Product Description
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

Product Description
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

Product Description
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

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

Product Description
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
William Blake was an engraver, painter and visionary mystic as well as one of the most revolutionary of the Romantic poets. His writing attracted the astonished admiration of authors as diverse as Wordsworth, Ruskin, W.B.Yeats, and more recently beat poet Allen Ginsberg and the 'flower power' generation. He is one of England's most original artists whose works aim to liberate imaginative energies and subvert 'the mind-forged manacles' of restriction. This volume contains many of his writings, including: Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and a generous selection from the Prophetic Books including Milton and Jerusalem. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

excellent!
Fellow Readers,

The book itself (selection of poetry) was perfect. The book's physical condition was excellent and the delivery was very fast. I am so grateful for this "used book" service available to all of us.

Kate Greene

The Selected Poems of William Blake
This is not "new" reading for me, but my previous copy is worn to shreds.My only issue with this particular volume is that there are no pictures of Blake's amazing artwork.Perhaps when I am a little more flush I'll get the book that does have it. ... Read more

Product Description
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

Product Description
THIS 8 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: On the Minor Prophecies of William Blake, by Emily S. Hamblen. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564595439. ... Read more

Product Description

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

Product Description
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

Product Description
The secret and mystical sexual practices at the heart of William Blake’s creative and spiritual life

• Reveals newly discovered family documents connecting Blake’s mother and Blake himself to Moravian and Swedenborgian erotic and visionary experimentation

• Shows Blake had access to kabbalistic and tantric techniques of psychoerotic meditation, which used sexual arousal to achieve spiritual vision

William Blake (1757-1827) has long been treasured as an artist and poet whose work was born out of authentic spiritual vision. The acutely personal, almost otherworldly look of his artwork, combined with its archetypal casting and depth of emotion, transcend societal conventions and ordinary experience. But much of the overtly sexual work has been destroyed or altered, deemed too heretical by conservative elements among the mystic Moravians and Swedenborgians, whose influence on Blake has been uncovered only recently.

The author’s investigation into the radical psychosexual spiritual practices surrounding William Blake, which includes new archival discoveries of Blake family documents, reveals that Moravian and Swedenborgian erotic and visionary experimentation fueled much of Blake’s creative and spiritual life. Drawing also upon modern art restoration techniques, Marsha Keith Schuchard shows that Blake and his wife, Catherine, were influenced by secret kabbalistic and tantric rituals designed to transcend the bonds of social convention. Her exhaustive research provides a new context for understanding the mystical practices at the heart of Blake’s most radical beliefs about sexualized spirituality and its relation to visionary art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Wealth of 17th-18th Century Esoteric Delights
One reviewer stated that the author of WILLIAM BLAKE, etc. focused too little on Blake & perhaps too much on other characters, events, spiritual practices & philosophies that were instrumental in forging Blake's unique artistic vision. The reviewer went on to state that there was too much of a gossipy, name-dropping nature in the book as well--enough so that the reviewer withheld a star from the over all evaluation. I think that reviewer had a legitimate point of view. In a sense WILLIAM BLAKE is not so much a traditional biography as an esoteric dissection & compilation of 17th-18th century European mysticism. The details are fascinating & I must admit that I am rather partial to the gossipy approach, so I had no problem with voting all 5 stars.

I learned a lot from reading this book--and it was entertaining as well.

For example, I had no idea how pervasive & influential secret societies such as the Freemasons & Rosicrucians were in this historic period. I was also unaware that so many non-Jews--as well as the close organizational interaction between Gentile & Jewish metaphysical groups so enthusiastically undertook the study of Kabbalah. Many esoteric concepts & events previously only intuitively glimpsed, fell perfectly in place for me. It certainly explains much of the 20th century Nazi antagonism to metaphysical individuals & groups in general.

Another fact that startled me was the practice of Christian eroticism by groups such as the Moravarians (never heard of them before reading BLAKE) and the Swedenborg Society. I was vaguely aware of Swedenborg's work, but was glad to go below the surface of my understanding. Even I--who felt I'd seen it all--was actually shocked by the overt religious sexuality of these Christian sects. You would think that this view of sex would have resulted in Blake illustrating sexually liberating images. However, to me many of his drawings seem a little dark & murky, with a pronounced sense of sexual restriction, even bondage. The antinomian or Left-hand Path of Tantric sexual practice in particular may well blow a few minds of sexually squeamish readers.

Other fascinating topics in WILLIAM BLAKE include the occult affiliations of the great womanizer Casanova, the mysterious courtier Cagliostro & his connection with the notorious "Diamond Necklace Affair" that heralded the first major ideological salvo against the French Monarchy, the influence of Gnosticism (the Sacred Marriage, Agape/Love Feast, etc.) and much more.

It became clear to me that the "scientific illuminism" promoted by these groups was the inspiration (from India via Swedenborg, Blake, etc.) for the 19th-20th century occultist philosophies of Eliphas Levi, Madame Blavatsky & Aleister Crowley and others. On an individual level, Blake's ideas regarding cultural transfusionist spirituality & development of a personal mythology over traditionalist religion are concepts that affirmed some of my own metaphysical speculation & experimentation. It all falls under the umbrella of what is esoterically known as The Great Work.

Anybody interested in William Blake or these parallel philosophies & disciplines will, I'm sure, find this book a sheer delight. It is an MUST for people involved in advanced Yoga and/or interested in the cultural origins of Thelema (Crowley's Western occultism). It's also a "must" for those studying comparative religion & mysticism.

Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and RitualThe Book of Splendours: The Inner Mysteries of Qabalism
The Secret Doctrine
The Book of the Law: Liber Al Vel Legis
Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley
777 And Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley: Including Gematria & Sepher SephirothThe Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism
Emanuel Swedenborg: The Universal Human and Soul-Body Interaction (Classics of Western Spirituality)
Tantra: Path of Ecstasy
Mysteries of the Temple of Set (Inner Teachings of the Left Hand Path)

New age libraries will find this a winner
William Blake's reputation as a poet and artist was born from his spiritual vision, and so William Blake's Sexual Path to Spiritual Vision offers up a different kind of investigation based on the psycho-sexual practices which surrounded this artist. Fueled by new archival discoveries of Blake family documents, her analysis probes spiritual paths and recreates sexual focuses of his work which were initially changed by his pious executor. New age libraries will find it a winner.

A lot of this and that with some of Blake
I think I did learn more about the influences on Blake's thought. Anything that can help explicate his prophetic books is a good thing! However, it somehow seemed that Blake was less the focus of the book (especially in the first half) than the chronological minutiae of the Moravians, Swedenborgians, Kabbalists and Tantrics during the late 1700's/early 1800's. Not that the info was bad. A chart of the characters on one or two pages might have helped to keep track of them all.

At times it felt like a lot of gossiping and name-dropping without adding much to the substance of the discussion re: Blake. Also, occasionally, the author would pose a question, like "Could Blake have done so and so?" that made it sound like "Could Jamie Lynn's cover glamorize teen pregnancy?" Those kind of hypothetical questions just kinda clanged in an otherwise scholarly book, as gossipy and name-dropping as it was. Also, be prepared to read the words "antinomian" and "millenarian" more than enough times.

So, for what the author intended to do vs. what I got out of it, I figure four stars is fair enough ... 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 fascinating and generously illustrated biography of William Blake, the great English artist, poet, and mystic, encompasses virtually everything that is known of his life and times. Often invoking the words of Blake’s own contemporaries, G. E. Bentley describes the struggles of Blake’s youth, his gradual embrace of the power of the spirit and visionary art and literature, and the serenity he achieved in his old age. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Comprehensive
Apparently the result of a lifetime of investigation into the life and times of William Blake, this is the definitive biography. Blake's origins were modest, but his genius was not. He was also a religious dissenter of great originality and incredible intensity.The sheer volume of his poetic and graphic output is simply stupendous.He was constantly short of money, and he lacked much in the way of recognition during his lifetime, aside from a few loyal patrons. His is in some ways a rather sad story, but Blake seems never to have been sad himself; he died praising God and singing hymns. It is a safe bet that Bentley's biography will never be superseded.

Extraordinary and Moving
A terrific book. This is the best biography of Blake that I know of, and is also one of the most encouraging books I have read in years. Bentley sews together contemporary reports, journals from Blake's friends, and Blake's poems and drawings themselves to form a mysterious--although moving--picture of the man. Blake, upon moving back to the Thames, one day opened his window and reported that he saw the filthy river moving along 'like a gold bar.' From his early years, he claimed to have visions of fairies and angels, and later in life even was able to see William Wallace and Satan (the sketches are included in the book). I know of nothing like Blake, and would give this outstanding biography of him six stars.

Body Electric
This is a very good, straight-forward biography of a mysterious man. Anyone curious about Blake should read it. People who love Blake will still love him, their love enhanced by the very clear context given to the events of his life. Of the visions that are of course the oddest thing about Blake, at least to the vast majority of us who don't have them, the author is neutral. You can't really know. I'm personally for rather than against visionaries even if they are delusional, just because this is indeed the age of fiberglass. Someone said of Blake that he was cracked, but the Light came through the crack. I like to believe he was visited by Milton, Michaelangelo and William Wallace, etc., and that he saw trees full of angels. At the same time, there is a question about the nature of inspiration. Once established, Blake's style in poetry and painting never changed much, only the subjects changed: so the various spirits did nothing in the way of altering his method, nor did they alter his views much, though he seems to have mellowed somewhat. He seems to have been a channel for one Spirit who changed form.There are other artists who seem to me to have represented the world beyond in a more profound way: Bach, Milton, Michaelangelo, Wordsworth for example. And of course, Shakespeare seems to have had a 100 people's combined understanding of how life is. And there are artists, more like us, who seemed to have developed as life progressed.

Still, he was one of the men who lived for and frequently in the electric blessing that changes everything, that power, gift, the angels, like Cupid, seem to bestow as they choose. Blake was a vehicle.

He was the great Outsider artist. He was a Hero of poor England. Thank God for Blake who said, "I live in a hole here, but God has a beautiful mansion for me elsewhere." He was authentic, poor and a real man. Everyone should know how he died singing Hallelujahs and hymns of praise.

Why Blake Matters
This biography concentrates too much on Blake's occupation as an engraver and glosses over his reputation as a poet and visionary. Such a bluntly factual, objective account of Blake seems out of keeping with his spiritual enthusiasm and disdain for the factual (i.e. the physical world). But this book did help me develop an appreciation for Blake. The "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" did not impress me because they seemed to be the epitome of maudlin Christian sentimentality. However, Bentley's biography makes it clear that Blake was not a conventional Christian. I was impressed by the importance Blake placed on the imagination, creativity, and the arts as the true expressions of spirituality and the sublime. I also admire Blake's spirited defense of imagination and the Poetic Genius.

If Blake were alive today I think he would rant against the scholars rather than Empire. The scholars have laid claim to the poet's place in society and the only empire that exists today is the academic empire. Just look at the way a college campus expands and swallows up all the property around itself! It is the scholars who attack men of inspiration and genius because they need to promote poetry as something that can be taught and explicated.

Blake does seem mad when he talks about speaking with angels and spirits but he probably did possess the faculty of a visionary imagination which caused him to express such reverence for the world of imagination, even to the extent of preferring it to the natural world. It reminds me of a quote from Rimbaud, "I came to find my mind's disorder sacred".

Bentley's Generous Act
The scholarship that works through this book is obviously one of love and devotion of many many years. Bentley's sorting out of events in Blake's life is amazingly well researched - it is the first Blake biography that does not have that usual blur of focus that leaves one more mystified than enlightened.Blake's contemporaries, friends, enemies, patrons, etc. are all given voice through their own extant letters, articles . .- this contextualizes him beautifully and clears the field of critical debris that has grown out over the centuries. In fact, it is Bentley's sober critical eye (of fairness) which is so refreshing - his sense of balance is impeccable. Only a lifetime lover of Blake could hit so consistently true tones.But if you're arriving to this book looking for critical scholarship of the work and myth than you're walking through the wrong door. This book is not about the minutae of the work (see Northrop Frye for that) - it assumes already that one is also a lover and "understander" of the work. This book is about the man - written and informed, of course, by the man's work, but is a book about Blake's life - not a treatise on Urthona. Yes, I recommend this book. Walk on in and stroll around. ... Read more

Product Description

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

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

Product Description
«El matrimonio del cielo y el infierno» ocupa un lugar privilegiado en la evolucion poetica y artistica del William Blake Uno de los rasgos mas desconcertantes de «El matrimonio del cielo y el infierno» es la variedad de elementos que la componen: ilustraciones y poemas, dialogos y parodias, una teoria de la percepcion, proverbios, una teogonia, un canto politico, manifiestos religiosos y varios descensos a los infiernos. Esta edicion ofrece el texto en edicion bilingüe y reproduce el facsimil de las 25 planchas originales. ... Read more