William Blake. Selected Engravings

Few artists in history have equalled the prolific genius of William Blake, whose visionary poems and illustrations have in recent years gained the acclaim and appreciation they so richly deserve. The 'Visions of Eternity' or his mystical imagination permit us glimpses of a world of innocence before the Fall, vistas of glorious celestial realms, and spirits flying and leaping in space. However, Blake was originally apprenticed at the age of fourteen to learn the art or engraving, and he continued to accept commissions to illustrate and engrave the works of others throughout his life. More importantly, it was through his tremendous virtuosity as an engraver that he invented his own method or 'illuminated printing, which enabled him to translate into printed form that intangible and quintessentially Blakean quality, the marvellous delicate harmony between his handwritten poems and the curling decorations which surround them in the manner of medieval manuscripts. Hence we are left with a superb legacy or his writings and drawings which, born or a single inspiration, give an independent parallel expression to his ideas and philosophy.