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Customer Reviews (3)

Wonderful and Imaginative art -- nice reproduction quality
This is a beautiful book that really lets you see Blake's creative process: the illustrations range from loose sketches and incomplete paintings, to articulately finished works of art. This book does NOT contain the text of the Divine Comedy, but each plate lists the line numbers it illustrates so one can easily use it while reading Dante's masterpiece. I don't know what the customer who wrote in Italian's complaint is (since I don't understand Italian), but I give this book a top recommendation to all lovers of Blake's art.

Delusion
Purtroppo il mio voto è assolutamente negativo. Mi aspettavo le 102 illustrazioni in Full Color, ma invece sono molto meno
quelle complete. Le altre sembrano schizzi, o prove d'autore, o opere incomplete.
Diciamo che ce ne sono 10 o 15 mozzafiato....ma per il resto......

A Good Book if You Like Blake's Art
I was a copy of Dante's Divine Comedy as a birthday present for a friend who mentioned they would like to have one with the William Blake illustrations. It's hard to the actual Divine Comedy with these illustrations, but then I stumbled upon this. It's nice because you have all of the illustrations (even ones unfinished or not in the original edition of the book with his illustrations). Since my friend already had a copy, I decided to buy this! He loved it and I'm glad I bought it. The quality of the pictures is excellent. A great coffee table book for sure! ... Read more

Product Description
William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake’s work is now considered seminal in the history of both poetry and the visual arts. Once considered mad for his idiosyncratic views, Blake is highly regarded today for his expressiveness and creativity, as well as the philosophical and mystical undercurrents that reside within his work. His work has been characterised as part of the Romantic movement. Blake’s first collection of poems, Poetical Sketches, was published circa 1783. In 1788 Blake began to experiment with relief etching, a method he would use to produce most of his books, paintings, pamphlets and poems. His other works include: Tiriel (1789), Songs of Innocence (1789), The Book of Thel (1789), The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790), The French Revolution (1791), Songs of Experience (1794) and The Ghost of Abel (1822). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Poems as Blake Would Have Wanted Them
William Blake is one of the most original and influential English poets - so eccentric and ground-breaking that even his biggest fans considered him insane long after his death. The poems in Songs of Innocence are one of his most popular and lasting achievements, essential for anyone even remotely interested in poetry and a good place for those new to Blake and poetry generally to start. This edition is particularly valuable in that, unlike nearly all others, it presents the poems as Blake intended. It is important to realize that he was as much a visual as a literary artist and in fact issued the poems in "Illuminated Books" where they were written on color plates with various pictorial representations. He did not consider the poems standalone works, and the visual element is indeed important. Pictures often underline or reinforce the words but sometimes seem to give a contrary impression; only a few are apparently incidental. Whether or not one likes visual art and regardless of how one thinks the poems work in themselves, they do play off visual elements in complicated and interesting ways. Needless to say, because the plates are expensive and difficult to reproduce, nearly all collections have only the poems - a concept that would have appalled Blake if he could have even conceived it. The poems are of course more than good enough to stand alone, but we must remember that Blake never meant them to do so. This volume reproduces the plates in a manner as close as realistically possible to his intent; this is not one of Dover's Thrift Editions but a very high quality production with vivid colors and strong binding. In short, it is absolutely essential for the dedicated and a pleasant surprise for casuals. It also usefully reprints the poems alone for reading ease. Anyone wanting only the poems can easily find such a volume, but this edition's bonuses and incredible value make it well worth buying even for general readers. Also, for reasons I will make clear, the companion volume Songs of Experience is a necessary counterpart.

1789's Songs of Innocence celebrated innocence as variously reflected in childhood, showing infants' and children's relatively pure mental and physical states before adult corruption. Many of its poems are first person from a child's perspective, and most of the rest describe a child's point of view; others speak to or about them. Blake used appropriately simple vocabulary and form; lines are short, rhymes obvious, and imagery very pared down. Indeed, at first glance, the poems seem puerile. However, a closer look shows they are anything but; despite - or perhaps even to a certain degree because of - this, they have a wealth of significance. They are in fact at least as complex as most far longer works; extremely thought-provoking and often morally ambiguous, they raise a host of important questions. These apparently simple poems address a wide range of theological and ontological queries. They also deal with more practical themes like class, race, and family relations, taking on economic, social, and other concerns. Most of these are answered with conventional platitudes heavily soaked in Christianity; the poems seem a paean to optimism and can be very uplifting, but cynics may even laugh aloud.

However, this is only half the story. In 1794 Blake added Songs of Experience, which essentially carried the concept into adulthood. Simple poetic trappings remained, but the tone was now far darker; cynicism and pessimism crept in, showing an opposite plane of thought and seemingly even a different world. Several poems were direct responses to those in Innocence, sometimes with the same name. This greatly multiplied the works' already very complex nature. It is important to remember Blake's subtitle:Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. Experience essentially deals with the same questions as Innocence but has contrary conclusions. Having them in the same book is disarming and perhaps somewhat unsettling. Blake does not say which, if either, he believes or show any favoritism; one might say putting the Experience poems last does the latter, but this is merely chronological. He creates a true moral and intellectual murk, leaving us to find our way out - if we can.

As this suggests, the poems were not only at the very advent of Romanticism but also very modern in a way literature almost never was until the late nineteenth century. Blake was so far ahead of his time that it is small surprise he was little understood or appreciated. Succeeding generations have seen him and his work in various ways, but the notable thing is that both have endured; his work has such greatness and depth that each age sees itself in it. This is partly because of its ambiguity but at least as due to its universality; Blake's themes are fundamental human thoughts and emotions that let his work speak as profoundly now as ever. Here we begin to see just how important his simple forms are; they are as appropriate for the themes as the subjects. Since his concerns are elemental, so are his forms; the former are relevant to all and the latter accessible to all, letting him speak to all. This aspect also makes the songs a great way to introduce the uninitiated to poetry and are indeed often used in introductory classes; his eminently accessible verse is perfectly suited for showing the rudiments of meter, tropes, and rhyme. Conversely, of course, his treatments are anything but simple, which makes him ideal for the most abstruse close readings - an apparent paradox he would doubtless have appreciated.

There are many ways to buy Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, but it is essential to get both and read consecutively, whether in individual or combined editions. Blake meant them to be experienced as one, and they play off each other as few works do. Getting one is not just missing half the experience but nearly the whole; they are able to stand on their own, but the impression is extremely misleading and, perhaps more importantly, unintended. They are so excellent in any case that anyone who reads one will immediately want the other, making both doubly necessary.

From humility, genius.
Dover has done the reading world an enormous favor by keeping books like this available in low-cost editions.Poems like "The Little Black Boy," The Chimney Sweeper," and "The Lamb" are amongthe sweetest, saddest lyrics ever penned by a poet in English.Readingthese poems in an edition that provides facsimile color reproductions ofthe original watercolor plates (painted individually by hand) helps in ourperception of them.These poems were meant to be absorbed visually. Branches, vines and leaves weave through the lines as we read.Of coursechildren can appreciate the sentiment and charm of the poems, but olderreaders will see their sharp social criticism as well, especially whenbalanced against matching poems in Blake's "Songs of Experience." This book has my favorite pastoral lyics in the language.It is apermanent contribution to the spirit of humankind. ... Read more

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Since its first publication in 1965, this collection has been widely hailed as the best available text of William Blake's poetry and prose. It is now expanded to include a new foreword by Harold Bloom, his definitive statement on Blake's greatness. ... Read more

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E. P. Thompson's long-awaited book on William Blake was published shortly after the historian's death in August 1993. Acclaimed as one of his best and most deeply felt works, it appears now for the first time in paperback.Written with a vivid passion, and bearing the marks of Thompson's lifelong struggle against authoritarian and anti-humanitarian politics both at the level of the individual and of the state, Witness Against the Beast: William Blake and the Moral Law is a profound enquiry into the structure of Blake's thought and the character of his sensibility. Its qualities are among those which place Thompson himself in the same tradition of dissenting values and non-conforming radicalism represented by Blake some two hundred years earlier. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

An Affordable and Indispensable Volume of Drawings
Published in 1970 this Dover Book DRAWINGS OF WILLIAM BLAKE: 92 PENCIL STUDIES is still available and remains at a very affordable price.Compiled and commented on by Sir Geoffrey Keynes, this resource volume very completely addresses the important pencil drawings Blake made throughout his artistic career.

Though many of these drawings have been published before as Blake's illustrations for 'The Book of Job' and 'The Divine Comedy', this collection which spans his entire career expressing his own personal symbolism, his versions of the great myths, his allegories and his 'grotesques', many in print for the first time. Blake's spiritual nature, and his ability to express it in both poetry and paintings, here includes some wonderfully refined full frontal male and female nudes.But in the end it is his elusive, mysticalvision drawings that will register with the reader fully familiar with the life of William Blake.In Blake's words 'Let a Man who has made a Drawing go on & on & he will produce a Picture or Painting, but if he chooses to leave it before he has spoil'd it, he will do a Better Thing'.

The quality of paper in this book is not of the highest, but it matters little.In fact the gradual yellowing that occurs in rag of this sort weds the content with the image even more mysteriously!Grady Harp, February 06 ... Read more

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Blake was one of the finest craftsmen of his time, an artist for whom art and poetry were inextricably linked. He was an independent and rebellious thinker, who abhorred pretension and falsity in others.His Songs of Innocence are products of this innocent imagination untainted byworldliness, while the Songs of Experience resulted from his feelings of indignation and pity for the sufferings of mankind. Songs of Innocence and of Experience includes some of Blake's finest and best-loved poems, beautifully illustrated by his original art work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

a duez
"modest" size is an overstatement- small book - very small print - my copy has overshading on the print - very difficult to read - impossible for "poison tree"-beautiful poetry - terrible delivery - of course, printed in china

Blake's most popular illuminated works in a fine edition
These are Blake's most popular and accessible works, by far.The poems combined with the wonderful drawings make powerful and memorable statements that stay in your heart and mind.Several, such as "The Tyger", "The Chimney Sweeper", and "London", are very well known.Each of us has our own personal favorites and love turning to them again and again.

One of issues in buying an edition of these works is that they exist in a variety of colorings, and orders.I would recommend this edition for several reasons. The selection of the King's College Copy is one of the most uniformly delightful or the copies Blake (or his wife) colored.Also, the reproduction is of very high quality.Each plate is on a right hand page with the text in print on the left hand page (in case you have problem reading the plate).Even thought the book is in a large format, the plates are reproduced in their actual size (which is surprisingly modest).

There are also a dozen plates provided from other editions.However, I would recommend that you pick up other editions based on other copies.The variety of schemes Blake used in coloring the plates is quite interesting and, well, illuminating.

The second half of the book is commentary on the 54 plates of this copy.There is an introductory essay and a list of works cited in the commentary.

It really is a beautiful reproduction and a joy to have on my shelf.

A must have!
I recommend that any fan of William Blake buy this volume and the other 5 in the series. The books are beautiful, large, and handsomely bound. Each book is reproduced in full color, using a six-color printing process rather than the standard four. The pages are heavy, opaque and have a gorgous lustre indicating very high quality paper. The text of each book accompanies the color reproductions in standard typeface with very competent commentary to boot.

songs of innonence
a great book thus symbolic meaning of a child innonece reflects the attitude of a lamb who is humble meek and obebient. ... Read more

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Key Features:*Study methods *Introduction to the text *Summaries with critical notes *Themes and techniques *Textual analysis of key passages *Author biography *Historical and literary background *Modern and historical critical approaches *Chronology *Glossary of literary terms ... Read more

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The only manuscripts to survive that lead to the production of one of William Blake's published illuminated books are those of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience, his most accessible and best-loved work. Here, one of the world's foremost authorities on Blake's manuscripts and illuminated printing details the evolution of this masterwork and its entire production process.

In the manuscript known as An Island in the Moon are found the beginnings of Songs of Innocence and in the Manuscript Notebook, a treasure of the British Library, over fifty poems in draft leading to Songs of Experience. All of the pages in manuscript of Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience are reproduced in color facsimile, including many of the drawings used in illustration, granting the reader a singular view of the artist's mind at work. Michael Phillips details the stages of Blake's composition and his remarkable technique of relief etching text and design on a single copperplate. For the first time, he demonstrates Blake's development of selective color printing of the design in opaque pigments over the original monochrome impression. Used in producing the first copies of Songs of Experience, this second step accounts for their dramatic contrast with the first issues of Songs of Innocence, which were hand-colored in transparent watercolors.

Blake united Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience in 1794 and produced copies in greater numbers than any other work until his death. In the past, the last copies Blake made have been reproduced because of their elaborate and expensive decoration. Phillips concentrates upon the first copies, revealing the original conception of the work. An impressive selection of these plates are reproduced for the first time.

This beautifully illustrated book is a major contribution to Blake studies. It will delight Blake enthusiasts and all who are fascinated by the extraordinary processes of creation and reproduction it describes.Amazon.com Review
One day in the late 1760s, when William Blake was a little boy enrolled in a London drawing school, a strange thing happened as he walked across Peckham Rye. He saw "a tree filled with angels, bright angelic wings bespangling every bough like stars." These spirits, and a host of other creatures that peopled his fervent imagination, would later be immortalized in the engravings and poems he printed on his own press, which have placed him in the first rank of British artists and literary figures. And so it is surprising that this fine book--impeccable in every respect, from the detailed yet easy-to-follow notes on individual prints, drawings, and paintings to the quality and thoughtful presentation of the 250 reproductions--wasn't published sooner. It accompanies "William Blake," the largest-ever exhibition of the artist's works, which originated at the Tate Britain and is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through May 27, 2001.

Essays by biographer and novelist Peter Ackroyd and Romantic poetry specialist Marilyn Butler set the stage for the haunting images of powerful, accursed, and spectral figures on succeeding pages. The four sections of the book address key aspects of Blake's art. The first one focuses on the influence of Gothic style and spiritualism on his style. The second deals with Blake's life during the 1790s in the South London village of Lambeth, where he harnessed his printmaking innovations to radical political views. It is intriguing to learn how even Blake's new, typically contrary method of etching in relief was a metaphor for his belief in divinely inspired innate ideas. The third section discusses the odd characters that peopled Blake's works, and the fourth surveys his major illuminated books (including Songs of Innocence and Experience), which he created, in his words, "under the direction of Messengers from Heaven, Daily & Nightly." --Cathy Curtis ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

William Blake
The purpose of this exhibition and its accompanying catalogue is to explain and bring to life the achievements of William Blake, one of our greatest and most intriguing artist, poet and writer. In displaying the full range of Blake's work together with contextual materials, this exhibition focuses on his vision, his rich and complex mythology, his political interests, and his highly original working techniques.

Brilliantly enlarged pictures, much variety
I used to buy art books only from bargain shelves and tables, sometimes from bookstores that were only selling bargain books.Amazon.com has both varieties of books, and it would be unfair for me to review one book when I really think you should buy the other (bargain) variety.There should not be much confusion between two 304 page books with the title WILLIAM BLAKE when the books are actually the same, but the contents are of such variety, listing Peter Ackroyd, Marilyn Butler, Robin Hamlyn, and Michael Phillips as authors of the exhibition guide for the exhibition at Tate Britain, London, 9 November 2000 - 11 February 2001, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 29 March - 24 June 2001, so it might be possible for someone who was looking to see if the listing in two places was identical to discover differences in the information given, though I believe both books are published in 2001 by Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York (Printed and bound in Great Britain).

If you just want pictures, some of which seem quite large, this book has 250 illustrations, including 240 plates in full color.If you like descriptions of pictures, you might find yourself jumping around in the book.A large picture on page 10 is labeled:`Opposite:`Newton' 1795/c. 1805 (no. 249, detail) on page 11.After the Index on pages 296-298 is a Checklist of Works Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on pages 299-304 provide a variety of numbers, including a catalogue number in brackets as follows:

129 [249] Newton 1795/c. 1805Color print finished in pen and ink and watercolor 46 x 60 (18 1/8 x 23 5/8) on paper approx. 54.5 x 76 (21 1/2 x 30)Tate; presented by W. Graham Robertson 1939

The full picture is shown on page 213 with a tiny number 249 in the corner by the top margin and a description on page 212 that includes more information than above about "Signed `1795 WB inv [in monogram]' and the inscription.It is possible that the detail page 10 is about full size, showing the lower 30 cm. of a picture that is 46 cm. tall.Catalogue number 248, Sketch for Newton c. 1795 described on page 212 as being on a paper slightly smaller than standard typing paper, might not appear in this book at all.Turning back the page from 212 to pages 210-211 reveals a gigantic crawling Nebuchadnezzar 1795/c. 1805 (no. 247, detail) which is a 30 x 46 cm. (almost 12 inch by 18 inch) enlargement of less than half of a picture that was even larger 44.6 x 62 (17 5/8 x 24 3/8) originally.Pages 210-211 is almost lifesize, with a nose 2 inches long and 5 inches from the bottom of Nebuchadnezzar's lower lip to the part in his hair just above his forehead.

It is difficult to tell how many numbered pictures are not in this book.The final catalogue number 303 described as `Jerusalem.The Emanation of the Giant Albion 1804 - c. 1820' on page 282 is a general reference used to cover paintings of Jerusalem plate 97 (detail) (p. 283), Plate 1 (p. 284), Plate 2 (p. 285), Plates 3, 4, 9, and 11 (p. 287), Plate 12, Plate 26 (p. 289), Plates 51, 69, 70, 84 (p. 291), Plates 92, 97, 99 (p. 293), and pages describing these 15 plates describe 7 plates from Jerusalem that are not shown.

People who are interested in reading interpretations of Blake's works will find a sponsor's forward by Stephen Deuchar on page 7, Acknowledgements and Preface by Robin Hamlyn, Christine Riding and Elizabeth Barker on pages 8-9, `William Blake:The Man' by Peter Ackroyd on pages 11-13, `Blake in His Time' by Marilyn Butler on pages 15-25, a Chronology on pages 26-28 and initials of 10 individuals indicating other authorship on page 29.

`One of the Gothic Artists' on pages 32-97 describes items up to catalogue number 96, `The Queen of Heaven in Glory.'`The Furnace of Lambeth's Vale' on pages 100-171 starts with a description of Blake's Printmaking Studio and various techniques, including a detail on page 111 shown more than 5 times the original size of the small print no. 107 There is No Natural Religion 1788/1795 Copy L shown on page 110.There is in this part a political section called "Lambeth and the Terror" on pages 152-167 which mention items of `Rex vs. Blake' catalogue numbers 208 through 210, items that are not shown.Perhaps we learn more by merely seeing no. 212, The Accusers c. 1804 Copy E on page 167, "A Scene in the Last Judgment."

Pictures are generally clear enough for the lettering by William Blake to be legible, where it is not too small, but pages have been selected without regard to the continuity of the original text.For example, Blake's comments on Swedenborg in his book THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL, Catalogue no. 127, pages 132-135, include Plate 21 and Plate 24 but not the pages between to and from which the thoughts carry over.

`Chambers of the Imagination' on pages 174-257 includes items numbered from 219 to 297 The Ancient of Days 1824?`Many Formidable Works' on pages 258-293 concludes with many plates from a few of Blake's works.No. 298 Plate 42 `The Tyger' on page 269 (upper left) is lightly colored, "Shown in profile beneath the pale blue bark of a tree trunk," (p. 268) while no. 163 Plate 42 Copy G c. 1793-1794 on page 155 shows a tree and tyger with much darker colors.

Anyone who plans to enjoy looking at the pictures more than anything else could start with this book.People who seriously study WILLIAM BLAKE must have their own reasons.Because his writings cover so much, most people could gain some knowledge of bits and pieces from a work like this.

Beautiful Art
The works of Blake are represented here on wonderful gloss paper with large images to fully appreciate the artistic genius of William Blake. This book is also intersperesed with essays that explain his life, his writing, and his art. through his various images you can see his complex and troubled life come into view. A must have for anyone who loves Blake and Extremely helpful for anyone who wants to know him and his work. ... Read more

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Journey back to the 1700s to meet one of the most fascinating people in history. Dreamer, craftsman, poet, madman, and genius — William Blake. Born in 1757 in London, as a boy he apprenticed as an engraver and began a career that would include masterpieces of art.

Blake lived during times of incredible change and upheaval, including the Gordon Riots and the French Revolution. Spiritualism and the allure of magic were being replaced by a belief in rationalism. Blake celebrated the beauty of small things. His work showed, “…a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower….” [William Blake] Yet, with the noise and dirt of mills (factories), the Industrial Revolution was drowning out a quiet, rural way of life. The value of things made carefully by hand was being lost.

At the same time, the printing press was making it possible for more and more people to read. The rise of printed books and book illustration was revolutionary and Blake was part of it.

On the 250th anniversary of Blake’s birth, master storyteller Michael Bedard brings this Renaissance man and his times to vivid life in this biography that is lavishly illustrated with Blake’s work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Blake-Understood
I always wanted to figure out what was behind the art and poems of William Blake and I think this author has a special way of getting the reader to that exact information.It is kind of like an Ed Burns documentary but added to that is the joy that the author feels for his subject. That joy added to the rapture of Blake's life leads the reader to splendor.

Blake's Alive!
This is much more than a kids biography. This is a well-organized, handsomely-presented full read on Master Blake. Yes it's a perfect introduction for someone, but I also found this to be a superb supplementary book for the William Blake fan. I was impressed throughout -- especially with the loads of illustrations herein. Killer lil Blakebook.

Great Blake book for all to experience
Wonderful summary of Blakes life geared towards young adults but also helpful for older readers. Great illustrations and beautiful inside cover illustrations. A real joy to read and own!!!

AJ FAL ... Read more

Product Description
These Everyman's Library Pocket Poets hardcover editions are popular for their compact size and reasonable price which do not compromise content. Poems: Blake contains a full selection of Blake's work, including Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, poems from Blake's Ms. book, poems from The Prophetic Books, and an index of first lines. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

For the common reader not the scholar
This work contains 'The Songs of Innocence' 'The Songs of Experience' a selection from Blake's manuscripts, and from the longer Prophetic Books.
For the complicated Blake so loved by Northrop Frye and other literary critics this small edition of his work will of course, not do. But for the common reader, the one who loves the memorable short lines, the striking rhymes this edition is fine.
Great Blake seems so simple and makes myths in short lines and stanzas.
This is a very good collection for those who love the most popular Blake of all.

Mystical vision
Blake is both a great mystic and a great poet. If you enjoy either poetry or mysticism or both you will like his poems. He tends to work on a large scale. For example all of the poems in Songs of Innocence fit a scheme and have a counterpart in Songs of Experience. I like this edition because it is very handsome with nice binding, and includes the major works of Blake. Now all you need is a book of his engravings and paintings. ... Read more

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Bronowski was fascinated by William Blake for much of his life. His first book about him, "A Man Without a Mask", was published in 1944. In 1958 his famous Penguin selection of Blake's poems and letters was published. As further testimony to Bronowski's enthusiasm it should be noted that the final plate in the book of his great TV series "The Ascent of Man" is Blake's frontispiece to Songs of Experience. "William Blake and the Age of Revolution", first published in 1965, is, in some ways, a revised edition of "A Man Without a Mask", in others, a new book. In it Bronowski gives a stimulating interpretation of Blake's art and poetry in the context of the revolutionary period in which he was working. Like all of Bronowski's writings it dazzles with wide-ranging erudition, making this work far removed from conventional literary criticism. ... Read more

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This collection was designed for optimal navigation on Kindle and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically making it easier to access individual poems. This collection offers lower price, the convenience of a one-time download, and it reduces the clutter in your digital library. All books included in this collection feature a hyperlinked table of contents. The collection is complimented by an author biography.

Customer Reviews (2)

Essential for Blake fans and the Blake curious
Works of William Blake. (80+ Works) Incl: Songs of Innocence and Experience, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Poetical Sketches and more. Published by MobileReference (mobi)

This is the ebook to own if you're wanting to add William Blake to your Kindle library. It is an outstanding resource! The ebook is well organized and easy to work with. I'm very pleased with it. A wonderful collection for any Blake fan to own and for the curious to lose themselves in the majesty that is William Blake.

essential ebook
Works of William Blake. (80+ Works) FREE Author's biography and poems in the trial version.

This is a wonderful collection to own. The ebook is neatly organized and easy to navigate, making the section you're looking for a snap to find. ... Read more

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Among Blake’s finest works: 21 watercolors interpreting the great biblical book and its theme of unmerited suffering. Also presented here are 11 additional watercolors, plus 28 black-and-white illustrations, including 21 extraordinary engravings based on the watercolors. All reproduced from a rare, limited facsimile edition published by The Pierpont Morgan Library. New introductory essay. Total of 60 illustrations.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great Inexpensive source for dramatic Biblical images. Buy it
`Blake's Illustrations for the Book of Job' by the great 18th century illustrator and poet, William Blake, is a superior source of inexpensive copies of these works, which the publisher characterizes as `among the artist's greatest achievements'.
The best feature of the volume, aside from its reasonable price, is the size of the illustrations. As long as one is willing to stress the spine of the book a bit, it is very easy to make excellent scans of the illustrations. And, if one needs especially high quality scans of the large color reproductions, you can cut out the page(s) to insure that they lay flat on the scanning bed with no shadow creeping in along the edges. Since the list price of the book is less than $10, it is virtually no hardship to buy two copies of the book to have one intact on your shelves while the second copy gives up its pages for your presentations.
For those unfamiliar with Blake's work, it's important to know that he did not one, but at least two full series of illustrations, both of which are in this volume. The first is a series of 21 black and white engravings, with borders including English and Hebrew writings relevant to the scene depicted. The second is a series of 21 larger color engravings, the Linnell set, made by manually applying watercolor to the black line image made by an engraving reproduction. Supplementing the color engravings are two additional sets (not of the full set of 21) called the Butts Set and the New Zealand set. There are some small variations in coloring and in line detail between the parallel images in the New Zealand set compared to the Linnell set reproductions. One advantage of the New Zealand set is that they are smaller, so they may be less difficult to scan and embed in a document.
Blake's Job illustrations are a terrific find for those who wish to do a Bible study of the Book of Job, as it reinforces the sense that this is one of the most powerfully written pieces of literature in the whole of Judeo-Christian scriptures.

Beautiful!
This book of Blake's illustrations -- both color and detail black & white -- of his interpretation of the Book of Job is such a beautiful treasure.

Hevenly Images
Blake's Illustrations for the Book of Job makes me want to take a Bible study course, just to learn as much as I can about the compelling sketches so beautifully printed on the pages of this eye-catching book.Each lovely oversized page of this book depicts a Scripture episode found the Biblical Book of Job, all of them worth meditating on.I am particularly impressed by the images Blake paints of God, who appears consistently benevolent even in the face of Satan. This book creates fascinating imagery, painted by a man whose life was, apparently, somewhat fixated on this particular subject. Blake painted these images sometime in the early 19th century, but they are still contemporary and memorable.I really love this book for its artistic interest and as a subject for an art history course.

A book that changed my life
I was shown a copy of this book 25 years ago. Blake's art transformed my world. I have been a student of Blake ever since. I still go back to this book often. This book, in a few pages, gave me an entry into Blake's system. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Divine Comedy of William Blake
There is still much work to be done in picking up the clues to Blake's meaning and analyzing Blake's choices of subject from The Divine Comedy, even though he certainly would have altered and finished the many watercolors that are still penciled in. In doing so he would have probably covered up some of his spontaneous responses to Dante, and replaced the often breathtaking freedom of pencil-work with a more measured application of pen and watercolor. There would have been gains in in overall coherence and the resolution of some problems of interpretation, but there would have also been a loss of the most precious things about the series as it was left to us; the wonderful sense of Blake's mind working upon the problem of Dante, with an immediacy of perception lost in the more finished watercolors. When we see them altogether as an unfinished series still with spontaneous and even scatological comments left on the underdrawings, as we do in this volume, it is as if we were looking at them in Blake's own workroom and holding a conversation with him at the same time.

An absolutely beautiful reproduction of these watercolors
This exquisite volume contains the 102 watercolors that Blake had been commissioned to produce to illustrate Dante's "Divine Comedy".He worked on these watercolors for the last three years of his life and died with the project incomplete.Even though these illustrations are in varying degrees of completion, for people like me who love William Blake, each is a vast treasure and a joy to study.

This is fine edition that has an introductory essay by the editor, David Bindman.This essay and all of the captions are given in English, German, and French side-by-side and on the opposite page to the reproduced watercolor.The colors are rich and beautiful and the reproductions are clear and precise.

Mr. Bindman is to be applauded for the gorgeous book.It was given to me as a gift by a very thoughtful friend to whom I am very grateful. ... Read more

Product Description
This edition contains a facsimile of each page of Blake'soriginal illustrated mauscript with the text in a clear modern font on the facing page. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

"The Great Divorce"
"The Great Divorce" wasn't Lewis's "response" to Blake.Even Lewis was smart enough to admit that he wasn't anywhere near Blake's level.Read his introduction to that book again.

It's not about the bible
The other reviewers are missing the point.Blake did not believe in the Christian ideology enought to want to contradict the bible.He believed that god is a construction of the human imagination, the Poetic Genius (read "All Relgions are One" and "There is no Natural Religion").To speak in terms of religiosity, he had to use Christian terminology (Ezekial, Isiah, Satan...) because the language of religion was created this way, and Blake was forced to speak in those terms before developing his own language system.The bible contradicts itself; Blake's writing and thinking transcend that superficial level.

contradiction
As far as the ideas in this book contradicting the bible; that particular opinion is completely wrong.The only way one could think so is to have missed the fact that the entire book is a viciously ironic and satirical commentary on those who would claim to represent Christianity while in actuality profaning it.Only the "angels"miss this fact.And as far as C.S. Lewis is concerned, he is as weak when reading Blake as he is when reading Milton.

The Bible is not the definitive authority on quality.
I fail to see how whether or not this book is contradictory to the bible is any indictation of whether it is good or not.

Contradicing the bible
Many of the ideas in this book are very contradicting to the bible. Read C.S. Lewis' responce to this book "The Great Divorce". ... Read more

Product Description
Discusses Blake the poet rather than Blake the artist in an attempt to discover and, "as far as may be, expound the 'doctrine' of William Blake: "the Everlasting Gospel'" as it finally became known. Analyzes in depth the mysticism and unwordliness of the author.

THIS TITLE IS CITED AND RECOMMENDED BY:Books for College Libraries; Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. ... Read more