Assumptions regarding the origin of the technique and form of illuminated books

. . . after deeply perplexing himself as to the mode of accomplishing the publication of his

illustrated songs, without their being subject to the expense of letter-press, [Blake's]

brother Robert stood before him in one of his visionary imaginations, and so decidedly

directed him in the way in which he ought to proceed, that he immediately followed his

advice, by writing his poetry, and drawing his marginal subjects of embellishments in

outline upon the copper-plate. . . so that the outlines were left as a stereotype. . . . The

plates in this state were then printed in any tint that he wished, to enable him or Mrs.

Blake to colour the marginal figures up by hand in imitation of drawings. (Smith, 1828,

qted. in Bentley, Blake Records 460)

By the end of 1788, the first portion of that singularly original and significant series of

Poems [Songs of Innocence], . . . had been written; and the illustrative designs in color, to

which he wedded them in inseparable loveliness, had been executed. . . . He had not the

wherewithal to publish on his own account; and though he could be his own engraver, he

could scarcely be his own compositor. Long and deeply he meditated. How solve this

difficulty with his own industrious hands? How be his own printer and publisher? . . .

After intently thinking by day and dreaming by night, during long weeks and months, of

his cherished object, the image of the vanished pupil and brother at last blended with it. In

a vision of the night, the form of Robert stood before him, and revealed the wished-for

secret, directing him to the technical mode by which could be produced a facsimile of

song and design. (Gilchrist, Life of Blake, 1863)

the form of the illuminated book was "influenced by books of medieval illumination. "

(Hagstrum)

Blake's "method can be defined as an attempt to recapture the effect of a medieval page,

but in a technique which admits of reproduction." (Blunt)

"Perhaps [by 1784] Blake was already considering how to combine the engraving of

words and drawings on copper, as a means of creating coloured prints of poems which

would resemble illuminated manuscripts." [davis 30]

the illuminated book was an intentional "return to the integrated manuscript containing

word and picture individually created with a minimum of mechanical intervention. "

(Easson)

"To create anew both the illustrated book and its reader, to bring into relief the infinite

form of the book hidden by fragmentation of its art, Blake created his method of

Illuminated printing." (Easson)

Blake intended to "wed together his poems and designs and to issue them to the public on

his own account, independent of the publishers who had shown themselves unwilling to

receive them." (Russell)

"It is no wonder that Blake found no publishers for the abstruse mysticism and allegory of

his prophetic books, and he was no doubt led by mere circumstances into devising his own

means of production, i.e. the etching of text and design in relief." (Hind)

"preferred. . . to be a martyr for his religion, i.e. Art, to debasing his talents by a weak

submission to the prevailing fashion of art in an age of artistic degradation. " (Crabb

Robinson)

Blake expected his method, "at a single blow," to "make him independent of publishers as

well as of patrons, so that he could achieve personal independence as both poet and

painter," and thereby effect "a revolutionary break from patronage and commercial

exploitation." (N. Frye)

divided labor, or fragmentation, "fundamentally violated [Blake's] ideas about art..." and

that the "illuminated books were partly designed as an artistic escape from those narrow

commercial anxieties," and "as a way of putting body and soul back together...[which] are

conception and execution, the integrity of art and the artist, and ultimately of civilization

itself..." (Eaves)

Blake "tried to produce his own works in deliberate defiance of his period's normal

avenues of publication. Blake retreated to a method of literary production which antedated

even the patronage system of the 18th century. And as for the commercial system of his

own day, this was an institution from which he early sought to gain his independence."

(McGann)

"Blake is one of the most notable technical innovators in the history of art. his technical

innovations were part of a rebellion against the artistic dominance of the aristocracy and

commercial bourgeoisie. It involved a struggle to transform the relations of artistic

production in favor of the creative artisan. Blake's invention of the "illuminated book"

(where text and illustration are etched together on the same plate), and the colour print,

were technical innovations whose real driving force was the historic need to transform the

conditions within which art was produced. This is part of the revolutionary nature of

Blake's art." (Crehan)

Illuminated Books were "produced only one copy at a time, as [Blake] got commissions"

(Davids and Petrillo)

The seventeen copies of Visions of the Daughters of Albion are thought to have been

"printed and coloured over a period of about thirty-two years, " with copies A-E in 1793-5,

two color-printed copies (F and R) in 1795, copies G, H, I-M between 17961800, and

copies N-P in 1821-25 (Bentley, Blake Book 465). The first sixteen copies of Innocence

and nine copies of Songs are thought to have been produced between 17891800, with the

remaining copies of Innocence and Songs printed between 1802 and 1808 and 1814 and

1827 (Hlake Books 382). The "sixteen surviving copies of Thel were probably coloured

and sold over a period of about thirty-eight years," with copies A-B, D-E ca. 1790-95, and

G-J, L 1796-1803, and copy F ca. 1806, and copies M-Q around 1815 or later (BB 118).

America's fourteen copies are thought to have been printed between 1793 and 1821 (Blake

Books 87).

"During the day [Blake] was a man of sagacity and sense, who handled his graver

wisely, and conversed in a wholesome and pleasant manner; in the evening, when he

had done his prescribed task, he gave loose to his imagination." (Cunningham, 1830)