Blake, WilliamABAA
1827réf. 1050781827. London: William Blake 1827. Printed in black ink on thick card. Very finely printed in good condition though trimmed very close to the image at the left and right edges once pasted down and thus with traces of mounting on the verso and pencil notes from an earlier collector c. 1950 image and plate mark exactly as per Essick 1DD. § Blake's last engraving executed for one of his closest friends. "Blake inscribed the plate lower right with his name and age "A Æ 70." He may have sensed that 1827 could well be the last year of his life but took pride in being capable of pursuing his art and craft to the end. Blake was in fact 69 when he died; perhaps he inscribed "70" on the Cumberland card in anticipation of working on it until he turned that age. At least when considered in retrospect this most unusual inscription contributes to the elegiac and prophetic iconography of the design." The images invoke one of Blake's greatest themes-the relationships between time and eternity. Although probably intended as a calling card two books have been located with this card pasted in both written by George Cumberland Jr. Thus it has on occasion been sold as a "bookplate." Examples on card not in Cumberland's book are exceptionally rare and have been presumed to be of the earliest printing and possibly by Blake himself. All other impressions on laid paper most often are posthumous. Thirty-nine examples in all are known to Essick not including examples now untraced of which eight are on card of which one is described as printed in green ink. Essick The Separate Plates of William Blake XXI see entry 1DD for identical measurements but not this copy. Bindman Complete Graphic Works of Blake 654. unknown books
1839réf. 368615London: W. Pickering . and W. Newbery 1839. First letterpress edition issue without "The Little Vagabond. xxi iii 74 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Full green morocco gilt. Fine copy. Circular gilt vellum label of William Twopeny. First letterpress edition issue without "The Little Vagabond". xxi iii 74 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. The first letterpress edition of Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience preceded only by the small number of copies of the illuminated first edition engraved and colored by Blake. With a laudatory Preface by the Swedenborgian James John Garth Wilkinson 1812-99 who edited and arranged the present volume for publication. Wilkinson worked from Charles Augustus Tulk's copy of the illuminated first edition c.1795-1807; Tulk had previously lent his copy to Coleridge. The work appears in two issues with or without a poem entitled "The Little Vagabound" at page 71 which was supposedly canceled by the editor out of prudishness. No priority has been established Both issues appear with about equal frequency which is to say not often. Keynes 135; Bentley & Nurmi 161B; Bentley Blake Books 171 W. Pickering ... and W. Newbery unknown books
1824réf. 1245961824. London: I. Poole 1824. Small 8vo xxiv 372pp. With an engraved frontispiece 4 full-page engravings including one by Blake 8 hand-colored botanical plates 8 plates of engraved music a calendar with an engraved title-page and 6 plates and 12 blank leaves titled "Album 1825" recorded by Keynes but not noted in other copies we have had. Publisher's original full brown calf central panels on both covers blind-stamped within a richly gilt border backstrip with four raised bands gilt-decorated lettered REMEMBER ME slightly scuffed and small black splotch ink on lower cover occasional small spots on plates as usual a very good copy of a de luxe issue binding on the first of three editions of the book. § First edition first issue of the book no state variance in the plate with a very early pencil inscription from one woman to another illegible repeated on the next leaf. One of the rarest of all of the plates designed and engraved by Blake. There was a reissue dated 1826 as part of the title probably published late in 1825. The plate titled 'The Hiding of Moses' was the last plate designed and engraved by Blake himself for a commercial publication; the original drawing 'Moses placed in the Ark of Bulrushes' which closely echoes a tempera now untraced that was executed some 25 years earlier is in the Huntington Library. Bentley BB 490B. Easson and Essick WBBI Vol. I XI recording the Rosenwald proof and 3 copies. Keynes Blake Studies XIX recording 7 variants but not mentioning the 1826 printing. Also see Bentley's detailed essay and census of copies in "Remember Me! Customs and Costumes of Blake's Gift Book" University of Toronto Quarterly 80.4 fall 2011: 880-92. Bentley in the U of T Quarterly 2011 noted: "The gift book Remember Me! with Blake's wonderful engraving of the 'Hiding of Moses' was more remarkable for its decorations than for its literary contents. Of the twenty-four copies recorded each differs from the others in the pattern of binding colour of fore-edges endpapers and the decorated sleeve-case. Despite this varied elegance the work had only a modest sale and the same sheets were re-issued in 1825 for the 1826 gift-giving season. This paucity of sales may be related to the fact that the publisher John Poole had little experience of book distribution. His speciality was as a maker of Marble Paper and Fancy Pocket-Books not in selling them.". unknown books
1826réf. 65634London: William Blake 1826. BLAKE William. Invented & engraved by William Blake 1825. London: Published by the Author and Mr. J. Linnell 1874. One of 100 sets printed on india paper. Folio sheets: 20 x 14 inches; 510 x 350 mm. engravings 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches; 209 x 158 mm. Line-engraved title and twenty-one line- and stipple-engraved plates by and after Blake. Also with an additional letterpress title-page not issued with the book. Printed from the original plates. Evidence of the word proof on the lower edge of engravings number 5 7 8 10 11 12 14 18 and 20. Bound in quarter reverse calf over black cloth. Spine lettered and ruled in gilt. With black and red morocco spine labels lettered in gilt. Marbled endpapers. Corners a bit bumped and cloth lightly scuffed. Sheets mounted on stubs. A bit of very light foxing to some of the sheets generally not affecting engravings mainly title-page sheet and sheet of plate 20. Plate 14 with the mounting sheet trimmed at top margin about 1.5 inches not affecting plate. A fine strikingly clean copy of "Blake's most widely known achievement" Keynes. The engravings were commissioned by John Linnell on March 25 1823. Despite the date 1825 on the engravings the plates were not actually issued until March 1826. The entire edition consisted of 315 sets: 150 "Proof" sets on India paper and sixty-five on French paper were printed in March 1826 at which time the word "Proof" was removed from the plates and 100 sets were printed on drawing paper see Bentley. Blake's original copperplates remained in the possession of the Linnell family and as late as 1863 Linnell was offering for sale sets of the India-paper and French-paper issues. By 1874 these must have been sold as a further 100 sets of the engravings were printed at that time the present copy is from this set. No more pulls were taken between 1874 and 1919 when the copperplates were given by Herbert Linnell to the British Museum. Linnell's son wrote "My father considered the plates at the last 1874 were as good as they ever were for the work being cut by a graver and not etched it is durable- and is not worn by the printing as is the case with an etching." Bentley Books p. 523. Bentley 421A. Binyon 105-126. Russell 33. HBS 65634. $32500. William Blake unknown books
1839réf. 18535London: William Pickering 1839. First letterpress edition of Blake’s best-loved works which had been available previously only in the poet’s privately printed and unobtainable hand-painted and engraved editions. Edited with a lengthy 18-page preface by the Swedenborgian James John Garth Wilkinson 1812-1899 who used Charles Augustus Tulk’s copy of the illuminated first edition c.1795-1807 to make his selection. This edition appears in two issues with and without a poem entitled “The Little Vagabond” at page 71. The poem was reportedly canceled by the editor out of prudishness. It is not present in this copy. No priority between the two issues has been established. Keynes 135; Bentley & Nurmi 161B; Bentley Blake Books 171 The English poet and dramatist John Drinkwater’s copy with his ownership signature dated 1923 on the front free endpaper and his bibliographical annotations beneath in pencil and his delightful little gilt embossed leather bookplate on the front endsheet. The book also bears the engraved bookplate of Elizabeth Walbridge on the front endsheet. Elizabeth Walbridge was married to S. Cornell Walbridge a major figure in the glass industry in Toledo Ohio aka “Glass City” and an avid book collector in the early years of the Twentieth Century. There is also a contemporary ownership signature on the front free endpaper that is difficult to decipher: possibly “Miss Mare or Miss Marie” and the remnant of a red wax seal beneath the tipped-in Walbridge bookplate. Head and tail of spine very slightly worn spine faintly sunned with covers fading slightly toward the margins otherwise a remarkably attractive and clean copy of this rare and important edition. 8vo original plum cloth. Head and tail of spine very slightly worn spine faintly sunned with covers fading slightly toward the margins otherwise a remarkably attractive and clean copy of this rare and important edition. William Pickering unknown books
1826réf. 41830London: William Blake 1826. Folio. 17 x 13 inches. Engraved pictorial title and 21 engraved plates by Blake each being mounted India paper proofs each plate marked "Proof" in the lower right corner on paper watermarked J. Whatman Turkey Mill 1825. Plate No. 1 misdated "1828". Later straight-grained green morocco gilt with Riviere & Sons spine gilt in compartments Blake's renowned engravings for the Book of Job: one of 150 proof sets on India Paper. "The story which Blake called 'Job's Captivity' fascinated him all his life. He alluded to it throughout his drawings and writings made a large separate print of Job in 1793 and then a series of twenty-one designs now in the Morgan Library for his faithful patron Thomas Butts about 1810" Bentley. Blake had completed the designs for what would become his Illustrations for the Book of Job around 1805-1806 for Thomas Butts a clerk to the commissary general of musters who had by then become Blake's major patron. The publication was not conceived of until ten years later when Linnell hoping to provide his ageing friend with a much needed income offered to finance the engraving and printing. The plates were borrowed back from Butts in 1821 and Blake began the arduous task of the engraving. Although the title page is dated 1825 publication was delayed until 1826 and the date amended on a label pasted to the boards in which the plates were issued. This striking work was printed in four different series during the 19th century: a first set of 150 "proof" copies on india paper 1826 to which series the present set belongs; a second set of 65 "proof" copies on French paper 1826; 100 sets on drawing paper with the word "Proof" removed from the plates 1826; and finally 100 sets on India mounted on heavy paper 1874 pulled from the original plates by Linnell. The 1826 India paper proof sets like the present are the best printing of these famous plates being richly inked strong impressions. Damon describes the illustrations as "Blake's most lucid; and they are the supreme example of his reading the Bible in its spiritual sense." Ray adds that they are "supreme masterpieces of graphic art." Ray Illustrator and the Book in England 8; Damon p. 217; Bindman 625-646; Keynes 55; Binyon 105-126; Bentley 421A. William Blake unknown books
1913réf. 35824Various places chiefly United States and Europe 1913. A substantial archive documenting the scientific technical and personal life of Francis Blake Jr. inventor and electrical engineer associated with the early development of the telephone. The material traces Blake’s career from his work with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey through his experimental work on telephone transmission and his later involvement in patent disputes and the business of telephony. "If the Blake name is unrecognizable today this is no reflection of his accomplishments which were significant but of Blake's loathing for publicity and public attention. Ultimately Blake reached the goals he sought and achieved the anonymity he preferred. Whatever lesson that offers us today the significance of Blake's life and his inventions endures. His story is a compelling and fascinating chronicle of unbounded energy independence and genius" Elton W. Hall Francis Blake: An Inventor's Life Massachusetts Historical Society: 2003 p. xi. At a very young age Francis Blake Jr. the youngest of five children born to Francis Blake Sr. an itinerant businessman and Caroline Trumbull Blake was recognized for his high aptitude in science and math. His uncle a Commodore in the U.S. Navy secured for him an appointment to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey where starting at the age of 16 he excelled at triangulation hydrographic work astronomical measurements and the complicated method of determining trans-Atlantic and trans-continental longitude via telegraphy. His work with the U.S.C.G.S. brought him to France Cuba and all over the United States. Blake's fascination with the technical equipment he encountered and the drive to perfect each piece of apparatus developed into a career as an inventor. Leaving the U.S.C.G.S. in 1877 he began working to that end. Blake first learned of Alexander Graham Bell's invention from his Coast supervisor Julius E. Hilgard who had been one of several judges that had awarded Bell a prize at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. The telegraphic work Blake had done during his years at the Coast Survey had provided him with a highly sophisticated understanding of electricity Hall pp. 71-72. While Bell had been the first to invent the telephone his first apparatus had a significant flaw: while it listened well it could not transmit speech with distinct quality or sufficient volume for communicants to easily understand one another and carry a meaningful conversation. Famed inventor Thomas J. Edison jumped on the opportunity and sold a better transmitter to Western Union which was poised to take the lion's share of the new telephone market. Working from his home workshop however Blake bested both Bell and Edison inventing a transmitter using a carbon microphone and contacts that telephonically produced better sound quality than anything before. The addition of the Blake transmitter would immediately launch Bell Telephone as the gold standard for the next century. The present archive is predominantly comprised of material from his U.S.C.G.S. work as well as the period during and immediately after the invention of his transmitter. Evidenced throughout are two key components of Blake's character: his continual drive for perfection whether related to an invention construction on his estate Keewaydin or the quality of oats delivered from a local merchant; and his firm belief in his own claims whether related to the endless patent infringement litigation which followed his invention to the monies owed to him from a bequest after the death of a relative. Included are several daily manuscript journals and account books a retained carbon copy letterbook from 1881 and numerous books and pamphlets from his own library related to the telephone including Bell's The Telephone: A Lecture Entitled Researches in Electric Telephony . delivered before The Society of Telegraph Engineers October 31st 1877. Other printed material includes Blake's true copy of the seminal 1879 contract between Western Union and Bell Telephone in which the former agreed to withdraw from the telephone business. Significant holdings of Blake material are found in the Massachusetts Historical Society donated by the descendants of Francis Blake Jr. in May 1964. The present archive was part of the Blake family's Dover Massachusetts residence the contents sold at public auction in 2018. An itemized catalogue of the full Francis Blake archive is available upon request. Elton W. Hall Francis Blake: An Inventors Life Massachusetts Historical Society: 2003. unknown books
1821réf. 1071521821. London: 1821. 2 vols. small 8vo xii -vii/viii 12 xxiv -i/iv 214; I 215-592 pp. With an engraved frontispiece to each volume and 230 illustrations including 17 woodcuts and 6 engraved plates by Blake and four other designs by Blake engraved by others. Original full rose sheep backstrips lettered in gilt slight wear to joints vol. 1 invisibly repaired. A very fine set internally perfect. Enclosed in a modern protective box. § Presentation copy inscribed by Thornton to his daughter. A very fine copy of a scarce work in any condition as it was issued for use in schools; the impressions of the woodcuts in this copy are the richest I have ever seen. Blake contributed 17 woodcuts to this volume as well as 10 other plates of which he engraved six which were not well received; nor were they well treated by the publisher who cut down the blocks and printed them poorly. Only a few proofs before they were trimmed are now extant. These blocks have remained amongst the most influential woodcuts in the history of British art and their influence can be seen from Calvert see below and Palmer all the way up to the present day. The blocks were saved by Linnell and were printed not long after Blake's death as separate impressions perhaps by Calvert also see below and again in 1977 as a set by Iain Bain see below. Any impressions are now very hard to find. For a full discussion of this wonderful book see Essick's masterly monograph A Troubled Paradise. San Francisco: John Windle 1999. Bentley BB 504. Bindman 602-18. Easson and Essick I X. unknown books
1826réf. 140948122London: Published by the Author 1826. First Edition. Near Fine. First edition of Blake's visionary interpretation of the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament. Folio. Engraved title and 21 engravings on drawing paper. Original buff paste board covers with publisher's printed label over quarter brown cloth; cloth perished at spine rebacked. A beautiful copy retaining the original boards housed in a custom clamshell case with spine tooled in gilt. The first edition was printed in a run of 315 copies and issued in three versions: 150 copies on laid India with the word "Proof" printed in the bottom margin of plates 65 copies on French paper with "Proof" and 100 on Whatman paper with the word "Proof" removed from the copper plates but still faintly visible in some pulls. This copy is from the latter which Keynes calls the Ordinary Issue. Two plates with watermark of "J Whatman Turkey Mill 1825" and one watermarked "J Whatman 1825" Plate No. 1 incorrectly dated "1828". Rubbing to covers light soiling light offsetting and subtle repairs to end sheets. Small chip to corner margin of Plate No. 5 far from the engraving. Provenance: armorial bookplate of Frederick Pollock to front pastedown additional mounted printed note from antiquarian bookseller "This book was purchased in 1941 from London whilst the great battle for civilization was in progress. -Francis Edward Ltd." An impressive production hailed by many to be Blake's greatest masterpiece completed just before the end of his life. "The story which Blake called 'Job's Captivity' fascinated him all his life. He alluded to it throughout his drawings and writings made a large separate print of Job in 1793 and then a series of twenty-one designs for his faithful patron Thomas Butts about 1810" Bentley. Blake took the plates from Butts' earlier commissions and began work on a second set for John Linnell his friend and fellow artist in 1821. Hoping to earn his impoverished aging friend much needed income Linnell completely backed the project monetarily while Blake went to task engraving. Only 20 of the 315 sets were sold during Blake's lifetime mostly to members of his inner circle marking this a commercial failure. However the work was widely recognized as an artistic success amongst the nobility and upper gentry with copies purchased for the King's Library and The Royal Academy. Like many artists Blake did not receive proper recognition until after his death. Admired by John Ruskin he writes highly of the artist in his 1857 text The Elements of Drawing that "The Book of Job . is of the highest rank in certain characters of imagination and expression; in the mode of obtaining certain effects of light it will also prove a very useful example to you. In expressing conditions of glaring and flickering light Blake is greater than Rembrandt." Bentley 421A Keynes 55 vi Ray 8. Published by the Author unknown books
