Saturday 15 March 2014

Rylands Blake project 8. The Book of Job (1927)

William Blake's "Illustrations of the Book of Job" is the most widely reproduced of his graphic series, at least 36 times, and more than the great book illustrations (Young, Blair, Gray) or any of the works in illuminated printing. Sometimes these reproductions (e.g. King, 1968, or Safire, 1992) provide us with surprising contexts.


ORIGINAL

ספר איוב Illustrations of the book of Job / Invented and engraved by William Blake, 1825. London, Published as the Act directs March 8: 1825 [i.e. 1826] by William Blake No 3 Fountain Court, Strand.-- 22 sheets : all ill. ; 44 cm
Despite the date on the title page, the plates were not actually issued until a year later according to the date on the wrapper.
Restrike issued 1870.




REPRODUCTIONS

1863.—Engraved Designs by Blake. The Book of Job. Twenty-one photo-lithographs from the originals, etc.
In : Alexander Gilchrist.—Life of William Blake, etc. vol. 2.
Also included in the 1881 edition.

1875.—Charles Eliot Norton.—William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job. With descriptive letterpress, and a sketch of the artist's life and works.—Boston : J. R. Osgood & Co.—79 p., 21 plates ; fol.
Heliotype facsimiles.


1902.—ספר איוב Illustrations of the Book of Job : in twenty-one plates invented & engraved by William Blake ...—[London : New York : J.M. Dent & Co. ; G.P. Putnam's Sons].—[1], 21 leaves : ill. ; 38 cm.
"One thousand copies issued in facsimile."

1903.—Illustrations of the Book of Job / invented and engraved by William Blake.—New ed.—[London] : Methuen & Co. London : [New York: D. Appleton].—[4]p, [22]leaves of plates ; 18 cm.—Illustrated pocket library of plain and coloured books.
"Reduced facsimile." With accompanying portfolio of loose plates. Edition includes “one hundred copies specially printed and bound”.

1906.—William Blake Vol. 1: Illustrations of the Book of Job / with a general introduction by Laurence Binyon.—London : Methuen & Co.—61 p. : 22 plates : ill. ; 33 cm.
No more published.

1907.—Francis Coutts.—The heresy of Job : [being the Revised version of the book of Job, rearranged], with the inventions of William Blake.—London : New York : John Lane, The Bodley Head ; John Lane.—v, 136, [4] p, [22] leaves of plates : ill ; 23 cm.
Reduced facsimile in duotone.

1910.—Joseph H. Wicksteed.—Blake's vision of the book of Job : with reproductions of the illustrations : a study.—London : New York : J.M. Dent ; Dutton.—168 p., [22] leaves of plates : facsims. ; 22 cm
Includes reproductions of Blake's 21 Job engravings and of his original t.p. slightly reduced in size.
Extensively revised 2nd ed. 1924. The 1910 edition was reprinted New York : Haskell house, 1971

1912.—Illustrations of the Book of Job : invented and engraved by William Blake; reproduced in reduced facsimile from impressions in the British Museum.—London : Gowans and Gray.—48p. : plates ; 16cm.
Printed on glossy paper. Reissued 1927.

1923.—Illustrations of the Book of Job / invented & engraved by William Blake, 1825.—[London : Hollyer].—[23] leaves.
"This edition is limited to 225 copies."
Consists of mounted photographs of the original edition.

*1927.—The Book of Job : the eighteenth book of the Old Testament / with the twenty-two engravings of William Blake.—London : E. Benn Ltd; [New York: Henry Holt and Company].—2 p. l., 56 p., 2 l : plates ; 29 x 23 cm
"The letterpress has been set up and printed by the Westminster Press. The collotype plates have been made and printed by Messrs. Whittingham and Griggs".

1935.—Illustrations of the book of Job by William Blake : being all the water-colour designs, pencil drawings and engravings reproduced in facsimile. With an introduction by Laurence Binyon ... and Geoffrey Keynes ...—New York : The Pierpont Morgan Library.—[8], 61, [1] p. : ill., 112 pl (some col); 41 cm
Issued in 6 parts (fascicles) in stiff paper covers, with mounted title labels, and protected by a cloth-covered box.
"The number of designs in the water-colour sets is twenty-one; there are twenty-four pencil sketches, but two of these are first studies and one was not used. The number of engraved plates ... is twenty-two, a title-page with a design of seven angels being added to this series."—p. 13.
Contents: 1. Introduction—2. Twenty-one water-colour drawings made for Thomas Butts—3. Twenty-one water-colour drawings made for John Linnell—4. Pencil drawings made for the reduced water-colours—5. Twenty-one reduced water-colours known as the New Zealand set—6. Illustrations of the Book of Job, in twenty-one plates, invented and engraved by William Blake, [the engravings].
Reproduced in collotype.

1937.—Illustrations of the Book of Job / by William Blake ; reproduced in facsimile from the original "New Zealand" set made about 1823-4, in the possession of Philip Hofer. With a note by Philip Hofer.—London : J.M. Dent and Sons Limited ; New York : E.P. Dutton & Co.—[4], 9, [3] p., [22] leaves of plates : 22 col facsims ; 25 cm
Edition includes “a hundred and twenty specially bound for distribution by Philip Hofer"—colophon.
The Job illustrations reproduced here, (named the New Zealand set from the country of their discovery) are finished watercolour drawings that according to almost all recent scholars post-date the engravings of 1823-6 and can with some certainty be connected with the household of John Linnell.

1939.—The book of Job interpreted. By Emily S. Hamblen and illustrated with the designs of William Blake.—New York : Delphic Studios.—ix, 271 p. ; 8º
With a description of and a commentary on the designs
Reprinted New York : Haskell House, 1965.

1947.—Job : invented & engraved by William Blake. Introductory note by Kenneth Patchen.—New York : United Book Guild.—[4] p, [22] leaves of plates ; 35 cm
In some copies "William Blake's doctrine of Job, by S. Foster Damon. 1948" : 16 p. included.
Reprinted 1950, with Foster Damon’s commentary facing each plate, and again in 1952. The illustrations are of poor quality.

1966.—William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job. With an introduction and commentary by S. Foster Damon.—Providence RI : Brown University Press.—ix, 66 p. ; 29 cm
The illustrations are reproduced from the proof state set in the Harvard College Library. Reprinted 1969 (New York : Dutton) and 1982 (Hanover NH : University Press of New England).

1967.—Le Livre de Job : épopée biblique en XLII chapitres à la goire de la sainte et bienheurese patience, aujourdhui paraphrasée en vers par Pierre Pascal, d'après les textes conjoints des LXX et de la Vulgate, embellie avec les XXI illustrations ... que W. Blake consacra au plus sublime des livres poëtiques & sapientiaux ... Le tout précédé de l'exégèse, écrite ... par G.K. Chesterton, et puis d'une nouvelle paraphrase du psaume XXII ...—Torino : Editions du Coeur Fidele pour Minerva Medica.—p. ; 50 cm.—Les fils du tonnerre. 2, Les neuf chemins de l'âme neuve.

1968.—Horace Maybray King.—Songs in the night : a study of the book of Job ; with illustrations by William Blake and an introduction by Arthur S. Herbert.—Gerrards Cross : Colin Smythe.—69p,16plates : 21ill., 1facsim. ; 19cm.
Limited ed. of 100 copies.
Horace Maybray King was Speaker of the House of Commons, 1965-1971.

1972.—Andrew Wright.—Blake's "Job" : a commentary.—Oxford : Clarendon Press.—xxi, 67 p. : reproductions ; 26 cm.
Good reproductions of the Job illustrations.

1973.—Bo Ossian Lindberg.—William Blake's illustrations to the Book of Job.—Åbo: Åbo Akademi.—362 p : plates: ill, reproductions ; 25 cm.—Acta Academiae Aboensis ; ser. A. vol. 46.
The major study.

1974.—J. H. Schwartz.—The Book of Job with William Blake's illustrations. Translated in Rhyme by J. H. Schwartz.—Peoria IL: Rev. J.H. Schwartz.—32 p : 21 ill.

1975.—Arts in Virginia, vol 15, no 2 (Winter 1975): Special issue: The Book of Job: the Twenty-One Engravings of William Blake.—Richmond VA: Virginia Museum.—26 p : 22 plates.
Introduction by Pinkney L. Near.

1976.—The book of Job / illustrated by William Blake ; with a new introd. by Michael Marqusee.—New York : Paddington Press.—52 pages, 22 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations ; 28 cm.—Masterpieces of the illustrated book
Includes illustrations originally published: London : William Blake, 1825 as 'Illustrations of the book of Job'.
Very poor facsimile, murky and lacking in detail.

1977.—Illustrations of the Book of Job : in twenty-one plates, invented and engraved / by William Blake ...—[Boissia, Clairvaux : Trianon Press for the William Blake Trust, London].—1 portfolio (21 leaves) : all ill. ; 39 cm
"This facsimile was produced in a limited edition by Trianon Press in Paris and is offered for sale in museums and at Blake Trust exhibitions"—cover.
Printed by collotype. Platemark impressed with blank copper plate. A very convincing facsimile.

1979.—Illustrations of the book of Job.—Berkeley CA: Saint Heironymous Press.
Edition of 500 copies.
Reduced size facsimile.

1982.—Kathleen Raine, 1908-2003.—The human face of God : William Blake and the book of Job.—London : Thames and Hudson.—320 p : ill, facsim ; 25 cm.
Includes the complete "Illustrations of the Book of Job" rather muddily reproduced.

1986.—Edward F. Edinger.—Encounter with the self : a Jungian commentary on William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job.—Toronto : Inner City Books.—74 p : ill ; 22 cm.—Studies in Jungian psychology by Jungian analysts ; 22.

1989.—William Blake : illustrations to The book of job : from the collection of Auckland City Art Gallery.—[Brisbane] : Queensland Art Gallery.—[3] p : ill ; 30 cm
Checklist of an exhibition held at the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, October 1989.

1990.—William Blake : the Book of Job and Dante's Inferno: August 7 - October 14, 1990, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York.—Buffalo NY : the Gallery.—[8] p : ill ; 28 cm.
Exhibition catalogue. Text by Cheryl Brutvan.

1992.—William Safire, 1929-2009.—The first dissident : the book of Job in today's politics.—New York : Random House.—xxix, 304 p : ill ; 25cm.
"Sixteen of Blake's engravings are printed in two sections herein, slightly reduced in scale; illustrations 9, 18, and 19 are left out. Two of of the most symbolically complex and artistically striking apear as endpapers; these are 14, the divine imagination at the creation of the uniuverse when 'all the Sons of God shouted for joy', and 15, the depiction of the monster Behemoth and serpent Leviathan, icons of disorder."

1992.—There was a man in the Land of Uz : William Blake's illustrations to the Book of Job / edited by Meira Perry-Lehmann.—Jerusalem : Israel Museum.—[136]p,[65]p of plates : ill.(some col.) ; 32cm.
Catalogue of an exhibition held at Israel Museum (Jerusalem), 1992.
Parallel English/Hebrew text.

1993.—Andrew Solomon.—Blake's Job : a message for our time.—London : Palamabron Press.-- viii, 86 p : 22 plates
A plate-by-plate analysis.

1994.—William Blake, 1757-1827 : the complete series of original engravings for the Book of Job : with an outstanding fully documented provenance directly from John Linnell who commissioned the series from Blake.—London : William Weston Gallery.—[44] p. : ill. ; 21 cm.—Catalogue; no. 1, 1994 (year 27, issue no. 249).
Dealer's catalogue of an exhibition of works for sale, opening 3 February 1994.

1995.—Blake's illustrations for the Book of Job.—New York : London : Dover Publications ; Constable.—iv, 60 p. : ill.. (some col.) ; 31 cm
Extracted from : Illustrations of the Book of Job. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1935.

1997.—Malcolm Cormack.—William Blake : illustrations of the Book of Job ; with an afterword by David Bindman.—Richmond VA : Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.—viii, 84 p : ill (some col), ports, facsims ; 26 cm.
Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond V.A., November 1, 1997 - January 11, 1998.
Presents the entire set of Blake's twenty-one Book of Job engravings in actual size.

2008.—Günter Brus.—Brus's + Blake's Jobs : Günter Brus : Bild-Dichtung, Werke auf Papier.—1. Aufl.—Klagenfurt : Ritter.—162, [22] p : col ill ; 30 cm.
Published on the occasion of a symposium held October 18, 2008, and an exhibition held at the Neue Galerie Graz, October 17, 2008-January 25, 2009.

s.d.—Il libro di Giobbe accompagnata da "The Book of Job" di William Blake.
No further data.



HALF TITLE
The Book of | Job

TITLE PAGE
THE BOOK OF JOB | The | Eighteenth | Book | of the | Old Testament | with | the | Twenty- | Two | Engravings | of | William Blake| MCMXXVII | Published in London by Ernest Benn Ltd. | at Bouverie House, Fleet Street

COLOPHON
The reproductions | of Blake’s engravings | have been made from those | in the possession of the | British Museum | The letterpress | has been set up | and printed | by the | Westminster Press |The collotype | plates have been made | and printed | by | Messrs. Whittingham and Griggs.

DESCRIPTION
2 p. l., 56 p., 2 l : plates ; 29 x 23 cm
The plates on slightly thinner, smoother, more yellowish paper than the Biblical text. Perhaps the same hand-made paper after calendaring.

Bound in black cloth, gilt design, uniform with same publisher’s facsimiles of Innocence and Experience. Lettered on spine THE BOOK OF JOB WITH THE ENGRAVINGS OF WILLIAM BLAKE.
Ryalnds copy is missing dust-jacket.

RYLANDS
Accession number
Pressmark
Provenance

COMMENT
Complete text of the Book of Job in the Authorised version. No commentary. A very pretty book.

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