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Summary:
In his Illuminated Books, William Blake combined text and imagery on a single page in a way that had not been done since the Middle Ages. For Blake, religion and politics, intellect and emotion, mind and body were both unified and in conflict with each other: his work is expressive of his personal mythology, and his methods of conveying it were integral to its meaning. There is no comparison with reading books such as Jerusalem, America, and Songs of Innocence and of Experience in Blake's own medium, infused with his sublime and exhilarating colors. Tiny figures and forms dance among the lines of the text, flames appear to burn up the page, and dense passages of Biblical-sounding text are brought to a jarring halt by startling images of death, destruction, and liberation. Blake's hope that his books would obtain wide circulation was unfulfilled: some exist only in unique copies and none was printed in more than very small numbers. Now, for the first time, the plates from the William Blake Trust's Collected Edition have been brought together in a single volume, with transcripts of the texts and an introduction by the noted scholar David Bindman. A major retrospective exhibition of Blake's work can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (March-June 2001). 400 color illustrations.
Includes: Jerusalem Songs of Innocence and of Experience All Religions are One There is No Natural Religion The Book of Thel The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Visions of the Daughters of Albion America a Prophecy Europe a Prophecy The Song of Los Milton a Poem The Ghost of Abel On Homers Poetry [and] On Virgil Laocoon The First Book of Urizen The Book of Ahania The Book of Los
Customer Reviews:
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Blake's Illuminated Works
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I'm currently working on a graduate thesis on Blake, so it was with great eagerness that I hunted down this Illuminated Works compilation. I love Blake's poetry and it's hard to say anything bad about it, and I thought that if I could see the poems in the way Blake meant for them to be seen I would gain some sort of deeper insight into his words. However, as I eagerly opened this volume I was greatly disappointed. Certainly, the color of the images is breathtaking and the artistic detail put into each image is outstanding. The transcript of the poems at the end was a nice addition. Still, none of the pros could outweight the enormous con - the illuminated works were printed in small sizes, sometimes taking only 1/4th of the page, sometimes taking 1/8th of the page, and sometimes taking less. It's sad to see paper wasted in such a manner.
If you're looking for a Blake anthology look for his complete poetry and prose with Harold Bloom's introduction. If you're looking for his Illuminated Works in print, go elsewhere.
To Create a Little Flower is the Labour of Ages
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Valuable things are not easy; easy things are not valuable. I don't know if that's a quotation from the Tao-Te Ching, but it ought to be. William Blake's longer poems, the so-called Prophetic Books, are legendary in their difficulty. Each of the two great epics, "Milton" and "Jerusalem", is a world in itself, taking years or decades to explore. Everyone who has made the effort considers it time well spent.
Blake wasn't shy about the importance of his own work. In a letter he described "Milton" as "the Grandest Poem this World Contains". But these immense, unique hand-engraved, hand-coloured cosmic-spiritual epics found no buyers in Blake's own lifetime. Only one coloured copy of "Jerusalem" is known to exist.
The Illuminated Books have been reproduced in colour before, but this is the first time all the plates have been printed full-size in a single book. Blake is fascinating even in black-and-white, but to read these books in the form intended means entering a new world. By depicting spiritual principles as People, Blake shows us the meaning of all ancient gods.
After the lyrics of the "Songs of Innocence and "Songs of Experience", the best place to start is the "Book of Thel", then the "Visions of the Daughters of Albion". When reading the long books, a plain text copy of the "Complete Poems" will come in handy: difficulty in reading Blake's graceful orange script for "Jerusalem" may be one difficulty too many. The remaining shorter books, with their anguished mythical narratives, rely more than the others on their illustrations, printed as if with fire, rust and soot: images of an age of Revolution.
Blake's aim was nothing less than "to open the immortal Eyes/ Of Man into the Worlds of Thought, into Eternity/ Ever expanding in the Bosom of God, the Human Imagination". Astonishingly this is not exaggeration nor plain craziness: he can actually do this. If a book I admire gets five stars, this one deserves fifteen. It's a marvel, a rectangular treasure, one of the most precious books ever printed.
Truly wonderful in scale
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I'm so glad I bought this; although it's expensive and hard to come by, I am pleased to finally have a copy of Blake's complete pictorial works. Of course I also bought a copy of his complete written works. If you are a lover of Blake's work and strive to understand him fully, this is a must-have.
To improve your design and creative capabilities
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William Blake - a genius before his time - created powerful words and images. Reading his works, and studying his pictures, will have a positive effect on your ability to design and communicate. Since purchasing this book, I've found increased attention to details, ways to eliminate clutter, a better ability to write succinctly and creative ways of looking at problems. I recommend this book for all readers wishing to improve their communication, design and creative skills. You won't be disappointed.
Pictures of his work are too small and only of his books.
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Where is a good book on Blake that has color large reproductions of his actual paintings and not just his illuminated books?? Sigh. I love Blake, but am not happy with this book so I returned it.
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