William Blake
By Mona Badr
- An influential figure of the Romantic period
- Poet, Painter, visionary mystic, engraver, and philosopher.
- Studied engraving, Gothic art, and printing
- Born in London on November 28, 1757
Father was James, a hosier; mother was Catherine Blake. At 14 he was apprenticed to engraver James Basire, and sketched the tombs at Westminster Abbey which in turn exposed him to a lot of Gothic styles which inspired his drawings later on. In 1722 Blake married Catherine Boucher who was illiterate; he was 25 at this time. Together they published a book called Songs of Innocence. He trained his wife as well as his younger brother Robert in drawing, painting, and engraving. In 1787 Robert became sick and died.
Blake was a very intelligent man; he studied the
Bible, major works of literature, Milton, loved to read philosophy, theology,
and art theory. He was always deeply
concerned with revolutionary events along with their
causes and effects. Because he had a profound grasp
on human psychology he was seen as a explicit English writer.
He pointed out the interrelationship of problems associated with
cruelty, self-righteousness, sexual disturbance, social inequity, repression
of energy by reason, and revolutiona
ry
violence--he identified these as symptoms instead of
causes--
Blake decided to do some experimenting with relief etching, a.k.a. "illuminated printing," one day in 1788. he used this make most of his books of poems. He worked directly on a copper plate with pens, brushes, and acid-resistant medium. He wrote the text backwards so that it would print right side up in normal order and he also drew the illustrations; following this he etched the plate in acid to eat away the untreated copper and leave the design standing In relief.
Chronology
1757 William Blake born in November 28 at 28 Broad Street, London, son of James Blake, a shopkeeper. Baptized December 11 in St. James's church, Piccadilly.
C. 1765-1767
sees a tree filled with angels on Peckham Rye1772-1779
apprenticed to James Basire, engraver. Probably lives with Basire's family at 31 Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. In 1774, begins sketching memorials in Westminster Abbey for Basire1779
October. Admitted as a student to the Royal Academy of Arts1782 August 18. married to Catherine Boucher in St.. Mary's church, Battersea.
1780
June 6. Unwillingly caught in a mob storming Newgate prison during anti-Catholic riots1783
printing of Poetical Sketches arranged by John Flaxman and the reverend and Mrs. Anthony Stephen Mathew.1784
after his father's death in July, opens a print shop in partnership with James Parker, another former apprentice of James Basire1787
death of his brother Robert, aged nineteen. Sees Robert's spirit rise to heaven, "clapping its hands for joy." Subsequently, Robert reveals method of illuminated printing to him in a dream1788
publishes There Is No Natural Religion and All Religions Are One1789
April 13. signs list of thirty-two resolutions passed at a founding convention of a new church based on the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Engraves and publishes Songs of Innocence and Book of Thel. About this time writes, but does not engrave or publish, Tiriel.1790
writing The Marriage of Heaven And Hell1791 the French Revolution prepared for the press but not printed
1793
prospectus offers America, Visions of the Daughters of Albion, Thel, the Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience1794
publishes Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Europe, book of Urizen1795
publishes book of Ahania, book of Los, and song of Los1796
illustrates Edward young's night thoughts1797
at work on Vala (subsequently the four Zoas)1800 takes cottage at Felpham made available by William Hayley
1803 forced to evict a soldier named Scolfield from his garden at Felpham. Scolfield brings charges of sedition. Returns to London to 17 south Moulton street
1804 Blake tried and acquitted at Chichester. Starts Milton (published 1809-1810) and Jerusalem (published 1818-1820). Visits Truchsessian gallery
1808 edition of Robert Blair's Grave, illustrated by Blake, published
1809 exhibits paintings at 28 Broad Street and writes descriptive catalogue. Exhibition attacked by Robert hunt in the Examiner as "fresh proof of the alarming increase of the effects of insanity."
1815-1818 engraves for Wedgwood catalogues
1816 illustrates john Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso
1821 moves to Fountain Court, near the Strand
1824 illustrates john Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress
1826 publishes his illustrations of Dante's Divine Comedy until his death on August 12. He is buried in Bunhill fields burying ground, the dissenters' cemetery, but with the rites of the Church of England.
For Blake, where Gothic originated is not restricted to any one place or time, instead it shows the religion of Jesus is an eternal phenomenon. Revival of the gothic is a very important element in the creation of Blake's poetic and pictorial aesthetic. To Blake gothic art is an ageless representation of true art.
WORKS CITED
Damon, Foster S. William Blake: His Philosophy And Symbols. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1958
Essick, Robert N., and Donald Pearce, ed. Blake In His Time. Indiana University Press, 1978
Johnson,Mary Lynn., and John E. Grant, ed. Blake's Poetry And Designs. Georgia State University and The Univesrsity Of Iowa: W W Norton & Company, 1979
Lister, Raymond. The Paintings Of William Blake. Cambridge University Press, 1986Noon, Patrick. The Human Form Divine: William Blake from the Paul Mellon Collection. Yale University Press, 1997
Paananen, Victor N. William Blake. Michigan State University: Twayne,1977Roe, Albert S. Blake's Illustrations To The Divine Comedy. Greenwood Press Publishers,1977
Wicksteed,Joseph H. Blake's Vision Of The Book Of Job: With Reproductions Of The Illustrations. New York: Haskell, 1971
ONLINE SOURCES.
Welcome to Blake digital text project.
http://virtual.park.uga.edu/~wblake/home1.htmlWilliam Blake, illustrations for Dante's "Inferno."
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/ashp/blakeand.htmLEMAZE STUDIO.
http://www.lemaze-studio.com/cgi-bin/store/imageFolio.cgi?direct=CANVAS_PRINTS/ARTISTS_B/BLAKE_WilliamPoems of William Blake.
http://encyclopediaoftheself.com/classic_books_online/pblak10.htmWILLIAM BLAKE.
http://childoffortune.com/blake.toc.htm#WILLIAM%20BLAKEART OF EUROPE.
http://www.artofeurope.com/blake/index.htmlWilliam Blake.
http://www.online-literature.com/blake/Poetry Exhibits.
http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?45442B7C000C07040ETHE HANNIBAL LIBRARY.
http://www.pentaone.com/hannibal/blake.shtmlWilliam Blake art gallery.
http://webhome.idirect.com/~ravenque/images/blake/blake_tn.htmlNote: Text edited from student material by Dr. K. I have not been able to check the printed texts to see if materials were correctly cited but I did edit some obvious typos.