begin page 4 | back to top

Blake in the Marketplace, 1988

In my last sales review (Blake 22 [1988]: 4), I promised a report in the next installment on the Blake treasures to be sold from the Doheny Memorial Library. That auction has been postponed by Christie’s until February 1989, and thus I will make the same promise once again. As if in compensation, the marketplace brought forth a number of important works, including two illuminated books and four individual relief-etchings (illus. 1-3). For the first time in many years, a Blake manuscript came to market (illus. 4). Only one significant separate plate—if that category can be extended to include a glass goblet—changed hands (illus. 5). For the second year in a row, no Blake drawings or paintings were sold (but see the first item under “RICHMOND” for an intriguing suggestion). In May, Quaritch issued a catalogue of “The English Romantics” that included the largest selection seen in many years of volumes containing plates by or after Blake, most from the collection of Lord Clark of Saltwood. The Blake Circle was as active as ever, with a new record set for a painting by Fuseli (illus. 9).

The 1988 Blake market produced a few economic surprises. In November, copy BB of Songs of Innocence and of Experience—the only extant copy to include all the poems—failed to sell at a New York auction. Anyone who thought this a sign of a steep downturn in the Blake market would have been disabused exactly one month later by the sale in London of a single print, “A Poison Tree,” for over $55,000, a new record for a relief etching by Blake. If this roller coaster means anything, other than the unpredictability of auctions, it suggests that the lack of color in copy BB, hand tinted in black and gray only, and the rather optimistic estimate printed in the catalogue, may have put off most collectors and dealers. On the other hand, the rich color printing of “A Poison Tree,” displayed in a color reproduction in the catalogue, and the very conservative estimate seem to have boosted its marketability. One other factor may have been significant: BB was a well-known copy and had been on the market in recent years, whereas “A Poison Tree” was a sudden and unexpected recovery from the limbo of the “untraced.”

The 1987 sales review included brief mention of a newly discovered impression of Little Tom the Sailor, Blake’s only broadside. Thanks to a full-size color reproduction kindly supplied by Andrew Edmunds, I can now report that the hand tinting is striking and in all probability by Blake. The brown ink of the text and designs is complemented by the autumnal tones added to the lower design, with a hint of a sunrise or sunset in the sky. The same palette is continued in the upper design, with a slate-blue sky and a brick-red cloud on the upper left. The brushwork shows Blake’s usual dry delicacy; faces are detailed with pen (or a very small brush) and black ink. This impression, on wove paper 56 × 19.3 cm. without watermark, is the finest I have ever seen. It was sold in June 1988 by Edmunds and the Artemis Group of London to the same American private collector who now also owns America copy R (See Blake 21 [1988]: 138-42) and the “Poison Tree” reported here.

Two further events deserve notice. On 29 November, Christie’s in London sold as lot 74 an impression of There is No Natural Religion pl. a9 (proposition VI), printed in brown and hand colored. The reproduction in the auction catalogue made Jenijoy La Belle and Tom Lange suspicious because of the awkward conventionality of the figure’s redrawn face. Several details associate this print with W. Pickering’s little-known facsimile of 1886, although the coloring is distinctly different from the published book. According to David Llewellyn of Christie’s Print Department, the print was returned after its purchaser became convinced—apparently convincing Christie’s as well—that it is a nineteenth-century facsimile with hand tinting. Christie’s is to be congratulated for handling this matter so responsibly.

On 9 June, Swann Galleries in New York offered at auction, lot 24, a copy of the Job engravings in a fancy calf binding, described as “probably the 1874 edition issued by the printer[?] Herbert Linnell.” The volume fetched only $1100—a great bargain for any printing from the original plates, but rather pricey for what it actually was, a copy of the 1902 Dent facsimile that had languished for several years at Zeitlin & Ver Brugge of Los Angeles. This copy next popped up in a September catalogue issued by the Nineteenth Century Shop, item 41, with the facsimile properly identified. The description was accompanied by a price of $1800 (needless to say, a record for a book that usually brings about $150) and the following bit of puffery: “This striking facsimile of Blake’s Book of Job is indistinguishable [at least by Swann?] from the first edition except for the watermark ‘T H SAU’.” Caveat emptor!

begin page 5 | back to top

The year of all sales and catalogues in the following lists is 1988 unless noted otherwise. The auction houses listed in the Abbreviations add their purchaser’s surcharge to the hammer price in their price lists. These net amounts are given here, following the official price lists. Several late 1988 auctions, for which price lists are not yet available, will appear in the 1989 review. Copy designations and plate numbers for the illuminated books follow G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Books (Oxford: Clarendon P, 1977), hereafter cited as BB followed by the page numbers.

I am grateful for help in compiling this review to David Bindman, Chris Coover of Christie’s, Detlef Dörrbecker, Ruth Fine, Richard Godfrey, Marsha Malinowski, and Henry Wemyss (the last three of Sotheby’s), Alexander Gourlay, Richard Lanmon of the Corning Museum of Glass, Dr. Eckhard Schaar of the Hamburg Kunsthalle, Irena Zdanowicz of the National Gallery of Victoria, and especially Thomas Lange.

ABBREVIATIONS

BBA Bloomsbury Book Auctions, London
cat. catalogue or sales list issued by a dealer (usually followed by a number or letter designation) or auction house (followed by the day and month of sale)
CL Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London
CNY Christie, Manson & Woods, New York
illus. the item or part thereof is reproduced in the catalogue
pl(s). plate(s)
SL Sotheby’s London
SNY Sotheby’s New York
st. state of an engraving, etching, or lithograph
Swann Swann Galleries, Inc., auctioneers, New York
# auction lot or catalogue item number

ILLUMINATED BOOKS

America, pl. 1 (frontispiece) only. Relief and white-line etching printed in dark green ink, 23.4 × 16.9 cm. on sheet 25.3 × 18.5 cm. Listed in BB 107, the last of three entries for separate impressions of pl. 1. Sold Dec. 1987 by Garton & Cooke, the London print dealer, to the Hamburg Kunsthalle, West Germany. Illus. in color in Raymond Lister, Paintings by Blake (1986), pl. 9.

America, pl. 7 only. Posthumous impression in pale brick red; not listed in BB. Sold April by Garton & Cooke to a private client for an undisclosed price. Previously offered SL, 29 June 1987, #314 (not sold at £5000). For illus., see Blake 22 (1988): 6.

“A Poison Tree” from Songs of Experience. Relief etching, color-printed. SL, 1 December, #177, illus. color (£30,800 on an estimate of £5000-6000 to Libby Howie for a private client). See illus. 1.

1. Blake.   “A Poison Tree” from Songs of Experience. Relief etching, 11.1 × 6.8 cm. on wove paper. Text printed in golden-brown ink with the design color printed in blue, pink, dark green, and brick red, with touches of hand tinting in blue, brick red, and black on the figure. Probably the previously untraced impression from copy G, disbound and dispersed between 1877 and 1904. See illus. 3 for another plate from this early color-printed copy, probably produced in 1794 along with copies F (Experience section only) and H. Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s London.
begin page 6 | back to top

Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy BB. 55 pls. on 55 leaves, printed in black and hand tinted in black and gray washes. The only copy printed by Blake containing “A Divine Image.” CNY, 1 Nov., #211, sold the “Property of Randolph Schlegl, Ltd.,” 4 pls. illus. (not sold; estimate $200,000-250,000). Now returned to the collection of Justin G. Schiller, New York. See illus. 2.

2. Blake.   “The Tyger” from copy BB of Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Relief etching, 11 × 6.3 cm., printed in black ink, hand-tinted with black wash and numbered by Blake “48” in black ink, upper right. For other illus. and description, see Blake 15 (1981): 4-5. Photo courtesy of Christie’s New York.

Songs of Innocence, copy X. 14 pls. on 7 leaves, sheet size approx. 18.6 × 13.5 cm. Relief etchings with white-line work and hand coloring. Garton & Co., May cat., #1, “The Little Girl Found” (second pl.), “The Little Boy lost,” “The Little Boy found,” and “The Lamb” (second pl.) illus. (“price on application”). Previously offered SL, 27 June 1986, #746 (not sold). Acquired fall 1988 by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, with the assistance of a grant from the Felton Bequest. For illus., see Blake 21 (1987): 6, 8-10.

3. Blake.   “The[e] Fly” from Songs of Experience. Relief etching, 11.9 × 7.2 cm. on sheet of wove paper 18.1 × 11.2 cm. with two stab holes, 4.5 cm. apart, along the left margin. Text printed in golden-brown ink with the relief-etched surfaces of the design color printed in brown, black, blue-gree, and dark red, with hand tinting in blue, pink, olive green, and brown. Probably from copy G (see illus. 1 and BB 415, item Bvii). Essick collection. For color illus., see Raymond Lister, Infernal Methods (1975), pl. III, and Lister, Paintings of Blake (1986), pl. 15.
begin page 7 | back to top

“The Fly” from Songs of Experience. Purchased March by R. Essick from the London dealer Robin Garton. See illus. 3.

MANUSCRIPTS

Blake’s letter of 18 Jan. 1808 to Ozias Humphry. SNY, 14 Dec., #58, with Humphry’s letter of 15 June 1806 to Blake, both from the collection of Roger W. Barrett, p. 1 of Blake’s letter illus. ($24,600 to a dealer, probably for a private client). The new owner has yet to respond to my letter passed on by Sotheby’s. See illus. 4.

4. Blake.   Letter of 18 Jan. 1808 to Ozias Humphry, page 1 of 4. This is probably the earliest of three extant holograph manuscripts in which Blake describes his Last Judgment water color now at Petworth House. Justin Schiller, who kindly inspected this letter for me, reports that the writing has a very flat appearance, much as in a lithograph. Sotheby’s experts explained that this was the result of Blake having used lithographic ink rather than one of the usual writing inks. This startling assertion deserves investigation. Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s New York.

SEPARATE PLATES & PLATES IN SERIES, INCLUDING PLATES EXTRACTED FROM PRINTED BOOKS

Allen, New and Improved History of England, 1798, Blake’s 5 pls. from. Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., #2-5, all illus. (£1200 the set or £350 each).

Blair, Grave, Blake’s pls. from. Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., #10, pls. from the 1808 quarto (£35 each), pls. on laid India, 1813 (£25 each), “Death’s Door” illus. These pls. on laid India are true 1813 3rd st. impressions, not the 1870 5th st. created in imitation of the 1813 st. Apparently, after Ackermann acquired the copperplates from Mrs. Cromek and altered the imprints, he pulled a few impressions on laid India. These may have been sold (if sold at all) as separate pls. in portfolio, for I have yet to find a copy of The Grave with India paper impressions of the pls. after Blake’s designs.

Dante engravings. SL, 27 June, #168, complete set of 7 pls. on laid India, one support sheet with part of a J. Whatman Turkey Mill watermark (and thus the first printing?), some foxing, 3 pls. illus. (£24,000—the third time in the last few years that the Dante pls. have sold for more than £20,000 at auction).

“Felpham Rummer,” with inscriptions and a design attributed to Blake. Pickering & Chatto, May cat. 668, #188, illus. ($45,000); previously offered March 1983 cat. 651, #1, illus. color (same price). Acquired Oct. by the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, the gift of Arthur A. Houghton. See illus. 5.

Fuseli, Lectures on Painting, 1801, Blake’s pl. from. Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., #9, illus. (£125).

“Hawker, Rev. Robert,” engraving, 1820. SL, 27 Oct., #19, with “Rev. John Caspar Lavater,” 3rd st., and Blake’s six pls. from Hayley, Life . . . of Cowper (not sold).

Job engravings. Sims, Reed, April cat. 92, #9, complete set of published “Proof” impressions on French paper, recased in original boards, boxed, title-page and pl. 13 illus., showing considerable foxing not noted in the cat. entry (£20,000). Garton & Co., May cat., #3, complete set, regular issue on Whatman paper in a binding of “about 1830,” pls. 1, 4, 19, 21 illus. (“price on application”). CL, 7 Dec., #122, apparently the regular issue of 1826 on Whatman paper, original wrappers bound in, Thomas Gaisford’s copy with his bookplate, pl. 6 illus. (Finch, £15,400).

Malkin, Father’s Memoirs of His Child, 1806, frontispiece from, Cromek after Blake. Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., #6, proof before all letters on laid sheet 27.2 × 20.1 cm. (larger than the leaves in uncut copies of the book), illus. (£175). Apparently several proofs of this sort were pulled, for this print is identical in state and sheet size to one in the Huntington Library.

begin page 8 | back to top
5. “The Felpham Rummer.”   Lead glass goblet, 13.9 cm. high, with inscriptions and a winged figure (shown here) attributed to Blake. This reproduction is based on the clearest photograph yet made of the angel/devil. The glass experts at the Corning Museum have determined that this figure, previously thought to be etched, was cut in stipple with a diamond-pointed tool. For other illus. and discussion, see Blake 18 (1984): cover, 72, 79-83, 94-99. An essay on the rummer is forthcoming in the Journal of Glass Studies. Photo courtesy of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York.
begin page 9 | back to top

Novelist’s Magazine, Blake’s first pl. from (“Don Quixote and a Barber’s Basin”), 1782. Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., #8, 2nd st., illus. (£75).

Virgil wood engravings. Garton & Co., May cat., #2, the 17 cuts from the 1821 ed. sold separately, including duplicates, all illus. (£200-500 each). SL, 27 June, #167, the 17 cuts on laid India, Linnell impressions, some foxing, the oblong octavo vol. inscribed by J. C. Hook, “Seventeen woodcuts by Blake given to me by John Linnell Senr,” 2 cuts illus. (Caroline Bullard, £5720).

BOOKS WITH ENGRAVINGS BY & AFTER BLAKE

Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1791. BBA, 22 Sept., #281, 2 vols., rubbed (Axe, £27).

Blair, Grave. BBA, 14 Jan., #191, 1813 “folio” (i.e., the 1870 folio?), “original cloth,” worn, with Works of Blake, 1876 (R. Clark, £209). Dawson’s Book Shop, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1808 quarto, imprint on engraved title page trimmed off, rebacked ($1000). Robert Clark, April cat. 12, #189, 1813 quarto sheets reissued in a Victorian blue cloth binding, probably by J. C. Hotten c. 1870, some foxing (£280). Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #23, 1808 quarto, slight foxing ($850). M & S Rare Books, Oct. cat. 47, #31, New York 1847 ed., foxed, original cloth ($250). D. & E. Lake, Oct. cat., #24, 1808 quarto, half morocco ($1150). James O’Neil, Nov. cat. 880, #7, 1813 quarto, rebound, margins foxed ($400). Swann, 21 Nov., #27, 1870 folio ($220). SL, 1 Dec., #28, 1808 “folio” (actually the quarto?), spotted, with 3 other vols. related to Blake (£190). CL, 7 Dec., #121, 1808 quarto (not sold).

Cumberland, Outlines from the Antients, 1829. Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #25, some foxing and water staining ($450).

Cumberland, Thoughts on Outline, 1796. Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #24, uncut ($900).

Darwin, Botanic Garden. Frew Mackenzie, Feb. cat. 10, #41, Part I 1791, Part II 1789, contemporary calf (£385). Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., #7, Part I 1791, Part II 1794, but with “Tornado” after Fuseli, “Tornado” and “Fertilization of Egypt” illus. (£500).

Emlyn, Proposition for a New Order in Architecture, 1797. BBA, 8 Sept., #230, spotted, worn, covers almost detached (Pagan, £220). All eds. of this title are scarce.

Enfield, Speaker. James Burmester, May cat. 7, #85, 1795 ed., contemporary sheep rebacked, rubbed (£40). Simon Finch, May cat. 3, #16, 1785 ed., contemporary calf rebacked, few stains (£85). Bluestem Books, June private offer, 1797 ed., 2nd st. of the pl. by Blake, contemporary calf ($40—not bad for the rare final ed. with Blake’s very worn, but reworked, pl.).

Flaxman, Hesiod designs, 1817. Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #26, lacking engraved half-title, some foxing ($250). Swann, 15 Sept., #121, foxed, worn ($165).

Fuseli, Lectures on Painting, 1801. Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #27 ($375).

Gay, Fables, 1793. Sotheby’s house sale, Mount Juliet, Ireland, 21 Oct. 1987, #284, pls. spotted (IR£260). BBA, 14 Jan., #108, 2 vols. in 1, some spotting, rebacked (Abbey Antiquarian Books, £77). Hobbyhorse Books, June cat. 11, #111, 2 vols., fancy binding, some browning ($350). Wm. Reese Co., Oct. cat. 69, #60, 2 vols. rebacked, worn, soiled, foxed ($100). Swann, 21 Nov., #130, fancy binding ($385).

G. Hamilton, Gallery of British Artists, 1839. BBA, 12 May, #267, 4 vols., some foxing (Maggs for R. Essick, £88). See illus. 6.

Hayley, Life of Romney, 1809. Howes, Oct. cat. 240, #539, rebacked (£150).

Hayley, Life . . . of William Cowper, 1803-1804. Bernard Shapero, Feb. cat. 1, #68, apparently 1st ed., slightly spotted (£185). Frew Mackenzie, Sept. cat. 13, #70, apparently 1st ed. (£195). Howes, Oct. cat. 240, #229, 1st ed., 4 vols. in 3 (£250). SL, 1 Nov., #813, apparently 1st ed., rubbed (not sold).

Hayley, Triumphs of Temper, 1803. Larkhill Books, Jan. cat. 1, #15, small paper (£160). G. W. Stuart, Jan. cat. 15, #74, “large [paper?] copy,” worn, rebacked ($395); same copy, Nov. cat. 19, #61 (same price). Phillip Pirages, May cat., #423, apparently small paper, modern morocco, 1 pl. illus. ($750); same copy and price, Nov. cat. 14, #162.

Hogarth, Works. Christie’s, Dohney Sale, Camarillo, California, 2 Feb., #727, a Boydell issue of remainder impressions, no indication as to whether or not Blake’s pl. is present (Gunter Collman, $1980). SL, 27 Oct., #209, Baldwin and Craddock issue of c. 1840, some foxing (£638). CL, 8 Nov., #15, Baldwin and Craddock issue of c. 1828-1840, minor defects (not sold).

Hunter, Historical Journal, 1793. Blackwell’s Feb. cat. A88, #1169, quarto, title page “imprint slightly shaved,” but “an exceptional copy” (£3900—an exceptional price). SL, 13 Jan., #97, quarto, few stains and repairs, Blake’s pl. illus. (Marshall, £1485). CL, 26 Oct., #100, quarto, rebacked, Blake’s pl. illus. (McCormick, £2090).

Josephus, Works. Sterling Books, Feb. cat. 65, #347, apparently the final issue listed in BB (£75). Suzanne Berglas Books, Glendale Book Fair, Oct., second issue, rebacked ($675). BBA, 1 Dec., #247, lacking some pls., with 16 other vols. not described (Aoike, £66).

begin page 10 | back to top
6. “Death’s Door.”   Line etching/engraving, 14.5 × 8.6 cm., by “Normand fils” after Blake’s design for Robert Blair’s The Grave. Published in G. Hamilton, Gallery of British Artists (Paris, 1839), vol. 1. Essick collection. BB 569 lists only the issue of 1831-1832. The first sentence of the description on the facing page expresses typical nineteenth-century attitudes towards Blake’s art.

Kimpton, History of the Bible, c. 1781. Francis Edwards, spring cat. 1110, #230, a variant (earlier?) issue with a title page that differs considerably from the one transcribed in BB, no. 478 (£75). G. Ingli James, the lucky new owner of this rare volume, tells me that the plates are in the same states described and reproduced in vol. 2 of Easson and Essick, William Blake: Book Illustrator, no. XVIII. David Bindman, Oct. private offer (acquired by R. Essick). This copy includes a mixture of plate states, some with the Kimpton borders and inscriptions, others with the later Josephus borders but with the “Josephus” inscriptions masked in some cases and scraped off the copper in others. This must be a late issue with the illustrations made up from remainders of Kimpton impressions and new impressions from the much-worn pls. after they had been reworked into their Josephus states. One of Blake’s three pls., “The Fugitive Shechemites,” has the Josephus inscription removed from the medallion in the top frame. This constitutes a previously unrecorded 3rd (final) st. of the pl.

begin page 11 | back to top

Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy. SL, 2 Feb., #883, a mixed ed. (1789-1810), 3 vols. in 5, vol. 1 lacking 1 leaf, spotted, worn (Elliott, £55). Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #30, 1789-1798 ed. ($1250). BBA, 14 July, #6, 1810 ed., lacking some pls., spotted, worn (Elliott, £33). D. & E. Lake, Oct. cat., #97, 1789-1798 ed. ($950). CL, 16 Nov., #35, the rare 1792 issue (Titles of Oxford, £528).

Malkin, Father’s Memoirs of His Child, 1806. T. Hannas, Jan. cat. 80, #70, contemporary cloth, uncut, lacking half-title (£250). Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #31, worn ($375).

Nicholson, Introduction to Natural Philosophy, 1782. Marlborough Rare Books, Jan. cat. 37, #72, 2 vols., rebacked (£350); same copy, same price, Aug. cat. 129, #111.

Novelist’s Magazine. SL, 15 Jan., #700, 19 vols., 1780-1788, apparently including all vols. with pls. by Blake, worn, some dampstaining (Saxon, £286).

Ritson, Select Collection of English Songs, 1783. James Burmester, May cat. 7, #261, 3 vols. bound in 2, rebacked (£300). Howes, Oct. cat. 240, #403, 3 vols., some staining and foxing (£150).

Salzmann, Elements of Morality, 1792. Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #32 ($1250).

Salzmann, Gymnastics for Youth, 1800. Daniel Hirsch, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair ($1200).

Shakespeare, Plays, 1805. Howes, Oct. cat. 240, #142, 10 vol. (large paper) issue, extra-illus. with c. 175 additional pls., slight foxing (£1250).

Stedman, Narrative. Frew Mackenzie, Feb. cat. 10, 1813 ed., 2 vols., uncut in recent calf-backed marbled boards, few marginal tears (£600). CL, 13 April, #116, 1813 ed., 2 vols., 80 pls. hand colored, modern half-calf (Walford, £385). SL, 25 May, #897, 1796 ed., spotted, rebacked, rubbed (Lovejoy, £418).

Stuart and Revett, Antiquities of Athens. Sims, Reed & Fogg, Feb. cat. 90, #249, 5 vols., 1762-1830, new bindings (£5750). Quaritch, March cat. 1084, #92, 4 vols., 1762-1816, second issue ($8500). CL, 29 Sept., #383, 5 vols., 1762-1830, some spotting, 1 pl. lacking in supplement vol. (Smidof, £2860); #384, 4 vols., 1762-1816, torn, browned (Arc, £2420). Charles Wood, Oct. cat. 65, #407, 5 vols., 1762-1830 ($7500). CL, 26 Oct., #40, 3 vols., 1762-1794, lightly soiled, rubbed (Rainer, £1980); #265, 4 vols., 1762-1816, soiled, worn (Wattis, £3080).

Varley, Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy, 1828. Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #33, uncut, washed and with marginal repairs, modern sewing of gatherings, unbound in a box ($3750). SL, 1 Nov., #812, slight staining, contemporary linen-backed boards (£220).

Virgil, Blake’s Wood Engravings for Thornton’s Virgil, restrikes from the original blocks, 1977. BBA, 4 Feb., #314, no. 7 of 150 copies, loose as issued in original cloth box (Deighton, Bell, £242); same copy, Deighton, Bell, April cat. 242, #35a, 2 cuts illus. (£400).

Virgil, Pastorals, 1821. SL, 3 Dec. 1987, #34, vol. 1 only, original sheep worn, covers loose, cuts 2-5 illus. (not sold, or perhaps withdrawn, on an estimate of £1750-2250). Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #34, 2 vols., modern morocco, from the collection of Lord Clark; vol. 1 p. 18, facing 4 cuts, and spine of vol. 2 illus. color ($10,000—a record asking price). Marlborough Rare Books, May cat. 127, #94, vol. 1 only, original sheep worn in a fitted case, “Blake wood-engravings clean and fine impressions, except the last” (£3800).

Whitaker, Seraph, c. 1825-28. Stuart Bennett, Jan. cat., #18, 2 vols. in 1, “first edition” (but described as “Printed for Jones & Co.,” indicating the 3rd ed. listed in BB), rubbed (£375—a record asking price?).

Wit’s Magazine, 1784-1785. W. & V. Dailey, July Blake list, #28, with the 1st version of the 1st pl., contemporary mottled calf ($1500). Maggs Bros., July cat. 1089, #12, 2 vols. (Jan. 1784-May 1785), with the 2nd version of the 1st pl., early twentieth-century binding, 1 pl. illus. (£625).

Wollstonecraft, Original Stories from Real Life, 1791. Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #35, contemporary calf ($1500).

Young, Night Thoughts, 1797. CL, 25 May, #174, with explanation leaf, “a few margins shaved, a few imprints cropped,” half-calf, rubbed, title page to Night the Third illus. (Rothman, £3850—a record auction price for an uncolored copy). BBA, 30 June, #517, lacking explanation leaf, trimmed, slight soiling, “original cloth”(?), worn (Sims & Reed, £2090). CL, 29 Nov., #75, “explanation [leaf] detached,” some foxing, with W. B. Scott’s etching (1881) of Blake’s portrait laid in, title to Night the Third illus. (£1540). CL, 7 Dec., #120, “final leaf of explanation watermarked 1833,” title to Night the First illus. (Traylen, £3080). John E. Grant has suggested to me in correspondence that some dealer, perhaps a member of the Edwards family, had a remainder stock of the Night Thoughts in 1833 or later, but an insufficiency of “Explanation” leaves, and thus had it reprinted. This would seem to be the best explanation for the 1833 watermark.

begin page 12 | back to top

UNIQUE (OR AT LEAST BIZARRE) BLAKEANA

Bulwer Lytton, E. Conversations with an Ambitious Student in Ill-Health: with Other Pieces (New York: J. and J. Harper, 1832). Ximenes Rare Books, May cat. 81, #35, half green morocco, bit rubbed ($75). It has not been previously noted that this vol. contains (26-27) the first book publication of Bulwer Lytton’s discussion of Blake’s Night Thoughts illustrations. Bulwer Lytton’s comments first appeared in the New Monthly Magazine, 29 (Dec. 1830): 511-19, and later in The Student (London: Saunders and Otley, 1853) 2: 152-55. See BB, no. 1313A-B.

Fremondière, Yves de la. A medal dedicated to Blake. Acquired March by R. Essick from Numismatic Services, London. See illus. 7.

7. Yves de la Fremondière.   A silvered bronze medal, 9.5 cm. diameter, with a near-profile of Blake on one side (shown here) with his name and dates and a list in French of his illuminated books; and on the other side the “Ancient of Days” and an inscription, “Le chemin de l’exces mene au palais de la sagesse—(les livres prophetiques).” No. 4 of an edition of 100 cast in 1972. Essick collection.

Muir, W. Facsimiles of Songs of Innocence (1884) and Songs of Experience (1885). Ken Spelman, May cat. 13, #1, bound in 1 vol., parchment backed gray paper wrappers (£650). Inserted is a letter from Muir, quoted as follows in this cat.: “at long last you have herewith the copy of Songs Innocence. I can give you no more than this one because I have none and even this was imperfect so I have made it complete by hand. This is the cause of the delay.

The plates done by hand are the frontispiece, the Lamb, Infant Boy [sic], Spring, and the Ancient Bard, so you can see I have had some work on this book.” Thus, this would seem to be a unique late issue, with 5 pls. facsimiled by hand without the usual lithographic base image.

Ottley, W. Y. A Catalogue of . . . Italian Pictures, . . . Collected . . . by . . . William Young Ottley, auction cat., Christie and Manson, 4 March 1837. Quaritch, Oct. cat. 1095, #182, from the collection of Lord Clark ($375). This 1837 cat. includes, as lot 52*, “Blake The happy family.” I can find no other record of such a work by Blake, nor any other record of Ottley’s ownership of any picture by Blake. Ottley was introduced to Blake by Linnell in April 1827, acquired a copy of Jerusalem from Linnell, and it is certainly possible for Ottley to have acquired one of Blake’s pictures. While “pictures” in a sale cat. generally means “paintings,” it is clear from other lots that some were drawings. Perhaps, if the attribution is correct, this “happy family” was a drawing associated with Blake’s Grave illustration, “A Family Meeting in Heaven.”

Scott, W. B. Galley proofs for the 1876 Burlington Fine Arts Club Blake exhibition catalogue with ink corrections and additions by Scott. Given Oct. to R. Essick by the former son-in-law of a friend of Panda Paley.

“A small oil painting of William Blake’s Cottage at Felpham.” Sold at auction, Stride of Chichester, 1 July. No other information available.

Smetham, J. His copy of Alexander Gilchrist, Life of Blake, 1863, with Smetham’s marginal drawings. Acquired Oct. by R. Essick from D. Bindman. For description and illus., see Frances A. Carey, “James Smetham (1821-1889) and Gilchrist’s Life of Blake,” Blake Newsletter 8 (1974): 17-25.

BLAKE’S CIRCLE & FOLLOWERS

Works are listed under artists’ names in the following order: untitled paintings and drawings sold in groups, single paintings and drawings, letters and manuscripts, separate plates, books by (or with plates by or after) the artist.

BARRY, JAMES

Portrait Head of a Young Lady. Pencil, 15⅜ × 11½ in., dated 1800. CL, July 12, #142 (not sold).

Attributed to Barry. River God of the Nile, after the Antique. Pencil and ink, 10⅛ × 19½ in. CL, 15 Nov., #56 (£220).

Seven pls. from A Series of Etchings. CL, 17 May, #25, stained (not sold).

begin page 13 | back to top

“Self Portrait,” mezzotint. SL, 1 Dec., #171, illus. (£6380). See illus. 8.

8. James Barry.   “Self Portrait.” Mezzotint, image 35.3 × 25.3 cm., begun 1802. William Pressly, Life and Art of Barry (1981) 279, no. 36, records only three other impressions of this rare print, one of Barry’s most direct portrayals of the care-worn melancholy dominating the last years of his life. Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s London.

Letter to the . . . Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, 1793. Falkner Grierson, June cat. 49, #9, rebound (£75); same copy?, Marlborough Rare Books, Oct. cat. 130, #5 (£90).

BASIRE, JAMES

Rogers, Collection of Prints in Imitation of Drawings, 1778. Sims, Reed & Fogg, Feb. cat. 90, #242, uncut (£5750).

CALVERT, EDWARD

Cyrene and Cattle. Oil, 48.4 × 71.3 cm. CL, 14 Oct., #89, illus. (£770).

“Brook,” wood engraving. Garton & Co., May cat., #4, from the Memoir, illus. (£1250).

“Chamber Idyll,” wood engraving. Garton & Co., May cat., #5, from the Memoir, illus. (£2750).

Calvert, S., Memoir of Edward Calvert, 1893. Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #128, original cloth ($5000). SL, 27 June, #169, rebound, “Ploughman” illus. (£3630—probably an auction record).

FLAXMAN, JOHN

Sleeping Youth. Pen and ink, gray wash, 11.5 × 16.5 cm., perhaps related to the Pilgrim’s Progress designs. SL, 25 Jan., #134, illus. (£385).

Studies of Figures Wrestling. Pencil, 7¾ × 12¼ in., watermark 1802, with 3 pen and ink drawings. CL, 12 July, #68 (not sold).

Anatomical Studies, 1833. Swann, 15 Sept., #118, foxed, torn ($88).

Dante Illustrations, 1807. Swann, 15 Sept., #120, foxed, waterstained ($132). BBA, 20 Oct., #464, spotted, worn (R. Clark, £49).

Iliad Illustrations. Swann, 15 Sept., #122, London, n.d., foxed ($99); #123, Rome, n.d., with Odyssey Illustrations, foxed, worn ($110); #126, Berlin, n.d., with Odyssey Illustrations, crudely rebacked ($55).

Keepsake for 1831. Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #251, vignette title by Flaxman ($125).

Lectures on Sculpture. Dawson Book Service, March cat. 26, 1838 ed., contemporary calf (£140). Marlborough Rare Books, Oct. cat. 130, #21, 1838 ed. (£100). Swann, 15 Sept., #124, 1829 ed., foxed, worn ($66); #125, 1838 ed. ($66). Claude Cox, Nov. cat. 69, #272, 1838 ed., original cloth (£75).

Odyssey Illustrations, 1793. Quaritch, March cat. 1084, #26, original wrappers with Italian cover label indicating that this 1st ed. was probably sold in Rome by Piroli ($650).

FUSELI, HENRY

Bertalda Frightened by Appearances. Oil, 90 × 70 cm. SL, 9 March, #91, illus. color (not sold on an estimate of £10,000-15,000, perhaps because of the pigment decay evident in the illus. Further, this lot immediately followed the sale of John Martin’s The Assuaging of the Waters for £495,000, a sum that may have thrown the room into temporary bidding shock).

begin page 14 | back to top

Cleopatra Receiving the Asp. Pencil, pen, touches of wash, 21.5 × 30.5 cm., datable to c. 1805-1810. SL, 14 July, #78, illus. (£7150).

Death of Cordelia. Oil, 114.5 × 141 cm., a previously unrecorded major painting of c. 1810-1820. SL, 16 Nov., #106, illus. color (£66,000).

Head of Satan. Oil, 53 × 33.7 cm., c. 1790. Kate Ganz Ltd., advertisement in Apollo 127 (June 1988): 15, illus. color (not priced).

9. Henry Fuseli.   Satan Starting from the Touch of Ithuriel’s Lance. Oil on canvas, 212.5 × 274.5 cm. This enormous and previously untraced painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1780, when it was harshly criticized by John Williams (“ . . . the most ill looking devil I ever saw painted”) and Horace Walpole (“extravagant and ridiculous”). Fifteen years later, Fuseli painted an even larger version of the design (untraced) for his Milton Gallery. A smaller version of 1802 is now in a private collection. Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s London.

Perdita, with Ariel Flying on a Bat. Oil, 65.4 × 51.4 cm., c. 1785. CL, 18 March, #158, illus. (£6820).

Portrait of Lavinia de Irujo. Pencil, black chalk, with a verso pencil sketch of a woman leaning on a parapet, 15.5 × 18.5 cm. SL, 14 July, #52, illus. (not sold).

Satan Starting from the Touch of Ithuriel’s Lance. SL, 13 July, #94, sold “The Property of a Swiss Charitable Institute,” illus. color (£770,000, no doubt a record for a painting by Fuseli). See illus. 9.

begin page 15 | back to top

Second Allegory of Painting. Pen and ink over pencil, 30.3 × 12.2 cm., inscribed “Da Fuzely 1777.” Woman with a dagger sketched on verso. Kunsthandel Bellinger, Munich, advertisement in Burlington Magazine (Nov. 1987): xxix, illus. (not priced).

Sieglind, Siegfried’s Mother, Roused by the Contest of the Good and Evil Genius about Her Infant Son. Oil, 71 × 91.5 cm., exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1814. SL, 16 Nov., #108, illus. color (not sold). While the compositions are dissimilar, the subject of this painting, which Fuseli associated with the Nibelungenlied but which does not appear in that poem, cannot help reminding one of Blake’s 1795 color-printed drawing, The Good and Evil Angels Struggling for Possession of a Child. Fuseli is not known to have worked on this subject until 1809, and thus any influence must have been from Blake to Fuseli.

Standing Figure. SL, 10 March, #32, illus. color (not sold; estimate too brave at £20,000-30,000). See illus. 10.

“Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 4.” Engraving by Thew for the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery. The Prints & the Pauper, winter 1987 cat., p. 9, etched state dated 1793 ($725).

Bell’s British Theatre, 1791-1793. Time Portal Books, April private offer, 22 vols. ($350). Charles Traylen, July cat. 103, #662, 22 vols., “1791-92” (actually 93?), “contemporary half red morocco” (£620). The 22 vols. of 1791-1793 would appear to be the first illustrated ed., published by John Bell. In 1797, George Cawthorn published a new ed., adding more plays and extending the work to 34 vols. All 5 of Fuseli’s pls., and 1 of Stothard’s, appear in both eds.; the remainder of Stothard’s 20 pls. appear only in the second ed. Large paper copies of the Cawthorn ed., such as the one in the Huntington Library, have proofs of the pls., with scratched inscriptions. The prints in the first 22 vols. of these large-paper sets were apparently pulled prior to the 1791-1793 impressions used in the 1st ed.

Bible, pub. Macklin, 1800. Howes, Oct. cat. 240, #531, 6 vols., fancy binding (£550).

Boothby, Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope, 1796. Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #44, fancy binding ($2000).

Boydell, American Edition of Boydell’s Illustrations . . . of Shakespeare, c. 1850. Swann, June 23, #40, 95 (of 100) pls., worn, scattered foxing ($1045 on an estimate of $200-300).

Boydell, Collection of Prints . . . Illustrating . . . Shakspeare, 1803. Wooley and Wallis auction, Salisbury, 11 May, no lot no. reported (£1350).

10. Henry Fuseli.   Standing Figure. Brown, green, and yellow washes over pencil, 27 × 20 cm., c. 1770-1778. Pencil study of a man on verso. Several classical statues, plus Michelangelo’s Naason lunette, have been suggested as sources for this composition, once in the collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence. Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s London.

Dragonetti, Treatise on Virtue and Rewards, 1769. James Burmester, May cat. 7, #76, lacking half-title, worn (£130).

Gray, Poems, pub. Du Roveray, 1800. Marlborough Rare Books, Jan. cat. 37, #42, “excellent copy” (£210); same copy and price, May cat. 127, #104.

Pope, Rape of the Lock, 1798. James Burmester, May cat. 7, #240, small paper, pls. foxed (£20). Howes, Oct. cat. 240, #388, apparently small paper, pls. foxed (£28).

Sotheby, Oberon, 1805. Cielou Books, fall 1987 cat., #0120, vol. 2 only (of 2), rubbed (£15).

begin page 16 | back to top

LINNELL, JOHN

Crossing the Bridge. Oil, 77.5 × 108 cm., signed and dated 1877. SL, 13 July, #80, illus. color (£20,900).

Evening—Shepherds’ Amusements. Oil, 67 × 87 cm., signed and dated 1815. SL, 16 Nov., #89, illus. color (£12,100).

Found (shepherds and a lamb in an extensive landscape). Oil, 71 × 99.6 cm., signed and dated 1871. CNY, 26 Oct., #516, illus. color (not sold).

Meadow: Shepherds with the Flocks in a Field, by J. Linnell and Elizabeth Ann Linnell. Oil, 35.6 × 45.4 cm., signed and dated 1860. CL, 29 Jan., #66, illus. (£1210).

Portrait of a Gentleman. Water color, 28.5 × 18.5 cm., signed and dated 1831. SL, 21 Sept., #52 (not sold).

Portrait of a Gentleman, perhaps Charles Aders. Oil, 36.9 × 29.3 cm., signed and dated 1833. CL, 27 May, #139, illus. (£1980). Previously sold CL, 26 April 1985, #105, illus. color (£1296). For illus., see Blake 20 (1986): 29.

Portrait of Rev. John Chin. Oil, 30 × 22 cm., signed and dated 1816. SL, 26 Oct., #259, illus. (£1430).

Sandpit. Oil, 30.5 × 49 cm., signed and dated 1857. SL, 16 Dec. 1987, #46, illus. color (£5060).

Sheep by a Woodland Road. Water color, 14 × 21 cm., signed. SL, 17 Nov., #90, illus. (£1100).

Shepherd and Shepherdess. Oil, 71 × 91 cm., signed. SL, 28 Sept., #52, illus. (not sold). The small illus. makes me slightly suspicious of the attribution.

Shepherds. Water color, 7 × 11¼ in., signed. CL, 15 Nov., #66, illus. color (not sold).

Sunset—Gleaners. Oil, 80 × 110 cm., probably painted 1864. SL, 9 March, #85, illus. color (£14,300).

Tatham’s Garden, Alpha Road, at Evening. Water color, 10.2 × 12.5 cm., signed and dated 1812. Sold CL, 19 Nov. 1985, #83, and listed in my 1985 sales review. Acquired in that year by the Tate Gallery, cat. #T04139. For color illus., see Judy Egerton, British Watercolours (London: Tate, 1986), pl. 26.

4 letters to Mr. White discussing frames, 1838 when dated. Phillips auction, London, 16 June, #73 (£75).

MORTIMER, JOHN HAMILTON

11 pen and ink drawings in faithful imitation of Mortimer’s Characters of Shakespeare, dated 1833 on manuscript title page. Marlborough Rare Books, May cat. 127, #70 (£1100).

11. Samuel Palmer.   Jacob Wrestling with the Angel. Water color and body color with scratching out, arched top, 51 × 37.5 cm. Inscribed lower right, “S. Palmer / 4 Grove Street / Lisson Grove / Marylebone. London 1845.” Raymond Lister, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Palmer (1988) 144, no. 390, dates this work to 1844 and suggests that the inscribed year was the date of sale. He also suggests that the bright star, just left of center at the top, “is probably a symbol of Christ,” thereby giving the design a typological iconography. Lister catalogues only one other biblical subject by Palmer between 1837 and 1848. Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s London.

Beatrice. Pen and ink, 34.5 × 26.5 cm. oval, a preliminary(?) for Mortimer’s Shakespeare etching of 1776. SL, 25 Jan., #149 (not sold, perhaps because potential bidders were suspicious that this is an anon. drawing made after the print, like the 11 above).

Classical Youth Holding the Folds of his Tunic in his Left Hand. Pencil and pen, 10¾ × 8⅛ in., dated 1777. CL, 12 July, #48 (£198).

Salvator Rosa. Pen and ink, 28 × 21 cm., signed and dated 1776, a preliminary(?) for the etching. Advertised by W. M. Brady and Co., New York, Burlington Magazine (Nov. 1988): lv, illus. (not priced).

begin page 17 | back to top

Soldiers Resting beneath a Tree. Pen and ink, 10⅜ × 8 in. CL, 12 July, #49, illus. (£1540).

Plates for the series of 1778 dedicated to Reynolds. Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., #54, “Successful Monster,” proof before all letters (£175); #55, “Tragedy,” early impression on pale blue paper (£150); “Banditti,” early impression (£120), all illus.

“Sailing Ferry in a Storm,” etching by Blyth, 1803. Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., #60, proof before title and imprint, illus. (£75).

Shakespeare Characters, etchings, 1776. Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., Palser restrikes, #57, “Falstaff,” #58, “Beatrice,” #59, “York,” all illus. (£100 each).

PALMER, SAMUEL

Bay of Baiae Monte Nuovo. Water color, 14.5 × 40 cm., c. 1841. SL, 17 Nov., #172, illus. color (£19,800).

Eastern Gate, an illus. to “L’Allegro.” Water color and gouache, 50 × 70 cm., completed 1881 (the last year of Palmer’s life). SL, 14 July, #190, illus. color (£143,000 on an estimate of £40,000-60,000).

Eventide—a Shepherd Boy on a Hill Top, the Sun Setting over the Sea Beyond. Water color and body color, 19 × 42 cm., signed, a previously unrecorded work of the late 1850s. SL, 17 Nov., #138, illus. color (not sold).

From Richmond Hill, Surrey. Brown wash, 18 × 25.5 cm., signed and dated 1821. SL, 10 March, #86, illus. (£3520). This drawing, executed before Palmer’s development of his Shoreham style, shows the strong influence of David Cox.

Golden Hour. Water color, 10¼ × 14 in., signed, executed 1865. Leger Gallery, Feb. cat. of the Fitch Collection, #54, illus. color. Upon inquiry, I was informed that this splendid work had been sold at an undisclosed price.

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel. SL, 10 March, #66, illus. color (£22,000). See illus. 11.

Sunset: Returning from Market. Water color, 2¾ × 6½ in., c. 1848. CL, 15 Nov., #67, illus. color (£11,550).

Water-Organ, Tivoli. Water color, 10⅝ × 14¾ in., probably 1838. CL, 15 Nov., #43, illus. color (£26,400).

“Bellman,” etching. SL, April 20, #523, 7th st., 1926 printing, slight foxing (£715). Garton & Co., May cat., #19, 6th st., illus. (£6000). CL, 28 Oct., #311, 7th st., 1926 printing, stained (£1540).

“Christmas,” etching. CL, 19 April, #561, 3rd st., pencil signature, repaired tear in margin (£880); #562, 4th st., with “Sleeping Shepherd,” 3rd st. (£1540). Garton & Co., May cat., #8, 4th st., illus. (£1100).

“Early Ploughman,” etching. SL, 27 Oct., #618, 4th st., illus. (£440). CL, 28 Oct., #310, 6th st., with “Rising Moon,” 9th st., foxed and stained (not sold).

“Harvest Under a Crescent Moon,” wood engraving. SL, 3 Dec. 1987, #406, 1 of 5 trial proofs taken in preparation for the 1932 ed. of 50, illus. (£3190 on an estimate of £1000-1500).

“Herdsman’s Cottage,” etching. Garton & Co., May cat., #7, 2nd st., illus. (£500). Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., #61, 2nd st., illus. (£250).

“Homeward Star,” etching. Garton & Co., May cat., #21, 2nd st., illus. (£300). CL, 28 Oct., #314, 3rd st., Dover’s House Press printing of 1924 (£132).

“Lonely Tower,” etching. CL, 28 Oct., #312, “fourth state” (actually 5th?), pencil signature, some discoloration, illus. (not sold).

“Opening the Fold,” etching. Garton & Co., May cat., #20, 8th st., illus. (£500). CL, 28 Oct., #313, 6th st., pencil signature (£440).

“Rising Moon,” etching. Garton & Co., May cat., #10, 7th st., illus. (£950). SL, 28 June, #753, 7th st., some foxing (£462). SL, 27 Oct., #613, 7th st., with “Morning of Life,” 7th st. (£495).

“Skylark,” etching. Garton & Co., May cat., #6, 7th st., illus. (£1000). SL, 28 June, #751, 7th st. (£550).

“Sleeping Shepherd,” etching. Garton & Co., May cat., #9, 4th st., illus. (“sold”). SL, 28 June, #752, 4th st., some foxing (£935). SL, 27 Oct., #597, 4th st. (£1210).

“Weary Ploughman,” etching. CL, 19 April, #563, 8th st., minor foxing (not sold). Garton & Co., May cat., #11, 8th st., illus. (£950). SL, 27 Oct., #614, 7th st., with 2 other, unnamed prints by Palmer (£352).

“Willow,” etching. CL, 19 April, #560, 2nd st., pencil signature, foxed and stained (£352). SL, 28 June, #750, 2nd st., with 4 others by Palmer (£770).

Dickens, Pictures from Italy, 1846. Marlborough Rare Books, May cat. 127, #119, original cloth worn, leaves “somewhat browned” (£150). Antony Waley, June cat. 2, #47, original cloth, recased (£78).

Hamerton, Etchings and Etchers. SL, 15 Dec. 1987, #190, 1880 ed. with “Herdsman’s Cottage” (£176). SL, 20 April, #524, 1880 ed., worn (£495). Sims, Reed, May cat. 93, #371, 1868 ed. with “Early Ploughman” (£875); #372, 1880 ed. (£575). Larkhill Books, Nov. cat. 3, #63, 1880 ed., rubbed (£750).

begin page 18 | back to top

Palmer, A. H., Life and Letters of S. Palmer, 1892. Sims, Reed, May cat. 93, #209, original cloth (£285). Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #314, original cloth ($300). BBA, 20 Oct., #491, minor foxing, original cloth worn (Rainer, £121). Larkhill Books, Nov. cat. 3, #119, original cloth (£250).

Palmer, S., Shorter Poems of Milton, 1889. Blackwell’s, Dec. 1987 list “Florence,” #76, large paper, “out of series,” fancy binding by Roger de Coverley (£450); same copy and price, April cat. A90, #198. Larkhill Books, Jan. cat. 1, #107, original cloth (£125). Swann, 29 Sept., #248, large paper, original parchment boards ($275).

Virgil, Eclogues, 1883. Larkhill Books, Jan. cat. 1, #106, small paper, original cloth (£380). SL, 1 Feb., #676, small paper, original cloth worn (Post, £242). Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., #62, small paper, original cloth (£850).

RICHMOND, GEORGE (excluding later portraits)

A sketchbook, 156 pp., 10.8 × 18.4 cm., datable to the 1820s. Acquired 1981 by the Rosenbach Museum and Library, Philadelphia. See Kimerly Rorschach, Blake to Beardsley: The Artist as Illustrator, exhibition cat. (Rosenbach Museum, 1988), #7, where a preliminary sketch for The Creation of Light (now Tate Gallery) is illus. and the sketchbook is said to contain portraits of Richmond and Palmer and “an inscription and perhaps a sketch by William Blake.” The physical description of this notebook, but not the provenance information, matches that given in Martin Butlin, Paintings and Drawings of Blake (1981), no. 802A, for a Richmond sketchbook untraced since 1920.

Artist’s Father. Medium not recorded; inscribed “Thomas Richmond about 1835-6 by his son George Richmond R.A.”; 39.7 × 31.4 cm. Agnew, 115th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours and Drawings, Feb.-March, #134 (£1800).

Bathsheba Seated on a Rock. Pen and brown ink, gray wash, 11¾ × 7¾ in. CL, 19 July, ×68 (not sold).

Portrait of Julia, the Artist’s Wife, Sewing. Pencil, 33.6 × 24.7 cm. Agnew, 115th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours and Drawings, Feb.-March, #126, illus. (£1400).

Prophet Daniel, after Michelangelo, by Richmond and George Brown. Water color, 21 × 16⅞ in. CL, 19 July, ×117 (£330).

William Palmer [Samuel Palmer’s brother], Seated. Pencil, 19.7 × 18.1 cm. Agnew, 115th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours and Drawings, Feb.-March, #140 (£600).

ROMNEY, GEORGE (excluding most portrait paintings)

Emma Hamilton as Alope. Oil, 113 × 156 cm. SL, 13 July, #91, illus. color (not sold; estimate £40,000-60,000). A striking combination of neoclassical figure norms and a brooding sublimity.

Fall of the Rebel Angels, sheet of studies for. Pencil, 15½ × 12⅜ in., probably drawn c. 1794. CL, 15 Nov., #7, illus. (£440).

Il Penseroso, or Melancholy (full length female figure epitomizing Milton’s poem). Oil, 236.1 × 143 cm., c. 1770. CL, 15 April. #120, illus. color (£55,000). The pendant painting of Mirth was sold CL, 13 July 1984, #122.

Portrait of the Children of Charles Boone. Oil, 151 × 121 cm., c. 1778. SL, 16 Nov., #45, illus. color (£132,000).

Portrait of Emma, Lady Hamilton, as Ariadne. Oil, 143.5 × 114 cm., mid-1780s. SL, 13 July, #53, illus. color (£71,500).

Psyche in Wood. Oil, 73.5 × 109 cm., c. 1776-1777. SL, 13 July, #89, illus. color (not sold; estimate £20,000-30,000). A fine essay in neoclassicism, including a figure of Psyche with something of the same linear serenity as Blake’s Young Woman Reclining on a Couch of c. 1780-1785 (D. Bindman collection).

Studies of Standing Figures, study of a standing classical figure on verso. Pen and brown ink (recto), pencil (verso), 11 × 16⅜ in. CL, 12 July, #43 (not sold).

Study for the Death of General Wolfe. Ink and brown washes over pencil, 27 × 42.5 cm. SL, 15 July, #8, illus. (£1540).

RUNCIMAN, ALEXANDER

Etchings by. Campbell Fine Art, Oct. cat., 1826 impressions, #63, “Cormac Attacking the Spirit of the Waters,” #64, “Perseus and Andromeda,” #65, “Sigismunda Weeping over the Heart of Tancred,” #66, “Musidora,” #67, “Aggripina with the Ashes of Germanicus,” all illus. (£50 each).

Edwards, Anecdotes of Painters, 1808, with 2 etchings by Runciman. Marlborough Rare Books, Oct. cat. 130, #19, larger paper, original boards (£150).

STOTHARD, THOMAS

12 drawings for book illustrations, some attributed to Stothard and others to Richard Corbould. Pencil and water colors, 5⅜ × 3⅝ in. and smaller. CL, 12 July, #78 (£264).

begin page 19 | back to top

Good and Evil Spirits. Oil, 4¾ × 6 in. CL, 15 Dec. 1987, #119 (£385).

Merrymaking, and Music, a pair. Oil, each 21.9 × 27.9 cm. CL, 27 May, #91 (£625).

Project for the Decoration of a Wall with Three Pictures Flanked by Pilasters, a Cornice above. Pen and ink, brown wash, 4⅞ × 7½ in., with 4 pencil drawings. CL, 12 July, #77, illus. (£286).

Portrait of Stothard by Walter Francis Tiffin. Oil, signed and dated [18]75, 61 × 49.5 cm. CL, 14 Oct., #144, illus. (£1650).

“Lost Apple,” lithograph, 1803. R. E. Lewis, March cat., #33, 3rd st., lacking mounting sheet, illus. ($3000).

Aesop, Fables, 1793. Antony Waley, June cat. 2, #1 (£230). Charles Traylen, July cat. 103, #646, “contemporary full blue morocco” (£420).

Bell’s British Theatre. See under Fuseli, above.

Bell’s Edition of the Poets of Great Britain, 1807 reissue. Charles Traylen, July cat. 103, #663, 125 vols. bound in 61, fancy binding (£1900).

Boccaccio, Decameron, 1825. Pickering & Chatto, May cat. 668, #537, 10 “proof impressions,” loose as issued in printed wrapper, frayed ($650).

Bray, Life of Stothard, 1851 (extra-illus. copies only). James Cummins, Dec. cat. 23, #533, 2 vols. “with over 200” pls. added ($450).

Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, series of 16 pls., 1790s. BBA, 22 Sept., #273, printed in sepia, soiled and spotted (Grosvenor Prints, £165).

Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, 1796. Deighton, Bell, Feb. cat. 241, #11, rebacked (£60).

Cowper, Poems. Claude Cox, March cat. 65, #39, 1800 ed., 2 vols. (£75). Howes, Oct. cat. 240, #228, 1798 ed., 2 vols. (£45).

Gessner, Death of Abel, 1797. Phillip Pirages, May cat., #215, “original marbled boards . . . large paper” ($150).

Hayley, Triumphs of Temper. James Burmester, May cat. 7, #131, 1788 ed. (£38). Claude Cox, Sept. cat. 68, #52, 1799 ed. (the ed. probably owned by Blake), contemporary tree calf (£15).

Keepsake. Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #253, issue for 1834 ($125); #254, for 1835 ($100).

Pope, Poetical Works, 2 vols., 1811. Ken Nesheim, Nov. cat., #75, fancy binding ($325).

Ritson, Ancient Songs, 1790. Ken Nesheim, Nov. cat., #77 ($125).

Rogers, Italy. Frew Mackenzie, Feb. cat. 10, #93, 1838 ed., “large paper,” pls. on laid India, light spotting, contemporary green morocco (£130). Jarndyce, May cat., #394, with Poems, both 1838, “large paper,” fancy binding (£350); #402, 1830 ed., original boards (£200). Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #339, 1824 ed., 2 vols., with frontispiece after Stothard ($250). Marlborough Rare Books, May cat. 127, #122, the 56 engravings only, large paper, as issued c. 1829-1830 (£850). William Wreden, Aug. cat. 73, #210, 1830 ed. ($75).

Rogers, Pleasures of Memory. Jarndyce, May cat., #395, 1803 ed., “engraved title page only” (i.e., lacking the printed title page?), worn (£25); #396, 1806 ed. (£25).

Rogers, Poems. Anthony Garnett, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1825 ed., with Rogers, Italy, 1852, presentation inscription from Rogers to Lady Georgiana Grey ($200). Blackwell’s, April cat. A90, #236, 1834 ed., slight browning, letter by Rogers inserted, fancy binding (£90). Jarndyce, May cat., #404, 1834 ed. (£48); #407, 1854 ed. (£32). Claude Cox, May cat. 66, #199, 1834 ed., fancy binding, presentation inscription by Rogers (£60). Quaritch, May cat. 1087, #342, 1852 ed., 2 vols. ($200). William Wreden, Aug. cat. 73, #211, 1834 ed. ($75). Howes, Oct. cat. 240, #1097, 1834 ed. with Italy, 1830, original boards uncut, some foxing (£250); #1098, 1838 quarto ed., slight foxing (£120). SL, 14 Nov., #1093, 1834 ed., inscribed by John Ruskin to Arthur Burgess (£418).

Rogers, Poetical Works, 1869. Simon Finch, Feb. cat. 1, #99, some browning (£60).

Sargent, The Mine, 1796. Ximenes, Jan. cat. 80, #283 ($150).

Shakespeare, Seven Ages of Man. Swann, 29 Sept., #337, 7 hand-colored pls. by Bromley, bound, pls. dated 1799 and printed on paper watermarked 1826 ($468).

Sterne, Works, 10 vols., 1798. Ken Nesheim, Nov. cat., #130 ($450).

Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered, 1798. Country Lane Books, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 2 vols., new binding ($200).

Young, Night Thoughts, 1798. Phillip Pirages, May cat., #322, fancy binding ($450). Swann, 21 April, #265, pls. foxed ($88). W. & V. Dailey, July Blake list, #30, Hayley’s copy with his auction ticket ($250).

VON HOLST, THEODORE

Bertalda Frightened by Appearances. Oil, 79.5 × 61.5 cm., based on Fuseli’s painting of the same subject (see first item under Fuseli, above). SL, 13 July, #95, illus. color (£9350).

Print Edition

  • Publisher
  • Department of English, University of Rochester
  • Rochester, NY, USA
    • Editors
    • Morris Eaves
    • Morton D. Paley
    • Managing Editor
    • Patricia Neill
    • Bibliographer
    • D.W. Dörrbecker
    • Review Editor
    • Nelson Hilton
    • Associate Editor for Great Britain
    • David Worrall
    • Contributors
    • Robert Essick
    • Michael Fischer
    • Terence Allan Hoagwood
    • Marsha Keith Schuchard

    Digital Edition

    • Editors:
    • Morris Eaves, University of Rochester
    • Robert Essick, University of California, Riverside
    • Joseph Viscomi, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    • Project Manager
    • Joe Fletcher
    • Technical Editor
    • Michael Fox
    • Previous Project Manager and Technical Editor
    • William Shaw
    • Project Director
    • Adam McCune
    • Project Coordinator, UNC:
    • Natasha Smith, Carolina Digital Library and Archives
    • Project Coordinator, University of Rochester:
    • Sarah Jones
    • Scanning:
    • UNC Digital Production Center
    • XML Encoding:
    • Apex CoVantage
    • Additional Transcription:
    • Adam McCune
    • Jennifer Park
    • Emendations:
    • Rachael Isom
    • Mary Learner
    • Adam McCune
    • Ashley Reed
    • Jennifer Park
    • Scott Robinson
    • XSLT Development:
    • Adam McCune
    • Joseph Ryan
    • William Shaw
    • PHP and Solr Development:
    • Michael Fox
    • Adam McCune
    • Project Assistants:
    • Lauren Cameron,
    • Rachael Isom,
    • Mary Learner,
    • Jennifer Park,
    • Ashley Reed,
    • Adair Rispoli,
    • Scott Robinson
    • Sponsors
    • Funders
    • Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly
    • William Blake Archive
    • Carolina Digital Library and Archives
    • Use Restrictions
    • Copyright © 2015 Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly, all rights reserved. Items in this digital edition may be shared in accordance with the Fair Use provisions of U.S. copyright law. Redistribution or republication on other terms, in any medium, requires express written consent from the editors and advance notification of the publisher. Permission to reproduce the graphic images in this digital edition rests with the owning institutions.