

appendix

Swainson, Mr W., Halifax Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Swallow, Mr J., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Swan, Mr, Shadwell Dock, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Swayne, Miss, Salisbury Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Symmons, John, Esq., Paddington House, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Tatham, Charles Heathcote (1772–1842), London, architect, father of Frederick Illuminated Printing America (B – 1795) Drawing 1825 #802A Commercial Engraving “Rev. Robert Hawker” (1B, inscribed to him by Catherine Blake) Subscribed to Job (1826) Tatham, Frederick (1805–78), painter and sculptor, Blake’s disciple, acquired all Blake’s property at the death of Catherine Blake in 1831 Illuminated Printing Europe pl. 1 (coloured by Blake on his deathbed, £3.13.6) Type-printed Work Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (P) Taylor, James, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Taylor, John, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 181

appendix

Taylor, Josiah, House of Correction (for swindling) Subscribed to Job (1826) Taylor, Mr Thomas, Barnsley, Halifax Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Temple, Miss, Northwood Place, Beccles, Suffolk Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Tetley, Mr William, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Thackrey, Mr Michael, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Thane, William, picture restorer Commercial Engravings Robert Blair, The Grave (1813), extra illustrated with 60 Blake engravings56 Thomas, Mrs, wife of Joseph Illuminated Printing Songs (?Q) Thomas, Rev Joseph57 (1765–1811), rector of Epsom, Surrey58 Illuminated Printing Songs (Q – 1804, 1802, £10.10.0, c. 1810)59 Drawings 1801 #527 1–8 (watercolours for Milton, Comus, £5.5.060) 1806–1809 #547 1–6 (watercolours for Shakespeare, £6.6.061) 1807 # 529 1–12 (watercolours for Paradise Lost62) 1809 #538 1–6 (watercolours for Milton, “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity”) Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Commercial Engravings Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797)63

182

appendix

Thomason, Mr Edward, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Thompson, Mr T., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Thomson, Henry, Esq. (1773–1843), IL A. [?R.A.], painter, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Thornton, Dr Robert John (1768–1837), physician and writer on botany, London Subscribed to Job (1826), Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Published Virgil, The Pastorals (1821 – 27 woodcuts engraved and mostly designed by Blake) Thorp, Rev William, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Thwaites, Mr Henry, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Timmins, Mr James, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Tomkins, Mr [Peltro William] (1759–1840), London, Engraver to her Majesty Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Tomkins, Thomas, Esq. (1743–1816), Sermon Lane, London, writing engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Tootal, John, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Tootal, Mr Thomas, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 183

appendix

Torrens, Major-General Sir Henry and Lady (1779–1828) Subscribed to Job (1826) Townley, John, Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Traill, Dr [Thomas Stewart] (1781–1862), Liverpool, physician Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) †Tresham, Henry, Esq. (1750/51–1814), R.A., London, history painter and art dealer Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Trueman, Mr Edward, Pontefract Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Trusler, Rev Dr John (1735–1820), author Letters from Blake: 16, 23 August 1799 Drawing 1799 #341 (“Malevolence,” commissioned but not purchased) Tulk, Charles Augustus (1786–1849), Swedenborgian writer and politician64 Illuminated Printing All Religions Are One pl. 1 (1795) Songs (J – 1795) There Is No Natural Religion (M – 1794)65 Type-printed Work Poetical Sketches (C) Drawings 1785 #151 (“Queen Constance and her Son”) 1792–93 (Two leaves with 4 Blake drawings of (1) harpers and other designs, with, on the verso, (2) sketches for America (1793) pl. 5, 7, Europe (1794) pl. 4, and Urizen (1794) pl. 14; (3) sketches for America and Europe, and, on the verso, (4) watercolour of parental affection)66 1793–94 #257 (“The Good and Evil Angels”) 1809? #660 (“The Spiritual Preceptor”)67 184

appendix

Turner, Mrs, Brentford Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Turner, Alexander, Esq., Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Turner, Dawson (1775–1858), banker and autograph collector of Yarmouth Letter from Blake: 181868 Commercial Engravings Job (1821) Blair, The Grave (1813) Flaxman, Iliad (1805) Flaxman, Hesiod (1817) Malkin, Memoirs (1806)69 Twedell, Rev Robert, M.A., Ardwick, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Udney, Mrs, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Underhill, Mr Wm., jun, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Upcott, William (1779–1845), antiquary and autograph collector, London; inherited the Blakes of his father Ozias Humphry Type-printed Work “Exhibition of Paintings in Fresco” (1809) (A) Drawing 1826 #777 (Upcott’s Autograph Album) Commercial Engraving “Canterbury Pilgrims” (3G) Upham, Mr[ John], bookseller, Bath Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 6 copies

185

appendix

Utterson, Edward Vernon (?1776–1856), antiquary Illuminated Printing America (B – 1795) Book of Ahania (A – 1795) Uwins, Mr Thomas (1782–1857), London, painter and book illustrator Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Varley, John (1778–1842), London, painter and astrologer, friend of Blake Drawings 1805 #683 1819–1820 #692–3, 696–7, 706–11, 714–15, 723, 732, 739–40, 742, 747, 750, 753, 762–3 (Visionary Heads including the Folio, Large, and Small Blake-Varley Sketchbooks) 1820–1825 #689 Vaughan, Richard, Esq., Redland, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Vickers, Mrs Ann, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Vine, James (d. 1837) of the Isle of Wight Illuminated Printing Thel (O – 1818) Jerusalem (J, posthumous) Milton (D – 1818, with Thel [O]) finished “expressly” for him70 c. 1822) Songs (?V – 1821) Subscribed to Job (1826)

Wainewright, Thomas Griffiths71 (1794–1852), author, painter, poisoner, friend of Blake Illuminated Printing America (G – 1793) 186

appendix

Europe (B – 1794) For Children (B – 1793) Jerusalem (B – 1821) Marriage (I – 1827) Milton (D – 1811) Songs (X – 1827, £10.10.0) Type-printed Works Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (F) Commercial Engravings “Canterbury Pilgrims” (1810)72 Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797) Subscribed to Job (1826) Walker, Mr George, Edinburgh Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Walker, Mr Samuel, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Walkers, Miss, St John’s, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ward, Mr, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ward, Mr, surgeon, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ward, James, Esq. (1769–1859), A.R.A., London, Painter to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Ward, T.A., Esq., Sheffield Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Warren, Mr Charles (1766/7–1823), London, engraver Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

187

appendix

Warren, Judge Charles Illuminated Printing Songs (B – 1789, 1794) Waters, Mr Subscribed to Job (1826) Watson, Charles, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Watson, Shepley, Esq., Hemsworth, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Watt, James, Esq., Heathfield, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Watt, James, jun, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Watts, Mr W[alter] H[enry] (1776–1842), London, journalist and painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wauchope, Mr John, W.S. [Writer to the Signet], Edinburgh Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Waugh, Captain, Outwood, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Webb, Mr Thomas, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Webster, Mr Francis, Kendal Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wedgwood, Josiah (1730–95), pottery maker Drawings 1785 painted ceiling, £3.17.073 188

appendix

Wedgwood, Josiah [Jr] Letter from Blake: 8 September 1815 Published [Wedgwood’s Catalogue of Earthenware and Porcelain] (1816–43 – Blake drew and engraved 18 plates and was paid £30 in 1816) Wentworth, G.W., Esq., Woolley, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) West, Benjamin, Esq. (1738–1820), president of the Royal Academy, London, painter Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Westerman, Mr William, Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Westmacott, Richard, jun (1775–1856), R.A., London, sculptor Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), Job (1826) Wheeler, Miss, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wheeler, Mr Charles, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wheeler, Mr John, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Whish, Rev Martin, Bristol Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) White, Rev Mr, Lichfield Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) White, Mr Charles, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

189

appendix

White, J[ohn], bookseller, London Miscellaneous: Took subscriptions for Blair’s Grave (1805 prospectuses) Published Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) White, Mr James, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Whitehead, Mr James, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Whitelock, Rev R.H., A.M., Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Whitely, Mr W., Yewtree, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Whittenbury, Mr John, Green Hay, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Whitworth, Mr Adam, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wiatt, Mr Thomas, Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wilcock, Mr William, Halifax Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wilkes and Grafton, Messrs., Birmingham, and its Vicinity [?booksellers] Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808), 4 copies Willetts, Mr Jeremiah, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Williams, Rev Wm, M.A., prebendary of Landaff Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)74 190

appendix

Williams, William, Esq., Maida Hill, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Willoughby, Mr Subscribed to Job (1826) Wilson, Mr George, Ardwick, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wilson, Sir Henry, Chelsea Park Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wilson, Mr J., Triangle, Halifax Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wood, Sir Francis, Bart, Hemsworth, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wood, Mr Henry, London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wood, Mr John, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wood, Mr Richard, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wood, Rev William, Woodthorp, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Woolley, James, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wordsworth, William (1770–1850), Grasmere, poet laureate Type-printed Work Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (?J) Wormald, Richard, Esq., Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) 191

appendix

Wormald, Thomas, Esq., Leeds Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Worthington, T.G., Esq., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Worthington, Mr W.H., London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wrangham, Ven. Francis (1769–1842), writer and Church of England clergyman Type-printed Work Descriptive Catalogue (1809) (?C) Wray, Mr John, Wakefield, and its Vicinity Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wright, Mr, Museum, Lichfield Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Wright, Mr [?John Masey (1777–1866), painter], London Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808)

Yates, Joseph, Esq., Peele Hall, Manchester Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Yates, M.J.A., Liverpool Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Yenn, John, Esq., R.A., Kensington Subscribed to Robert Blair, The Grave (1808) Young, Mr, Devonshire Subscribed to Job (1826) Young, George Mayne, surgeon Subscribed to Job (1826) 192

1 n ot e s

not es on sources 1 I have sometimes silently supplemented Blake’s very sparse punctuation. 2 “Prices of Copper in Plates per Cwt. (From the London Prices Current),” Appendix 9: A Statement of the several Prices of Copper, in Reports from Committees of the House of Commons, vol. 10, Miscellaneous Subjects: 1785–1801 (1799), 702. 3 “To the Public” (1793), letters of 9 June 1818 and 12 April 1827. Early copies of Innocence were probably uncoloured or very lightly coloured, the later ones were extensively coloured. 4 Anon., The Book of Trades, or Library of the Useful Arts (1806), 114. 5 John Linnell, quoted in BR (2), 610 footnote. One pound (£1) = twenty shillings; one shilling (1s.) = 12 pence (12d.). One guinea = 21s. 6 J.T. Smith, life of Blake (1828) in BR (2), 610. Of course such a capacious lodging would have cost much more in London. 7 Allan Cunningham, The Life of Sir David Wilkie (London, 1843), 1: 80. 8 Letter of May 1807 (BR (2), 243). This comes to £27.6.0 per year. 9 Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, ed. R.W. Chapman (London: Oxford University Press, 1976), 77, 308. acknowl edgments 1 Blake, The Four Zoas, 50, 1: 29.

notes to pages 3–6

i ntro duct ion 1 BR (2), 294. 2 “Auguries of Innocence” (from the Pickering Manuscript), ll. 1–4. 3 In a book with a congery of booksellers, ordinarily the first bookseller named is the moving spirit; in the rest of the list the booksellers seem to appear in chronological order of their membership in the Stationers’ Company. 4 Thomas Commins, Elegy (1786); Mary Wollstonecraft, Original Stories (1791), translated as Marie et Caroline (1799); G.A. Bürger, Leonora, translated by J.T. Stanley (1796); Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1797), especially coloured copies; William Hayley, Little Tom the Sailor (1800); Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802); Hayley, Ballads (1805); Robert Blair, The Grave (1808); Chaucer, Prologue (1812); Virgil, Pastorals, edited by R.J. Thornton (1821); Remember Me! (1824); Job (1826); Dante, Divine Comedy (1824–27). 5 A complete set of the large colour prints made in 1795 (#292, 295–6, 302, 304, 307, 311–12, 318–19, 321-2, 324, 326–7) was still on Blake’s hands when he died, and six others (#298–300, 303, 305, 313) have no early provenance and may have been still unsold at his death. 6 Blake also sang his own songs, according to J.T. Smith (BR (2), 606), but there is no evidence that he was paid to do so. 7 J.T. Smith (1828) in BR (2), 605. 8 BR (2), 385. 9 Ibid., 525. 10 Ibid., 501–2. 11 “Profit never ventures upon my threshold tho every other mans door stone is worn down into the very Earth by the footsteps of the fiends of Commerce.” Letter of 7 August 1804, quoted from the manuscript in the collection of Robert N. Essick. 12 Inscription (c. 1826) on Dante Design 16 (Bentley, ed., William Blake’s Writings, 1341); it continues: “ready to Kiss any ones Arse.” 13 BR (2), 384, citing Gilchrist 1: 312–13. 14 Ibid., 677, 676. 15 Annotation to Lavater, Aphorisms (1788), 210. 16 Cromek had promised to commission Blake to engrave his own designs for Blair’s Grave and then reneged and claimed that he had been generous to Blake. 17 BR (2), 79. 194

notes to pages 6–11

18 19 20 21

Ibid., 341. Linnell letter to Bernard Barton of 3 April 1830. Cunningham ¶8. “Money ... is The Great Satan”; “Where any view of Money exists Art cannot be carried on” (“Laocoon”). 22 Frederick Tatham’s life of Blake (BR (2), 679). chapt er o ne 1 The information here about engraving comes from Anon., The Book of Trades, or Library of the Useful Arts, 109–15 (“The Engraver”). The first edition of The Book of Trades was in 1804, the date on the prints, but the information is perennial. 2 These directions “To Engrave on Pewter” and “To Wood cut on Pewter” are in Blake’s Notebook, 10. 3 Summary of an untraced Blake letter by Oswald Crawfurd, “William Blake: Artist, Poet, and Mystic,” New Quarterly Magazine 2 (1874): 475. 4 Blake’s engravings after Stothard’s book designs are in Enfield, Speaker (1780), Bonnycastle, Introduction to Mensuration (1782), Kimpton, Universal History of the Holy Bible (?1781), John Scott, Poetical Works (1782), Novelist’s Magazine (1782–83), Ladies New and Polite Pocket Memorandum Book (1782), Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1783), Ritson’s Select Collection of English Songs (1783), Chaucer, Poetical Works (1783), Wit’s Magazine (1784), Fenning & Collyer, New System of Geography (1784, 1785), and Blower, Maria (1785). 5 Blake’s engravings for Flaxman’s Naval Monument (1799), Wedgwood’s catalogue (1816), and Rees’s Cyclopaedia (1816 [3], 1817 [1], and 1819 [3]) were in outline. 6 On 20 December 1809 Cromek wrote to Bewick that he had paid Louis Schiavonetti 300 guineas (£315) in part of 800 guineas (£840) for his engraving of his plate after Stothard’s Canterbury Pilgrims (MS in the T.H. Cromek Archive, XV, Princeton University Library). 7 Blake’s “Chaucer: The Canterbury Pilgrims” (15 May 1809). 8 Of course, in some books the prints are the raison d’être of the publication, as in The Works of William Hogarth (1788), Boydell’s Graphic Illustrations of … Shakspeare (?1803), Flaxman’s Iliad (1805) and Hesiod (1817), Hayley’s Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802), Wedgwood’s catalogue (1816), Blake’s Job (1826) and Dante (1838). 195

notes to pages 12–30

9 See G.E. Bentley, Jr, “Blake’s Heavy Metal: The History, Weight, Uses, Cost, and Makers of His Copper Plates.” 10 BR (2), 759. 11 Ibid., 773. 12 Ibid., 804. 13 See Bentley, “F.J. Du Roveray, Illustrated-Book Publisher 1798–1806: II: The Amateur and the Trade,” esp. 79, and “… III: Du Roveray’s Artists and Engravers and the Engravers’ Strike.” 14 The “immense prices” Macklin paid to his engravers and painters were recorded in Anon., “Monthly Retrospect of the Fine Arts,” Monthly Magazine, 11 (1 February, 1 March, 1 April 1801), 63–4, 155, 246. 15 “Few of Morland’s works have had a better sale” than these two prints engraved by Blake, according to John Hassell, Memoirs of the Life of the Late George Morland (1806), 78. 16 A copy of the Hawker portrait was inscribed to C.H. Tatham “with eternal Love C. Blake” (BR (2), 398). 17 John Barrow witnessed the will of Blake’s brother-in-law Henry Banes and, like the Blakes, lived at 3 Fountain Court (Whitehead, “‘I also beg Mr Blakes acceptance of my wearing apparel’: The Will of Henry Banes, Landlord of 3 Fountain Court, Strand, the Last Residence of William and Catherine Blake”). 18 Blake took Thomas Owen as an apprentice in June 1788. 19 Essick, The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue, 139–40. 20 Ruthven Todd, “A Tentative Note on the Economics of The Canterbury Pilgrims,” estimates the cost of copper, paper, and printing twenty-five copies at about £4.4.0. 21 “Blake’s directions for making lithographs” (?1807) are on the verso of a copy of his “Enoch” lithograph (BR (2), 246–7). 22 Blake refers to his progress with the portrait of Romney in his letters of 7, 26 October, 13 December 1803, 27 January, 23 February, 16 March, 4 May, 22 June, 28 September, 23 October, and 18 and 28 December 1804. 23 For the correspondence between when Blake was paid for his engravings and the imprints, see Blake Books, 557–60. chap ter t wo 1 J.T. Smith, A Book for a Rainy Day (London, 1845), 83 – see BR (2), 30; she was “a great encourager of musical composers, particularly the Ital196

notes to pages 30–5

2

3

4 5 6 7

8

9

ians.” J.T. Smith provides the only record of Blake singing his poems; “his tunes were sometimes most singularly beautiful, and were noted down by musical professors” (BR (2), 606). J.T. Smith, Nollekens and His Times (1828) – see BR (2), 605. Harriet Mathew’s husband was named Anthony Stephen Mathew; it was their son, J.T. Smith’s playfellow, who was named Henry. The fine printer Thomas Bensley estimated on 11 June 1800 that the cost of “Paper, Printing & Hotpressing” Du Roveray’s octavo edition of the poems of Gray (“750 small paper & 200 Large”) at £9.9.0 per sheet (G.E. Bentley, Jr, “F.I. Du Roveray, Illustrated-Book Publisher 1798–1806: II: The Amateur and the Trade,” 69). At this rate, 50 octavo copies of Poetical Sketches (76 pp., 4¾ sheets) would have cost 19s per sheet or £4.10.3, with something extra for the paper wrappers. Since the quality of the paper and printing for Poetical Sketches was a good deal lower than for Du Roveray’s Gray (1800), the cost might have been even less. (Geoffrey Keynes, Blake Studies [1949], 26, estimated £6 for 50 copies of Poetical Sketches.) BR (2), 605, 606. Ibid., 94. Ibid., 133. After Blake’s death, his widow Catherine sold uncorrected copies to John Linnell (T in 1831 for 2s 6d) and Samuel Palmer (A, G–I, K–L, N, P, R, U). Copies G–H, R, and U were still in sheets in 1862, and R is still so. Half the thousand copies were taken by Malkin (47) or pulped (450) (Blake Books [1977], 595). There were reviews of Malkin mentioning and quoting Blake’s poems in the Literary Journal (July 1806), British Critic (September 1806), Monthly Review (October 1806), Monthly Magazine (January 1807), and Annual Review (1807). Smith, Nollekens and His Times (1828) – BR (2), 606. chapter th re e

1 It was “a first floor and a shop” beneath it, according to Cunningham ¶11. All details of Blake and Parker addresses derive from BR (2), 740. 2 As Blake recalled in his letter of 2 July 1800, though twenty years later there were “as many Printshops as of any other trade.” 3 J. Collyer, The Parent’s and Guardian’s Directory (1761), 231, 232. 4 Blake certainly took a printing press with him to Felpham in 1800, but we don’t know when he first acquired it. 197

notes to pages 35–7

5 Linnell’s comment on J.T. Smith’s biography of Blake (BR (2), 610 footnote). 6 Letter of 7 November 1804 (BR (2), 197). See. Bentley, “The Journeyman and the Genius: James Parker and His Partner William Blake.” 7 See A | CATALOGUE | OF A | Collection of PRINTS, | COMPRISING A NUMEROUS ASSEMBLAGE OF | Proofs & Etchings, | AFTER | WESTALL, SMIRKE, STODHART [i.e., Stothard], and Others, | Several Ditto by Old Masters; | Drawings, | By MORLAND, TOWN, &c. | BOOKS, BOOKS of PRINTS, | AND SEVERAL CURIOUS MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. | Together with a valuable Collection of | COINS AND MEDALS, | chiefly Silver, in high State of Preservation, many of them | very rare and curious – late the Property of | Mr. JAMES PARKER, Engraver, | Deceased; | Which will be Sold by Auction, | BY MR. [Thomas] DODD, | At his Spacious Room, | No. 101, St. Martin’s Lane, | on WEDNESDAY, February 18th, 1807, | AND FOLLOWING EVENING, | At Six o’Clock precisely. | - | To be Viewed on the Days of Sale. | - | N.B. Proprietors’ Accounts settled within a Week after | the Conclusion of a Sale. (The only copy I know is in the British Museum Department of Coins and Medals.) The sale included 475 prints engraved by Parker (Lots 202–18) and 9 copper plates (Lots 235–6). 8 Gilchrist, 1: 366, describing her sales of Blake’s works after his death. 9 Cunningham ¶10. 10 In the enormous Parker collection chiefly of prints which was sold by [Thomas] Dodd, 18–19 Feb 1807, Lot 159 was “Six Circles, by Blake in colours,” presumably “Calisto” or “Zephyrus and Flora.” 11 According to the biography (1828) by Blake’s friend J.T. Smith (BR (2), 606). 12 Cunningham ¶11. 13 Subscriptions to Parker’s “CAPITAL ENGRAVING” of James Northcote’s picture of “the Prince and Princess of Orange being offered the crown of England” were “received by the Publisher John Harris, No. 3, Sweeting’s Alley, Royal-Exchange; and by the Engraver James Parker, No. 27, Broad Street, Golden Square; at which Places an etched proof may be seen,” according to The Times for 23 November 1788. chapt e r f our 1 BR (2), 13. 2 Letter of 12 March 1804. 198

notes to pages 37–44

3 Public Address, Notebook, 51. Blake scorned the more modish style of mezzotint. 4 Bentley, The Stranger from Paradise, 35. 5 This is the plausible suggestion of Robert N. Essick, “Blake in the Marketplace, 2010,” 141. 6 “When Flaxman was taken to Italy [1787–94] Fuseli was giv’n to me for a season” (Blake’s letter of 12 September 1800). 7 BR (2), 75. 8 BR (2), 94–5. 9 BR (2), 679. The date seems to be after 1803. 10 BR (2), 678. 11 BR (2), 430 footnote. Another possibility for this patron was the munificent Earl of Egremont, who visited Catherine Blake in 1828 and said of Blake, “Why did he leave me?” (BR (2), 497). 12 Lady Bathurst may be the earl’s widow Tryphena (1750–1807) or his daughter-in-law Georgina (d. 1841). 13 Gilchrist, Life of William Blake, “Pictor Ignotus” (1880), I, 361–2 (quoted in BR (2), 678 footnote). The passage is not in the first edition of Gilchrist (1863), so it was probably written by someone else such as his widow. 14 BR (2), 766, 767, 768. 15 BR (2), 616. 16 BR (2), 295, reporting what George Darley recollected. 17 18 BR (2), 416. ch apte r f ive 1 All the information here save Blake’s comes from Anon., The Book of Trades, or Library of the Useful Arts, 109–15 (“The Copper-Plate Printer”). 2 Letter of 12 April 1827. 3 George Cumberland’s transcription about 1796 of “Blake’s Instructions” is in his Commonplace Book (BR (2), 67). 4 Linnell wrote that the plates for Hayley’s Cowper “were as he told me printed entirely by himself and his wife in his own press” (BR (2), 610 footnote). 5 Anon., The Book of Trades, 114.

199

notes to pages 45–53

ch apte r six 1 J.T. Smith (1828) (BR (2), 617). 2 Blake’s letters of 12 and 21 September 1800. 3 This is probably the fine watercolour of “Parental Affection” from Tulk’s album discovered in 2012. See appendix under Tulk. 4 See Bentley, “Richard Edwards, Publisher of Church-and-King Pamphlets and of William Blake,” or, better, The Edwardses of Halifax: The Making and Selling of Beautiful Books in London and Halifax 1749–1826 by William, John, Richard, Thomas, and specially JAMES EDWARDS, The Medicean Bookseller with Catalogues of Their Publications (in the press). 5 Fuseli wrote that Blake’s designs for Young’s Night Thoughts “alone ... would be sufficient to immortalize his name … as that of an Artist of the very highest order” (A Catalogue of … Mr. Thomas Edwards [Manchester: Thomas Winstanley, 10 May 1826, Lot 1076]). 6 Between 1792 and 1794 he averaged fifteen commercial engravings per year, while from 1795 to1798 he engraved only four per year, not counting Night Thoughts. 7 Joseph Farington, Diary, in BR (2), 71. 8 Blake Books, 561–2, 557–8. 9 Prospectus, BR (2), 79. Coloured copies are not mentioned in contemporary advertisements and reviews. 10 Copies A–T are recorded in Blake Books, 642–6, 956, copies U–Z in Blake Books Supplement, 271–3, copies AA–BB in “William Blake and His Circle” from Blake (on-line). 11 For his 116 watercolour designs to Gray, Blake was paid £10.10.0 or 2s. per design about 1797 (BR (2), 246). 12 When Blake complained of neglect by the great illustrated book publishers Boydell, Macklin, and Bowyer (Notebook, 23), he did not mention Richard Edwards, the publisher of his Night Thoughts, perhaps implying that he did not feel mistreated by Edwards. 13 Hayley’s letter to Lady Hesketh of 3 August 1805. 14 Gilchrist 1: 365 (BR (2), 497). 15 Butts apparently had a cottage in Epsom, for his son Tommy wrote to his mother on 24 August 1809: “Mr. and Mrs. Blake intend shortly to pay the promised visit at Epsom.” 16 This is reaffirmed in Blake’s letter to Hayley of 27 November 1805: “Mr Cromek the Engraver … wished me to Produce him Illustrations of The 200

notes to pages 53–68

17 18

19

20

21

22

23 24 25 26 27

Grave A Poem by Robert Blair in consequence of this I produced about twenty Designs which pleasd so well that … set me to Engrave them He means to Publish them by Subscription with the Poem.” November 1805 first prospectus; November 1805 second prospectus; edition of Burns’s Reliques (1808). There were exhibitions of the watercolours at The Royal Academy (November 1805); 23 Warren Street, London, Cromek’s house (November 1805); Birmingham (28 July 1806); 9 St James Square, Edinburgh (30 July 1807); “Mr Ford’s, Bookseller,” Manchester (7 November 1807); “Mr. Barry’s Reading-Rooms,” Bristol (9 June 1808); and “Mr. HOBDAY’S painting rooms in Small Street, Bristol” (June 1808). Birmingham Gazette (28 July 1806); Birmingham Commercial Herald (28 July 1806); Scots Magazine (Edinburgh, July 1807); The Artist (London, 1 August 1807); Monthly Literary Recreations (London, September 1807); Manchester Gazette (7 November 1807); Literary Panorama (London, November 1807); Wakefield Star and West-Riding Advertiser (28 May 1808); Monthly Magazine (London, 1 June 1808); Leeds Mercury (4 June 1808); Bristol Gazette (9 June 1808 and 30 June 1808); Athenaeum Magazine (London, June 1808); Monthly Literary Advertiser (London, 9 July 1808); Liverpool flyer (?summer 1808); Scots Magazine (Edinburgh, September 1808); and Cromek’s edition of the Reliques of Robert Burns (1808). Birmingham (July 1806); Wakefield (July 1807); Bristol (30 June 1808); Edinburgh (June–July 1807); Liverpool (?July 1808); Birmingham (August 1808); and Manchester (September 1808). Examiner (31 July 1808) review by Robert Hunt; Antijacobin Review (November 1808); Scots Magazine (November 1808); and Monthly Magazine (1 December 1808). In his Descriptive Catalogue, 25, Blake estimated that Cromek “received fourteen hundred guineas and more, from the profits of his [Blake’s] designs” for Blair’s Grave. BR (2), 542. BR (2), 341. He also bought Blake’s America (O, 1821), Europe (K, 1821), Jerusalem (C, 1820), Marriage (H), £2.2.0), and Songs (R, £1.19.6). #424 (1799), #416 (1800), #438 and #500 (1808), #649 and #653 (1812), and the Countess of Egremont bought #643 (1808). #366, 379, 392, 414, 416, 422, 425, 845, 1799–1800. 201

notes to pages 68–72

28 “I have an order for Fifty small Pictures [for the Bible] at One Guinea each” (letter of 26 August 1799 to George Cumberland). 29 #414 is lost. 30 Bentley, “Blake’s Heavy Metal,” 744. chapt er se ven 1 He also published “Blake’s Chaucer: The Canterbury Pilgrims” (1809), “Exhibition of Paintings in Fresco” (1809), “A Descriptive Catalogue” advertisement (1809), and “Blake’s Chaucer: An Original Engraving” (1810), each in conventional type on a sheet or a half sheet (“A Descriptive Catalogue”) of paper. See below. 2 It was also published by its printer Joseph Seagrave in Chichester and by P. Humphry and R.H. Evans in London. The four separate numbers bear imprints of 1 June, 1 July, 5 August, and 9 September 1802. 3 This meant that there was no charge to Blake for postage, as letters were customarily paid by the recipient, and there was no discount to booksellers except for R.H. Evans in London. 4 G.E. Bentley, Jr, “Blake’s Heavy Metal,” 741. 5 Known sales were Part 1 (56 copies), Part 2 (26), Part 3 (7), and Part 4 (13), plus 15 unidentified Parts sold by Evans. This is echoed by copies traced today: Part 1 (17), 2 (13), 3 (11), 4 (8). 6 Quoted from the manuscript in the Huntington Library; see G.E. Bentley, Jr, “F.J. Du Roveray, Illustrated-Book Publisher 1798–1806,” 70. 7 The cheap blue paper for the covers (400 sheets for Ballads 1 and 2, 200 sheets for Ballads 3 and 4) would have cost a good deal less than the fine white paper at £5 per ream. 8 There are records of country sales of 115 copies for which Blake received £15.15.0 (BR (2), 153). In London, according to Blake’s letter of 26 October 1803, “Mr Evans … says he has sold but fifteen numbers at the most.” 9 Blake Books 574–5 and Blake Books Supplement 221–2 record 47 leaves from the Designs used as scrap paper but none for finished engravings. (The “Riddle Manuscript” is on the verso of a proof before letters from the Designs.) There are 9 leaves used as scrap from Part 1, 24 from Part 2, 8 from Part 3, and 6 from Part 4. This might suggest that Part 2 provided most unvendible copies. A disproportionate number of scraps are on leaves which would have had prints on them: pp. 9 (5), 11 (1), 26 (6), 27 (1), 41 (2). Since the “Pickering Manuscript” consists of 11 leaves of the 202

notes to pages 72–8

10

11

12

13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22

23 24

same unwatermarked paper, and since leaf 8 is from Hayley’s Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802) p. 20 (l. 10v), therefore the “Pickering Manuscript” probably consists of Designs ll., 3–13 (pp. 5–26). No print from the Designs is known to have been reused. Hayley repeats this in his letter to R.H. Evans on 3 April 1803: “He and his good industrious Wife together take all the Impressions from the various Engravings in their own domestic Press.” At 2s. 6d. each, £15 would have paid for 120 individual ballads. However, we know that Lady Hesketh paid £5.5.0 for 10 copies and Flaxman £1.17.6 for 4, leaving only £7.17.6 (£15 - £7.2.6) or 63 copies. The sales by Evans included Ballads 1 to 3 for Anna Seward and Ballads 3 and 4 for Lady Heskth and some of her friends; Evans would have deducted his commission from these sales. We can account for sales of 62 copies of Ballad 1, 19 of Ballad 2, 10 of Ballad 3, and 12 of Ballad 4 = 103 copies in all. Only 53 numbers have been traced today. Admission could also be had for 1s without the Descriptive Catalogue, according to his flyer called “A Descriptive Catalogue.” The same paper may be used in Blake’s “List of Apostles” and perhaps his letter of 14 October 1807. Blake exhibited his watercolour of “Jacob’s Dream” (Illus. 28) at the Royal Academy in 1808. BR (2), 297. BR (2), 577, 596. As Cunningham wrote (BR (2), 531). For instance, “thin g,” “histori ans,” “ut” for “but,” “lne” for “line.” The uncorrected copies include copy E, perhaps sold to Samuel and Thomas Boddington, copy I bound by Robert Balmanno about 1818, copy P given to Frederick Tatham on 12 June 1824, and copy K bought by John Linnell in 1831. If the fine printer Thomas Bensley charged £15.15.0 in 1800 for printing a thousand sheets of an elegant quarto (see above), a neighbourhood jobbing printer like Daniel Shury is likely to have charged about £4.0.0 (or £4.14.6 at Bensley’s rate) for 100 copies of a duodecimo of 3 sheets plus 17 sheets of blue paper for the wrappers. BR (2), 694. [Robert Hunt], “Mr. Blake’s Exhibition,” Examiner, 17 September 1809, 605–6. 203

notes to pages 78–90

25 BR (2), 286. 26 The same date is printed in “Blake’s Chaucer: The Canterbury Pilgrims” (1809). 27 Descriptive Catalogue (1809), ii. 28 BR (2), 531. 29 Hazlitt closely paraphrases a simile in it in a lecture in 1818 (BR (2), 339). 30 BR (2), 287 footnote, 289. “The Ancient Britons” was too big to be hung in Blake’s house in South Molton Street. 31 Descriptive Catalogue (1809), ii. 32 BR (2), 531. 33 Note the errata of “ef” for “of,” “horrizon,” “end” for “and,” and “Leneaments.” 34 BR (2), 788. 35 Bentley, “Blake’s Heavy Metal,” 741. chapt er eight 1 Gilchrist 1: 69 (BR (2), 44). 2 John Jackson (1801–48), A Treatise on Wood Engraving (London: Charles Knight, 1839), 715–16 (BR (2), 45, 46). 3 These calculations are worked out in G.E. Bentley, Jr, “Blake’s Heavy Metal.” 4 For details, see Blake Books (1977). 5 Thomas Balston, James Whatman, Father & Son, 55. 6 Viscomi, Blake and the Idea of the Book, 251, estimates the cost of the inks for printing Songs of Innocence in 1789 as 8d. 7 For example, in brown or green or blue rather than in more than one colour simultaneously. 8 Perhaps this is related to the subscription of “Mr. William Blake” to C.H. Tatham, Etchings, Representing the Best Examples of Ancient Ornamental Architecture (1799–1800). 9 1897 sale catalogue cited in Blake Books, 404. 10 Catalogue of 1902 cited in Blake Books, 416. 11 BR (2), 766, 207. 12 Viscomi, “The Myth of the Commissioned Illuminated Book.” Note that the copper plates themselves range in size from c. 4 x 5 cm for All Religions Are One and There Is No Natural Religion to 12 x 17 cm for Visions of the Daughters of Albion and 17 x 23 for Europe. 204

notes to pages 96–101

13 The very unreliable Richard C. Jackson alleged that Romney gave Blake grafts from a vine and a fig from Fontainebleau or Versailles which Blake planted in his garden at Hercules Buildings, where they flourished (BR (2), 745 footnote). Romney is not known to have owned any Blake drawing. 14 They “are Printed … on the most beautiful wove paper that could be procured” (“To the Public,” 10 October 1793) watermarked 1794 | J Wh atman (America [A], Europe [A], Urizen [B], Visions [F]) or 1794 | I Taylo r (Marriage [D], Urizen [B]), or just I TAYLOR (Songs [A]). 15 In his letter of 9 June 1818, Blake described Marriage and Urizen as quartos and Songs as an octavo. 16 They were not bound together – the pattern of stab holes in each is unique. They were sold with the collection of Romney’s son at Christie’s, 9–10 May 1834, Lots 79, 83, 86+ (see Viscomi, “The Myth of the Commissioned Illuminated Book”). Romney’s collection omitted Thel (1789), For Children (1793, in monochrome), and Song of Los (1795), Book of Ahania (1795) and Book of Los (1795). Perhaps the last three works were not available when Romney bought his Blakes. 17 Marriage is not listed in 1818, but in 1821 copy H was sold for £2.2.0. 18 His son William Upcott showed his father’s Blakes to Crabb Robinson and to Richard Thomson, who described them in J.T. Smith’s Nollekens and His Times (1828). Europe is coloured with “splendour and force”; the frontispiece, “The Ancient of Days,” “approaches almost to the sublimity of Raffaelle or Michel Angelo”; and the Small Book shows “extraordinary effect and beauty” (BR (2), 620, 621). 19 Cumberland’s coloured Blakes were America (F), Book of Thel (A), Europe (D), Songs (F), Song of Los (D), and Visions (B). He also owned For Children: The Gates of Paradise (C), Poetical Sketches (D), Descriptive Catalogue (U), and Job. 20 This work was never published. 21 He did print copies of new works, Jerusalem proofs about 1807, exhibited in 1812, and Milton copies A–C in 1811. 22 America (O, 1821) and Europe (K, 1821), and Jerusalem (C, 1821) were sold in 1821 to Linnell; Songs (V, 1821) went to James Vine; copies Z (1826) and AA (1826) went to Crabb Robinson and Mrs Aders in 1826; copy X (1827) went to T.G. Wainewright in 1827, and copies W and Y (1825) were sold posthumously. Jerusalem (A, 1819–21) went to William Young Ottley in 1827. The unique coloured copy of Jerusalem (E) was not sold until long after Blake’s death. 205

notes to pages 101–19

23 This is a little disingenuous, for the copies of Jerusalem (E) and Songs (W, Y) which Blake printed and coloured were not sold until after his death and must have been in stock in April 1827. 24 J.T. Smith (1828) (BR (2), 626). chapt er ni ne 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Letter of 23 August 1799. Notebook, 117. Ibid. Notebook, “Public Address,” 57. Inscription on Dante drawing 16. Letter of 26 August 1799. Notebook, 91. app endix

1 Cromek came from Yorkshire. 2 Samuel Burgess and Mr Heslop of Manchester were entered twice in the Blair subscription list and are reduced here to one entry here. 3 Subscribers for more than one copy were mostly booksellers. 4 Aubrey’s copy is now in the Huntington Library (call number 54049); the coloured prints are reproduced online in Huntington Digital Images. 5 BR (2), 678 footnote. 6 BR (2), 877, endnote 43. 7 See Keri Davies, “Rebekah Bliss: Collector of William Blake and Oriental Books” and “Mrs Bliss: A Blake Collector of 1794.” “Mrs Bliss” is a courtesy title for Miss Bliss. 8 Bowyer wrote to Earl Spencer on 20 June 1810 recommending Blake’s “Canterbury Pilgrims” as “one of the finest Engravings which has been seen in this country for some Years.” 9 See A.E. Briggs, “Mr. Butts, the Friend and Patron of Blake”; G.E. Bentley, Jr, “Thomas Butts, White Collar Maecenas” and “The Daughters of Albion and the Butts Household”; Joseph Viscomi, “William Blake’s ‘The Phoenix | to Mrs Butts’ Redux,” “Blake in the Marketplace 1852: Thomas Butts, Jr. and Other Unknown Nineteenth Century Blake Collectors,” and “A ‘Green House’ for Butts? New Information on Thomas Butts, His Residences, and Family”; and Mary Lynn Johnson, “More on Blake’s (and 206

notes to pages 119–32

10 11 12

13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23

24 25

Bentley’s) ‘White Collar Maecenas’: Thomas Butts, His Wife’s Family of Artisans, and the Methodist Withams of St Bartholomew the Great.” See Angus Whitehead, “‘Mrs Chetwynd & her Brother’ and ‘M. Chetwynd.’” Probably not Rev John Clowes (1743–1831), Swedenborgian, who does not seem to be associated with Ilam, Staffordshire. In his journal for 5 January 1809 Cooke wrote: “Received a note from a Mr. Cromek, informing me that a work I subscribed two guineas for, at Liverpool, above two years ago, and which I had entirely forgotten, and requesting my address, that my copy might be sent” (William Dunlap, Memoirs of the Life of George Frederick Cooke, Esquire, late of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden Composed Principally from Journals and Other Authentic Documents, Left by Mr. Cooke; and the Personal Knowledge of the Writer (N.Y.: D. Longworth, 1813) 2: 83. See Bentley, A Bibliography of George Cumberland (1754–1848); George Cumberland, The Captive of the Castle of Sennaar: An African Tale in Two Parts; Geoffrey Keynes, “George Cumberland and William Blake,” 230–52 of his Blake Studies. BR (2), 263. BR (2), 79. Offered in Blake’s letter of 18 March 1827; they are untraced today. BR (2), 451. BR (2), 327–8, 398–9. As Innocence (R) was apparently produced in 1802–1811, it was probably acquired not by Baron Dimsdale, who died in 1800, but by his son. D’Israeli probably acquired America (A), Urizen (B), Visions (F), and two others, perhaps Europe (A) and Marriage (D), in 1834. For the complexities of the collection, see BR (2), 328 footnote. See BR (2), 344. See BR (2), 405. See D.H. Weinglass, “F.J. Du Roveray, Illustrated-Book Publisher 1798– 1806: I: The Life of a Huguenot Publisher and Connoisseur in London” and G.E. Bentley, Jr., “Part II: The Amateur and the Trade,” “Part III: Du Roveray’s Artists and Engravers and the Engravers’ Strike,” and “Part IV: A Bibliography of His Publications.” See Bentley, “William Blake and His Circle … for 2009,” 10. See Bentley, Jr, “Richard Edwards, Publisher of Church-and-King Pamphlets and of William Blake.” 207

notes to pages 133–55

26 After Blake’s death, Lord Egremont subscribed to Job (1826) and bought “The Characters in Spenser’s ‘Fairie Queene’” (1825) (#811) for £84. 27 J.T. Smith (BR (2), 605). 28 Perhaps this is the work for which Flaxman paid Blake £2.2.0 in October 1797 (BR (2), 758). 29 Quaritch Catalogue (10 August 1883), Lot 13, 487, £3.16.0. 30 An advertisement for Blair’s Grave (1808) in Cowdray’s Manchester Gazette for 7 November 1807, p. 3, announced that “The original drawings may be seen at Mr Ford’s, Bookseller, Market-street-lane, where subscribers’ names are received” (BR (2), 248). 31 In 1801 the Erbprinz sent anonymously to Jean Paul Richter in Meinigen a copy of Young’s Night Thoughts bound in morocco and satin, splendidly gilt, with a place-marker of a gold chain ending in a huge pearl, all in a black leather case; Richter valued it at £15.15.0 (BR (2), 114–15). It is today untraced. 32 Haines may be referred to in Blake’s quatrain (Notebook, 23): The Sussex Men are Noted Fools And weak in their brain pan. I wonder if H—— the painter Is not a Sussex Man. 33 BR (2), 376. 34 BR (2), 133. 35 BR (2), 154. 36 BR (2), 253. 37 BR (2), 65. 38 Unsigned engravings attributed to Blake. 39 Plates designed and engraved by Blake. 40 Blake was paid £12.12.0 for his Euler plate. 41 The four plates for Allan’s Roman History were engraved on one uncut piece of copper. 42 The anonymous plates for Gymnastics for Youth are very dubiously attributed to Blake. 43 One plate for Hayley’s Cowper was designed by Blake; he was paid £31.10.0 for one plate (probably Romney’s portrait of Cowper) and £31.10.0 for printing the plates. 44 BR (2), 303. 45 BR (2), 525. 46 BR (2), 793. 208

notes to pages 155–84

47 BR (2), 775, 783, 785, 806–7. 48 BR (2), 133. 49 See H.M. Margoliouth, “Blake’s Mr. Mathew”; G.E. Bentley, Jr., “A.S. Mathew, Patron of Blake and Flaxman,” and “John Flaxman and the Mathew Clan”; and David Bindman, “New Light on the Mathews: Flaxman’s and Blake’s Early Gothicism.” 50 J.T. Smith, Nollekens and His Times (1828), quoted in BR (2), 605. 51 Ibid., 606. 52 BR (2), 307–9. 53 I assume that most of Richmond’s Blakes were acquired after Blake’s death. 54 Crabb Robinson bought Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) for £1.11.6 on 27 December 1810 (BR (2), 771). 55 BR (2), 295. 56 The extra-illustrated copy of Blair’s Grave (1813) “was obtained in its present condition from William Thane, a picture restorer, who knew Blake,” according to the sale catalogue of The Library of John Quinn. 57 See Leslie Parris, “Blake’s Mr. Thomas,” Times Literary Supplement, 5 December 1968, 1390. 58 Blake’s patrons Thomas and Elizabeth Butts had a country place in Epsom in 1809 where the Blakes promised to visit them (BR (2), 282). 59 Gilchrist (1863), 1: 124 (BR (2), 207), said that Thomas paid £10.10.0 for his copy of the Songs; “For such a sum Blake could hardly do enough, finishing the plates like miniatures.” However, Songs (Q), which almost certainly belonged to Joseph Thomas, is scarcely coloured, and most or all copies which Blake finished “like miniatures” were made long after Thomas died in 1811. 60 Flaxman’s letter to Blake of 31 July 1801. 61 Ibid. 62 The Paradise Lost drawings were copied for Butts in 1808. 63 BR (2), 207. 64 Tulk’s daughter wrote that the Blakes “were rescued from destitution by Mr. C.A. Tulk” and that Blake “made drawings from [Swedenborg], … one of them of a female instructing a number of children in the spiritual world” (BR (2), 335), which may be the untraced “Spiritual Preceptor” (Butlin #660) exhibited in 1809 and described in Blake’s Descriptive Catalogue (1809) paragraphs 92–3. 65 These may have passed to his daughter who married first John Gordon 209

notes to pages 184–90

66

67 68

69

70 71 72

73 74

and then Mr Leigh. Perhaps she is the young girl who met Blake about 1825 and who, in 1860, owned “some choice copies of some of Blake’s smaller Poems” (BR (2), 383 footnote, citing Thomas Woolner’s letter of 1860). The Tulk album was discovered in 2012, and therefore the Blake drawings in it are not recorded in Butlin. See R.N. Essick, “William Blake in the Marketplace, 2012,” and Lowell Libson Ltd, British Paintings and Works on Paper, 44–55, where the Blake drawings are reproduced and described. The connection of Tulk and this untraced drawing is my speculation. An otherwise unknown “autograph letter by W. Blake,” presumably of 1818, was sold at Sotheby’s, 7 March 1853, Lot 449 with Blair’s Grave (1813). It must be distinct from Blake’s letter to Turner of 9 June 1818, which was in the Dawson Turner sale at Puttick & Simpson, 6–10 June 1859, Lot 676. Dawson Turner sale at Sotheby’s, 7 March 1853, Lot 449; “The Grave … with Memoir … 1808” must be the 1813 edition with Biographical Sketches of Schiavonetti and Cromek lacking in 1808. Henry G. Bohn’s Catalogue of Books (1847), 1: 259. See BR (2), 383 footnote. See Marc Vaulbert de Chantilly, “Property of a Distinguished Poisoner: Thomas Griffiths Wainewright and the Griffiths family library.” “Wainewright” bought a copy of the “Canterbury Pilgrims” at Fuseli’s sale at Sotheby’s, 25 July 1825, Lot 248 (with Stothard’s “Canterbury Pilgrims” print). Not in Butlin – see BR (2), 40. The copy of W. Williams was offered in John Windle Catalogue ThirtyOne (2000), Lot 33.

210

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Balston, Thomas. James Whatman, Father & Son. London: Methuen 1957 Bentley, G.E., Jr. “A.S. Mathew, Patron of Blake and Flaxman.” Notes and Queries 204 (1958): 168–78 – A Bibliography of George Cumberland (1754–1848) … New York & London: Garland Publishing Inc. 1975 – Blake Books: Annotated Catalogues of William Blake’s Writings in Illuminated Printing …. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1977 – Blake Books Supplement: A Bibliography of Publications and Discoveries about William Blake, 1971–1992, Being a Continuation of Blake Books (1977). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. – Blake Records. 2nd ed. New Haven and London: Yale University 2004 – “Blake’s Heavy Metal: The History, Weight, Uses, Cost, and Makers of His Copper Plates.” University of Toronto Quarterly 76 (2007): 714–70 – “The Daughters of Albion and the Butts Household.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 18 (1984): 116 – “F.J. Du Roveray, Illustrated-Book Publisher 1798–1806: II: The Amateur and the Trade.” Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin 12, no. 2 (1988): 63–83 – “F.J. Du Roveray, Illustrated-Book Publisher 1798–1806: III: Du Roveray’s Artists and Engravers and the Engravers’ Strike.” Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin 13, no. 3 (1988): 97–146 – “F.J. Du Roveray, Illustrated-Book Publisher 1798–1806: IV: A Bibliography of His Publications.” Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin 13, no. 4 (1988): 166–86 – “John Flaxman and the Mathew Clan.” Bulletin of the New York Public Library 67 (1963): 443–54

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– “The Journeyman and the Genius: James Parker and His Partner William Blake with a List of Parker’s Engravings.” Studies in Bibliography 49 (1996): 208–31 – “Pictura Ignota: Blake’s Most Seen, Least Known Painting.” Descant 41 (2010): 73–103 – “Richard Edwards, Publisher of Church-and-King Pamphlets and of William Blake.” Studies in Bibliography 41 (1988): 283–315 – The Stranger from Paradise: A Biography of William Blake. New Haven and London: Yale University Press 2001 – “Thomas Butts, White Collar Maecenas.” PMLA 71 (1956): 1052–66 – “‘What Is the Price of Experience?’: William Blake and His Circle: A Checklist of Publications and Discoveries in 2010.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 43 (2011): 10 – “William Blake and His Circle: A Checklist of Publications and Discoveries in 2009.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 43 (2010): 10 – “William Blake and His Circle: A Checklist of Publications and Discoveries in 2011.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 46 (2012) not paginated Bindman, David. “New Light on the Mathews: Flaxman’s and Blake’s Early Gothicism.” In Mulhallen, Blake in Our Times, 95–104 Blair, Robert. The Grave. London: R.H. Cromek et al. 1808 Blake, William. William Blake’s Writings. Edited by G.E. Bentley, Jr. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1978 The Book of Trades, or Library of the Useful Arts. 3rd ed. Part 2. London: Tabart and Co. 1806 Briggs, A.E. “Mr. Butts, the Friend and Patron of Blake.” Connoisseur 19 (1907): 92–6 Bronowski, Jacob. William Blake, 1757–1827: A Man without a Mask. London: Secker & Warburg 1944 Butlin, Martin. The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake. New Haven and London: Yale University Press 1981 Clark, Steve, and David Worrall, eds. Historicizing Blake. Basingstoke: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin’s Press 1994 Cumberland, George. The Captive of the Castle of Sennaar: An African Tale in Two Parts: Part 1 THE SOPHIANS (Printed in 1798 and 1810), Part 2 THE REFORMED (Manuscript of c. 1800). Edited by G.E. Bentley, Jr. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press 1991 Cunningham, A.C. The Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. London: John Murray 1830 212

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Davies, Keri. “Mrs Bliss: A Blake Collector of 1794.” In Blake in the Nineties, ed. Steve Clark and David Worrall, 212–30. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd 1999 – “Rebekah Bliss: Collector of William Blake and Oriental Books.” In The Reception of Blake in the Orient, ed. Steve Clark and Masashi Suzuki, 38–62. London & New York: Continuum 2006 DiSalvo, Jackie, G.A. Rosso, and Christopher Z. Hobson. Blake, Politics, and History. New York & London: Garland Publishing 1998 Erdman, David V. Blake: Prophet against Empire: A Poet’s Interpretation of the History of His Own Times. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1954 Essick, Robert N. “Blake in the Marketplace, 2010.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 44 (2011): 116–42 – The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1983 – “William Blake in the Marketplace, 2012.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 46, no. 3 (Winter 2013) no pagination – William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations: A Catalogue and Study of the Plates Engraved by Blake after Designs by Other Artists. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1991 Ferber, Michael. The Social Vision of William Blake. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1985 Gilchrist, Alexander. Life of William Blake, “Pictor Ignotus.” London: Macmillan 1863 Johnson, Mary Lynn. “More on Blake’s (and Bentley’s) ‘White Collar Maecenas’: Thomas Butts, His Wife’s Family of Artisans, and the Methodist Withams of St Bartholomew the Great.” In Mulhallen, Blake in Our Time, 131–64 Keynes, Geoffrey. Blake Studies: Essays on His Life and Work. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1971 The Library of John Quinn, Part 1 [A–C]. New York: Anderson Galleries, 12–14 November 1923. Sale catalogue Lowell Libson Ltd, British Paintings and Works on Paper. London: Lowell Libson 2013 Makdisi, Saree. William Blake and the Impossible History of the 1790s. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press 2003 Margoliouth, H.M. “Blake’s Mr. Mathew.” Notes and Queries 196 (1951): 162–3 Mee, Jon A. Dangerous Enthusiasm: William Blake and the Culture of Radicalism in the 1790s. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1992 213

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Mulhallen, Karen, ed. Blake in Our Time: Essays in Honour of G.E. Bentley, Jr. Toronto, Buffalo, London: University of Toronto Press 2010 Schorer, Mark. William Blake: The Politics of Vision. New York: H. Holt and Company 1946 Todd, Ruthven. “A Tentative Note on the Economics of The Canterbury Pilgrims.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 11 (1977): 30–1 Vaulbert de Chantilly, Marc. “Property of a Distinguished Poisoner: Thomas Griffiths Wainewright and the Griffiths Family Library.” In Under the Hammer: Book Auctions since the Seventeenth Century, ed. Robin Myers, Michael Harris, and Giles Mandelbrote, 111–42. New Castle, de: Oak Knoll Press; London: The British Library 2001 Viscomi, Joseph. Blake and the Idea of the Book. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1993 – “Blake in the Marketplace 1852: Thomas Butts, Jr. and Other Unknown Nineteenth Century Blake Collectors.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 29 (1996): 40–68 – “A ‘Green House’ for Butts? New Information on Thomas Butts, His Residences, and Family.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 29 (1996): 4–21 – “The Myth of the Commissioned Illuminated Book: George Romney, Isaac D’Israeli, and ‘ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY designs … of Blake’s.’” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 23 (1989): 48–74 – “William Blake’s ‘The Phoenix | to Mrs Butts’ Redux.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 29 (1995): 12–15 Weinglass, D.H. “F.J. Du Roveray, Illustrated-Book Publisher 1798–1806: I: The Life of a Huguenot Publisher and Connoisseur in London.” Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin 12, no. 1 (1988): 1–19 Whitehead, Angus. “‘I also beg Mr Blakes acceptance of my wearing apparel’: The Will of Henry Banes, Landlord of 3 Fountain Court, Strand, the Last Residence of William and Catherine Blake.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 39 (2005): 78–99 – “‘Mrs Chetwynd & her Brother’ and ‘Mr Chetwynd.’” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 42 (2008): 75–8

214

1 inde x

Works by Blake are indexed under the title. Abley, Mark, editor, xx “The Accusers” (1793), engraving, 15, 18, 94, 130–1, 154 Achilles, Visionary Head (1825), 64 Ackerman, Rudolph, bookseller, 107 Adam. See “God [Elohim] Creating Adam,” “God Judging Adam,”and “Satan Watching the Endearments of Adam and Eve” Adam and Eve. See “The Body of Abel Found by Adam and Eve” “Adam and Eve in Paradise” (1806), 60 Adam and the beasts, Illus. 26 “Adam Naming the Beasts” (1810), 61 Adams, Mr Thomas, 108 Aders, Elizabeth (Ward), wife of Charles, 64–5, 81, 100nj, 108, 205n22 “Albion Rose” (“Glad Day”) (1780), engraving, 16 Aldrich, Mr Thomas, 108 “Alexander the Great” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Allan, William (1782–1850), portrait painter, 108 “An Allegory of Human Life” (1805), 60

“Allegory of the Spiritual Condition of Man” (1811), 61 Allen, Charles: History of England (1797), 24, 150; Roman History (1798), 24, 150, 208n41 Allen, David, Esq., 108 Allen, Mr, portrait painter, 108 “All Genius Varies Thus” (1819), Visionary Head, 63 All Religions Are One (?1788), 83, 94, 96, 100nb, 184, 204n12 Alsop, Esq., 50, 108 America A Prophecy (1793), 4, 12, 83, 86–7, 89, 91–9, 101, 114, 119, 127, 130, 135, 140, 154, 172–3, 181, 184, 186, 201, 205, 207, Illus. 3 “The Ancient Britons” (exhibited in 1809), 46, 75, 77, 79, 186, 204n30 “The Ancient of Days” (Europe pl. 1), 61, 95np, 99–100ne, 119, 205n18 Anderson, Dr Robert (1749–1830), Edinburgh, anthologist, 108 “The Angel of the Divine Presence Clothing Adam & Eve with Coats of Skins,” 66nb “An Angel with a Trumpet” (1805), for Blair’s Grave, 60 An Anglo-Norman King (1819), Visionary Head, 62 Annual Review (1807), 197n8

index Appleby, Mrs, Manchester, 108 “The Approach of Doom” (?1788), engraving after Robert Blake, 15–16 Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1783), 20, 195n4 Aris’s Birmingham Gazette (1806), 152 Armitage, Edward, Esq., Leeds, 108 Armstrong, Mr, London, 109 Arnould, bookseller, Spring Garden, London, 109 Artist (1807), 201 Artists General Benevolent Association, 5 The Artist’s Repository and Drawing Magazine (London, 1784–86), 86 Askham, Mr William, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 51, 109 Associated Painters in Water Colour exhibition (1812), 45, 79 Astley, Francis D., Esq., Duckenfield Lodge, Manchester, 109 Aubrey, Edward (?1754 in London – 1827 in Canada), 109, 206n4 Audinet, Philip (1766–1837), engraver, 109 “Auguries of Innocence,” 194n2 Aylesford, The Right Hon. the Earl of, 109 Ayloffe, Sir Joseph, Monuments in Westminster Abbey (1780), 8, 17 Babylon. See “The Whore of Babylon” Bacon, Friar. See “Friar Bacon” (1819), Visionary Head Badley, John, Dudley, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 109 Bailey, Ed. Hodges, Esq., (1788–1867), R.A., sculptor, 109 Baldry, Mr John P., Shadwell Dock, London, 109 Balmanno, Robert (1780–1860), 66nf, 109, 203n17 Balston, Thomas, James Whatman, Father & Son (1957), 204, 211

Banes, Henry, Blake’s brother-in-law, 110, 196 Banks, Mr George, Leeds, 110 Barber, Mr T., Sheffield, 110 Bardsley, Dr [Samuel Argent] (1764– 1850), Manchester, 110 Barker, Mr George (1776–1845), Birmingham, and its Vicinity, lawyer, 110 Barker, Mr Robert, Leeds, 110 Barker, Samuel, Esq., Lichfield, 110 Barnard, Mr William (1744–1849), London, engraver, 110 Barnett, Mr John, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 110 Barr, Mr John, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 110 Barratt, Mr, bookseller, Bath, 107, 110 Barrow, I. [i.e., John] (1757–1858), Weston Place, London, printseller, 13– 14, 110, 196n17 Barry, B., bookseller, Bristol, 201n18 Barton, Bernard (1784–1849), Quaker poet, 195 Barton, Mr John, Manchester, 111 Basire, James (1730–1802), engraver, Blake’s master, 8, 17, 37, 56, 106 Bassnett, Mr Henry, attorney at law, Manchester, 111 “The Bastard Fauconbert” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Bateman, J., jun, Esq., Manchester, 111 Bath Libraries, 73 Bathsheba. See Uriah and Bathsheba, Visionary Heads (1819) Bathhurst, Georgina (d. 1841), daughter of the earl, 39–40, 111, 199n12 Bathurst, Second Earl, (1714–94), the Lord Chancellor, 39–40, 111 Bathurst, Tryphena Lady (1750–1807), the earl’s widow, 39–40, 111, 199n12 Baugh, Benj., Esq., Bristol, 111 Baxter, Miss, London, 111

216

index Baxter, Mr Thomas (1782–1821), line engraver, London, 111 Bayley, Rev Henry Vincent (1777– 1844), sub-dean of Lincoln, 111 Beckford, William (1760–1844), England’s richest son, 112 Beddome, Boswell, Esq., 112 Beddome, Josephus, Esq., 112 Beddome, Samuel, Esq., Clapham, 112 Bedingfeld, Lady, London, 112 Beechey, Sir William (1753–1839), R.A., painter, 112 Beevor, Rev John, Claypole, near Newark, 112 “The Beggar’s Opera” (1788), print after Hogarth, 13–14, 21 Behnes, Mr, bookseller, Dean Street, Soho, London, 112 Belk, Mr Thomas, Pontefract, 112 Bell, John (1745–1831), Strand, London, bookseller, 18–20, 112 Bellamy, Thomas (1745–1800), London, bookseller, 23, 112 Bellamy’s Picturesque Magazine (1793), 23, 112 Bennett, Mr T.E., Bank of England, London, 113 Bennucci, Esq., Clifton, Bristol, 113 Bensley, Thomas (d. 1831), fine printer, 71, 197n3, 203n22 Benson, Mr R.B., London, 113 Bentley, Dr Elizabeth, v, xx Bentley, Miss, London, 113 “Bertrand de Gourdon” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Beve, Joshua, Esq., Chatham Place, London, 113 Beverley, Miss, London, 113 Bewick, Mr Thomas (1753–1828), Newcastle-upon-Tyne, wood engraver, 113, 195n6 Bible, 120, 202n28: Genesis Illustrated MS (1826), 65; Kimpton, Univeral History of the Holy Bible (1781),

119, 195n4; Macklin’s Bible (1791– 1800), 13, 34; Protestant’s Family Bible ([?1781]), 10, 19; Royal Universal Family Bible (1780–82), 18–19, 134; temperas for, 46, 58–9, 68; watercolours for, 46, 59, 68 Birch, George, Esq., Hamstead Hall, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 113 Birch, John, Esq., (1745–1815), surgeon, 74, 113, 131 Bird, Mr Edward (1772–1819), painter, Bristol, 113 Bird, Mr Francis, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 114 Blair, Robert: exhibitions of the watercolours, 75, 201n18; First Proposal (1805), 53, 158; The Grave (1808), xv, 212; Illus. 16, “Death’s Door” (1805), 15, 17; Second Proposal (1805), 53, 158; subscribers, 52–4, 151–92; watercolours, 11, 14–15, 60, 72, 126 (1813), 185, 210n68 Blair, Robert, (1741–1811), Edinburgh, son of Robert Blair (1699–1746) the poet, 114 Blake & Parker, printseller (1784–85), 14, 18 Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly, xii Blake, Catherine Elizabeth (1764– 1841), the poet’s sister, 34 Blake, Catherine Sophia Boucher (1762–1831), wife of the poet, 3, 5–7, 15, 33–5, 38–9, 42–3, 51, 57, 65, 66nf, 72, 82, 96ns, 106, 113, 126, 155, 203; as artist, 35, 118; as colourist, 89–90; inherited, 94–5; as printer, 35, 72, 81 Blake, James (1722–84), the poet’s father, 34 Blake, James (1753–1827), the poet’s brother, 34, 40, 42, 54, 72, 74, 77, 79, 81, 114 Blake, John (1755–by 1800), the poet’s brother, 34, 37

217

index Blake, Robert (1762–87), the poet’s brother, 9, 15, 34–5, 87, 180 Blake-Varley Sketchbook, Folio, 62, 67nh; Large, 62; Small, 62 “Blake’s Chaucer: An Original Engraving” (1810), 54, 202n1 “Blake’s Chaucer: The Canterbury Pilgrims” (1809), 54, 120, 131, 147, 195n7, 202n1, 204n26, “Blake’s Memorandum” copy (1803), 143 Blayden, John, Esq., Leeds, 114 Bliss, Rebekah (d. 1819), bibliophile, 49, 114 Blower, Elizabeth, Maria (1785), 21, 195n4 “Boadica” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Boadicea. See Visionary Head of Boadicea (1819) Boddington, Samuel, Esq., M.P., London, 66nf, 114, 203n21 Boddington, Thomas, 203n21 Bodley, 95 “The Body of Abel Found by Adam and Eve” (1805), 60 Bone, Henry, Esq., (1755–1834), London, miniature painter, 115 Bohn, John Henry Martin (?1757– 1843), bookseller, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, 115 Bonnycastle, John, Mensuration (1782), 11, 19, 149, 195n4 Book of Ahania (1795), 84–5, 91, 94, 100nc, 186, 205n16 Book of Los (1795), 84–5, 94, 205n16 Book of Thel (1789), 83, 86–7, 89, 91– 2, 94–5, 98–9, 119, 127, 129–31, 135, 180, 186, 205n19, Illus. 33 Booth, B., Esq., Manchester, 115 Booth, Sir R.H. Gore, Bart, Sligo, 115 Borckhardt, Charles, printseller, 13–14, 115. See “The Child of Art” and “The Child of Nature” Borel, Mr, Leeds, 115

Boswell, James (1788–1822), London, son of Johnson’s biographer, barrister and author, 115 “Bothwell” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Boulton, Matthew Robinson, Esq. (1770–1841), Birmingham, and its Vicinity, son of the entrepreneur, 115 Bourne, James, Esq., Dudley, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 115 Bowyer, Robert, Esq. (1758–1834), printseller, 13, 15, 134, 200n12 Boyd, Mr, Bristol, 116 Boydell, John (1720–1804) and Josiah (1752–1817), London, engravers and booksellers, 13, 25, 34, 116, 200n12; Shakspeare (1803), 11 Boydell & Co, Cheapside, London, book and printseller, 14, 116 Boydell’s Graphic Illustrations of … Shakspeare (?1783), 116 Boyle, Mr Robert, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 116 Boyton, Miss, Bristol, 116 Bradley, Mr William, Halifax, 116 Brain, Mr William, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 116 Brancker, Mr John, Liverpool, 116 Brandreth, Dr Joseph, Liverpool Bridgewater, printer, 75 Brandreth, Miss, Liverpool, 116 Bright, Richard, Esq., (1774–1840), Bristol, merchant, 117 Brisco, E.D., Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 117 Brisco, Mr Fleming, London, 117 Bristol Gazette and Daily Advertiser (1808), 163 Bristow, Robert, owner of the Talbot Inn, 61, 67ng British Institution, 75 Broad Street (No. 27), Blake’s residence (1784–85), 33–4, 36, 198n13 Broad Street (No. 28), residence of the poet’s family, 34, 45, 54, 75, 77, 80–1

218

index Brohier, Mr, London, 117 Bromley, Mr William (1769–1842), Hammersmith, London, engraver, 11, 117 Bronowski, Jacob, William Blake, 1757–1827: A Man without a Mask (1944), xix Brooke, John, Esq., Leeds, 117 Brown, John, Elements of Medicine (1795), 24, 150 Brown, Mr J., Boston [?Lancashire], 117 Brown, Mr James, sen., Leeds, 117 Brumfitt, Mr Thomas, Leeds, 117 Bryant, Jacob, Analysis of Ancient Mythology (1774–75), 8, 17 Bubb, Mr, sculptor, London, 117 Buchan, Dr Alexander Peter (1764– 1824), London, physician, 97, 117 Buck, Mr Adam (1759–1833), London, miniature and portrait painter, 117 Buckland, James (?1711–90), London, print and bookseller, 20, 118 Bucklesberry, 73 Budworth, Captain Jo., F.S.A., Clifton Cottage, Bristol, 118 Bull, J., London, 118 Bull, John, London, 118 Bullock, George (1782/3–1818), Liverpool, sculptor and cabinet-maker, 118 Bunyan, John, Pilgrim’s Progress, 64. See “Christian with the Shield of Faith Taking Leave of His Companions” Bürger, Leonora (1796), 58, 161, 194n4 Burgess, Mr Samuel, Manchester, 118, 206n2 burgundy pitch, 82 Burns, Robert, Reliques (1808), 201n17 Burton, Mr James Daniel (1784–1817), Wakefield, and its Vicinity, Wesleyan minister, 118

Bury, Rev Edward, London, 118 Bute, Marquis of [John Stuart (1744– 1814), first Marquis of Bute], 118 Butler, Mr Thomas, Kirkstall-Forgo, Leeds, 118 Butlin, Martin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake (1981), xiii, 56, 67nh, 106–7 Butts, Elizabeth, schoolmistress, wife of Blake’s patron, 47; school for girls, 4, 37, 118, 209n58 Butts, Thomas (1757–1845), clerk and patron, 4–5, 16, 24, 32, 39, 46–7, 49, 55–64, 66nf, 68, 74, 76, 78–80, 90, 103, 119, 200n15, 209n58; miniature of him, 61, 120 Butts, Thomas, jun (1788–1862), son of Blake’s patron, 39–40, 78, 121, 200 Byron, Lord (1788–1824), poet, 5 Cadell, Thomas, jun (1773–1836), and William Davies (d. 1819), London, booksellers, 21, 25, 121 “Calisto” (1784), engraving, 14, 18, 35, 43–4, 44na, 165, 198n10 Calvert, Edward (1799–1883), London, painter and Blake disciple, 121 “Cancer” (1819), Visionary Head, 63 “Canterbury Pilgrims” design, 45, 75, 77–9, 120; copperplate, 28; engraving, 11, 14–15, 18, 28, 75, 80–1, 102, 108, 121, 131, 137, 155, 180, 185, 187, 206n8, 210n72, Illus. 18 Canute (1819), Visionary Head, 62, 67 Capper, Walter William, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 121 “The Captain of Richard the First Who Flayed Bartrand de Gourdon Alive” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Cardon, Mr Anthony (1772–1813), London, engraver, 121 Carlisle, Fifth Earl [Frederick Howard (1748–1825)], London, 122

219

index Carr, Mr, attorney at law, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 122 Carr, Mr S, Leeds, 122 Cartwright, Rev Joseph, Dudley, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 122 Cartwright, Mr Thomas, Bewdley, 122 Case, Mr J.A., Liverpool, 122 “Cassibelane” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh “Cassibelane the British Chief” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Casson, Mr Abraham, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 122 Casson, Mr George, Halifax, 122 “Catherine Hayes” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Catherine the Great of Russia, 130 Catullus, Poems, [tr. J. Nott] (1795), 24 Cawson, Mr John, Liverpool, 122 Cawthorne, Mr, London, 122 Cennini, Cennino, Trattato della Pitura (1821), 155 Chadwick, Mr Charles, Leeds, 122 Chaffers, Mr Thomas, Liverpool, 122 “The Chaining of Orc” (1812), engraving, 16 Champernowne, Arthur (1767–1819), 123 Chantrey, Francis Legg (1781–1841), London, sculptor, 123 “The Characters of Spenser’s Fairie Queene” (1825), watercolour, 51, 208n26 charity to the Blakes, 5, 104 “Charlemagne” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Charlotte Sophia (1744–1818), queen of George III, 123 Chase, J., Esq., London, Paymaster to the Royal Regiment of Malta, 123 Chatterton, Thomas (1752–70), adolescent poet, 33 Chaucer, Geoffrey, Poetical Works (1783), 20, 112, 195; Prologue

(1812), 26, 110, 114, 124, 141, 194n4 “Chaucer, Procession of Canterbury Pilgrims” (1812) painting, 61 “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims” (1810), engraving, Illus. 18 Cheesman, Mr, London, 123 Chetwynd, Penelope Carleton (b. 1764), widow, 74, 123 Chevalier, Thomas (1767–1824), London, surgeon, 65, 123 Chichester, Col. John Palmer, Arlington Court, Devon, 64, 123 “The Child of Art” (1818), engraving after C. Borckhardt, 13, 27, 115 “The Child of Nature” (1818), engraving after C. Borckhardt, 13, 27, 115 Christ. See “The Holy Family: ‘Christ in the Lap of Truth’” and “The Virgin and Child in Egypt” “Christ Appearing” (1795), colour print, 58, Illus. 24 “Christ Baptising,” watercolour, 66nc, 120 “Christ Blessing” (1810), 61 “Christ girding Himself with Strength,” 66nc “Christian with the Shield of Faith Taking Leave of His Companions” (1824), 64 “The Christian Triumph,” Illus. 13 Christie (1834), 205n16; (1835), 1, 19 “Christ in the Sepulchre,” 66nc “Christ Trampling upon Urizen” (1806?), engraving, 16; copperplate, 16n1 Clark, Steve, and David Worrall, ed., Historicizing Blake (1994), xix Clarke, R.H., son of James Stanier Clarke (?1765–1834), 124 Clarke, Theophilus, Esq. (1773–1832), London, portrait painter, 124 Clay, Mr Richard, Huddersfield, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 124

220

index Clayfield, Mr William, Bristol, 124 Clerk, John (1728–1812), Edinburgh, naval writer, 124 Clowes, John, Esq. (1743–1831), Swedenborgian, 124, 207n11 Clowes, Rev John, Ilam, Staffordshire, 124, 207 coal, 155 Collins, Charlotte, poet, 6, 73–4, 124 Colnaghi and Co. [Paul Colnaghi (1751–1833)], London, printsellers, 124 “Colonel Blood who attempted to steal the Crown” (1819), Visionary Head, 67 colour prints, Blake’s, 4, 120, 194n5 Colvard, Mr, attorney at law, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 124 Commins, Thomas, Elegy (1786), 21, 134, 194n4 Commissary General of Musters, 46, 119 Conder, bookseller, Bucklesbury, 23 Constable and Co. [Archibald Constable (1774–1827)], Edinburgh, booksellers, 125 Constable, John (1776–1837), landscape painter, 5 Cooke, George Frederick, Esq. (?1746– 1812), Covent Garden Theatre, London, actor, 125, 207n12 Cooke, John (1730/31–1810), 17 PaterNoster-Row, London, bookseller, 19, 125 Cope, Mr Charles, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 125 copper, cost of, xvii, 68, 70, 73, 83–5 Corbould, Richard, Esq. (1757–1831), London, painter, 125 “Corinna the Grecian Poetess” (1819), Visionary Head, 67ni “Corinna the Rival of Pindar” (1819), Visionary Head, 67ni

“Cornelius Agrippa” (1819), Visionary Head, 67 Corrie, Edgar, Esq., Liverpool, 125 Corrie, Mr Edward, Liverpool, 125 Cosway, Maria, painter, sister of Richard Cosway, 140 Cosway, Richard, Esq. (1741–1821), London, miniature painter, 13–14, 21, 125 “Countess of Essex who poisoned Overbury” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Courtney, 73 Cowper, Theodora, cousin of William Cowper, sister of Lady Hesketh, 74, 125 Cowper, William (1731–1800), poet, 57, 125, Illus. 7 Cox, Peter, Esq., London, 126 Craufuird, Dr, Clifton Hot Wells, Bristol, 126 Crawfurd, Oswald, New Quarterly Magazine (1874), 195 Crawshaw, William, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 126 Croft, Rev Dr, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 126 Cromack, mistake for Cromek, 52 Cromek, R.H. (1770–1812), 23 Warren Street, Fitzroy Square, and 64 Newman Street, London, engraver, book and printseller, xviii, 6, 11–12, 15, 29ne, 52–4, 60, 74–5, 106, 126, 195n6, 206n1 Cromek, Thomas Hartley, son of Robert Hartley Cromek, 66ne Crompton, Dr, Eton-House, Liverpool, 126 Crompton, Peter, Esq., Manchester, 126 Crosby, Mark, Blake (2013), xx Crowder, Mr Thomas, Liverpool, 126 Cumberland, George (1754–1848), London, dilettante, friend of Blake, 9,

221

index 29, 31, 38, 40, 45–6, 49, 55, 58, 61, 78, 97–8, 101, 106, 113, 119, 126, 199n3, 202n28, 205n19; The Captive of the Castle of Sennaar (1796), 127, 172; card, 6, 28, 155; Hafod (1796), 24,133; Thoughts on Outline (1796), 10–11, 23–4, 38, 40, 55, 66nf, 127 Cumberland, George, Jr, 78, 98, 101, 127 Cunningham, Mr Alexander, Edinburgh, xiii, 127; Life of David Wilkie (1843), 193; Lives (1830), 35, 78, 100, 195, 198 Currie, Mr John, Liverpool, 127 Curry, Dr James, Northampton, 97, 127 Dagley, Mr Richard (d. 1841), Doncaster, painter and engraver, 128 Daniel, Rev E.T., Esq., Norwich, 128 Daniell, Thomas, Esq. (1749–1840), R.A., London, painter and printmaker, 128 Dante. See Illustrations of Dante (1838) Danvers, Mr Charles, Bristol, 128 Darley, George, 199n16 Darwin, Erasmus, The Botanic Garden (1789 &c), 22, 150; (1795), 24; (1799), 25, 150 “a Daughter of Shakespeare” (1819), Visionary Head, 62 Davidson, John, Esq., Newcastle-uponTyne, 128 Davidson, Thomas, Esq., Newcastleupon-Tyne, 128 Davidson, W.S., 128 Davies, William (d. 1820), bookseller, 128 Davis, Mr J., Warmley, 128 Dawson, Benjamin Kennet, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 128 Dawson, Mr, attorney at law, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 128 Dawson, Mrs, London, 128

Day, Mr John, Pontefract, 129 Deare, Philip, Esq., London, 129 Dearman, Mr J.P., Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 129 “The Death of Earl Goodwin,” drawing, 45 “The Death of Joseph,” 66nb “The Death of the Virgin Mary,” watercolour, 66nb “Death Pursuing the Soul” (1805), watercolour for Blair’s Grave, 60, 66ne “Death’s Door” (1805), experimental engraving for Blair’s Grave, 60 Denham, Mr J.C., London, 129 Denman, Maria, Nancy Flaxman’s sister, London, 66nf, 129 Denny, Sir Edward (b. 1796), King’s End House (1821) and Barbourne House, Worcester, 29 Dentu, Paris, bookseller, 28 “The Descent of Man into the Vale of Death” (1805) for Blair’s Grave, 60 Descriptive Catalogue (1809), 54, 61, 66–7nf, 69, 75–8, 80–1, 99–101, 110, 114, 120, 127, 129, 131, 152, 155, 172, 178, 181, 187, 191–2, 201n22, 203n14, 209n64, Illus. 27 “A Descriptive Catalogue” (1809), flyer, 75–6, 80, 114, 120, 202n1 Dibdin, Mr Charles Isaac Mungo (1768–1833), known as Charles Dibdin the Younger, jun, London, theatre manager, 129 Dibdin, Thomas Frognall (1776–1847), bibliographer, 129 Dilke, Charles Wentworth (1789– 1864), critic, 130 Dimsdale, Thomas, Baron (1712– 1800), 49, 130, 207 Dinham, Joseph, sculptor, 130 DiSalvo, Jackie, G.A. Rosso, and Christopher Z. Hobson, ed. Blake, Politics, and History (1998), xix Disraeli, Benjamin (1804–81), First Earl

222

index of Beaconsfield, son of Isaac, prime minister, 130, 208 D’Israeli, Isaac (1766–1848), author, 130 “Dives and Lazarus in Hell” (1825), 65 Dixon & Ross, copperplate printers, 42 Dixon, Mr John (c. 1740–1811), London, rich engraver, 130 Dixon, Mr John, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 131 doctor, Blake’s, 87, 113, 131 Dodd, Thomas, auctioneer, 198n10 “Donald the Hammerer” (1825), 65 Donne, John, Poetical Works (1779), 18, 28na Douce, Francis (1757–1834), antiquary and collector, 66nf, 90, 95n2, 131 Draper, Rev Dr, curate of St Antholin’s, 131 Dudley, The Library at, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 131 Duff, Adam, Esq., Edinburgh, 131 Dunlap, William, Memoirs of ... George Frederick Cooke (1813), 207n12 Durer, Albert, artist and engraver, 37 Du Roveray, F.J., Esq. (1772–1849), London, bookseller, 12, 71, 131 Dutton, Mr, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 131 Dyer, Charles George, London, 131 Dyer, Gilbert, jun (b. 1776), bookseller, son of Gilbert Dyer (1743–1820), 132 E., W. (?William Ensom [1796–1832] or ?William Esdaile [1758–1837]), 49, 132 Earl, J. See “Edmund Pitts” (?1793), 16 Earle, James, Operation for the Stone (1793), 23, 150 “Earl Spencer” (1813), engraving, 15– 16 Eccles, Mr William, attorney at law, Manchester, 132 Eclectic Review (1805), 73

“Edmund Pitts” (1793?), engraving, 23, 151–6 “Edward I” (1819), Visionary Head, 63 “Edward III” (1819), Visionary Head, 63 “Edward & Elinor” (1793), engraving, 12, 14–15, 18 “Edward I and William Wallace” (1819), Visionary Heads, 63 Edwards, Mr Henry Lees, Haughend, Halifax, 132 Edwards, Mr Thomas (1762–1824), bookseller, brother of Richard, 132 Edwards, Richard (1768–1827), bookseller, 28–9nc, 38, 47–8, 50, 58, 132 Egerton, Thomas, Whitehall, London, bookseller, 132 Eginton, Mr Francis (1736/7–1805), engraver, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 133 Egremont, Countess of [Elizabeth Ilive] (1769–1822), wife (1801–03) of Third Earl of Egremont, 51, 58, 60, 97, 133, 201n26 Egremont, Third Earl [George O’Brien Wyndham] (1751–1837), art patron, Petworth House, Sussex, 51,199n11, 208n26 “The Egyptian Taskmaster” (1819), 62 Elohim. See “God [Elohim] Creating Adam” “Eloise” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Emlyn, Henry (1728/9–1815), architect, 19, 21, 133; Proposition for a New Order in Architecture (1781), 19, 21, 133 “The Empress Maud”(1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Enfield, William, Speaker (1780), 19, 149, 195n4 Engleheart, George, Esq. (1750–1829), London, miniature painter, 11, 133 English, Mr Joshua, Leeds, 133 engraver, Blake as, 3, 8–30, 104

223

index “Enoch” (1806), lithograph, 127, 196; designs, 55, 64, 155 Ensom, William (1796–1832), 133 Entwisle, John, Esq., Foxholes, Manchester, 133 “Epitome of James Hervey’s ‘Meditations among the Tombs’” (1820), 63 Epsom, Surrey, residence of Joseph Thomas, 51, 200n15, 209n58 Erdman, David V., Blake: Prophet against Empire (1954), xix Esdaile, William (1758–1837), 133 Essick, Robert N., scholar and collector, xv Ethelstone, Rev C.W., M.A., Ardwick, Manchester, 133 Euler, Leonard, Elements of Algebra (1797), 24, 150 Europe (1794), 83–5, 87, 89, 91–9, 101, 119, 127, 135, 147, 154, 170, 173, 181, 184, 187, 201n25, 204n12, 207n20, Illus. 19–32 European Magazine (1802), 73 Evans, Mr James, Manchester, 133 Evans, Rev John (1767–1827), Islington, Baptist minister, 133 Evans, Robert Harding (1778–1857), book and printseller, Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, later Pall Mall, London, 25, 72–4, 133–4, 202n2, 8, 10 Eve. See “Satan Exulting over Eve” and “Satan Watching the Endearments of Adam and Eve” “Eve Naming the Birds” (1810), 61 “Evening” (1821), 64 “Evening Amusement” (1782), engraving after Watteau, 12, 14, 20, 158 Exhibition (1809–10), Blake’s, 7, 45, 54, 75, 78–9 “Exhibition of Paintings in Fresco” (1809), 54, 74–5, 79–80, 147, 185, 202n1 Eyre, E., Esq., Lansdown Crescent, Bath, 134

“Ezekiel” (1794), engraving, 14–15, 18, 28, 123 “Ezekiel’s Wheels,” 66nc Fallalasole, Signor, 33 “The Fall of Man” (1807), 60 “Fall of Rosamond” (1783), engraving after Stothard, 10, 12–14, 21, 158, Illus. 2 “Falsa ad Coelum” (1790), engraving, 16 “Famine” (1795), 58 “Famine” (1805), 59 Farington, Joseph (1747–1821), painter and diarist, 48, 96–7 “Fauconberg The Bastard” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh “Faulconberg the Bastard” (1819), Visionary Head, 63 Favell, Samuel, Esq., Grove Hill, Camberwell, 134 Felpham, Sussex, Blake’s residence 1800–03, xviii, 33, 41 “Felton the assassinator of the Duke of Buckingham” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Fenning, John D., & J. Collyer, New System of Geography (1784, 1785), 21, 149, 195n4 Fentum, Jonathan, 78 Salisbury Street, London, music seller, engraver, and bookseller, 21, 134 Ferber, Michael, The Social Vision of William Blake (1985), xix Field, Edwin W., 95 Fielding & Walker, booksellers, 18–19 Fielding, John (fl. 1776–96), 23 Paternoster, London, bookseller, 20, 134 “Fiend” (1819), Visionary Head, 62, 67ni “The Fiery Cross” (1825), 65 “Figure from Michael Angelo’s ‘Last Judgment’” (1776), 57 Fillagreework, Miss, 33

224

index “Fire” (1805), 59 First Book of Urizen, 84–5, 87, 89, 91–100, 112, 130, 154, 173, 184, 205n14,15, 207n20 Fittler, James, Esq. (1758–1835), Marine Engraver, 134 Flaxman, Ann, called Nancy (?1760– 1820), wife of John, London, 31, 47–8, 52, 73–4, 134, 170 Flaxman, John, (1756–1826), London, sculptor, friend of Blake, 10, 17, 27, 29–33, 35, 38, 46, 51–4, 58–60, 64, 73, 92, 95–6nc, 134–5, 156, 160, 199n6, 203n11, 208n20; Hesiod (1817), 10–12, 129 (proofs), 156, 185, 195n8; Iliad (1805), 10–11, 18, 26, 49, 156, 185, 195n8; Naval Monument (1799), 12, 25, 121, 195n5 Flaxman, Nancy. See Ann Flaxman Flea. See “The Ghost of a Flea,” Visionary Head (1819) Fletcher, William, Esq., Erdington, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 135 Flower, Mr, Islington, 135 Foljambe, Thomas, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 135 Foot, Jesse, Esq. (1744–1826), London, surgeon and biographer, 136 For Children: The Gates of Paradise (1793), 58, 83, 86–7, 90–5, 99, 101, 113–15, 127, 130, 135, 137, 146, 161, 187, 205n16 Ford, Mr William (1771–1832), bookseller, Manchester, 136, 201n18, 208n30 For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise (1826), 15, 84, 89, 94 Fosbrook, Mr Thomas, Manchester, 136 Foster, John, Esq. (1740–1828), London, politician, 136 Foster, Mr John (1759–1827), Liverpool, joiner and architect, 136 Foulis, Mr James (1770–1842), Edin-

burgh, portrait painter and sculptor, 136 Fountain Court (No. 3) Strand, Blake’s residence (1821–27), 33, 41, 111 The Four Zoas (1796?–1807?). See Vala or The Four Zoas Fox, Dr, Bristol, 136 Fox, Mr Joseph (1775–1816), dentist [and philanthropist], London, 136 Foxley, Dr, Manchester, 136 Franceys, Mr S., Liverpool, 136 Frankfort black ink, 41 Frazer, Mr Edward, Manchester, 136 Freer, Rev T.L., rector of Handsworth, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 136 French Revolution (1791), 90, 149, 155 “Friar Bacon” (1819), Visionary Head, 63 Fulton, Robert, Esq. (1765–1815), London, engineer and artist, 137 Fuseli, John Henry (Johann Heinrich), Esq. (1741–1825), London, painter and friend of Blake, 10, 17, 29, 38, 47, 57, 95nd, 137, 171, 199n6, 210n72; Lectures on Painting (1801), 25, 150 Fysh, Selby, Esq., London, 137 Gainsford, Mr, portrait painter, London, 137 Gaisford, Thomas (1779–1853), classical scholar, 50, 137 Galton, Samuel, Esq., Dudson, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 137 Gaskell, Daniel, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 137 Gay, John, Fables (1793), 23, 180 Genesis Manuscript (Illuminated, 1826), 55, 65 Genesis MS (Tasso), 143 “Geoffrey of Monmouth” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh George IV (1762–1830), king, 137 Ghost of Abel (1822),84, 89, 94, 119

225

index “The Ghost of a Flea,” Visionary Head (1819), 54, 62 Gibble Gabble, Mrs, 33 Gilchrist, Alexander, Life of William Blake, “Pictor Ignotus” (1863), xiii, 39, 68nm, 86; Life of William Blake (1880), 199n13 Gilchrist, Ann, wife of Alexander, 199n13 gingerbread baker, John Blake as, 34 “Glad Day” (“Albion Rose”) (1780), engraving, 16 Gladstone, John, Esq., (1764–1851), Liverpool, merchant, 137 Goddington, Mr James, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 137 “God [Elohim] Creating Adam” (1795), colour print, 58 “God Judging Adam” (1795), colour print, 58 Godwin, Marie Vollstonecraft, Marie et Caroline (1799), 28nb “The Good and Evil Angels” (1795), colour print, 58, 184 Goodman, Mr Benjamin, Leeds, 138 Goodwin, Earl. See “The Death of Earl Goodwin,” drawing Gordon, John, 209n65 Gordon, Mr Price, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 138 Gotha, Erbprinz Emil August von (Hereditary Prince of Gotha), 138 Gott, Benjamin, Esq. (1762–1840), Leeds, cloth merchant and manufacturer, 138 Gough, Richard, Sepulchral Monuments in Great Britain (1786, 1796), 8, 17 “The Grave Personified,” Illus. 14 “Gray the Poet” (1819), Visionary Head, 63 Gray, Thomas, Poems (1790), illustrated by Blake, 46, 52, 58, 200n11, Illus. 11

“The Great Earl of Warwick” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Greatheed, Samuel, 73–4, 138 Greatrix, Samuel, Esq., Taxal 1 Lodge, Manchester, 138 Green, Mr James (1771–1834), portrait painter, London, 138 Green, Mr John, jun, Dudley, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 138 Green, Mr Valentine (1739–1813), printseller and engraver, London, 138 Green, Mr William (1760–1823), landscape draughtsman, Ambleside, 138 Green Street (No. 23), Blake’s residence (1782–84), 32 Gregson, James, Esq., Liverpool, 139 Gregson, Mr Matthew (1748–1824), Liverpool, antiquary and philanthropist, 139 Greville, Hon Charles, London, 139 Grice, Joseph, Esq., Handsworth, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 139 Guillod, Mr G, Hampton-in-Arden, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 139 Gutteridge, Mrs, Camberwell, 139 Guy, William, Esq., London, Hayley’s physician, 139 Gwinnett, Mr Thomas, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 139 Hadfield, George, print publisher, 13–14, 21, 139 Hadley, Henry, Esq., Handsworth, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 139 Hague, Thomas, Esq., London, 139 Haines, William (1778–1848), Chichester and London, engraver and miniaturist, 64, 140, 208n32 Halley, Mr, Rotherham, London, 140 Halliley, Mrs Robert, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 140 Halls, Mr John James (1776–1853), London, painter, 140 Hamer, Miss S., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 140 226

index Hamilton, Emily (?1761–1815), Lady Merton, Nelson’s mistress, Romney’s model, 140 Handel, musican, 33 Hanly, Mr Richard, Liverpool, 140 Hanson, Mr Edward, Manchester, 140 Hanson, Joseph, Esq., Strangeways, Manchester, 140 Harcourt, Lady Mary (d. 1833), 73, 140 Harcourt, Lord William (1743–1830), 73, 140 Harding, Mr Edward (1765–1840), London, engraver and bookseller, 140 Harford, John Scandrett, jun, Esq. (1785–1866), Bristol, biographer, 50, 141 Hargreaves, Mr Thomas (1774–1847), Liverpool, miniature painter, 141 Harlow, Mr Henry George (1787– 1819), portrait painter, London, 141 Harris, Mr G.F., Liverpool, 141 Harris, John (1756–1846), bookseller, St Paul’s Church Yard, London, 141, 198n13 Harris, Winter, jun, Esq., Bristol, 141 Harrison & Co., booksellers, 19, 21 Harrison, James II (1765–1847) & Co, 18 Paternoster Row, booksellers, 141 Harrison, Mr John, Manchester, 141 Harrison, Mr William, 15 Little Tower Street, London, wine and book merchant, 141–2 Harrop, Mr James, Manchester, son and successor of Joseph, 142 Harrop, Joseph (1727–1804), publisher of the Manchester Mercury, 142 Hartley, David, Observations on Man (1791), 22, 150 Hartley, Mr Samuel, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 142 Harvey, Mrs, Ardwick, Manchester, 142 Hassell, John, Memoirs of the Life of the Late George Morland (1806), 196n15

Hawkins, John (1758–1841), Blake’s patron, 31–2, 57, 73, 142 Hayley, Mrs, miniature (1800), 59 Hayley, Thomas Alphonso (1780– 1800), son of William, 17, 59 Hayley, William (1745–1820), Turret House, Felpham, Sussex, poet, Blake’s patron, 6, 10, 26, 29, 31, 43, 47, 51, 57, 50, 59, 74, 123–4, 142; Ballads (1805), 143, 166, 194n4; Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802), 17, 25, 32, 42–4, 69, 72–4, 113–14, 121, 123–5, 134–5, 138, 141–4, 147, 149, 156, 165, 169–70,173, 175, 179, 194n4, 202n10, Illus. 26; An Essay on Sculpture (1800), 25, 121; Life of George Romney (1809), xx, 17, 25– 6, 29, 35, 42–4, 53, 140, 165, 195n8; The Life … of William Cowper (1802), 17, 135, 151, 199n4, 208n43, Illus. 7; Little Tom the Sailor (1800), 42, 135, 179, 194n4; Triumphs of Temper (1803), 26, 121, 143 Haynes, David, Esq., Lonesome Lodge, Surrey, 143 Haynes, Miss, Twickenham Lodge, 143 Haythorne, John, Esq., Bristol, 143 Hayward, Esq., London, 143 Hazlitt, William (1778–1830), critic, 78, 204n29 Head of a Damned Soul (1789), engraving, 16 Heads of the Poets (1800–03), Blake’s, 50, 59, 143 Heath, James, Esq., (1757–1834), engraver, 11–12, 143 Heath, Mr Charles (1785–1848), engraver, London, 143 Heaviside, John, Esq. (1748–1828), London, surgeon and anatomical museum proprietor, 143 Heber, Richard (1774–1833), book collector, 144 “Hecate” (1795), colour print, 58 “Hell beneath is moved for thee,” 66nc

227

index “Henry the 5th” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Henry VIII (1819), Visionary Head, 62 Henry, Thomas, Memoirs of Albert de Haller (1783), 20, 149 Hepworth, Mr, Richard, Pontefract, 144 Hercules, a vision of (1825), 65 Hercules Buildings (No. 13), Blake’s residence (1791–1800), 33, 37, 41, 95na, 100nb, 205n13 “Herod” (1819), Visionary Head, 67ni Hervey, James. See “Epitome of James Hervey’s ‘Meditations among the Tombs’” (1820) Hervey, Mr James, Ancoats, Manchester, 144 Hervey, Mr William, Liverpool, 144 Hesketh, Harriet Lady (1733–1807), Cowper’s cousin, 72–4, 125, 144, 200n13, 203n12 Heslop, Mr, Manchester, 144, 206n2 Hett, Mr William, Leeds, 144 Hewitson, Middleton, Esq., Newcastleupon-Tyne, 144 Heywood, Arthur, Esq., Liverpool, 144 Heywood, Benjamin, Esq., Stanley-Hall, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 144 Heywood, Benjamin A., Esq., Manchester, 144 “Hiding of Moses” for Remember Me! (1824), Illus. 25 Hill, Mr John, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 145 Hill, Rev Rowland (1744–1833), London, evangelical preacher, 145 Hill, Samuel, Esq., London, 145 Hine(?), Benjamin, 145 History of England, series of engravings by Blake, 15 Hoare, Prince, Academic Correspondence (1804), 26, 172; An Inquiry into … the Art of Design (1806), 26 Hobday, Mr Samuel, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 145 Hobday, Mr William Armfield (1771– 228

1831), Small Street, Bristol, portrait and miniature painter, 145, 201n18 Hodges, Mr, Bristol, 145 Hodges, Mr, Soho, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 145 Hodgson, Mr John, Leeds, 145 Hodson, Mrs, Liverpool, 145 Hogarth, William, Works (1788), 21, 116, 195 Holcroft, Thomas, Esq., (1748–1809), London, novelist and dramatist, 145 Hold, Mr Joseph, Ardwick, Manchester, 146 Holdgate Bros, copperplate printers, 42 Holdsworth, Jr, J., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 146 Hole, Mr Henry, Liverpool, 146 Hollinshead, Lawrence Brook, Esq., Manchester, 146 Holmes, Mr, Bristol, 146 Hoole, John, bookseller, 20 Holt, Mr Thomas, Liverpool, 146 “The Holy Family” (1808), 61 “The Holy Family: ‘Christ in the Lap of Truth’” (1810), 61 “Holy Thursday,” from Songs of Innocence, 33 Hope, Thomas, Esq. (1769–1831), London, patron, 146 Hope, Thomas, Esq., Felfham, 146 Hoppner, John, Esq. (1758–1810), portrait painter, London, 146 Hopwood, Mr William (1784–1853), engraver, London, 146 Horde, Miss, Lansdown Crescent, Bath, 146 Hornby, Mr J., Liverpool, 146 Horton, Captain, Howroyd, Halifax, 147 “Hotspur” (1819), Visionary Head, 67 “House of Death” (1795), colour print, 58 Howard, Frederick (1748–1825), Fifth Earl of Carlisle, London, 147 Howard, Thomas, Esq., Hattercliffe, Sheffield, 147

index Hume, David, History of England (1793–1806), 13, 39 Hume, David, Esq. (1757–1838), Edinburgh, judge, 147 Humphry, Ozias, Esq. (1742–1810), R.A., London, painter, 51, 76, 78, 96–7, 100, 147 Humphry, P., bookseller, 202n2 Hunt, Leigh, 78 Hunt, Robert, Examiner (1809), 45–6, 78, 201n21 Hunter, Mr Claudius Stephen (1775– 1851), London, solicitor, Lord Mayor (1811), baronet (1812), 147 Hunter, John, Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island (1793), 23, 180 Huntington Library, 202n6, 206n4 Hurd, Richard (1720–1808), Bishop of Worcester, 73, 147 Hurst. See Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, booksellers Hurst & Robinson, booksellers, London, 13, 147 Hyde, Mrs Nathan, Ardwick, Manchester, 148 “an ideal hell” (1789), 57 “The Idle Laundress” (1788), print after George Morland, 13–14, 22, 177, 196n15 Ilive, Elizabeth (1769–1822). See Countess of Egremont Illuminated Genesis Manuscript, 155 Illuminated Printing, 12, 82, 102: costs, 5, 83–6; prices, 96, 99; sales, 87–8, 91–6, 104–5 Illustrations of Dante watercolours, 72, 102, 154–5, 194n4, n12, 205n8 (1838); engravings, 28–9, 42, 44, 55, 64, 155, 194–5, 205n8, Illus. 23 Illustrations of the Book of Job watercolours, 20, 47, 55–6, 60, 64, 68, 72, 120–1, 154–5 (1826); engravings, 28–9, 29nk, 42, 55–6, 102–3, 106–

10, Illus. 19, 21–2; subscribers, 12, 17, 112, 118, 121, 123–4, 127–9, 134, 138, 142, 153–4, 162, 165, 167, 169, 171–2, 180–1,185–8, 191–2, 208, 1874), 42 Inchbald, Rev P., Doncaster, 148 “The Industrious Cottager” (1788), engraving after George Morland, 13–14, 22, 177, 196n15 “Infant Joy,” from Songs (F) (1794), Illus. 10b “Infant Joy,” from Songs of Innocence (1789), Illus. 10a Ingram, Francis, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 148 insanity. See two types of insanity, Visionary Heads (1819) Iremonger, Miss Elizabeth (fl. 1789– 1813), bibliophile, 148, 176 Isaiah. See “The Prophet Isaiah Foretelling the Destruction of Jerusalem” Island in the Moon (?1784), 4–5, 43 Jabet, Mr Richard, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 148 “Jack Sheppard under the Gallows” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Jackson, John (1801–48), A Treatise on Wood Engraving (1839), 82 Jackson, Richard C. (1851–1923), wishful collector, 205n13 “Jacob’s Dream” (1805), 66nc, 203n16 “Jacob’s Ladder” (1805), Illus. 28 James, Mr Francis, London, 148 “James Upton” (1818), engraving, 14, 27, 155 “Jephthah Met by His Daughter” (1803), 59 “Jephthah sacrificing his daughter,” 66 Jerusalem (1804[–20]), 4, 7, 43, 84–5, 87, 89, 93–5, 99–102, 119, 154, 164,186–7, 201n25, 206n23 “Job” (1793), engraving, 14–15, 18, 28, 123 Job (1819), Visionary Head, 62

229

index Job (1826). See Illustrations of the Book of Job (1825) Johnes, Thomas, Esq. (1748–1816), MP, Hafod, Wales, 148 Johnson, Joseph (1738–1809), book and printseller, 72 St Paul’s Churchyard, London, 6, 13–14, 19–26, 29, 38, 47, 57, 59, 90, 149 Johnson, Joseph, Liverpool, 151 Johnson, Rev John (Johnny) (d. 1838), Cowper’s nephew, 64, 73–4, 148 Johnson, T., Holbeck, Leeds, 151 Johnstone, Dr John (1768–1836), physician and biographer, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 151 “John Upton” (1819), engraving, 10, 29, 55 “John Varley as an Elephant” (1820), 63 Jones, Robert, Liverpool, 151 Jones, Samuel, Green Hill, Manchester, 151 Jones, William, Esq., Broughton, Manchester, 151 “Joseph and Mary and the Room They Were Seen In” (1819), Visionary Head, 62 “Joseph of Arimathea among the Rocks of Albion” (1773), engraving, 28 “Joseph of Arimathea Preaching,” 130 “Josephs Mistress” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Josephus, Flavius, Complete Works (?1785–86), 19, 125 “The Judgment of Paris” (1811), 61 Katharine, queen. See “The Vision of Queen Katharine” Kearsley, George II (fl. 1791–1813), bookseller, London, 151 Kempton, Peter, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 151 Kennedy, Mr George, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 151 Ker, Charles Henry Bellenden (?1785–

1871), London, dilettante, law reformer, 151 Kershaw, Edward, Esq, Stockport, 151 Kershaw, Mr Thomas, Eccles, Manchester, 152 Kimpton, Edward, Universal History of the Holy Bible (?1781), 19, 125, 195n4 King, Mr, surgeon, Clifton Hot Wells, Bristol, 152 King, Mr G.H., Glasgow, 152 “King John” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Kirkup, Seymour (1788–1880), 78–9 Knott and Lloyd, Messrs, Birmingham, and its Vicinity [?booksellers], 152 Koster, Mr J.T., Liverpool, 152 Lace, Mr, Liverpool, 152 Ladies New and Polite Pocket Memorandum Book (1782), 19, 195n4 Lady’s Monthly Museum (1812), 46 Lahee, James, copperplate printer, 42 “Lais of Corinth” (1819), Visionary Head, 62, 67ni Lamb, Charles (1775–1834), essayist, 78, 152 Lamb, Mary (1764–1847), sister of Charles, 78 “Lamech and His Two Wives” (1795), 58 Landseer, John, Esq (1769–1852), engraver, 152 Langastre, Mr, London, crayon painter, 153 “Laocoon” (?1826), engraving, 17, 94, 154–5, 165 Large Blake-Varley Sketchbook, 62, 67nh Large Book of Designs, 91, 94, 97, 100, 147 “Last Judgment” (1806), 60. See “Vision of the Last Judgment” “The Last Judgment” (1809), 61

230

index “The Last Judgment” (1827), drawing, 46, 68 “The Last Supper” (1799), watercolour, 58 Lavater, J.C., Aphorisms (1788), 22; annotations, 194n15; Essays on Physiognomy (1789), 22, 162 Lawrence, Mr Richard, veterinary surgeon, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 152 Lawrence, Thomas (1769–1830), portrait painter, 4–5, 64–5, 67nj, 141, 153 Lawzun, Mr, London, 153 Lee, John, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 153 Lee, Mr, Surgeon, Bristol, 153 Lee, Mr Abraham, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 153 Lee, Thomas, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 153 Legat, Francis, Esq., (1755–1809), engraver, 153 Leigh, Mrs, daughter of C.A. Tulk, 209n65 “Let him look up into the Heavens” (1805) engraving, 16 Lever, Darcey, Esq., (?1760–1839), Leeds, writer on seamanship, 153 Lewis, Mr, London, 153 Ley, Dr Hugh (1790–1837), physician, Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, London, 153 Libson, Lowell Ltd, British Paintings and Works on Paper (2013), 210n66 Limerick, Bishop of, 15 Linnell, John (1792–1882), London, painter, engraver, printseller, and friend of Blake, 4–6, 10, 13–14, 29nh, 39, 42, 47, 54–8, 60, 62–5, 67– 8nk, nl, 95, 100–3, 154, 193, 197n7, 198n5, 199n4, 203n21, 205n22; portrait (1825), 65 Linnell, Mary Ann (Palmer) (1796– 1865), London, wife of John, 35, 155 Linnell’s children, 40

Lister. See Lord Ribblesdale Literary Journal (July 1806), 197n8 lithograph, 16, 196n21. See “Enoch” (1806) Livesey, Mr, Leeds, 155 Lloyd, James, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 155 Locke, William, jun, Esq., (1767– 1847), Norbury Park, 156 London Magazine (1820), 102 Long, William (1747–1818), surgeon, 31, 73, 156 Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, Paternoster Row, London, booksellers, 10, 156 Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, London, booksellers, 156 Lonsdale, James (1777–1839), London, portrait painter, 157 Lonsdale, Mr, Liverpool, 156 Lonsdale, Rev Mr, New Miller Dam, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 156 “Los and Orc” (1792), 58 “Los Walking on the Mountains of Albion” (1825), 65 Lowder, John, Esq., Chapel House, Bath, 157 Lowe, Mr Samuel, glass-painter, Handsworth, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 157 Lowthrop, James, Esq., Welton, near Hull, 157 “Lucifer & the Pope in Hell” (1805), engraving, 16 Ludlam, Jeff, Esq., London, 157 Lumb, Mr Henry, attorney at law, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 157 Lumb, Mr Samuel, Leeds, 157 Lumb, Thomas, Esq., Silcoates, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 157 lunatic, 46 Lupton, Jonathan, Leeds, 157 The Lute Player (1819), Visionary Head, 63

231

index Maberley, Mr, London, 157 Macklin, Thomas (1760–1800), 39 Fleet Street, London, printseller, 20–1, 34, 157, 200n12; “Evening Amusement” (1782), 10, 12–14; “The Fall of Rosamond” (1783), 10, 12–14; “Morning Amusement” (1782), 10, 12–14; Poetic Description of Choice and Valuable Prints (1794), 14n1; “Robin Hood and Clorinda” (1782), 12–14 Maconochie, Alexander, Esq., (1777– 1861), Edinburgh, lawyer and politician, 158 madness, Blake’s, 78 Mahomet (1819), Visionary Head, 62 Mair, John, Esq., Plantation, near Glasgow, 158 Makdisi, Saree, William Blake and the Impossible History of the 1790s (2003), xix Makin, Mr Robert, Liverpool, 158 “Malevolence” (1799), watercolour, 47, 184 Malkin, Benjamin Heath (1769–1842), M.A., F.S.A., Hackney, schoolmaster and antiquary, 158, 197n8; A Father’s Memoirs of His Child (1806), 26, 29, 33, 72, 121, 156, 158, 185 Mallalieu, Mr James, Manchester, 158 Manchester Gazette (1807), 208n30 Manners and Miller, Edinburgh, 159 “The Man Sweeping” (?1822), 16, 28, 127, 155 “The Man Who Taught Blake Painting in His Dreams” (1819), Visionary Head, 62–3 Markland, James Heywood (1788– 1864), Ardwick, Manchester, antiquary, 159 Marriage of Heaven and Hell (?1790– 93), 83, 86–7, 89, 91–6, 98–102, 112, 119, 131, 154, 172–3, 187, 201n25, 205n14, n17, 207n20

Marsden, Mr James, Bradford, Leeds, 159 Marsden, Mr John, Manchester, 159 Marsh, Edward Garrard (1783–1862), 73, 159 Marshall, Mr, bookseller, Bath, 107, 159 Martin, William, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 159 Mary. See “Joseph and Mary and the Room They Were Seen In” and “The Virgin and Child in Egypt” “Mary Queen of Scots” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Maskall, Miss, London, 159 Mason, Mr, Liverpool, 159 Masquerier, John James, Esq., (1778– 1855), London, painter, 159 Mathew, Harriet, London, wife of A.S. Mathew, patroness of artists and musicians, 4, 30–3, 36, 96, 160, 197 Mathew, Henry, mistake for A.S. Mathew Mathew, Henry, son of Antony Stephen Mathew, 197n2 Mathew, Rev Anthony Stephen (1733– 1824), Rathbone Place and Percy Chapel, Charlotte Street, London, 30–3, 96, 135, 159, 197n2 Maude, Mr James, Leeds, 160 Mawson, Mr, Ardwick, Manchester, 160 M’Corquodale, Esq., Liverpool, 160 M’Dowal, D.H., Walkinshaw House, near Paisley, 160 M’Vicarr, Duncan, Esq., Liverpool, 162 Meadows, Joseph Kenny (1790–1874), London, draughtsman, 63, 160 Mee, Jon A. Dangerous Enthusiasm: William Blake and the Culture of Radicalism in the 1790s (1992), xix Meheux. See “Robin Hood & Clorinda” (1783) Meredith, William George (?1756– 1851), Harley Place, London, patron of Thomas Taylor, 160

232

index “Merlin” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Meyler, W., and Son, booksellers, Bath, 107, 160 Michael Angelo, 16, 96–7, 205. See “Joseph of Arimathea among the Rocks of Albion” (1773) “Michael Angelo after Fuseli” (1788), 57 Milburn, Mr William, Leeds, 160 Miller, Mr Richard, bookseller, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 160 Miller, Mr William (1769–1844), Old Bond Street, London, bookseller, 58, 161 Miller, Mr William, Edge-Hill, Liverpool, 161 Milton (1804[–1811]), 84–5, 87, 89, 93–4, 98–9, 101, 112, 119, 186–7, 205n21 Milton, John, poet, 75, 78 Milton, John, L’Allegro, Blake’s watercolours for, 47, 62, 121; Comus, Blake’s watercolours for, 47, 51–2, 59, 61, 121, 182; “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” (1809), Blake’s watercolours for, 52, 61, 121, 182 (1815), 61; Paradise Lost, Blake’s watercolours for, 47, 52, 55, 60–1, 64, 120, 154, 209n62; Paradise Regained, Blake’s watercolours for, 55, 63, 67nj, 154, 182; Il Penseroso, Blake’s watercolours for, 47, 62, 121 “Milton when a Boy” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh “Milton when Young”(1819), Visionary Head, 67nh “Miltons Elder Daughter” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh “Miltons Youngest Daughter” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh miniatures, 50, 59, 61, 120, 143, 149 “The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes” (RA 1800), 59 “Mirth” (?1820), engraving, 16, 94, 154–5

“Miss Blandy” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Mitchell, Mr, printer, Newcastle-uponTyne, 161 Molteno, Mr Anthony, London, printer and bookseller, 161 money, xv, xvii–xviii, 97; Blake’s atttitude toward, 6–7, 195n21 Montgomery, Mr James (1771–1854), Sheffield, poet, 161 Monthly Magazine (1797), 24, 29nd, 150; (1807), 166, 197n8 Monthly Review (1806), 197n8 Moore & Co., Carpet and Hosiery advertisement (?1797), 13–14, 24, 161 Moore, Harriet Jane (1800–84), 95nd, 161 Moorhouse, Mr Thomas, Leeds, 161 Mora, Jose Joaquin de, Meditaciones Poeticas (1826), 107 Morland, George (1763–1804), dissolute artist, 13–14, 196n15 “Morning Amusement” (1782), engraving after Watteau, 12, 14, 20, 158 Moses. See “Hiding of Moses” Moses, Mr Henry (1782–1870), engraver, London, 161 “Moses Placed in the Ark of the Bulrushes” (1824), 64 “Moses Striking the Rock,” 66nc Moss, John, Esq., Liverpool, 162 Moss, Mrs, Liverpool, 161 “Mother Brownrigg” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Mottram, Mr Thomas, Manchester, 162 “Mrs Q” (1820), engraving after H. Villiers, 13–14, 28, 111 Munkhouse, Rev Dr, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 162 Murdoch, Mr, Edinburgh, 162 Murray, John (1778–1843), 32 Fleet Street, London, bookseller, 22, 162 music, 196–7n1 Muss, Charles (1779–1824), enamel and glass painter, London, 162

233

index Nabb, Mr William, attorney at law, Manchester, 162 Naylor, John, Esq., Belle-vue, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 162 Naylor, Mrs Hare, 176 Neagle, James (1764–1822), London, engraver, 162 Nebuchadnezar Coin (1819), Visionary Head, 62 “Nebuchadnezzar” (1795), colour print, 58 Nelson, Admiral Horatio, 140. See “The Spiritual Form of Nelson” (1805) Newman, C. (b. 1804), 162 Nicholls, Mr Ambrose, Bank of England, 163 Nichols, John (1745–1826), printer, 163 Nicholson, William, Introduction to Natural Philosophy (1782), 10, 20, 149 “Night the Third, Narcissa,” Illus. 12 “Noah & Rainbow,” 66nc Nollekens, J., Esq. (1757–1823), R.A., sculptor, London, 163 Norris, Miss, London, 163 Northcote, James, Esq. (1746–1823), R.A., painter, 163, 198n13 Norton and Son, Bristol, booksellers, 163 Notebook, 65, 81, 95, 199, 208n32 Novelist’s Magazine (1782–83), 20–1, 141–2, 195n4 Nutting, Mr Joseph, London, 163 obtuse angle, 33 Ogborne, Mr John (1755–1837), engraver, London, 163 Ogler, Mr, surgeon, London, 163 O’Kelly, Colonel, London, 163 Oldham, Rev John, Rector of Stondon, Essex, 163 “Old Parr When Young” (1819), Visionary Head, 63 Olivier, J., Fencing Familiarized (1780), 10, 19, 112 “Olney Bridge” (1821), 64 234

“Olympia” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh On Homers Poetry, 84, 89, 94 Opie, John (1761–1807), painter, London, 164 “Ossian” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Orme. See Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, booksellers Orme, Mr Edward (1775–1848), London, engraver, 164 Orme, Mr Joseph, London, 164 Ottley, William Young (1771–1826), 95, 164 Ottley, William Young (1771–1836), London, collector and writer on art, 164, 205n22 “Our End Is Come” (“War”) (1793), 14 “Owen Glendower” (1819), Visionary Head, 4, 29, 37–8, 40, 63, 67nh Owen, Thomas, Blake’s apprentice, 4, 29, 37–8, 40, 196n18 Owen, William, Esq. (1769–1825), R.A., London, painter, 164 Owen, William (1759–1835), later William Owen Pugh(e), Welsh antiquary, London, 164 Paillon, miniature painter, Glasgow, 164 painter, Blake as a, 45–68, 104 Paley, Mr George, Leeds, 164 Paley, Morton D., scholar, xix Palmer, Edward, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 164 Palmer, Mary Ann, 155 Palmer, Samuel, Esq., Bourton on the Water, 164 Palmer, Samuel, Esq. (1805–81), painter, disciple of Blake, 165 Palmer, Thomas, book and coal-seller, Bond Street, St Giles, London, fatherin-law of John Linnell, 165 Palmer, William, Esq., London, 165 paper, cost of, 85–6 Paradise, Blake in, 3 “Parental Affection,” watercolour, 200n3

index Paris. See “The Judgment of Paris” Paris, Alexander A. (fl. 1794–1833), 53 Long Acre, London, printseller, 13, 165 Parker & Blake, printsellers (1784), 15, 18 Parker, James (1750–1805), engraver, Blake’s partner in a printshop, 4, 18, 35, 43, 160, 165, 197n1; Catalogue (1807), 198n7, 10, 13 Parker, Joseph, bookseller, Oxford, 165 Parr. See “Old Parr When Young” Parsons, William, Esq., Bristol, 165 patrons, Blake’s, xv, 106–92 Payne, Thomas (1752–1831), PallMall, London, bookseller, 165 Peel, Miss, Ardwick, Manchester, 165 Peel, Mr R., Ardwick, Manchester, 166 Peel, Sir Robert (1788–1850), calico printer and politician, 166 Percy, Bishop, ed., Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765), 155 Percy Chapel of A.S. Mathew, 159 Perkins, Mr Henry, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 166 “Perkin Warbeck” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh “Pestilence” (1805), 59 Petworth, Sussex, seat of the Earl of Egremont, 51 “Pharoah who knew Joseph” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Philips, Owen T., Esq., London, 166 Phillips, George, Esq., Manchester, 166 Phillips, Henry Wyndham (1820–68), London, portrait painter, son of Thomas, 87, 166 Phillips, John Leigh, Esq. (d. 1814), Manchester, 166 Phillips, Richard (1767–1840), Bridge Street, London, bookseller, 166 Phillips, Robert, Esq., Manchester, 166 Phillips, Thomas (1770–1845), R.A., portrait painter, 87, 126, 167 Phillips, Thomas, bookseller, 72 Phillott, Charles, Esq., Bath, 167

“Philoctetes and Neoptolemus at Lemnos” (1812), 61 Phipson, Thomas, jun, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 167 “The Phoenix | ½To Mrs Butts” (?1794), 118 “Pickering Manuscript,” 194, 202–3n9 Pierpont Morgan Library, 16 “Pindar” (1819), Visionary Head, 67 “The Pindaric Genius receiving his Lyre,” Illus. 11 “Pisistratus” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh “Pitt,” painting, 46, 75 Pitts, Edmund. See “Edmund Pitts” (1793?), engraving “Pity” (1795), colour print, 58 Place, Mr Edward, Manchester, 167 Pocock, Sir George (1765–1840), 167 Poetical Register (1803), 74 Poetical Sketches (1783), 30–3, 47–51, 69, 73, 81, 100, 120, 127, 135, 143– 4, 155–6, 160, 170, 173, 184, 197n3, 205n19, Illus. 6 Poland Street (No. 28), Blake’s residence (1785–90), xvii, 32, 37 Pons, Rev Mr, Bristol, 167 Ponsford, I., 13–14 Poole, I., Newgate Street, London, bookseller, 167 Poole, Mrs Harriet (called Pauline) (d. 1827), Levant, near Chichester, friend of Hayley and Blake, 167 Pooley, J., Esq., Manchester, 167 “Pope Joan” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Potts, Mr Thomas, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 168 Poyntz, William Stephen, Esq. (1770– 1840), London, 168 Pratchett, Mr Richard, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 168 press, rolling, xvii, 35, 41, 72 prices of Blake’s books, 99 Priestley, Miss, Thorpe, Halifax, 169 235

index Princeton University Library, 195n6 printers, the Blakes as, 41–5, 104 prints, Blake’s collection, 6, 13–14 printseller, Blake as, 3–4 print shop of Blake and Parker (1784– 85), 34–6 “The Prophet Isaiah Foretelling the Destruction of Jerusalem” (1821), woodblock, 64 Prospectus. See “To the Public” Prosser, Mr, Charing Cross, London, 168 Prossu, Mr William, Gloucester, 168 Protestant’s Family Bible ([?1781]), 141 Protheroe, Sir Henry, Bristol, 168 Pughe, William Owen (1759–1834) [the Pughe was added in 1806], London, Welsh Antiquary [See William Owen], 57, 61, 79 Pullan, Benjamin, Esq., Leeds, 168 Pullan, Richard, Esq., Leeds, 168 Puttick and Simpson (1859), 210n68 Pye, John (1782–1874), engraver, London, 168 Quaritch Catalogue (1883), 208n29 “Queen Constance and her Son” (1785), watercolour, 184 “Queen Eleanor” (1819), Visionary Head, 62, 67nh “Queen Isabella wife of Edward 2d” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Quid the Cynic, 33 Quin, John, 209n56 Race, Mr Luke, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 169 Radclyffe, Mr William (1783–1855), engraver, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 169 Radford, Mr William, Leeds, 169 Rafael (Raffaelle), painter, 10, 205n18 Raimbach, Mr Abraham (1776–1843), engraver, London, 169 Ramsay, Mr James (1786–1854), portrait painter, London, 169

Ramsden, Mr Rowland, Halifax, 169 Randall, Mr Joseph, Leeds, 169 Randolph, Dr, 73, 169 Rardswell, Mr Charles, Liverpool, 169 Rathbone Place, residence of Harriet Mathew, 159 Rawson, Mr George, Leeds, 169 Reddish, Mr John, Manchester, 169 Redhead, Mr William, jun, Newcastleupon-Tyne, 169 Reed, Isaac (1742–1807), editor, 31, 73, 169 Rees. See Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, booksellers Rees, Abraham, Cyclopaedia (1816– 19), 27, 156, 195n5 Remember Me! (1824), 28, 64, 167, 194n4, Illus. 25 Reveley, H.I., 170 Reveley, Willey, 170 “Rev John Caspar Lavater” (1800), engraving, 13–14, 25, 150 “Rev.d Robert Hawker,” engraving after I. Ponsford (1820), 13–14, 28, 165, 181 Reynolds, Sir Joshua (1723–92), P.R.A., portrait painter, 4 Rhodes, Mr Abram, Leeds, 170 Ribblesdale, Lord [family name: Lister], Gisburne Park, Yorkshire, 170 “Richard Coeur de Lion” (1819), Visionary Head, 63 “Richard Savage the Poet” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Richardson, Mr, printseller, London, 170 Richardson, Mr Eben., Glasgow, 170 Richmond, George (1809–96), painter, disciple of Blake, 65, 170, 209n53; “Abel” (1825), 65 Richter, Jean Paul, 208n31 Richter, Mr Henry James (1772–1857), painter, London, 171 Riddell, Sir James, Mortimer, Berkshire, 171 “Riddle Manuscript,” 44nb, 202n9

236

index Rider, Mr Matthew, Manchester, 171 Ridsdale, John, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 171 Rigaud, John Francis, Esq. (1742– 1810), R.A., London, history and decorative painter, 171 “The Right Honourable Earl Spencer,” engraving, 27, 167, 178 Ring, Mr Joseph, Bristol, 171 Rishworth, Thomas, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 171 Ritson, Joseph, Select Collection of English Songs (1783), 21, 149, 195n4 Rivers, Sir Henry, London, 171 Riviere, Mr David Valentine (1780– 1854), drawing master, 171 Rivington, F.C. and J., London, booksellers, 26, 171 “Robert Bruce King of Scotland” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Roberts, Mrs, Piedwick, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 171 Robertson, Mr Andrew (1777–1845), miniature painter, 171 “Robin Hood” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh “Robin Hood and Clorinda” (1783), engraving after Meheux, 12, 14, 20, 158 Robinson, Henry Crabb (1775–1867), lawyer, diarist, 7, 66nf, 78, 87, 95no, 101, 171, 205n18, 209n54; Vaterländisches Museum (1811), 76 Robinson, John (1753–1813), Paternoster Row, London, and Thomas Egerton, Whitehall, London, booksellers 24, 172. See Hurst & Robinson, booksellers Robinson, Mr, bookseller, Liverpool, 172 Robinson, P., jun, Norton, near Sheffield, 172 Robson, James (1733–1806), Old Bond-Street, London, bookseller, 172 Robson, Mr John, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 172

Rock, Mr Joseph, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 172 Roffe, Mr, London, 173 Rogers, Henry, 173 Rogers, Mr Edward, Liverpool, 173 Rogers, Rev Thomas (1760–1832) Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 173 Rogers, Samuel (1763–1855), poet, 73, 173 Romney, George (1734–1802), London, painter, 4, 17, 30, 50, 95nb, 96, 125, 140, 157, 173, 205n13, 208n43 Romney, John, son of George, his sale at Christie’s, 9–10 May 1834, 205n16 Rooth, Mr William, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 173 Roscoe, William, Esq. (1753–1831), Liverpool, merchant and patron, 173 Roscoe, William Stanley, Esq. (1782– 1843), Liverpool, poet, son of William Roscoe, 173 Rossi, John Charles Felix, Esq. (1762– 1839), sculptor, London, 174 Roughsedge, Miss, Liverpool, 174 Roveray, F.J. du. See Du Roveray, F.J. “Rowena” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Royal Academy, 5, 56, 75–6, 107, 137, 153, 174, 201n18; exhibitions in 1780, 1784, 1785, 1799, 1808, and 1828, 45; School, 46 Royal Family, 39 Rubens, Peter Paul, painter, 77 Rushforth, Mr Richard, Manchester, 174 “Ruth & her mother in Law & Sister,” 66nb “Ruth the Dutiful Daughter,” 66nc S., J., 174 Sadleir, Richard Vernon, Esq., Southampton, 174 “St Paul Preaching,” 66nb “Saladin and the Assassin” (1819) Visionary Head, 63

237

index Salzmann, C.G., Elements of Morality (1791), 22, 38, 150; Gymnastics for Youth (1800), 150, 208n42 “Samson breakg Bonds,” 60 “Samson Subdud,” 66nc Sandbach, Mr Samuel, Liverpool, 174 Sanders, Mr Mark, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 174 Sanders, Mr William, Manchester, 174 “Satan” (1790), engraving after Fuseli, 16 Satan (1819), Visionary Head, 62 “Satan Calling Up His Legions” (1808), Blake’s watercolour, 51, 59, 133 “Satan Exulting over Eve” (1795), colour print, 58 “Satan Watching the Endearments of Adam and Eve” (1806), 60 Saul (1819), Visionary Head, 62 Schiavonetti, Louis (1765–1810), engraver, 11, 53–4, 195, Illus. 16 Schiavonetti, Nicholas (d. 1813), engraver, brother of Louis, 11 Schimmelpenning, Mrs [Mary Anne, née Galton], Bristol, author, 174 Schorer, Mark, William Blake: The Politics of Vision (1946), xix Schutz, Mrs, Gillingham Hall, Suffolk, 174 Scott, John, Poetical Works (1782), 20, 118, 195n4 Scott, Mr J., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 175 Scott, Mr John (?1774–1827), engraver, or (1784–1821), journalist, London, 175 Scott, Mr Robert (1777–1841), Edinburgh, prolific engraver, 175 Seagrave, Mr Joseph (d. 1808), printer, Chichester, 44nb, 70–2, 175, 202n2 Seally, J., & I. Lyons, Complete Geographical Dictionary (1782), 10, 20, 134 “The Sea of Time and Space” (1821), 64, 123

Seaton, J.F., Esq., Pontefract, 175 Seaton, John, Esq., Pontefract, 175 Seaton, Robert, Esq., Pontefract, 175 Seguier, William (1771–1843), painter, 40, 175 Serjeantson, Colonel, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 175 “Seven Shakespearean Subjects” (1780), 57 Seward, Anna (1747–1809), poet, 74, 175, 203n12 Seybold, Mr, Bath, 175 Shakespeare, William, 78; Boydell’s Graphic Illustrations of … Shakspeare (1803), 13, 116, 195n8; Dramatic Works, ed. George Steevens (1802), 25, 34, 116; The Plays of William Shakspeare, ed. George Steevens (1805), 26, 171; Second Folio (six designs, 1806–1809), 52, 60–1, 182 “Shakespeare’s Wife” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Sharp, Mr William (1749–1824), London, engraver, 12, 176 Sharp, Rev S., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 175 Sharpe, Mr John, Northend, London, 176 Sharpe, Mr John, attorney at law, Manchester, 176 Shaw, Mr Joseph, Leeds, 176 Shee, Martin Arthur, Esq. (1769–1850), London, painter and author, 176 Sheffield, W.E., Esq., Sommers Town, London, 176 Shepherd, Mr, Bristol [?bookseller], 176 Shepherd, Rev Wm, Gatacre, Liverpool, 176 Sheppard, Mr, Bristol, bookseller, 176 Shipley, Miss Catherine Louisa, sister to Mrs Hare Naylor, 176 Shury, Daniel Nathan, 17, BerwickStreet, Soho, printer, 77, 203n22 Signet Library, Edinburgh, 177

238

index Simcox, George, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 177 Simpson, Stephen, Esq., Close, Lichfield, 177 singer, Blake as a, 4 Singleton, Mr Henry (1766–1839), London, painter, 177 “Sir Robert Lucy, Shakespeares Persecutor” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Slater, Mr Christopher, Leeds, 177 Small Blake-Varley Sketchbook, 62 Small Book of Designs, 92, 94, 97, 100, 147, 205 Smalpage, Daniel, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 177 Smeeton, George, Printer, 17, St. Martin’s Lane, London, 80 Smith, George, Esq., Leeds, 177 Smith, John Raphael (1751–1812), King Street, London, printmaker and printseller, 13, 22, 177 Smith, John Thomas, 31; A Book for a Rainy Day (1845), 196; Nollekens and His Times (1828), 31, 39–40, 68nm, np, ns, 95–6, 193–4, 197n2, 205n18 Smith, Mr Edward, London, 177 Smith, Mr John, Bristol, 177 Smith, Mr John, Manchester, 177 Smith, Mr William, Leeds, 178 Smith, Mrs Richard, Bristol, 177 Smith, William, Esq., Sandhill, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 178 Smithson, Josiah, Esq., Rothwell, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 178 Smithson, William, Esq., Heath, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 178 Smyth, John, Esq., Leeds, 178 Smyth, Rev John, Liverpool, 178 Soane, Sir John (1753–1837), London, architect, 50, 178 Society of Antiquaries, 8 Socrates, Visionary Head of, 63, Illus. 17 “Soldiers Casting Lots for Christ’s Garments,” 66nc

Solomon (1819), Visionary Head, 62, 67nh Somerville, Mr, Edinburgh, 178 Song of Los (1795), 84, 91, 100nc, 119, 127, 130, 209n59 “Songs by Shepherds,” 135, 147, 170 Songs of Experience (1794), 84–5, 87, 89–93, 95, 97, 99; frontispiece, from Songs (F, L), Illus. 9 Songs of Innocence (1789), xvii, 57, 83–7, 89–93, 95, 98–100, 102, 109, 114–15, 118, 119, 121, 123–4, 127, 129–1, 134–5, 143, 148, 156, 158, 163, 173, 204n7. See “Holy Thursday” and “Infant Joy” Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794), 86–7, 89–101, 148, 108–9, 154, 166–7, 172–4, 176, 182, 184, 186–8, 193, 201n25, 205n19, n22, 206n24, 209n59; electrotypes, 5, 12, 52 Sotheby catalogue (1825), 210n72; (1853), 210n67 Southey, Robert (1774–1843), man of letters, 66nf, 78–9, 178 South Molton Street (No. 27), Blake’s residence (1803–21), 33, 204n30 Sowden, Mr John, Leeds, 178 Spencer, Edmund. See “The Characters of Spenser’s Fairie Queene” (1825), watercolour Spencer, George John (1758–1834), Third Earl Spencer, politician and bibliophile, 50, 73, 178, 206. See also “Earl Spencer” (1813), engraving Spicer, Mr William, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 179 Spicer, Widow of Folkstone, 25, 42 Spilsbury, Mr, Midhurst, Sussex, 73, 179 “The Spirit of God Moved upon the Face of the Waters” (1820), 63 “The Spirit of Voltaire” (1819), Visionary Head, 62–3 “The Spiritual Form of Nelson” (1805), 46, 60, 75, 79, 120

239

index “The Spiritual Preceptor” (1809?), watercolour, 184, 209n64 Spooner, Isaac, jun, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 179 Spratt, Mr T., Manchester, 179 stab holes, 205n16 Stanisforth, Samuel, Esq., Liverpool, 179 Stanley, J.T., tr. G.A. Bürger, Leonora (1796), 58, 161, 194n4 Startin, John, Esq., Spring-Hill, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 179 Stationers Company, 194n3 Stead, Mrs, Leeds, 179 Stead, Mr Richard, Leeds, 179 Stedman, John Gabriel (1744–97), soldier of fortune, 38; Narrative … to Surinam (1796), 23–4, 38, 150, Illus. 8 Steer, William, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 179 Steevens, George, ed., The Plays of William Shakspeare, 26, 171 Stephen, George (1794–1879), 179 Stephenson, Mr John, Hull, 180 Stewart, Anthony, Esq., (1773–1846), miniature painter, 180 Stock, Dr, Bristol, 180 Stockdale, John (1749–1814), Piccadilly, London, bookseller, 23, 38, 180 Stonehouse, John, Esq., Manchester, 180 Stothard, Thomas (1755–1834), London, painter, friend of Blake, 10–11, 38; “Canterbury Pilgrims,” 11, 15, 54, 77, 180, 195n6; “The Fall of Rosamond” (1783), 35, Illus. 2; “Zephyrus and Flora” (1784), 35, Illus. 4 Stuart, James, & Nicholas Revett, The Antiquities of Athens (1794), 11, 23, 103, 170 Stuart, John (1744–1824). See Bute, Marquis of Sumpster, Mr Francis, Leeds, 180

Sussex Chronicle & Chichester Advertiser (1802), 72–3 Sutherland, John, Liverpool, 180 Swainson, Mr W., Halifax, 181 Swallow, Mr J., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 181 Swan, Mr, Shadwell Dock, London, 181 Swayne, Miss, Salisbury, 181 Swedenborg, Emanuel, 209n64 Symmons, John, Esq., Paddington House, London, 181 Talbot Inn, 67 “Task Master whom Moses slew in Egypt” (1819), Visionary Head, 67ni Tatham, Charles Heathcote (1772– 1842), London, architect, father of Frederick, 65, 87, 106, 181, 196n16; Etchings (1799–1800), 204n8 Tatham, Frederick (1805–78), painter and sculptor, Blake’s disciple, 6, 56–7, 66nf, 181, 203n21; biography of Blake, 18, 38–9, 95nf, 186 “The Tax Gatherer” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Taylor, James, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 181 Taylor, John, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 181 Taylor, Josiah, House of Correction (for swindling), 181 Taylor, Mr Thomas, Barnsley, Halifax, 182 Taylor, Thomas, Platonist, 160 teacher, Blake as 4, 35, 37–40, 104, 118, 121 temperas for the Bible. See Bible Temple, Miss, Northwood Place, Beccles, Suffolk, 182 Tetley, Mr William, Leeds, 182 Thackrey, Mr Michael, Leeds, 182 Thane, William, picture restorer, 182, 209n56 There Is No Natural Religion (1788), 83, 95–6, 100, 184, 204n12 240

index Thomas, Mrs, wife of Joseph, 182 “Thomas a Becket” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Thomas, Rev Joseph (d. 1811), Rector of Epsom, Surrey, 51–2, 59–64, 90, 100, 182, 209n59; Religious Emblems (1808), 52 Thomason, Mr Edward, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 183 Thompson, Mr T., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 183 Thomson, Henry, Esq., (1773–1843), painter, London, 183 Thomson, James, The Seasons, 71 Thornton, Dr Robert John (1768– 1837), physician and writer on botany, London, 63–4, 142, 183; The Lord’s Prayer, 155 Thorp, Rev William, Bristol, 183 “The Three Maries at the Sepulcher,” watercolour, 66nb Throckmorton, Mrs, Bath, 73 Thwaites, Mr Henry, London, 183 Timmins, Mr James, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 183 “Timon” (1825), 65 “Timon and Alcibiades” (1790), engraving after Fuseli, 16, 18 Tiriel, 65 Titian, painter, 77 Tomkins, Mr Peltro William] (1759– 1840), London, engraver, 183 Tomkins, Thomas (1743–1816), Sermon Lane, London, writing engraver, 183 “Tom Nixion the Idiot author of the Prophecies” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Tootal, John, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 183 Tootal, Mr Thomas, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 183 Torrens, Lady, wife of Sir Henry, Lady Torrens and Family (1825), 65 Torrens, Major-General Sir Henry (1779–1828), 184

“To the Public” (1793), prospectus, 5, 12, 15, 33, 50, 80, 83, 85, 87, 91, 96–100, 103 Townley, John, Esq., London, 184 Traill, Dr Thomas Stewart (1781– 1862), Liverpool, physician, 184 Tresham, Henry, Esq. (1750/51–1814), London, history painter and art dealer, 184 Trotter, engraver, 39–40 Trueman, Mr Edward, Pontefract, 184 Trusler, Rev Dr John (1735–1820), author, 29, 47, 184 Tulk, Charles Augustus (1786–1849), Swedenborgian writer and politician, 32, 47, 184, 200n3 Turner, Alexander, Esq., Leeds, 185 Turner, Dawson (1775–1858), banker and autograph collector of Yarmouth, 97, 100, 185, 210n69 Turner, Joseph Mallord William (1775– 1851), painter, 5, 51 Turner, Mrs, Brentford, 185 two types of insanity (1819), Visionary Head, 62 Twedell, Rev Robert, M.A., Ardwick, Manchester, 185 Twiss, Richard (1747–1821), antiquary, 90, 95na, 149 Udney, Mrs, London, 185 Underhill, Mr Wm., jun, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 185 Upcott, William (1779–1845), antiquary and autograph collector, London, son of Ozias Humphry, 185, 205; Autograph Album, 65, 185 Upham, Mr John, bookseller, Bath, 185 Upton, John. See “John Upton” Uriah and Bathsheba (1819), Visionary Head, 62 Utterson, Edward Vernon (?1776– 1856), antiquary, 186 Uwins, Mr Thomas (1782–1857), London, painter and book illustrator, 186

241

index Vala, or The Four Zoas (1796?–1807?), 155 Varley, John (1778–1842), London, painter and astrologer, friend of Blake, 54, 62–4, 186; portrait of (1820), 63. See also “John Varley as an Elephant” Vaughan, Richard, Esq., Redland, Bristol, 86 “Venus Dissuades Adonis” (1787), engraving after Richard Cosway, 13–14, 21, 140 Vetusta Monumenta (?1789), 17 Vickers, Mrs Ann, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 186 Viliers, H., 13–14. See “Mrs Q” Vine, James (d. 1837) of the Isle of Wight, collector, 186, 205n22 Virgil, Pastorals, ed. R.J. Thornton (1821), 28–9, 142, 154, 183, 194n4, Illus. 5; drawings, 63 “The Virgin and Child in Egypt” (1810), 61 Viscomi, Joseph, xiii Visionary Head of Boadicea, 62 Visionary Head of Socrates (1819), Illus. 17 Visionary Heads, 54–5, 154, 186 “The Vision of Queen Katherine” (1790), 57 “The Vision of Queen Katharine” (1807), 60 “The Vision of Queen Katharine” (1825), watercolour, 64 “A Vision of the Last Judgment” (1806), 60, 97 “The Vision of the Last Judgment” (1808), Blake drawing 51, 60, 133 Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793), 50, 83, 86–7, 89, 91–6, 98– 100, 119, 127, 129, 135, 170, 172–3, 204n12, 205n14, n19, 207n20 Voltaire. See “The Spirit of Voltaire” “Vortigern” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh

Wainewright, Thomas Griffiths (1794– 1852), author, painter, poisoner, friend of Blake, 66nf, 95nn, 98, 101– 2, 185, 205n22, 210n72 Walker, Mr George, Edinburgh, 187 Walker, Mr Samuel, Leeds, 187 Walkers, Miss, St John’s, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 187 Wallace, William. See “Edward I and William Wallace” “War” (“Our End Is Come”) (1793), 14–15 “War” (1795), colour print, 58 “War” (1805), 59 Ward, James, Esq. (1769–1859), London, painter, 187 Ward, Mr, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 187 Ward, Mr, surgeon, Manchester, 187 Ward, T.A., Esq., Sheffield, 187 Warren, Judge Charles, 188 Warren, Mr Charles (1766/7–1823), London, engraver, 187 Wat Tyler (1819), Visionary Head, 62– 3, 67nh “Wat Tyler in the act of Striking the Tax Gatherer” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh “Wat Tyler’s Daughter” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh “Wat Tyler’s Daughter striving to get loose from the Tax Gatherer” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh “Wat Tyler striking the Tax Gatherer” (1819), Visionary Head, 67 watermark: H WILLMOTT | 1810, 80; 1794 | I TAYLOR, 205n14; 1794 | J WHATMAN, 205n14; N. Hendon 1802, 75; 1802, 70; 1807, 80; 1807 AP, 77 Waters, Mr, 188 Watson, Charles, Esq., Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 188 Watson, Shepley, Esq., Hemsworth, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 188

242

index Watt, James, Esq., Heathfield, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 188 Watt, James, jun, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 188 Watteau. See “Morning Amusement” and “Evening Amusement,” 14 Watts & Bridgewater, Southmoltonstreet, printers, 80 Watts & Co., Printers, Southmolton Street, 75 Watts, Ann, printer, 75 Watts, Mr Walter Henry (1776–1842), London, journalist and painter, 188 Wauchope, Mr John, Writer to the Signet, Edinburgh, 188 Waugh, Captain, Outwood, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 188 Webb, Mr Thomas, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 188 Webster, Mr Francis, Kendal, 188 Wedgwood, Josiah (1730–95), pottery maker, 189 Wedgwood, Josiah jun, 189; catalogue (1816), 27, 189, 195 Welsh, 29 Wentworth, G.W., Esq., Woolley, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 189 West, Benjamin, Esq. (1738–1820), London, painter, 189 Westerman, Mr William, Leeds, 189 Westmacott, Richard, jun (1775–1856), London, sculptor, 189 Westminster Abbey, 10 Wheeler, Miss, London, 189 Wheeler, Mr Charles, Manchester, 189 Wheeler, Mr John, Manchester, 189 “When the Morning Stars Sang Together” (1805), Illus. 20 “Wherefore dost bruise me?” Dante engraving, Illus. 23 Whish, Rev Martin, Bristol, 189 White, John, bookseller, London, 190 White, Mr Charles, London, 189 White, Mr James, Manchester, 190 White, Rev Mr, Lichfield, 189

Whitehead, Mr James, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 190 Whitelock, Rev R.H., Manchester, 190 Whitely, Mr W., Yewtree, Manchester, 190 Whittenbury, Mr John, Green Hay, Manchester, 190 Whitworth, Mr Adam, Manchester, 190 “The Whore of Babylon” (1809), 61 Wiatt, Mr Thomas, Liverpool, 190 “Widow Embracing the Turf which Covers Her Husband’s Grave,” Illus. 15 Wilcock, Mr William, Halifax, 190 Wilke, David, artist, xvii Wilkes and Grafton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity [?booksellers], 190 Wilkie, G., bookseller, 21 Willetts, Mr Jeremiah, Tipton, Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 190 Williams, Rev Wm, prebendary of Landaff, 190 Williams, William, Esq., Maida Hill, London, 191, 210n74 Willoughby, Mr, 191 Wilson, Mr George, Ardwick, Manchester, 191 Wilson, Mr J., Triangle, Halifax, 191 Wilson, Sir Henry, Chelsea Park, 191 “Wilson Lowry” (1825), engraving after John Linnell, 11, 13–14, 28–9, 29nj, 55, 155 Windle, John, Catalogue Thirty-One (2000), 210n74 “Winter” (1821), 64 “The Wise and Foolish Virgins” (1822), watercolour, 64, 154 “The Wise and Foolish Virgins” (1825), watercolour, 64, 66nc, 140, 153 Wit’s Magazine (1784), 21, 142 Wollstonecraft, Mary, 22, 38; Marie et Caroline (1799), 194; Original Stories (1791), 23, 38, 150–1, 194n4; watercolours, 48, 57

243

index Wood, Mr Henry, London, 191 Wood, Mr John, Manchester, 191 Wood, Mr Richard, Manchester, 191 Wood, Rev William, Woodthorp, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 191 Wood, Sir Francis, Bart, Hemsworth, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 191 Woolley, James, Esq., Birmingham, and its Vicinity, 191 Woolner, Thomas, 209–10n65 Wordsworth, William (1770–1850), Grasmere, poet laureate, 5, 191; Excursion (1814) transcript of Blake’s notes, 172; Poems (1815) (Robinson lent it to Blake), 172 Wormald, Richard, Esq., Leeds, 191 Wormald, Thomas, Esq., Leeds, 192 Worthington, Mr W.H., London, 192 Worthington, T.G., Esq., London, 192 Wrangham, Ven. Francis (1769–1842), writer and Church of England clergyman, 192 Wray, Mr John, Wakefield, and its Vicinity, 192 Wright, Mr, Museum, Lichfield, 192 Wright, Mr John Masey (1777–1866), painter, London, 192 Wyndham, George O’Brien (1751– 1837), Third Earl of Egremont, art patron, Petworth House, Sussex. See Egremont

“Xantippe wife of Socrates” (1819), Visionary Head, 67nh Yates, Joseph, Esq., Peele Hall, Manchester, 192 Yates, M.J.A., Esq., Liverpool, 192 Yenn, John, Esq., Kensington, 192 Yorkshire, 206n1 Young, Edward, Night Thoughts (1797), 10, 24, 28–9, 49, 52, 58, 102, 114, 121, 127, 130, 132, 137–8, 144, 172, 178-79, 182, 187, 194, 208n31, 209n54, Illus. 1, 12–13; coloured engravings, 49–50, 59; cost of coloured engravings, 50; payments for, 48–50; prospectus, 200n9; watercolours, 48–9, 58, 132 Young, George Mayne, surgeon, 192 Young, Mr, Devonshire, 192 A Young Fawn (1819), Visionary Head, 62 “Zephyrus and Flora” (1784), engraving after Stothard, 14–15, 18, 35, 43–4, 44na 165, 198n10, Illus. 4

244