The "Proverbs of Hell" have been culled for the slogans of student protest and become axioms of modern thought. I remember from the sixties, Blake's "Proverbs" painted alongside London Underground lines and on fences surrounding waste ground. The graffitist called himself "Joseph". I've no idea who he was. Later, if I recall correctly he moved on to right-wing and racist graffiti.
There have been eleven facsimiles published. Some are facsimiles of facsimiles.
◊
Hotten's facsimile reprint, hand-coloured.
1885.—The marriage of Heaven and Hell / Willm. Blake.—[Edmonton, Middlesex : London : W. Muir ; B. Quaritch, agent].—[32] leaves : col ill ; 29 cm
Hand-colored facsimile of copy A.
Limited ed. of 50 numbered copies.
Appendix (leaves [29]-[32]) contains a note by Muir, a facsimile of Blake's handwritten index to Songs of innocence and of experience, and a facsimile of Blake's engraved poem "A divine image."
*1927.—The marriage of heaven and hell / by William Blake ; reproduced an original copy of the work printed and illuminated by the author between the years 1825-1827, and now in the FitzWilliam Museum, Cambridge, with a note by Max Plowman.—London & Toronto : J. M. Dent & Sons.—18 pages, 27 pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
1960.—The marriage of Heaven and Hell.— Boissia, Clairvaux, Jura, France : Trianon Press.—27, [4] leaves : col. ill. ; 39 cm
Facsimile of a copy in the Rosenwald Collection, Library of Congress.
"Published ... for the William Blake Trust, London"—leaf [1] at end.
"The illuminated pages were reproduced in Paris by Trianon Press (France) in the workshops of Messrs. Hourdebaigt and Crampe by collotype and stencil process. The editorial matter was printed by the Imprimerie Desgrandchamps, and all the binding was by Engel, both of Paris. ... produced and published, under the supervision of Mr. Arnold Fawcus, by the Trianon Press"—colophon.
"526 copies ... 20 copies numbered I to XX, each containing a set of hand-coloured plates showing progressive stages ... 240 copies numbered 1 to 240 for distribution in the United Kingdom. 240 copies numbered 241 to 480 for distribution in the United States. 26 copies numbered A to Z are reserved for the Library of Congress, Mr. Lessing J. Rosenwald, the trustees of the Blake Trust and the publishers"—leaf [4] at end.
"A song of liberty": leaves 25-27.
"Description and bibliographical statement" (leaves [2]-[3] signed: Geoffrey Keynes.
1963.—The marriage of Heaven and Hell ; with an introduction by Clark Emery.—Coral Gables FL : University of Miami Press.—104 p. 27 facsim.l. : illus. ; 21 cm.—University of Miami.Critical studies ; no. 1
"A song of liberty." leaves 25-27.
"Photographed from Max Plowman's facsimile reproduction of an original copy of the work printed and illuminated by the author between the years 1825-1827 and now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge."
2nd printing, 1968.
1974.—The illuminated Blake : all of William Blake's illuminated works with a plate-by-plate commentary; annotated by David V. Erdman.—Garden City NY : Anchor Press/Doubleday.—416 p : ill ; 22 x 28 cm.
Monochrome facsimile.
Reissued London : Oxford University Press, 1975; New York : Dover, 1992.
1975.—The marriage of heaven and hell : this reproduction in the original size of William Blakes illuminated book the marriage of heaven and hell with an introduction and commentary by Sir Geoffrey Keynes is published by Oxford University Press London & New York in association with the Trianon Press, Paris.—London : Oxford University Press, 1975.—xxviii, [54] p : ill (some col) ; 22 cm.
Includes 27 coloured facsimile plates.
1975.—Die Vermählung von Himmel und Hölle = The marriage of heaven and hell.—München : Prestel, 1975.—13, [59] p. : facsims. ; 21 cm.
"Einführung von Geoffrey Keynes. Für die deutsche Ausgabe übertrugen Lillian Schacherl Blakes Originaltexte und Detlef Dörrbecker die Einführung ... Sir Geoffrey Keynes und seine ... Erläuterungen."
Facsimile of "The marriage of heaven and hell" from a copy in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, with German translation and notes.
1993.—The early illuminated books : 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 ; edited with introductions and notes by Morris Eaves, Robert N. Essick, Joseph Viscomi.—London : Tate Gallery in conjunction with the William Blake Trust ; Princeton NJ : Princeton University Press.—286 p : ill (chiefly col) ; 31 cm.—Blake's illuminated books ; 3 / General editor David Bindman.
Contents: facsimiles of the works with introductions and notes.
1994.—The marriage of Heaven and Hell : in full color.—New York : London : Dover ; Constable.—43 p : col ill ; 18 cm.
Also issued as part of a 3 vol. set in slip-case with title: Favorite works of William Blake.
2011.—The marriage of heaven and hell ; edited with an introduction & commentary by Michael Phillips.—Oxford : Bodleian Library.—viii, 173 p., 52 p. of plates : ill. ; 24 cm.
Includes a complete facsimile of the copy in the Bodleian Library, a transcription, and partial facsimiles of other copies.
◊
THE MARRIAGE | OF | HEAVEN AND HELL
TITLE PAGE
THE MARRIAGE OF | HEAVEN AND HELL | By | WILLIAM BLAKE | [device] | REPRODUCED IN FACSIMILE | from an original copy of the work | printed and illuminated by the author | between the years 1825-1827 and now | in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge | With a Note by MAX PLOWMAN | [device] MCMXXVII | LONDON AND TORONTO | J. M. DENT AND SONS LIMITED | NEW YORK : E. P. DUTTON & CO.
COLOPHON
Made At The | Temple Press | [device] Letchworth | In Great Britain
DESCRIPTION
1 leaf [blank], [1-4] p., 27 leaves [facsimile], [5]-24 p.
Facsimile printed on a heavy smooth machine-made cream stock. Not really the best paper for its purpose.
Bound in light brown cloth and stamped on cover THE MARRIAGE of HEAVEN and HELL by William Blake. Spine lettered DENT THE MARRIAGE of HEAVEN and HELL . Dust-jacket missing.
CONTENTS
THE MARRIAGE of HEAVEN and HELL [facsimile].—A NOTE ON WILLIAM BLAKE’S “MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL” BY MAX PLOWMAN (5).—A LIST OF REFERENCES (22).
RYLANDS
Accession number R121591
Pressmark 821.69 B581
Provenance (bookplate)
Presented by | MRS. JOAN VAUGHAN | – | THE RICHARD HAWKIN GIFT.
◊
[11] The book, like all true works of art, is a product of its age and reflects in many details the time which brought it to birth. Man of genius are barometers of their times; but whereas the generality of men are responsive only in their external behaviour to the temperature and condition of their days, genius respond with an intensity which goes to the heart of human experience and gives forth a response that is universal and timeless in its application. Exactly what Swedenborg taught is no great matter to most people now; but Swedenborg as the image of the idealist, weaving out of the threads of his aspiration passionless and static heaven and being compelled to turn a blind eye to the implications of predestination, is an eternal type that persists in all ages. The reverberations of the French Revolution have long passed away; but the considerations it suggested to the mind of Blake are such as will concern us as long as good and evil or night and day continue. The altar to the Goddess of Reason has long since been removed from the church where it was set up in France; but the ride of man in his scientific evidences, and the elevation of these evidences to the position once held by Delphic oracles, remain. Events change, heir causes recur. “A poem is the very image of life expressed in its eternal truth.”
[17] The copy from which the present facsimile has been made is that now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (Keynes, H) ...
[18] Exactly how Blake produced his illuminated pages is not known. It has been thought that he first wrote them in reversed script, but the examination of a single page will be enough to convince most people that this is improbable.
◊
COMMENT
Plowman’s contribution is high-minded waffle. Blake’s satirical and comic edge completely passes him by.
◊
CONTEMPORARY REVIEW
If we have not yet made up our
minds about Blake, we have no longer any excuse for not doing so. Mr. Keynes has compressed his great edition
of 1925 into one volume which is not only of convenient size, but of convenient
price. The Nonesuch Press has produced
it in a form both beautiful and practical; and 1,152 pages of India paper for
twelve and six is extremely cheap.
Variant readings are omitted; but there is no doubt that we now have
what will remain the standard text. What
is more, this volume will introduce many readers to parts of Blake’s work which
are almost unknown. In the miscellaneous
prose and the marginalia and the correspondence there is much of great
interest; and there is the wholly delightful and surprising “Peacockian”
fragment, “An Island in the Moon.” The
Nonesuch Press has also made a very fine edition of Blake’s drawings, prepared
by Mr. Keynes with explanatory text; and this book is also extremely cheap at
thirty-five shillings. “The Marriage of
Heaven and Hell,” to which Mr. Max Plowman contributes an essay, may not seem
relatively so cheap at a guinea—but it is not only fully illustrated but
illuminated. It is a book which all
libraries, and all individual enthusiasts, ought to possess. For Blake was not only both poet and
draughtsman, he was also the producer of his own books. Other men have both painted and written; but
with Blake the two activities were almost one.
You cannot say he illustrated his writings, or that he provided texts to
his drawings; he did both at once. That
is one reason why Blake is so difficult a subject; the critic of Blake should
be highly skilled in the technique of verse and prose and the technique of
drawing and design and colour (for which reason I approach him with diffidence). “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” is one of
his most amazing works, a book equal in importance to “Also Sprach Zarathustra”:
and here we have it as nearly as possible in the form in which Blake meant it
to be read. No one who has read it and
looked at it in this new edition will want to read it in any other.—T. S. Eliot, “Reviews. The mysticism of Blake”, THE NATION & ATHENÆUM (17 September 1927), page 779.
No comments:
Post a Comment