Blake in the Marketplace, 1992

article

by Robert N. Essick

For the Blake collector ravaged by the dual afflictions of bibliomania and graphomania, 1992 began with nostalgia and unrequited longing. No great sales were announced or rumored, and thus the mad Blakists among us looked back at the last few years of hectic activity and sighed. Two pages from the smaller Blake-Varley Sketchbook (illus. 1) were hardly sufficient to rouse the blood, but a solitary Virgil drawing (illus. 5) was enough to bring out the heavy hitters. The winning bid of $79,750 (including the purchaser’s surcharge) more than doubled the high estimate and set a new record for any uncolored drawing by Blake. At $15,466.66 per square inch, the Virgil preliminary drawing may have also set a record as the most expensive British work of art on paper or canvas (when calculated in such Urizenic terms).

Dealers’ catalogues and the February Los Angeles Book Fair offered the usual volumes with Blake’s commercial book illustrations; only an impression of George Cumberland’s card and the high prices caused much of a stir. In its 21-22 July auction, Sotheby’s London offered 17 consecutive lots of Blake-related volumes, including 4 lots with 7 works containing Blake’s engravings. The entire group was, I believe, from the stock of the London book dealer Simon Finch. But just 2 lots of secondary volumes sold, suggesting that either the reserve prices were too high or that most lots were withdrawn after the publication of the auction catalogue and before the event itself. Perhaps the fall sales would provide at least a meager palliative, a long-lost painting or illuminated book, but only three awkward early drawings on two sheets appeared (illus. 2-4). The recto/verso pair (illus. 3-4) was previously unknown and both sheets of drawings attracted surprisingly high bids that make one fear what a good Blake water color would now cost. Those who find the following lists a bit of a bore will have some sense of what Blake collectors experienced.

Those interested in Blake’s circle and followers were offered better fare. Christie’s London devoted an entire sale to a previously unknown collection of 57 drawings (not counting verso sketches) by Fuseli, each recorded below. This sale catalogue of 14 April is well worth having, both for the complete illustrations and the informative introduction by Martin Butlin. All drawings found purchasers, with the best examples (see illus. 10-13 for a small sample) soaring well beyond estimates. This special sale, combined with the paucity of important Blakes, constitutes my main excuse for the imbalance between the Blake and “Circle” sections of this review.

In my review of 1989 sales, I reported on the acquisition of Blake’s drawing of A Vision (Butlin #756) by the Tate Gallery (Blake 24 [1990]: 227). According to Christie’s Review of the Season 1990, ed. Mark Wrey and Anne Montefiore (London: Christie’s, 1991) 15, “a current gross value of £30,000 ($48,000) was agreed for this negotiated private sale.” I trust that Christie’s received the Tate’s permission before revealing the price of this “private” sale.

The year of all sales and catalogues in the following lists is 1992 unless indicated otherwise. The auction houses add their purchaser’s surcharge to the hammer price in their price lists. These net amounts are given here, following the official price lists. Late 1992 sales will be covered in the 1993 review. I am grateful for help in compiling this review to E. B. Bentley, G. E. Bentley, Jr., Nancy Bialler, Jay Dillon, Detlef Dörrbecker (who keeps his own extensive marketplace records and kindly shares them with me), Alexander Gourlay, Thomas V. Lange (the supplier of more book entries than I like to admit), Jane Munro, Christopher Powney, Lawrence Salander, Justin Schiller, Edward Seffel, David Weinglass, and John Windle. Once again, Patricia Neill’s editorial assistance and Robert Schlosser’s skills as a photographer have been invaluable.

ABBREVIATIONS

BBA	Bloomsbury Book Auctions, London
Bentley	G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Books (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977)
Butlin	Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, 2 vols. (New Haven: Yale UP, 1981)
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’s, London
CNY	Christie’s, New York
illus.	the item or part thereof is reproduced in the catalogue
PAL	Phillips Auctions, London
pl(s).	plate(s)
SL	Sotheby’s, London
SNY	Sotheby’s, New York
st(s).	state(s) of an engraving, etching, or lithograph
Swann	Swann Galleries, auctioneers, New York
#	auction lot or catalogue item number

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DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS

Falconberg Taking Leave of King John and His Mother Queen Eleanor, from the smaller Blake-Varley Sketchbook. SL, 9 April, #44 (Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, £3960 on an estimate of £800-1200). See illus. 1.

Heads, from the smaller Blake-Varley Sketchbook. Study of tree trunks and roots (by Varley?) on verso. Pencil, 15.5 × 20 cm. SL, 9 April, #48 (£770 on an estimate of £600-800). Butlin #692.11, 12, attributes these sketches to “Blake, Varley, or Linnell,” and thus Sotheby’s catalogued the sheet as “attributed to William Blake.” To my eyes the heads seem to be Blake’s work.

Job and His Daughters. Water color, 20 × 25.4 cm., c. 1821-27. Butlin #556. By April 1992, in the collection of Dian and Andrea Woodner, according to There Was a Man in the Land of Uz: William Blake’s Illustrations to the Book of Job, an exhibition cat. ed. Meira Perry-Lehmann (Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1992) 38. Might this beautiful drawing be destined for the site of the exhibition, the Ian Woodner Gallery of the Israel Museum?

Judas Betrays Him. Water color, c. 1803-05, 36.6 × 30.1 cm., signed with Blake’s monogram. Butlin #491. Sold spring 1992 from the estate of Nora, Lady Barlow, to the Tate Gallery by private treaty through the agency of Sotheby’s.

Larger Blake-Varley Sketchbook. Robin Hamlyn has informed me that the Sketchbook was in July 1992 lent to the Tate Gallery for at least “a few years.” It will either be on display in the Tate’s Blake Room or available for inspection by appointment in the Study Room. For a list of Blake’s works in the Sketchbook and selected illustrations, see Blake 24 (1990): 221-32.

Moses with the Tablets of the Law. Pencil, 20.8 × 14.6 cm., c. 1780-85. Not in Butlin; for comments and illus., see Martin Butlin, “Six New Early Drawings by William Blake and a Reattribution,” Blake 23 (1989): 107-12. Acquired April by Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, from Angew’s. Previously offered privately by Agnew’s, Sept. 1989, for £11,000.

1. Falconberg Taking Leave of King John and Queen Eleanor. Pencil, approx. 15.3 × 20.3 cm., from the smaller Blake-Varley Sketchbook. Butlin #692.57. Inscribed by Varley, “Falconberg [the ‘c’ over a ‘k’] taking leave of King John and his mother Queen Eleanor.” Photo courtesy of Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York.

2. Resurrection of the Dead. Pencil, 18.3 × 24.3 cm., inscribed lower right by Frederick Tatham in ink, “Drawn by William Blake/Vouched by Fredk. Tatham.” Butlin #79. An early sketch, dated by Butlin to c. 1780-85, with similarities in technique to the work of Blake’s brother Robert (compare illus. 8-9). Photo courtesy of Christie’s London; reproduced by permission of Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York.

Resurrection of the Dead. CL, 17 Nov., #16, illus. (£7150 on an estimate of £1500-2000 to Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, for stock). See illus. 2.

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St. Paul Shaking Off the Viper. Water color, 39 × 30 cm., Butlin #509 (dating the work to c. 1800-03). By 1992 in the collection of Cathy and Stephen Graham (of New York?), according to William

3. Sketch for the Cover of Thomas Commins’s An Elegy. Recto, pen and gray ink, gray and brown wash over pencil, in an inscribed circle. Sheet 30.7 × 46 cm. A recent discovery perhaps to be identified with Butlin #98. For two related drawings on one sheet in an American private collection, see Butlin, “Two Newly Identified Sketches for Thomas Commins’s An Elegy and Further Rediscovered Drawings of the 1780s,” Blake 26 (1992): 21-23. As the exceptionally thorough Christie’s catalogue entry (by Butlin?) points out, this recto drawing “is a more finished version, in reverse, of the recto of the drawing in America; the old man getting out of the boat is greeted by two cloud-borne angels rather than by two angels standing on the ground in front of the group of trees. On the verso [illus. 4], in pencil, the main drawing on the left is a version of the pen and wash drawing on the verso of the sheet in America and shows a young man rowing his boat towards the shore on which stand two angels absent in the pen and wash drawing. Further to the right, also in pencil but slightly larger in scale, with a smaller variant below, is a sketch of a stooping figure with arms held down close together[.] This, perhaps a reminiscence of the two figures pulling in nets in Raphael’s tapestry cartoon of The Miraculous Draft of Fishes, could represent a figure leaning down to secure the boat in the main composition; alternatively it could represent a completely different project such as the figure of Simeon in Blake’s watercolours of Joseph ordering Simeon to be bound [Butlin #156, 158], exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1785. . . . On the left of the verso, also in pencil but to be seen with the paper the other way up, is a more roughly drawn sketch in an oval border that corresponds to the final engraving [of 1786] for Commins’s Elegy, with a young man leaping from his boat to be greeted by his wife and child. This sheet thus bears drawings for all three main approaches to the illustration of Commins’s verses, and also three different degrees of finish as Blake developed his composition. The work belonging to Messrs. Robsons in 1913 [Butlin #98] is only known from its title but is more likely to have been this example than that in America which seems to have been there since 1895.” Photo courtesy of Christie’s London; reproduced by permission of Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York.

Blake: Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings, exhibition cat., Salander-O’Reilly Galleries (New York, 1992) 38, in which the drawing is reproduced in color (I believe for the first time).

Sketches for the Cover of Thomas Commins’s An Elegy. CL, 17 Nov., #18, recto and verso illus. (£7150 on an estimate of £1500-2000 to Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, for stock). See illus. 3-4.

With Songs the Jovial Hinds Return from Plow, an illustration to Thornton’s Virgil, 1821. SNY, 17 June, #133, illus. ($79,750 on an estimate of $20,000-30,000 to Justin Schiller acting for a private client). See illus. 5.

MANUSCRIPTS

Blake’s letter of 18 Jan. 1808 to Ozias Humphry, 4 pp. describing Blake’s Last Judgment design. SL, 14 Dec., #16, with a long cat. entry explaining that this is probably the second of three versions of the Last Judgment description, p. 1 illus. (£18,000 on an estimate of £18,000-20,000). Previously sold SNY, 14 Dec. 1988, #58 ($26,400 to the dealer John Wilson, the vendor in this 1992 sale).

SEPARATE PLATES AND PLATES IN SERIES, INCLUDING PLATES EXTRACTED FROM LETTERPRESS BOOKS

“Beggar’s Opera, Act III,” Blake after Hogarth. BBA, 26 March, #171, final st. sold with Lewis and Hofer, eds., The Beggar’s Opera by Hogarth and Blake, 1965 (Pickering & Chatto, £132 on an estimate of only £60-80); same copy (?), John Windle, Sept. cat. 3, #46 ($975).

“Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims.” Estates of Mind, Feb. cat. 5, p. [2], 5th st., illus. ($9500). In Blake 24 (1990): 124, I suggested that this impression (sold Swann, 4 Oct. 1989, #249, for $6875) was a Sessler restrike. However, the Estates of Mind cat. and the firm’s owner, David Waxman, claim that the print is on “fine laid paper.” If this is true, then the impression is one of 3 recorded on such paper and was probably an early printing of the 5th st., before both the Colnaghi and Sessler pulls. SNY, 14 May, #250, 3rd st. on wove, a few rubbed spots, faint discoloration, from the collection of Philip begin page 143 | ↑ back to top Hofer ($17,600 on an estimate of $8000-10,000 to the New York dealer Donald Heald for stock). N. W. Lott, June private offer, 5th st. on laid India, very probably a Colnaghi impression, well printed (price on application). John Windle, Sept. cat. 3, #41, 5th st., Sessler restrike, minor marginal stains and a few small tears ($8500).

Cumberland, “Inventions.” BBA, 19 Nov., #178, “engraved title and 21 plates. . ., 7 by William Blake, 8 plates with some browning, disbound, 4to, 1795” (Bookworks, £132). Apparently a group of pls. disbound from a copy of Cumberland, Thoughts on Outline, 1796 (some pls. dated 1795 in their imprints).

“George Cumberland’s Card.” Chapel Hill Rare Books, Feb. cat. 66, #261, printed in brown on laid paper and mounted in an album, A. E. Newton’s copy ($2500). Same impression, jointly offered by James Cummins and Bromer Booksellers, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair ($5000—a record asking price. An impression printed in black ink sold in 1989 for $300). Acquired May, for something less than $5000, by Justin Schiller acting for a private American collector. For more on this Newton impression, see Appendix below.

Dante engravings. Sims Reed, Jan. cat., #2, 7 pls. complete on laid India, green levant folding case, probably the printing of 1892 (price on application). SNY, 14 May, #251, the set of 7 pls. on laid India, fragments of a watermark (N?) on the backing sheets of the 1st 2 pls., probably the 1892 printing, from the collection of Philip Hofer, green morocco folding case, 2 pls. illus. ($27,500 on an estimate of $25,000-35,000 to the New York dealer Donald Heald for stock). CL, 2 July, #22, pl. 4 only, “Lo! A Serpent with Six Feet,” neither paper nor printing indicated (not sold on an estimate of £600-800).

Hayley, Life of Cowper, 1803-04. John Windle, Sept. cat. 3, #53, 5 of Blake’s pls. inserted loose in a copy of Hayley, Supplementary Pages to the Life of

4. Sketches for the Cover of Thomas Commins’s An Elegy. Verso, pencil, sheet 30.7 × 46 cm. See caption to illus. 3. Photo courtesy of Christie’s London; reproduced by permission of Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York.

5. With Songs the Jovial Hinds Return from Plow, an illustration for Thornton’s Virgil, 1821. Pencil, pen, gray and (according to the auction catalogue) white washes, 3.8 × 8.8 cm. Butlin #769.19. All the Virgil drawings were sold as a collection at auction twice, once in 1918 from John Linnell’s collection and again in 1924. At the second sale they were acquired by the Brick Row Bookshop, then in New York, for $1625 and sold individually over several years. This and the drawing for woodblock 4 (collection of Arthur Vershbow) are still in private hands; nine drawings are untraced, but may still hang half-forgotten in someone’s dark corner, as did the drawing reproduced here until ferreted out by Jay Dillon of Sotheby’s New York (with a slight assist from a collector eager for one of the better Virgil drawings). Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Cowper, 1806, original boards, uncut, covers loose (“sold”).

Job engravings. Swann, 4 June, #33, pl. 2 only, laid India, 1874 printing ($825). SL, 30 June, #304, pl. 4 only on laid India, stained on the right (not sold on an estimate of £800-1200). CL, 2 July, #21, published “Proof” issue on laid India, title pl. and 18 of the 21 numbered pls. (missing pls. not identified), loose in portfolio, pl. 14 illus. (£14,300—rather pricey for an incomplete set). Paul McCarron, July private offer, title and 17 of the 21 numbered pls. sold individually, published “Proof” issue on laid India, perhaps from the preceding CL set ($2000-4500 each). CL, 22 Oct., #433, pls. numbered 8 (illus.) and 19 only, published “Proof” begin page 144 | ↑ back to top impressions on laid India (Sims Reed, £1430).

“The Man Sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour,” white-line metal cut, c. 1822(?). Sold by the dealer N. W. Lott to a private client, spring 1992. Acquired by Lott at SNY, 9 May 1991, #7, for $60,500, and thus almost certainly sold to his client for somewhat more than that figure. For illus. and description of this impression, see Blake 25 (1992): 154, 165.

Virgil wood engravings. SL, 30 June, #303, set of 17 cuts, Linnell restrikes on laid India paper, some scrapes and surface dirt, bound in an octavo album inscribed by J. C. Hook, “Seventeen woodcuts by Blake given to me by John Linnell Senr,” 2 cuts illus. (not sold on a brave estimate of £4000-6000).

LETTERPRESS BOOKS WITH ENGRAVINGS BY AND AFTER BLAKE

Ariosto, Orlando Furioso. James Burmester, April cat. 17, #289, 1791 ed., 2 vols., lacking half-titles, contemporary tree calf (£60). CL, 22 Oct., #313, 1783 ed., 5 vols., contemporary morocco richly gilt (Quaritch, £1045—a price probably commanded by the binding). Claremont Books, Nov. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1799 ed., 5 vols., fine contemporary calf ($500). The Bookpress, Dec. cat. 67, #359, 1783 ed., 5 vols., contemporary calf worn ($425).

Bell’s Edition [of the] Poets of Great Britain, 1782-83. CL, 22 Oct., #318, complete in 109 vols., contemporary tree calf (one of the publisher’s bindings), 14 spines illus., no mention of Blake’s pl. (Quaritch, £2420).

Blair, The Grave. Argosy Book Store, Jan. cat. 788, #70, previously unrecorded and undated issue of the American ed. with steel engravings of Blake’s designs by Dick, 2nd sts., published by James Miller, 779 Broadway, New York (where Miller had his business in 1879-80), publisher’s brown cloth, stamped in blind and gilt ($150 to R. Essick). Daniel Hirsch, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1808 quarto, original boards rebacked, cover label, worn, internally clean ($1250). Chapel Hill Rare Books, Feb. cat. 66, #260, 1808 quarto, “Orig.[?] marbled boards rebacked,” some foxing, William Bateson’s copy with his pencil signature ($2500); same copy and price, July cat. 72, #24. G. W. Walford, March cat. “Pickpocket,” #29, 1813 folio (34 × 45 cm.), “original[?] blue cloth” rebacked, light foxing in margins of a few pls. (£550). SNY, 18 June, #442, 1808 quarto uncut, engraved title slightly foxed, modern cloth (Book Block, $770). SL, 22 July, #402, 1808 quarto, soiled, calf worn, with Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy, 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, contemporary russi rebacked (not sold on an estimate of £500-750). CL, 21 Oct., #70, “1818” (actually 1813?) quarto, later cloth rebacked, with Malkin, A Father’s Memoirs of His Child, 1806, uncut in later boards, with the Dent 1902 Job reproduction and two copies of Gilchrist’s Life of Blake, 1863 and 1880 (Pickering & Chatto, £605).

Boydell, Graphic Illustrations of the Dramatic Works of Shakspeare, c. 1803. SL, 25 Feb., #446, 99 pls. (including Blake’s), a few spots and tears, contemporary morocco, worn, pl. after Fuseli (not engraved by Blake) illus. (Golden Legend, £825 on an estimate of £400-600). PAL, 23 April, #73, 98 pls., 10 cut down and mounted, no mention of Blake’s, some spotting, contemporary morocco worn (not sold on an estimate of £350-500); same copy, 16 July, #126 (estimate £150-250). Swann, 10 Sept., #246, 100 pls., very foxed, some dampstaining, contemporary morocco, worn, front cover loose ($605).

Bryant, New System. California Book Auction, 26 March, #49, 2nd ed., 1775-76, 3 vols., tree calf, very worn (estimate $300-400). California Book Auction Galleries of San Francisco declared bankruptcy in April 1992 and is no more. Sevin Seydi, May cat. “Cumae,” #2, 1st ed., 1774-76, 3 vols., contemporary calf, worn and lacking spine labels, cover of vol. 3 detached (£400).

Swann, 1 Oct., #55, 2nd ed., 1775-76, 3 vols., modern buckram ($132).

Catullus, Poems, 1795. Parsons Books, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 2 vols., both pls. with the imprints present, pls. foxed as usual, 19th-century full calf ($275—the Blake bargain of the fair).

Cumberland, Thoughts on Outline, 1796. Phillip Pirages, April cat. 22, #167, original boards uncut, spine repaired, from the collection of Edwin Wolf, 1 pl. illus. ($2250); same copy and price, Nov. cat. 24, #76.

Darwin, Botanic Garden. Walford, Jan. cat. S/218, #6, 1st ed. of Part 1, 3rd of Part 2, 1 pl. of the Portland Vase slightly trimmed at head and foot, 2 vols. in 1, rebound in calf-backed boards (£450); same copy and price, June cat. H/168, #281, and Nov. cat. H/169, #266 (just too many other copies around for less money). PAL, 19 March, #270, 3rd ed. of Part 1, 4th of Part 2, some pls. cropped, foxed, contemporary calf worn, with 3 other vols. (£60). Ken Spelman, May cat. 24, #205, 3rd ed. of Part 1 (1795), library stamps on titlepage and pls., rebound in quarter calf (a bargain at £90, assuming that the library stamps are not too disfiguring). CL, 12 June, #46, 1st ed. of Part 1, 3rd of Part 2, some dampstaining, contemporary calf, upper cover detached, with Darwin, Temple of Nature, 1803, contemporary calf, and A. Seward’s biography of Darwin, 1 pl. after Fuseli from Temple of Nature illus. (no sales record; estimate £250-300). SL, 22 July, #403, “1791” (for both Parts?), 2 vols. in 1, spotted, contemporary half calf; with Gay, Fables, 1811 ed., 2 vols. in 1, morocco-backed boards; with Salzmann, Elements of Morality, 2 vols., c. 1815, missing 1 pl. usually attributed to Blake, contemporary morocco (not sold on an estimate of £500-750). David Bickersteth, Aug. cat. 121, #34, 1st ed. of Part 1, 2nd of Part 2, tear in “Fertilization of Egypt” repaired, 2 vols. in 1, modern quarter morocco and marbled boards (£165). Swann, 1 Oct., #156, 1st ed. of both Parts (1791, 1789), 2 vols. in 1, modern half morocco, some foxing begin page 145 | ↑ back to top (a bargain for a copy with the rare 1st ed. of Part 2 at $220). Edward Nudelman, Nov. cat. 18, #104, 1st ed. of Part 1, 3rd of Part 2, 2 vols. in 1, foxed, covers detached ($325). BBA, 17 Dec., #243, 1st ed. of Part 1, 2nd of Part 2, 2 vols. in 1, some foxing, contemporary calf rebacked (Poetry Bookshop, £176).

Flaxman, Compositions from the Works Days and Theogony of Hesiod, 1817. Phillip Pirages, April cat. 22, #359, original boards recased, front cover label, morocco-backed slipcase, from the collection of Edwin Wolf, 1 pl. illus. ($1750); same copy, Nov. cat. 24, #255 ($1600). Robert Clark, Oct. cat. 29, #184, half calf rebacked, foxed, very dampstained, “working copy only” (£45).

Flaxman, Iliad illustrations, 1805. Phillip Pirages, April cat. 22, #360, with Flaxman’s Odyssey illustrations, 1805, 2 vols., original boards rebacked, morocco-backed slipcase ($850); same copies and price, Nov. cat. 24, #256. Thomas Thorp, June cat. 478, #42, contemporary half morocco rebacked, spotted throughout (£150).

Gay, Fables. John Windle, Feb. cat. 2, #15, 1793 ed., 2 vols., occasional spotting, contemporary tree calf ($650); same copy and price, Sept. cat. 3, #49. Korn & Towns, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1793 ed., 2 vols. in 1, contemporary calf ($650); another copy, 2 vols. in 1, contemporary calf rebacked ($450). In Our Time, March cat. 274, #16, 1793 ed., “large paper,” 2 vols., title-page restored, half calf over marbled boards ($750). Phillip Pirages, April cat. 22, #227, 1793 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf, 1 pl. illus. ($900); same copy and price, Nov. cat. 24, #129. Kenneth Karmiole, July cat. 211, #22, 1811 ed., 2 vols., paneled calf, slight wear ($350). Swann, 1 Oct., #206, 1811 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf rebacked ($247). Robert Clark, Oct. cat. 29, #93, 1793 ed., 2 vols. in 1, scattered foxing, half calf worn (£140).

Gough, Sepulchral Monuments. PAL, 20 Feb., #161, 2 vols. in 5, 1786-96, black morocco by Clarke & Bedford, slightly rubbed and soiled (£400).

Hamilton, The English School, 1831. Ken Spelman, May cat. 24, #21, 3 of 4 vols. only (thus lacking 1 of the 2 Blake pls.), contemporary quarter morocco, spines repaired (£20).

Hayley, Ballads, 1805. Simon Finch, Feb. cat. 8, #21, 1st sts., some light spotting, uncut in original boards with printed paper spine label (£1200).

Hayley, Life of Cowper, 1803-04. Pickering and Chatto, April cat. 149, #12, 1st ed., 3 vols., pl. 4 in the 2nd st., some browning, contemporary tree calf ($400). Simon Finch, May cat. 17, #54, 1st ed., bound in 5 vols. with Cowper, Poems (1806), with the portrait of Cowper by Bartolozzi after Lawrence, and Cowper Illustrated by a Series of Views (1803), contemporary russia, bookplate of Thomas Hutton, bindings and opening showing pl. 1 illus. (£800). BBA, 28 May, #59, 3 vols., “1803-1806”(?), contemporary calf worn, library stamps (not sold on an estimate of £75-100). SL, 22 July, #404, 2nd ed., 3 vols. with supplement bound in, spotted, half morocco worn, with Hayley, Life of Romney, 1809, spotted, original linen-backed boards, uncut, worn (not sold on an estimate of £500-750).

Hayley, Life of Romney, 1809. Thomas Thorp, June cat. 478, #53, contemporary calf by R. De Coverly (£520). Apollo Book Shop, Nov. Los Angeles Book Fair, large paper copy, contemporary calf rebacked (a bargain at $200).

Hayley, Triumphs of Temper, 1803. John Windle, Feb. cat. 2, #16, small paper, lacking half title, old calf, joints repaired, pl. 3 illus. ($675); same copy and price, Sept. cat. 3, #52. Simon Finch, Feb. cat. 8, #20, large paper, some foxing, modern calf (£500). Chapel Hill Rare Books, Feb. cat. 66, #259, apparently small paper, contemporary morocco, bookplate of Mrs. Philip Egerton dated 1804, from the library of William Bateson ($400); same copy and price, July cat. 72, #23. E. M. Lawson, March cat. 254, #41, small paper, contemporary calf rebacked (£220). Michel Bouvier, June cat., #238, no indication of paper size, contemporary calf (3400 Fr.). Howard Mott, Nov. cat. 223, #22, no indication of paper size, contemporary calf rebacked ($300).

Hoare, Academic Correspondence, 1804. BBA, 13 Feb., #144, bound with 2 issues of Hoare’s Academic Annals for the years 1801-02 and 1804-05, some browning, full calf, with 5 further vols. (Pickering & Chatto for John Windle for R. Essick, £396). Only the 2nd copy of this rare pamphlet I have seen on the market in the last 20 years.

Hogarth, Works. California Book Auction, 12 Feb., #158, undated Baldwin & Cradock issue, no mention of Blake’s pl. (estimate $1500-2500. The auctioneer went bankrupt and no price list was issued.) PAL, 20 Feb., #219, 1822 ed. (but perhaps the Quaritch issue of c. 1880), 155 pls. on 118 leaves, half morocco, very worn, covers detached, spine lacking (£800). PAL, 23 April, #204, undated Baldwin & Cradock issue, 155 pls. on 114 leaves, 15 pls. torn, others cropped, no mention of Blake’s pl., loose in contemporary half calf worn and defective (£360—a very low price apparently on account of the condition). SL, 14 May, #926, “1822” (but actually the Quaritch reprint of c. 1880), 155 pls., contemporary half morocco worn (Walford, £1045); same copy, Walford, Sept. cat. “Hawker,” #90, and Nov. cat. H/169, #54 (£2200—rather expensive for the reprint with worn-out pls.). BBA, 11 June, #195, undated Baldwin & Cradock issue, 155 pls. on 115 leaves, no mention of Blake’s pl., a few tears, stains, contemporary half morocco worn (MacDonnell, £938). PAL, 11 June, #210, undated Baldwin & Cradock issue, 155 pls. on 116 leaves, no mention of Blake’s pl., lacking frontispiece, stained and spotted, some pls. torn, binding detached (estimate £400-600). Frew Mackenzie, Aug. cat. 27, #20, undated Baldwin & Cradock issue, some pls. spotted, contemporary half morocco worn (£2000). BBA, 19 Nov., #102, undated Baldwin & Cradock issue, contemporary half morocco begin page 146 | ↑ back to top worn, covers detached (Frew Mackenzie, £495); #102A, another copy, similar binding (Nolan, £550). SL, 3 Dec., #157, “1822” ed. (but actually the Quaritch reprint of c. 1880), half morocco (£1980).

Hunter, HistoricalJournal, 1793. James Fenning, March cat. 112, #196, octavo issue, recent quarter calf (£850); same copy and price, June cat. 116, #181. Charles Traylen, April cat. 110, #1002, quarto issue, contemporary calf, joints repaired and spine replaced (£3300). Peter Baring, June cat. 1, #60, quarto issue, contemporary tree calf, “an excellent copy with title-page untrimmed” (£3500). SL, 25 June, #109, quarto, Gov. Philip Gidley King’s extensively annotated copy (no price record; estimate £20,000-25,000); #112, quarto, Capt. William Bradley’s annotated copy (no price record; estimate £12,500-15,000). E. M. Lawson, Oct. cat. 257, #35, quarto issue, imprint shaved, contemporary calf rebacked (£2200). CL, 11 Nov., #105, quarto issue, contemporary calf-backed boards, with 5 other travel books (Smith, £1650).

Josephus, Works. Demetzy Books, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, Bentley’s final (E) issue, 2nd st. of pl. 1, 3rd sts. of pls. 2-3, recent full calf ($500). Kane Antiquarian Auction, 12 July, #295, Bentley’s final (E) issue, worn, front cover detached, no information on the sts. of the pls. (estimate $120-180). Hirschfeld Galleries, Nov. UCLA Book Fair, Bentley’s third (C) issue, contemporary calf worn, hinges cracked ($750).

Lavater, Aphorisms, 1788. Robert Clark, June cat. 28, #124, pl. mounted, stained, lacking half-title, 19th-century calf (£200).

Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy. John Windle, Feb. cat. 2, #17, 1810 ed., 3 vols. in 5, contemporary morocco, one cover detached ($800). PAL, 20 Feb., #28, 1810 ed., 3 vols. in 5, some staining, contemporary roan worn (£300). Edwin Glaser, March cat. 100, #27, 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, contemporary diced calf rebacked, worn ($2400). Charles Traylen, April cat. 110, #578, 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, contemporary calf, slight wear (£595). BBA, 22 Oct., #176, 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, some spotting, contemporary morocco (Baring, £605); #177, 3 vols. in original 39 (of 41) parts, 1788-96 (thus apparently lacking the last few parts), outer leaves dust-stained, uncut with wide margins, with “a small quantity of others mostly 18th and 19th century newspapers” (Zachs, £165—rather cheap for a bibliographical curiosity).

Malkin, Father’s Memoirs of His Child, 1806. Howes, May cat. 254, #434, presentation inscription from T. A. Malkin to T. W. Prickett, bookplate of Siegfried Sassoon, half calf, rubbed (£525). Justin Schiller, Nov. cat. 46, #43, with half title, contemporary calf, spine repaired, Lionel Johnson’s copy with his signature, Blake’s pl. illus. ($975).

Nicholson, Introduction to Natural Philosophy, 1782. P & P Books, short title list for the Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, #66, 2 vols., contemporary calf ($850).

Novelist’s Magazine. Ximenes, Feb. cat. 94, #217, a complete run, 1780-88, in 23 vols. with 342 of the 356 pls., including all 8 by Blake, contemporary half calf and marbled boards ($7500). John Windle, Feb. cat. 2, #14, vol. 8 (Don Quixote) only, 1792 title-pages, 2nd sts., contemporary tree calf ($475). Iliad Books, April Glendale Book Fair, vols. 10-11 (Sir Charles Grandison) only, 1783 ed., 1st sts., contemporary calf (a bargain at $50); same copy and price, Nov. UCLA Book Fair.

Olivier, Fencing Familiarized, 1780. Swann, 26 March, #220, half morocco ($440); #221, modern half calf ($247); #222, contemporary calf rebacked ($467).

Rees, Cyclopaedia, 1819. Simon Finch, Feb. cat. 8, #144, 45 vols., including all pl. vols., contemporary russia (£4000). SL, 14 May, #929, the 5 pls. vols. only, half calf worn, with another, unidentified vol. (Jeffrey, £198).

Shakespeare, Dramatic Works, 1802. SL, 22 July, #19, 95 pls., no mention of Blake’s, 9 vols., contemporary morocco elaborately gilt, worn (Symonds, £1815). David Bickersteth, Aug. cat. 121, #151, 99 pls., no mention of Blake’s, 9 vols., contemporary morocco elaborately gilt, light offsetting of pls. (£650). Heritage Bookshop, Oct. cat. 189, #246, 9 vols., no mention of Blake’s pl., contemporary morocco elaborately gilt, rubbed with some joints cracked ($7500).

Shakespeare, Plays, 1805. Bernard Shapero, June cat. “ICE,” #232, 10 vols., recent half calf, versos of some pls. spotted (£695).

Stedman, Narrative, hand-colored copies. Rulon-Miller Books, Jan. cat. 102, #346, 1813 ed., 2 vols., modern half morocco, worn and chipped ($1500—very modest for a hand-colored copy). Forum Antiquarian Booksellers, short title list for the Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, #49, 1796 ed., 2 vols., large paper, including gold but not the silver found in some hand-colored copies (e.g., Huntington Library), half morocco ($16,000). SNY, 18 June, #440, 1796 ed., 2 vols., with the early hand coloring including gold but no silver, contemporary diced russia very worn, “Skinning of the Aboma Snake” illus. (a bargain at $3025 to Ursus Books acting for John Windle); same copy rebound in morocco offered by Windle, Sept. cat. 3, #45, 2 pls. illus. color ($13,500). Brockhaus Antiquarium, Oct. handlist, 1813 ed., 2 vols., half calf (DM8000). Chapel Hill Rare Books, Oct. cat. 75, #219, 1806 ed., 2 vols., 79 of 80 pls. (lacking “Indian Female of the Arrowauka Nation,” engraved by Benedetti), “large paper copy,” the coloring as in the 1796 ed., contemporary calf worn ($2625).

Stedman, Narrative, uncolored copies. PAL, 20 Feb., #438, 1796 ed., vol. 2 only, foxed and dampstained, contemporary half calf worn (£260). SL, 22 July, #405, 1813 ed., 2 vols., spotted, morocco-backed boards, uncut (not sold on an estimate of £600-800). Chapel begin page 147 | ↑ back to top Hill Rare Books, Oct. cat. 75, #218, 1796 ed., 79 of 80 pls. (lacking “Indian Female of the Arrowauka Nation,” engraved by Benedetti), with four water colors of animals (none corresponding to the pls.) inserted in vol. 2 and attributed to Stedman in a manuscript note by John Rogers of 16 Jan. 1798 (also inserted), with 4 pages in Rogers’s hand on “Stedman’s personal life,” contemporary morocco, covers detached, some foxing ($2100; acquired by John Windle, who sold the book and drawings to the John Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota, which also owns the manuscript of Stedman’s Narrative).

Stuart and Revett, Antiquities of Athens. CNY, 25 Jan., #75, 3 vols. (of 4), 1762-94, contemporary russia, a presentation binding designed by Stuart in 1762, front cover and spine of vol. 2 illus. ($8250); same copy, Hugh Pagan Ltd., June cat. 14, #115 (£13,500—a rather generous mark-up). Swann, 29 Oct., #320, vols. 1-3, 1762-94, minor foxing, morocco gilt, some covers loose ($3740).

Tuer, The Follies & Fashions of Our Grandfathers, 1886-87. Ian Hodgkins, Sept. cat. 64, #363, large paper crown quarto, publisher’s gray suede and drab boards (£195). For the discovery of one of Blake’s pls. for Hayley’s Essay on Sculpture in Tuer’s vol., see Jenijoy La Belle, “A Reprinting of Blake’s Portrait of Thomas Alphonso Hayley,” Blake 25 (1991-92): 136-38.

Vetusta Monumenta. PAL, 20 Feb., #165, 6 vols. in 7, 1747-1885, perhaps including Ayloffe’s essay with Blake’s pls., extra-illustrated with c. 360 engravings and lithographs, contemporary calf (£850).

Virgil, Pastorals. John Windle, Feb. cat. 2, #13, the 1977 reprint of Blake’s wood engravings published by British Museum Publications, original folding box, 1 cut illus. ($1500). N. W. Lott, June private offer, vol. 1 only of the 1821 ed., with all of Blake’s wood engravings (price on application).

Whitaker, The Seraph, c. 1825-28. Robert Clark, Nov. cat. 30, #235, Bentley’s “C” issue, 2 vols. bound in 1, half calf (£285).

Wit’s Magazine, 1784. Christopher Edwards, cat. 1, #8, lacking pl. 1 (the general frontispiece, Blake after Stothard), 2 Blake pls. torn at the folds, text cropped in several places, old half russia, joints split (£150).

Wollstonecraft, Original Stories from Real Life. Second Life Books, Jan. cat. 88, #222, 1791 ed., full morocco arts and crafts binding by E. G. Starr, 1899 ($3000); same copy, June cat. 89, #462 ($2700). I learned from a brief telephone call that the pls. are in the 2nd st. BBA, 23 July, #152, 1791 ed., pls. 1-4, 6 in the 1st sts., pl. 5 an impression of the 2nd st. from another copy mounted on an inserted leaf, original(?) calf rebacked with new spine, minor spotting, pl. 1 illus. (£1650 on an estimate of £750-1000 to Pickering & Chatto for J. Windle for R. Essick). Only the second known copy to contain the 1st sts. of pls. 4 and 6. Jarndyce, Dec. cat. 89, #424, 1791 ed., modern speckled calf (£1500); #425, 1796 ed. (in my experience rarer than the 1791), some spotting, modern speckled sheep (£850).

Young, Night Thoughts, 1797. Sims Reed, Jan. cat., #3, lacking the Explanation leaf, “an exceptionally large copy,” bound with Blair, The Grave, 1813 folio, half morocco (£5250; same copy sold CNY, 5 Dec. 1991, #167, for $4950). E. Joseph, short title list for the Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, #19, with the Explanation leaf bound at the end, with the 2nd published st. of the title-page to Night the Second, quarter calf over marbled boards, a clean copy only slightly trimmed ($12,250). W. & V. Dailey, May private offer, with the Explanation leaf trimmed, mounted, and bound at the end, with the 2nd published st. of the title-page to Night the Second, half morocco over cloth-covered boards by Riviere, only slightly trimmed ($7500). SNY, 18 June, #441, lacking the Explanation leaf, some soiling and marginal tears, half morocco over cloth boards, p. 49 illus. ($2475); same copy(?), uncut, Bromer Book-sellers, Aug. cat. 72, #128 ($5000). CL, 22 Oct., #472, many pls. shaved, title-page torn and repaired, no mention of the Explanation leaf (thus probably absent), contemporary half calf rebacked (not sold on an estimate of £1500-2500). Heritage Book Shop, Nov. cat. 190, #23, with Explanation leaf, contemporary calf over marbled boards, some pls. shaved slightly, p. 16 and fly-title to Night the Second illus. ($11,100).

INTERESTING BLAKEANA (including a selection of books with references to, or poems by, Blake published before Gilchrist, Life of Blake, 1863)

Annibale Carracci, Historia del testamento vecchio, Rome, [1698], bound in vellum, with “W Blake,” the date “1773,” and a sun with a human face surrounded by a sunburst scratched with a sharp instrument into the top cover. SL, 14 Dec., #15, browned and stained, the upper cover detached, both covers with central coat of arms, the cat. entry with a list of 7 reasons why this album may have belonged to our Blake, top cover illus. well enough to see the sun but not other supposedly Blakean bits (estimate £1000-1500; withdrawn several days before the sale). G. E. Bentley, Jr., has kindly informed me that Michael Heseltine of Sotheby’s withdrew the vol. because of the discovery of a second “Blake” signature (pencil, pl. 18) and a drawing of a leg characteristic of Blake’s work. The plan is to catalogue the vol. in a more thorough and prepossessing manner for a sale in the summer of 1993. Stay tuned.

Hollis, Memoirs of Thomas Hollis, 1780. Robert Clark, June cat. 28, #150, 2 vols., some staining, recent quarter buckram (£140). While an apprentice, Blake may have participated in engraving the 10 pls. signed by Basire.

The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, trans. Cowper, 1791. Ximenes, Nov. cat. 97, 2 begin page 148 | ↑ back to top vols., contemporary calf rebacked ($650). “Mr. W. Blake, Engraver” appears in the List of Subscribers.

Cumberland, Some Anecdotes of the Life of Julio Bonasoni, 1793. Anthony Laywood, March cat. 89, #99, original boards uncut (£150). Same copy(?), Ximenes, May cat. 95, #76, inscribed on the front flyleaf “With the Author’s Comps” ($475). Blake was no doubt familiar with Cumberland’s collection of prints by Bonasone, catalogued in this book.

Gay, Fables, printed by Harvey & Darton, 1793. Howes, May cat. 254, #215, half morocco, “occasional foxing” (£45). The pls. are copied after the Stockdale ed. with pls. by Blake and retain some of the alterations he made when adapting the illustrations of the 1st ed.

A copy of William Godwin’s Essay on Sepulchres (1809), with pencil illustrations surrounding the text, much as in Blake’s Night Thoughts designs. 25 pencil drawings in all on leaves 17.2 × 10.5 cm., the inside front cover inscribed “John Linnell” (a very convincing signature to my eyes) and with quotations from Shelley’s “Ozymandias” (first published 1818) on 2 pages. The illustrations are attributed to Fuseli, and one page is reproduced, in Thomas Wright, The Life of William Blake (Olney: Wright, 1929) 2: 93 and pl. 69. CL, 14 July, #37, “attributed to William Young Ottley,” 2 drawings illus. (£1540). As Wright points out, the temptation to attribute these drawings to Blake should be resisted, but Wright’s own attribution to Fuseli is surely wrong. Christie’s ascription to Ottley is at least a good guess.

William Blake and Other Portrait Studies, oil painting attributed to Thomas Phillips. SL, 15 July, #80, illus. color (Philip Mould of Historical Portraits Ltd., £5720). See illus. 6.

Ann and Jane Taylor, City Scenes, or a Peep into London for Children. Sanders, June cat. 118, #125, 1823 ed., roan-backed boards, worn and joints broken (£50); #125a, 1828 ed., issue printed by Rickerby, disbound (£35). Both eds. contain early printings of “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Innocence illustrated with simple engravings unrelated to Blake’s own designs.

The Chimney-Sweeper’s Friend, and Climbing-Boy’s Album, ed. James

6. William Blake and Other Portrait Studies, attributed to Thomas Phillips (1770-1845). Oil, 60.5 × 50.5 cm. Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s London. According to Sotheby’s auction catalogue of 15 July 1992, #80, the balding man just above center is William Blake and the woman just below and to the right is Catherine Blake. A few other figures are tentatively identified by the catalogue: top left is John Keats, above Blake is William Hayley, the boy below Blake is Thomas Alphonso Hayley, the bearded man left of Blake may be Michelangelo, and the long-haired man bottom center is Milton. This curious mélange of figures raises a host of questions. How certain is the attribution to Phillips? Could the painting be a later Victorian creation copied after various portraits? Phillips’s famous portrait of Blake, now in the National Portrait Gallery, London, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1807. He is not known to have had any contact with Blake after c. 1807, yet Blake is here represented as a man considerably older than 50. His face looks about the same age as in portraits dating from the 1820s, but much fatter. Phillips is not known to have been a member of the Hayley circle, and thus it is difficult to explain the presence not only of William Hayley but of his son Thomas, who died in 1800.

Montgomery (containing Blake’s “The Chimney-Sweeper” from Songs of Innocence). According to TLS (19 June 1992): 24, a copy of the 1824 1st ed. was offered by an unnamed dealer at the 1992 London Book Fair for £375. Justin Schiller, Nov. cat. 46, #65, 1825 2nd ed., begin page 149 | ↑ back to top original boards with printed paper label on spine, letter from Ann Taylor (see previous entry) to Montgomery laid in, possibly a copy from the collection of Charles Lamb (who communicated the poem to Montgomery), cloth slipcase ($1800).

Printed label for Blake’s Job engravings, 1826. Maggs, Sept. cat. 1146, #14 (£250). Pickering & Chatto, Nov. private offer, 10 unused labels in a packet marked “from Linnell estate 1826” ($150 the lot).

Smith, Nollekens and His Times. W. & V. Dailey, March private offer, 2nd ed., 1829, 2 vols., publisher’s dark green cloth, blind and gilt stamped, foxed ($200). John Windle, April list, #7, 2nd ed., 1829, 2 vols., early half morocco, marbled boards ($200); same copy and price, Sept. cat. 3, #55. Howes, May cat. 254, #435, 1st ed., 1828, 2 vols., half calf (£180).

Arnold’s Library of the Fine Arts, Nov. 1832-July 1834. Marlborough Rare Books, Oct. cat. 147, #114, 4 vols. (£400). For the references to Blake in this journal, see Jenijoy La Belle, “William Blake’s Reputation in the 1830s: Some Unrecorded Documents,” Modern Philology 84 (1987): 302-07.

George Romney, auction cat. of his collection of pictures, etc., Christie’s, 9-10 May 1834. Marlborough Rare Books, Oct. cat. 147, #165, unbound (£250). For Blake’s illuminated books included in this sale, see Joseph Viscomi, “The Myth of Commissioned Illuminated Books: George Romney, Isaac D’Israeli, and ‘ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY designs . . . of Blake’s,’” Blake 23 (1989): 48-74.

Songs of Innocence and of Experience, pub. Pickering, 1839. John Windle, April list, #6, a variant of the second issue lacking the final 2 leaves (probably a binder’s error), original cloth, backstrip lacking, joints split but sound ($600); same copy and price, Sept. cat. 3, #42.

Bryan, Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, 1849 (the 1st ed. with an article on Blake). Rulon-Miller Books, March cat. 103, #45, contemporary morocco ($250).

William Michael Rossetti. A letter describing his attempt to sell items from his Blake collection, pasted into a copy of Gilchrist, Life of Blake, 1863. Kenneth Karmiole, Jan. private offer (now in the collection of G. E. Bentley, Jr.).

The Book of Thel, facsimile of copy D by William Muir, 1885. Maggs Bros., Oct. cat. 1146, #12, original blue wrappers lacking the usual printed title and “Programme,” “N° 18” written in pencil in the top left corner of the front cover (perhaps over an erased number),

7. Romanian postage stamp issued in 1957 (the bicentenary of Blake’s birth), with Blake’s visage based loosely on the portrait by Thomas Phillips. Engraved image 3.2 × 2.1 cm., printed in magenta. Apparently designed by S. Zainea (see small signature, lower left). The narrowness of Blake’s cheeks and jaw makes this portrait closer to the engraving of Phillips’s painting by A. L. Dick, first published in the 1847 New York ed. of Robert Blair’s The Grave, than to the better known version by Louis Schiavonetti, first published in the 1808 Grave. This stamp—I believe the only “Blake” postage stamp issued by any country—was issued in a set with six others. They bear the faces of A. Compte, M. I. Glinka, C. Goldoni, J. A. Komensky, C. Linné (i.e., Linnaeus), and H. Longfellow. Why this group? Only Compte and Glinka also had anniversaries in 1957. Essick collection.

lacking the Preface leaf, wrappers a bit tattered (£250 to J. Windle for R. Essick). Muir apparently prepared two sets of lithographic stones or pls. for this ed., for this copy (no. 18) was clearly not printed from the same stones or pls. used for copy no. 46 (also in my collection). The most curious difference is that line 7 on pl. 5 ends, in copy no. 18, with “sprin,” corrected above the line on the pl. (not hand corrected on the paper) to “springs.” Perhaps this and other flaws (or at least an excessive number of variants from copy D itself) led to the preparation of new pls. or stones used in some later copies. However, copy no. 33 (Huntington Library), from a printing of c. 50 copies, was printed from the same lithos as copy no. 18.

Laurence Binyon, signed autograph manuscript of an essay, “William Blake; Painter, Poet, Seer,” 19 pp., written in ink on rectos only, not dated. CNY, 20 Nov., #18 ($550).

Romanian postage stamp, 1957, bearing Blake’s portrait. Pasadena Coin Company, Pasadena, California, November 1991 private offer, with the 6 companion stamps ($4). See illus. 7.

A greeting card comprising two leaves of corrugated cardboard, 15.7 × 10.6 cm., bound in mottled blue paper, a window (5.5 × 3.3 cm.) cut in both leaves to reveal a clear glass bottle (2.5 cm. high) mounted on the back binding paper, the bottle sealed with a cork and containing sand and several very small sea shells. The first quatrain of Blake’s “Auguries of Innocence” (“To see a World in a Grain of Sand . . .”) followed by his name printed in crude script in a rectangle around the edges of the recto of the second leaf. Hallmark Cards, 1991. Offered at Webster’s Drugstore, Altadena, California, Sept. ($4). Certain to be a rare bit of Blakeana by, say, 2050.

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BLAKE’S CIRCLE AND 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

“Eastern Patriarch” or “King Lear,” lithograph. See Specimens of Polyautography under Fuseli, below.

[Barry], Description of the Series of Pictures Painted by James Barry and Preserved in the Great Room of the Society . . . for the Encouragement of Art, Manufactures, and Commerce, 1808. Marlborough Rare Books, March cat. 145, #144, disbound (£95). This 1808 issue is not listed in the bibliography in William L. Pressly, The Life of James Barry (New Haven: Yale UP, 1981) 303-04.

Barry, An Inquiry into the Real and Imaginary Obstructions to the Acquisition of the Arts in England, 1775. Jarndyce, Dec. cat. 89, #241, modern half calf (£200).

A Series of Etchings, 1808. BBA, 19 Nov., #113, with “Pandora,” Schiavonetti after Barry, added, half morocco very worn, “The Thames” illus. (Ceri, £1430).

BLAKE, ROBERT (William Blake’s brother)

Study of Dancing Figures by a Tree. CL, 7 April, #21, recto illus. (£715 on an estimate of £800-1200 to Christopher Powney for R. Essick). The last recorded Robert Blake drawing in private hands. See illus. 8-9.

CALVERT, EDWARD

A Virgillian Pastoral. Oil, 14 × 7 in., datable to 1850-70. Leger Galleries, March cat., #48, illus. color (price on application).

“The Bride,” engraving. SL, 30 June, #309, with Palmer’s “Opening the Fold,” 8th st. (£770).

S. Calvert, Memoir of E. Calvert, 1893. BBA, 27 Feb., #442, with all pls., “occasional light foxing but a generally superb copy,” original cloth (Sims Reed, £2860).

FLAXMAN, JOHN

Mother and Child. Pen and gray ink, 7 × 10.5 cm. SL, 19 Nov., #53 (not sold on an estimate of £500-700).

Panoramic View of Bologna, attributed to Flaxman and his patron Georgiana Hare Naylor. Pencil, pen and ink, water color on 3 joined sheets, 142.5 × 29.9 cm. CL, 7 April, #20, illus. color (£5500). Thoroughly atypical of Flaxman’s work.

Project for a Monument to Sir William Jones. Pencil, pen and ink, gray wash, 26.4 × 21.7 cm. CL, 7 April, #44 (£550).

Prometheus Visited by Nymphs of the Ocean, an illustration to Aeschylus. Pen and gray ink over pencil, 24.5 × 28.5 cm. SL, 16 July, #163 (£385).

Aeschylus illustrations. Ars Libri, Jan. cat. 73, #510, 1831 ed., buckram boards, “light wear and dustiness” ($375). Grant & Shaw, Jan. cat. 10, #47, 1795

8. Robert Blake, Study of Dancing Figures by a Tree. Pencil on laid paper with a crown watermark, sheet 22.6 × 30.8 cm. Butlin #R10, entitled “An Invocation(?).” From the collections of W. Graham Robertson and George Goyder, the latter the first to recognize that this is a work by Robert and not William. Robert’s designs are similar in subject and motif to his brother’s work in the 1780s, but his pencil line is even more rigid and less assured. The new title interprets the form on the right as a tree, but it contains the slight suggestions of a face turned to the left and with a long beard. The vertical forms above may be the arms of figures behind this bearded patriarch. See illus. 9 for the verso sketch. Essick collection.

ed., some dampstaining, original gray wrappers, spine repaired (£135). Weissert, Feb. cat. 50, #64, engraved by Dufresne, n.d. reissue of 1803 ed., with the Dufresne Iliad, Odyssey, and the Hesiod engraved by Soyer (DM1500). Glen Book Shop, March private offer, 1795 ed., full calf ($250). BBA, 26 March, #166, 1795 ed., 28 (of 31) pls., bound in calf rebacked with Flaxman’s Iliad designs, 1795, with 3 pls. “from 1793 edition tipped-in replacing 1795 images” (not sold on an estimate of £150-200).

Anatomical Studies, 1833. Robert Clark, April cat. 27, #255, apparently a remainder issue of c. 1879, publisher’s red cloth (£200); same copy and price, Nov. cat. 30, #267.

Dante illustrations, 1807. Walford, July cat. A/342, #160, lacking 3 pls. (£100). Robert Clark, Oct. cat. 29, #183, original(?) green cloth, printed paper labels, rebacked, some foxing and dampstaining (£150).

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Flaxman, Eight Illustrations of the Lord’s Prayer, 1835. K Books, Oct. cat. 413, #137, original printed wrappers, a bit frayed (a bargain at £38).

Flaxman, Lectures on Sculpture, 1838. Dawson UK, Nov. cat. 38, #34, contemporary calf (£120).

Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, trans. Sotheby, pls. engraved by Moses. Grant & Shaw, Jan. cat. 10, #60, 1834 ed., contemporary half calf (£124). Blackwell’s, Sept. cat. “Drift,” #16, 1833 ed., 4 vols., contemporary calf worn, joints weak (£150).

Iliad and Odyssey illustrations. Swann, 6 Feb., #89, title-pages dated 1793, bound with the Aeschylus illus., 1795, “scattered light foxing,” worn ($467 on an estimate of $100-200).

9. Robert Blake, Deathhed Scene(?), pencil sketch on the verso of the drawing in illus. 8. When I received the drawing in illus. 8 it was pasted down on all edges to a nastily acidic mat. The sharp eyes of Jenijoy La Belle spotted slightly raised lines on the recto that looked as though they were produced by pencil strokes on the verso. A brief soak in lukewarm water freed the sheet from its backing mat to reveal this verso sketch, here reproduced for the first time. A figure, arms raised, lies in bed. A gowned (female?) figure stands on the left with her hands in an attitude of prayer or anguish and looks at the person in bed. A few lines suggest one, or perhaps two, figures upper right with arms outstretched above the bedded figure. The forms above his right arm may be either bed curtains or hovering angels. William Blake executed a Deathbed Scene (Butlin #137 verso) in the early 1780s with a similar emotional tenor; compare also Robert’s Old Man Kneeling at a Woman’s Bedside (Butlin #R11 recto).

Odyssey illustrations, 1805. Robert Clark, June cat. 28, #277, original boards with cover label, rebacked, worn, some foxing throughout (£50).

Keepsake, 1831. See Stothard, below.

FUSELI, HENRY

A collection of 57 previously unrecorded drawings, assembled by Harriet Jane Moore, daughter of James Moore, a friend of the artist. Offered in the following 57 lots, CL, 14 March. All designs, except for minor verso sketches, illus., #9-11, 13-15, 20-21, 26-28, 32-37, 39-43, 47, 52-57 in color.

1. Study of a Young Woman’s Head, pencil, 10.7 × 10.7 cm. (£1100).

2. Young Woman with an Elaborate Hairstyle, pencil, signed on verso, 12.5 × 9.5 cm. (£2200).

3. Head of a Young Woman with an Elaborate Hairstyle, pencil, 18.2 × 13.5 cm. (£1980).

4. Study of a Girl, perhaps Lavinia de Irujo, Seen from Behind, Playing a Lute, pencil, 9.5 × 14.5 cm. (£4620).

5. Same subject as #4 (recto); study for 2 figures in Il Giuoco del Pallone (verso). Pencil, brown wash, 19 × 22.9 cm. (£6050).

6. A Young Woman Leaning Forward, probably Harriot Mellon, pencil, black chalk, gray and pink wash, 9.1 × 11.5 cm. (£4950).

7. Study of a Girl, perhaps Lavinia de Irujo, pencil, 21 × 17.2 cm. (£4620).

8. Head of a Young Woman, in Profile to the Right, possibly Sophia Burdett, pencil, 32.5 × 20 cm. (£1100).

9. Study of a Girl in a Large Hat, probably Mrs. Fuseli (recto and verso), brown ink, 21 × 16.5 cm. (£6600).

10. Study of a Girl Wearing an Enormous Bonnet, probably Mrs. Fuseli, brown ink, 22 × 18.7 cm. (£9350).

11. Head of Martha Hess and Subsidiary Studies of Fingers and a Mouth (recto); Two Studies of a Classical Scene with a Dead Woman (verso). Pencil and brown ink (recto), pencil (verso), 28.5 × 18.5 cm. (£12,100).

12. Mrs. Fuseli Seated, in Profile, pencil, 27 × 18 cm. (£9350).

13. Three Heads of Young Girls, pencil and water colors heightened with white, 32 × 20.2 cm. (£18,700).

14. Lady Walking, pencil, brown ink, water colors, 32.8 × 21.1 cm. (£41,800).

15. Mrs. Fuseli Wearing an Elaborate Headdress, and Subsidiary Studies of an Eye, a Mouth, and a Turning Torso (recto); Crouching Nude (verso). Pencil and brown ink, 15.5 × 18.5 cm. (£12,100).

16. Study of a Standing Female Nude and a Nude Lying Down (recto); Study of a Gladiator with Twisting Torso (verso). Pencil and brown ink, brown wash on verso, 21 × 15.8 cm. (£1320).

17. Study of a Woman’s Gloved Arms, pencil, 16.1 × 31 cm. (£15,400 on an estimate of £3000-5000).

18. Cowering Nude Seated against a Wall, pencil and gray ink, 11.5 × 17.6 cm. (£1100).

19. Threatening Head, black ink and black wash, inscribed “From the begin page 152 | ↑ back to top Author / H. Fusili,” 18 × 19.5 cm. (£10,450).

20. Woman Swooning at a Writing Table, with a Threatening Figure Behind (recto); Study of a Man Reading Wearing Glasses, possibly a Self-portrait, and Other Studies (verso). Pencil, black ink, gray wash on verso, signed, 19.3 × 27.7 cm. (£41,800 on an estimate of £10,000-15,000).

21. Macbeth and the Three Witches Showing Him the Armed Head (recto); Figure Studies (verso). £37,800 on an estimate of £8000-10,000. See illus. 10.

22. Man in Bed, possibly a Study for the Death of Cardinal Beaufort in Shakespeare’s King Henry VI, Part II, pencil, gray ink, gray wash, 21.7 × 21 cm. (Christopher Powney, £1320).

23. Old Woman Wearing a Rosary Cursing a Seated Man; possibly Queen Margaret Cursing the Duke of Gloucester, pencil, brown ink, gray wash, 19.1 × 16.2 cm. (£4400).

24. Maria and Feste Looking Down at the Imprisoned Malvolio, from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, pencil, gray wash, 16.2 × 9.7 cm. (£4620). A different design of the same subject was engraved by Bromley for Chalmers’s Shakespeare, 1805.

25. Illustration to the Wife of Bath’s Tale, from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, with Two Alternative Sketches for the Wife, pencil, brown ink, 32.5 × 20.5 cm. (£11,000).

26. Massacre of the Innocents. £55,000 on an estimate of £15,000-20,000. See illus. 11.

27. Prometheus and Io. £24,200 on an estimate of £5000-8000. See illus. 12.

28. Two Lovers Embracing by a Keyboard Instrument, pencil, dated 1813, 23.5 × 18.3 cm. (£19,800).

29. Lovers by a Keyboard Instrument, a Woman Reading in a Room Beyond, pencil, 22 × 19.3 cm. (£15,400).

30. Woman Kneeling at a Prie Dieu, and Studies of Two Nudes (recto); Striding Nude and Lovers Embracing (verso, crossed out). Pencil, brown ink, 16 × 23 cm. (£990).

31. The Lamentation, after Raphael, pencil, brown ink, signed, 19 × 22.5 cm. (£3300).

32. Haman, after Michelangelo, gray ink, 37 × 24.4 cm. (£12,100).

33. Young Woman with Her Head Resting on a Bolster, pencil, brown ink, gray and brown wash, signed, 21 × 26.2 cm. (£46,200 on an estimate of £10,000-15,000).

34. Nude Looking Upwards Resting on a Globe, after Michelangelo’s “Il Sogno” (recto and verso), pencil, brown ink, 21.8 × 18.8 cm. (£14,300).

35. Seated Nude in Thought (recto and verso), brown ink, 19.8 × 28 cm. (£30,800 on an estimate of £8000-12,000).

36. Seated Nude with His Legs Resting on a Fireplace (recto and verso), brown ink, brown wash, 20 × 28 cm. (£23,100 on an estimate of £4000-6000).

37. Studies of a Seated Nude (recto); Studies of Seated Nudes and a Bearded Figure, perhaps on a Cross, Seen from Directly Above. Pencil, brown ink, 20.5 × 19.7 cm. (£7150).

38. Achilles Learning of the Death of Patroclus (recto); Variation of the Same Subject (verso). Brown ink, 23.2 × 17.8 cm. (£4950).

39. Satan in Flight (recto and verso); Head of a Girl, perhaps Lavinia de Irujo (verso). Brown ink, pencil (verso), 20.2 × 30.5 cm. (£22,000 on an estimate of £5000-8000).

10. Henry Fuseli. Macbeth and the Three Witches Showing Him the Armed Head. Pencil, pen and brown ink, brown wash, 22.3 × 37 cm. Probably the first of three known versions of this design; both of the others are in the British Museum. The oil painting of the composition is at Stratford-on-Avon. Photo courtesy of Christie’s London.

40. Nude Throwing, brown ink, 30.5 × 24.7 cm. (£7700).

41. Nude Outstretched Seen from Behind (recto); Figure Outstretched Seen from Behind, and a Figure Seen from the Front (verso). Brown ink, 31.2 × 18.5 cm. (£3520).

42. Nude with Raised Arms Seen from Behind (recto and verso), brown ink, 31.4 × 19 cm. (£7150).

43. Menelaus and Patroclus, after the Antique (recto and verso), brown ink, 23.5 × 17.5 cm. (£19,800).

44. Copy of a Relief of Jupiter, brown ink, brown wash, 14 × 27.5 cm. (£1760).

45. Farnese Hercules (recto); Study of an Arm (verso). Pencil, brown ink, 30.7 × 21.4 cm. (£825).

46. Twisting Nude (recto and verso), pencil, brown ink, 22.5 × 13.5 cm. (£1870).

47. One of the Quirinal Dioscuri (recto and verso), pencil, brown ink, 16.3 × 13.5 cm. (£2420).

48. One of the Quirinal Dioscuri (recto); the same in reverse and subsidiary studies (verso). Pencil, brown ink, brown wash, 20.3 × 25.5 cm., damaged (£715).

49. Saint Jerome (recto); Study of a Stretching Nude (verso). Pencil, brown ink, 21.2 × 34.2 cm. (£5500).

begin page 153 | ↑ back to top

50. Old Woman, Her Head Bowed (recto); Kneeling Figure (verso). Pencil, brown ink, 13.1 × 9.4 cm., with a drawing of gladiator probably by another hand (£1210).

51. Studies of a Standing Youth, a Nose, a Leg, and a Kneecap (recto); Caryatid Figure of a Boy (verso). Pencil, brown ink (recto), pencil (verso), 28 × 18.4 cm. (£3850).

52. Frieze of Michelangelesque Figures (recto and verso), gray and brown ink, gray wash, signed, 12.5 × 42 cm. (£27,500 on an estimate of £7000-10,000).

53. Frieze Michelangelesque Figures (recto); A Youth and a Crone, Three Figures in Conversation (verso). £22,000. See illus. 13.

54. Frieze of Michelangelesque Compositions (recto and verso), pencil, gray and brown ink, gray wash, signed, 12.1 × 40.5 cm. (£44,000 on an estimate of £8000-12,000).

55. Michelangelesque Reclining Nude, One Leg Raised (recto); Study of Two Figures, One Pierced by a Spear (verso). Gray and brown ink, gray wash, signed, 11.3 × 21.8 cm. (£8800).

56. Frieze of Two Michelangelesque Reclining Figures, One Twisting Around and a Small Study of a Gargoyle(recto); Three Caricature Figures of a Man Pouring Wine, a Gentleman and an Agonised Figure (verso). Pencil, gray and brown ink, gray wash, signed, 12.3 × 24 cm. (£11,000).

57. Frieze of Michelangelesque Figures (recto); Man Exclaiming at a Prone Youth (verso). Pencil, gray and brown ink, gray wash, signed, 12.5 × 25.7 cm. (£35,200 on an estimate of £5000-8000).

Cleopatra Receiving the Asp. Pencil, pen, gray wash, 21.5 × 33.4 cm. CL, 17 Nov., #15, illus. (not sold on an estimate of £6000-8000).

The Power of Fancy in Dreams, an illustration for Erasmus Darwin’s Temple of Nature (engraved by Moses Haughton for the 1803 ed.). Gray, blue, and pink washes heightened with white and touches of red ink, 36.5 × 26 cm. SL, 16 July, #109, illus. color (not sold on an estimate of £20,000-30,000). Previously offered SL, 11 July 1991, #177, same result.

Scene from The Tempest—Miranda, Prospero, Ariel, and Caliban, a copy of

11. Henry Fuseli. The Massacre of the Innocents. Pencil, pen and brown ink, brown wash, 24.7 × 37.3 cm. Sold from the collection of John Knowles, Fuseli’s executor and biographer, in 1847. A preliminary for a more finished wash drawing sold as Medea, SL, 7 July 1983, #83, illus. color (£41,800). Both versions picture three children, whereas Medea had only two. For an illus. of the finished version, see Blake 18 (1984): 87. Photo courtesy of Christie’s London.

12. Henry Fuseli. Prometheus and Io. Pencil, pen and gray ink, gray wash, 25 × 19 cm., inscribed lower right “Allerton. Sept. [17]99.” Allerton was the residence of Fuseli’s major patron, William Roscoe. A preliminary for the wash drawing is in the Auckland Art Gallery. Photo courtesy of Christie’s London.

Fuseli’s design for Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery. Pencil and water color, 16 × 23 cm. CL, 7 April, #11 (Christopher Powney, £242). The auction cat. ascribes the execution of this drawing to begin page 154 | ↑ back to top

13. Henry Fuseli. A Frieze of Michelangelesque Figures. Pen and gray ink, gray wash, 12.2 × 42.3 cm. Signed twice and each figure numbered by Fuseli, 44-47 (left to right). The central figure is based on Michelangelo’s God the Father in his fresco of the creation of the sun and the moon (Sistine Chapel); the figure on the right derives from his ignudi. Perhaps datable to the early 1770s because of the composition’s similarity to a drawing at Basel inscribed “Roma 1771.” However, David Weinglass has suggested that this drawing may be related to Fuseli’s unpublished illustrations of the 1790s for Conrad Meyer’s Nützlicher Zeithetrachnung. Photo courtesy of Christie’s London.

Stothard; but a color xerox, kindly supplied by Powney, makes me extremely suspicious of such an attribution. Powney agrees, and has suggested Richard Westall as a far more likely author of the drawing.

Siegfried’s First Arrival at Worms. Pen, gray wash, 31.2 × 22.2 cm. CL, 17 Nov., #14, illus. (not sold on an estimate of £7000-10,000).

John Armstrong, The Art of Preserving Health: A Poem, 1757, inscribed “To my Honest and worthy Friend Henry Fussli. Hampstead, May 21.th 1764[.] John Forbes [an early patron of Fuseli].” With numerous inscriptions at front and back, including a transcription of a poem (by Armstrong?) in Fuseli’s hand. Full green morocco, decorated in gilt with insect motifs. Korn & Towns, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair ($750, bought by W. & V. Dailey). Dailey, March private offer ($4500).

American Edition of Boydell’s Illustrations of the Dramatic Works of Shakespeare, 1852. Swann, 13 Feb., #167, 2 vols., worn ($2200 on an estimate of $800-1200).

Bible, published Macklin (1800) and Cadell (1816-24). BBA, 16 Jan., #200, 1800 ed., 6 vols., some foxing, contemporary morocco, “a magnificent set” (Thorp, £1320 on an estimate of £700-900); 30 Jan., #168, 1800 ed., 6 vols., contemporary calf, some hinges broken (Bifolco, £528). Sims Reed, Jan. cat., #18, 1816-24 ed., 4 vols., contemporary morocco (£1600). Howes, May cat. 254, #153, 1800 ed., 6 vols., fancy binding of c. 1840, “mainly free from foxing”—which I take it means with some foxing (£1500). Heritage Book Shop, Nov. cat. 190, #12, 1800 ed., 8 vols., full morocco elaborately gilded, bindings illus. ($22,000—surely a record asking price).

Bonnycastle, Introduction to Astronomy, 1796. Plandome Book Auctions, 28 Oct., #235, “a nice clean copy” of the 3rd ed. ($165). David Bickersteth, Nov. cat. 122, #179, calf (£110). The frontispiece after Fuseli was printed from two different copperplates. The 1786 (1st) and this 1796 (3rd) ed. have prints from one pl., whereas the 1787 (2nd), 1807, and 1816 (7th) eds. have another. The 1st pl. is signed by “J. K. Sherwin” as the engraver; the second is unsigned in 1787, but in its 2nd (1807, 1811) and 3rd (1816) sts. it is signed “Sherwin.”

Boothby, Sorrows, 1796. Simon Finch, May cat. 17, #24, contemporary morocco (£800). Claude Cox, Nov. cat. 93, #55, some foxing throughout, contemporary morocco rebacked (£85).

Boydell, A Collection of Prints . . . Illustrating the Dramatic Works of Shakspeare, 1803. PAL, 20 Feb., =#8, 2 vols. in 1, 96 pls., “large paper copy” (85 × 55 cm.), marginal stains, contemporary half sheep worn (£1800); #9, 2 vols., 96 pls., 70 × 53.5 cm., dampstained, modern buckram (£1800). CL, 22 Oct., #436, 2 vols., 96 pls., contemporary marbled boards rebacked (Bifolco, £1760).

Cowper, Poems, 1811. Second Story Books, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, “Etruscan” style binding by Edwards of Halifax and a fore-edge painting ($3750—a price determined by the binding and painting, not Fuseli’s pls.).

Darwin, The Temple of Nature, 1803. Ken Spelman, May cat. 24, #266, library stamp on title-page and pls., “generally rather a tired and browned copy,” rebound in quarter calf (£60). Edward Nudelman, Nov. cat. 18, #105, text browned, contemporary calf, covers detached ($250).

Fuseli, Life and Writings, ed. Knowles, 1831. Swann, 29 Oct., #126, 3 vols., later half calf worn ($165).

Gray, Poems, 1801. Claude Cox, July cat. 91, #32 (£28). Robert Clark, Nov. cat. 30, #269, contemporary calf (£55).

Milton, Paradise Lost, 1808. Ravenstree Company, July cat. 174, #50, marbled calf rebacked, some browning ($250).

Milton, Poetical Works, 1839. Ravenstree Company, July cat. 174, #78, later half morocco, worn ($75).

Pilkington, Dictionary of Painters, ed. begin page 155 | ↑ back to top Fuseli, 1805. Blackwell’s, Feb. cat. B103, #293, fancy binding (£195). Grant & Shaw, June cat. 12, #76, David Wilkie’s copy, contemporary calf rebacked (£150); same copy and price, Sept. cat. 14, #102. Heritage Book Shop, Dec. cat. 191, #30, some foxing, full vellum worn ($250).

Shakespeare, Plays, pub. Stockdale, 1807. Sotheran’s, April cat. 1023, #130, 6 vols., margins of pls. foxed, recent quarter morocco (£750). There are 4 pls. after Stothard as well as the 2 after Fuseli. Could the high price possibly be based on the presence in each vol. of the bookplate of Jesse Boot, founder of “Boot’s the Chemist”?

Specimens of Polyautography, 1803 and 1806-07, a large collection of lithographs from. SNY, 18 June, #593, including Fuseli’s “Woman Sitting by a Window” and “Rape of Ganymede,” Stothard’s “The Lost Apple,” and Barry’s “Eastern Patriarch” (or “King Lear”), a total of 25 prints from the Specimens and 9 additional early English lithographs all in an album, the Barry illus. ($39,600 to Ars Libri). Rumor has it that Ars Libri was acting for the J. Paul Getty Museum, but I have not been able to confirm this.

JEFFERYS, JAMES

3 drawings in 3 lots, CL, 17 Nov.: #9, The Executioner Handing over the Head of St. John the Baptist to Salome, pencil, pen, brown wash, 36.8 × 48.2 cm., illus. (£1210); #10, A Crucifixion, pencil and pen, 36.8 × 54.6 cm. (£825); #11, Three Male Nudes Fighting at the Edge of a Wood, pencil, pen, gray wash, 37.5 × 55.2 cm., illus. (£3520 on an estimate of £800-1200).

LINNELL, JOHN

6 paintings by Linnell, Martyn Gregory autumn cat. 60, sold individually: #6, A Stable by Moonlight, oil, 22.9 × 17.8 cm., illus. (£7500); #7, River Scene with Thatched Cottages, oil, 29.8 × 40.6 cm., signed and dated 1827, illus. (£7500); #8, Woodcutters, oil, 49.5 × 71.1 cm., signed and dated 1858, illus. color (£38,000); #9, Isle of Wight from Lymington Quay, oil, 27.9 × 38.1 cm., signed and dated 1826, illus. color (£18,000); #10, Harvest Sunset, oil, 94.6 × 132.1 cm., signed and dated 1856, illus. color (£60,000); #13, Farmyard and Shaded Stream, Shoreham, Kent, by Linnell and Samuel Palmer, oil, 27.3 × 33.7 cm., with an inscription on the reverse detailing the involvement of the two artists, illus. color (£28,000).

A Castle by a River. Water color, 14.5 × 20.5 cm., signed and dated 1861. SL, 16 July, #18, illus. (not sold on an estimate of £1800-2400). The style of this work is not characteristic of Linnell’s hand.

David. Oil, 71 × 99 cm., signed and dated 1871. CL, 13 March, #118, illus. color (£3520).

The Gleaners’ Return. Oil, 33.5 × 45.5 cm., signed and dated 1856. SL, 8 April, #78, illus. color (£5720).

Jeanie Deans and Madge Wildfire in the Churchyard (from Scott’s The Heart of Midlothian). Oil, 39.7 × 49 cm., signed and dated 1835. CL, 13 Nov., #298, illus. color (£1320).

Portrait of Mrs. W.S. Fry and Her Four Children. Pencil, colored chalks, and water color, 54 × 71.7 cm., signed and dated 1840. CL, 14 July, #28, illus. color (not sold; estimate £3000-5000).

Portrait of the Rev. Edward Thomas Daniell. Water color, 48.5 × 45 cm., signed and dated 1835. SL, 19 Nov., #383 (£352).

Redstone Wood. Oil, 18 × 23 in., datable to 1870. Leger Galleries, March cat., #47, illus. color (price on application).

Rooks Hill, Near Shoreham, Kent. Pencil, brown ink, signed and dated 1828, 17 × 12 cm. SL, 9 April, #53 (£880).

Study of a Cottage. Pencil, 16.5 × 23.8 cm., signed and dated 1832. CL, 7 April, #109 (not sold on an estimate of £400-600).

View of Mouse Bridge at the Foot of Hanson Toot, Derbyshire. Brown ink and water color, c. 1814, 15 × 22.5 cm. SL, 9 April, #54 (£2420 on an estimate of £600-800).

Woodcutters—Wales. Oil, 101.5 × 139.5 cm., signed and dated 1863, retouched 1870. SL, 3 June, #10, illus. color (not sold on an estimate of £10,000-15,000).

MORTIMER, JOHN HAMILTON

Banditti Taking His Post. Pen and ink, 27.7 × 20.7 cm. (etched by Mortimer in 1788, reversed). CL, 17 Nov., #19, illus. (£1045).

Beatrice, from As You Like It. Pen and ink, oval, 33 × 26.7 cm. W. M. Brady & Co., advertised and illus. in Burlington Magazine 134 (March 1992): ii (price on application). Beatrice looks to the right, the reverse of the etching. Possibly the drawing, then in the collection of Frederick J. Cummings, illus. in John Sunderland, John Hamilton Mortimer: His Life and Works (London: Walpole Society, 1988), fig. 166.

Figures Conversing. Pen and brown ink, 26.5 × 30.3 cm. CL, 7 April, #38 (not sold on an estimate of £400-600).

A Mother and Child Surprised by Bandits in a Wood, attributed to Mortimer. Oil, 71.8 × 55.8 cm. CL, 20 Nov., #98, illus. color (not sold on an estimate of £4000-6000).

Progress of Vice: Preparing for Execution. Oil, 75 × 62 cm., signed in monogram and dated 1774. SL, 15 July, #82, illus. color (not sold on an estimate of £5000-7000). One of a series of 4 paintings on the Progress of Vice.

“A Banditti Made Prisoner,” etching by Hardy after Mortimer, and “Banditti Regaling,” etching by Ireland after Mortimer. The Print Room, Oct. cat. 9, #262, in sepia (£500 the pair).

“Caliban” and “Cassandra,” etchings, 2 from the set of Shakespeare characters. The Print Room, Oct. cat. 9, #261, “Caliban” illus. (£350).

PALMER, SAMUEL

See also the 1st entry under Linnell, above.

The Bay of Naples. Water color and body color with touches of gold, 19.7 × 42 cm., datable to 1838. Agnew’s, begin page 156 | ↑ back to top March cat. 119, #72, illus. color (price on application).

The Burial Place of Keats with the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius, Rome. Water color, 18 × 40 cm., exhibited 1844. PAL, 2 Nov., #52, illus. color (reportedly bought-in and sold by private treaty after the auction).

The Enchanted Castle at Dusk. Water color and body color with touches of gold, 34.9 × 26.6 cm., datable to the 1840s. Agnew’s, March cat. 119, #73, illus. (price on application).

Harvesting. Water color and body color, 38.2 × 51.4 cm., signed, datable to c. 1851. Agnew’s, March cat. 119, #74, illus. color (price on application).

A Poet. Water color heightened with body color and gum arabic, signed, c. 1865, 19.5 × 42 cm. SL, 9 April, #115, illus. color (£33,000 on an estimate of £30,000-50,000).

The Silver City: Morning on the Jura Mountains Looking towards the Alps. Water color heightened with body color and gum arabic with scratching out, signed and dated 1844, 18.5 × 40.5 cm. SL, 9 April, #119, illus. color (not sold on an estimate of £20,000-30,000).

A Tree Line. A sketch in colored washes, 9 × 19 cm., datable to 1861. SL, 19 Nov. #94, illus. (not sold on an estimate of £2000-3000).

The Villa d’Este from the Cypress Avenue, an illustration to Dickens’s Pictures from Italy, 1846. Pencil, approx. 13.5 × 8 cm. Sotheby’s Sussex, 5 May, #14, with 2 other drawings by Palmer, one pencil and the other gray wash over pencil, and 3 drawings by J. C. Hook, all from the collection of A. H. Palmer (no price list discovered; estimate £1200-1800). Previously offered SL, 14 Nov. 1991, #38, illus. (not sold on a modest enough estimate of £2000-3000).

“Early Ploughman,” etching. CNY, 12 May, #491, 8th st., pencil signature, mat stained, illus. ($2860).

“Harvest,” wood engraving. SL, 3 Dec., #159, from the ed. of 50 printed in 1932, damaged area beneath the letterpress, with a letter to Campbell Dodgson from Arthur Sabin and Geoffrey Grigson, from Dodgson’s collection, illus. (£2860).

“Herdsman’s Cottage,” etching. CNY, 12 May, #124, 2nd st., some foxing and surface soiling, illus. ($935). CL, 2 July, #124, 2nd st. on laid India, inscribed “Model Proof” on the verso, with extensive (but unattributed) annotations on the support sheet, some marginal staining, illus. (£1980). SL, 3 Dec., #160, 2nd st. (not sold). Swann, 8 Dec., #232, st. not described, with 2 prints by other artists ($385).

“Lonely Tower,” etching. SL, 3 Dec., #161, 6th st., some defects in the upper corner (£2090).

“Morning of Life,” etching. CL, 15 July, #123, 7th st. (£99). Swann, 8 Dec., #233, 8th st., printed in sepia, illus. ($990).

“Skylark,” etching. Garton & Co., Sept. cat. 54, #7, 7th st. on laid India, “fine impression” (£900).

“Willow,” etching. Garton & Co., Dec. 1992 cat., #5, 2nd st., from the large paper issue of A. H. Palmer, Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer, 1892, illus. (£325).

Dickens, Pictures from Italy, 1846. Blackwell’s, March cat. “Brain,” #2 (£250). Adam Mills, June cat., #197 (£180).

Hamerton, Etching and Etchers, eds. with Palmer etching. Rulon-Miller Books, March cat. 103, #126, 1868 ed., fancy binding by Riviere ($2000). Ian Hodgkins, Oct. cat. 65, #193, 1880 ed. (£750).

Milton, Shorter Poems, 1889. Blackwell’s, Feb. cat. B103, #259, large paper issue (£450). SL, 25 Feb., #378, large paper issue, unnumbered but with A. H. Palmer’s signature in pencil, original parchment boards; with J. Wolf, Life and Habits of Wild Animals, 1874, inscribed “Signed for A. H. Palmer J. Wolf”; and three other vols. not described (Thorp, £176). Ravenstree Company, July cat. 174, #80, small paper issue, original cloth worn ($395).

Palmer, A. H., Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer, 1892. BBA, 23 July, #473, small paper issue, some foxing, original cloth rebacked, worn (Hashimoto, £187).

Virgil, Eclogues, trans. S. Palmer, 1883. Sims Reed, Jan. cat., #21, small paper issue, original green cloth (£1080).

ROMNEY, GEORGE

A Sketchbook, 48 leaves, 11.4 × 17.8 cm., with drawings in pencil, pen, and brown wash. CL, 17 Nov., #8, 1 sketch illus. (not sold on an estimate of £3000-4000).

Antiope and Jupiter. Pen and brown ink, gray washes, 28 × 43 cm. SL, 19 Nov., #58, illus. (£2200).

Study of a Standing Figure with Children. Brown washes, 14 × 12 cm. SL, 9 April, #30 (£858).

Study of Seated Figures beneath a Tree. Brown wash, 32.2 × 37.5 cm. CL, 14 July, #39, illus. color (£2750).

William Cowper, portrait of, after Romney. An early copy of the pastel in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Water color, oval, 8 × 7 in. Pickering and Chatto, Jan. cat. of English Literary Portraits, #9, illus. ($2500). Blake engraved the original portrait as the frontispiece to vol. 1 of William Hayley’s Life, and Posthumous Writings, of William Cowper (1803).

STOTHARD, THOMAS

A folio of 3 figure drawings, each 10 × 12.5 cm. or slightly smaller, including Odysseus surprising Nausicaa, 2 water color, 1 pen and ink. SL, 19 Nov., #333, with a 4th drawing attributed to Stothard (£198).

A Confrontation (2 groups of fighting figures). Pencil, pen, and gray wash, 24 × 17.5 cm. CL, 14 July, #29 (not sold; estimate £400-600).

Merrymaking and Music, a pair. Oil, 20.5 × 26.5 cm. ovals. SL, 7 Oct., #46, 1 (Music?) illus. (£1210). The illustrated begin page 157 | ↑ back to top painting is probably based on Sterne’s Sentimental Journey; it includes several motifs (including Yorick, dressed in black) also found in Stothard’s design for that text engraved by Blake and published in The Novelist’s Magazine.

Study of Classical Figures Including a Young Girl. Pen and ink, brown washes, 36 × 22 cm., signed, with further pencil sketches on recto and verso. SL, 19 Nov., #380, illus. color (£462).

Thomas Stothard, imaginary portrait of, attributed to Walter Francis Tiffin. Oil, dated “’75,” 61 × 51 cm. Sotheby’s Sussex, 28 July, #332, illus. (no price record; estimate £800-1200). Stothard’s imposing head is surrounded with ghostly images from his more famous works, including the panorama of the Canterbury Pilgrims.

A Woman in Classical Dress. Pen and brown ink, gray wash, 12.5 × 5 cm., signed. SL, 19 Nov., #334, illus. (£352).

450 engraved vignettes after Stothard, including groups from The Royal Engagement Pocket Atlas, Rogers’s Poems and Italy, and works by Byron and Scott, bound in 2 vols., contemporary morocco. Swann, 7 May, #198 (not sold on an estimate of $300-400).

“Lost Apple,” lithograph. See Specimens of Polyautography under Fuseli, above.

Bell’s British Classics, pub. Sharpe, 1803-04. Heritage Bookshop, Oct. cat. 189, #39, 27 vols., foxed, contemporary calf ($1250).

Bible, 1846, printed by Kerr. Howes, April cat. 254, #430 (£75).

The Bijou, 1828. David Bickersteth, June cat. 120, #90, original boards with morocco spine, some spotting, rubbed (£38). K Books, Dec. cat. 416, #34, half roan (£30).

Bonnycastle, Introduction to Mensuration, 1812. Claude Cox, Sept. cat. 92, #29, original sheep worn (£20).

Bray, Life of Stothard, 1851, extra-illustrated copies only. David O’Neal, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 2 vols., with c. 100 added pls., mostly small book illustrations, a few in proof sts. before letters, full morocco ($1200).

Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress. Hoopers Books, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1796 ed., full calf ($350). Howes, April cat. 254, #461, 1881 ed. (£45).

Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, pub. Pickering, 5 vols., 1830. Illustrated with Worthington’s engraving of “The Canterbury Pilgrimage” in 3 sts.: etched proof with scratched signatures but before title, image completed with scratched signatures but before title, published st. with signatures re-engraved and the title in open letters (the last in 3 impressions, 2 on paper and 1 on vellum). Acquired Feb. by Thomas Lange from a British dealer and given to R. Essick. According to a pencil note in vol. 1, only 6 impressions were pulled on vellum.

Dante, The Divina Commedia, trans. Boyd, 1802. Howes, May cat. 254, #549, 3 vols., from the Signet Library, full calf, some foxing (£225).

Fénelon, Telemachus, 1795. J & J House, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, large paper, 1st published sts. of the pls. before inscribed titles, full calf ($500—previously offered at the Oct. 1991 fair for $450).

Forget Me Not. Jarndyce, May cat. 86, #1020, for 1828, original printed boards (£30); #1021, another copy, with original slipcase (£95).

Hayley, Triumphs of Temper. K Books, July cat. 412, #179, 1799 ed., full morocco (£40). Phillip Pirages, Nov. cat. 24, #138, 1795 ed., fancy contemporary calf ($175).

Hume, History of England, Bowyer’s ed., 1806. BBA, 14 May, #115, 5 vols., some foxing, contemporary half morocco rebacked, rubbed (Wilkinson, £82).

Keepsake. Jarndyce, May cat. 86, #1027, for 1828, later half morocco (£40); #1029, for 1831, original red watered silk, rubbed (£50); #1030, for 1832, original red silk, worn (£20). Maggs Bros., Oct. cat. 1146, #42, for 1834, original red silk (£60). James Burmester, Dec. cat. 10, #82, for 1829, original lilac cloth (£60); #84, for 1832, contemporary roan (£45).

Knox, Essays Moral and Literary, 1784. Apollo Book Shop, Nov. Los Angeles Book Fair, 2 vols., contemporary calf ($100).

Pinkerton, Rimes, 1782. James Burmester, Feb. cat. 16, #395, recent half calf (£75).

Pope, Poetical Works, 1811. Hoopers Books, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 2 vols., the pls. with 1804 Du Roveray imprints, contemporary morocco binding by Hering ($450).

Rogers, Italy. David Bickersteth, Jan. cat. 118, #151, 1830 ed., light foxing, contemporary morocco, rubbed (£35). Country Lane Books, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1830 ed., calf ($100). Walford, May cat. A/341, #86, 1830 ed. (£150). Bernard Shapero, June cat., #88, 1842 ed., with a copy of Rogers, Poems, 1842 (£250); #89, 1830 ed. (£125). Ewen Kerr Books, July cat. 36, #259, 1830 ed., calf (£115). Frew Mackenzie, Aug. cat. 27, #130, 1838 quarto, slight foxing throughout, contemporary morocco (£100).

Rogers, Pleasures of Memory. Howes, May cat. 254, #959, 1801 ed., rebacked (£35). Ewen Kerr Books, July cat. 36, #263, 1810 ed., apparently small paper, calf worn (£75); Nov. cat. 38, #22, 1806 ed., “signed on rear endpaper by Mary Blake, wife of William”(!?), recent full leather (£85).

Rogers, Poems. Blackwell’s, Jan. cat. “Shot,” #40, 1827 ed. (£35). David Bickersteth, Jan. cat. 118, #150, 1834 ed., light foxing, half calf over marbled boards, worn (£35). Country Lane Books, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1834 ed., calf ($85). Jarndyce, May cat. 86, #686, 1834 ed., some spotting, contemporary half morocco (£35); #687, 1839 ed., presentation inscription from Rogers, later morocco (£110). Blackwell’s, July cat. B104, #314, 1820 ed., fancy contemporary binding (£95); begin page 158 | ↑ back to top #315, 1834 ed., fancy contemporary binding (£175). Ewen Kerr Books, July cat. 36, #260, 1842 ed. with the steel engravings after Stothard and Turner, calf (£110); #261, 1853 ed. with 53 of the Clennell wood engravings after Stothard, publisher’s cloth (£55); #262, 1820 ed., half calf (£55); #264, 1834 ed., faded calf (£125). Callaway Books, Nov. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1852 ed., 2 vols. (including Italy), presentation inscription from Rogers, fine calf ($400).

Royal Engagement Pocket Atlas for 1803. Maggs, Sept. cat. 1146, #7, original engraved wrappers and slipcase (£150).

Sargent, The Mine, 1796. Blackwell’s, Oct. cat. “Tenter,” #add. 1 (£55).

Somerville, The Chase, 1800. Plandome Book Auction, 8 April, #321, portion of spine missing, front cover detached (estimate $45-65). K Books, Dec. cat. 415, #337, calf (£30).

Thomson, Poetical Works, 1830. Claude Cox, July cat. 91, #187, 2 vols., contemporary calf (£25).

Thomson, Seasons, 1793. David Bickersteth, March cat. 119, #44, contemporary mottled calf, slight wear (£48).

Walton and Cotton, Complete Angler, pub. Pickering, 1825. Richard Hatchwell, May “Malmesbury Miscellany” 48, #99, original red cloth, partly unopened (£125); #100, another copy, frontispiece soiled, contemporary calf worn (£85).

Young, Night Thoughts, 1798. J & J House, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair ($250).

Young, Works, 1802. BBA, 26 March, #144, 3 vols., some water stains, contemporary calf worn, with 6 unrelated vols. (not sold on an estimate of £140-200). Howes, May cat. 254, #391, 3 vols., fancy contemporary morocco (£300, a price probably determined by the binding).

VON HOLST, THEODORE MATTHIAS

Scene from Undine (recto); Five Drawings of a Young Girl and One of a Greek Warrior (verso). Brown wash over pencil (recto), pencil (verso), 33.7 × 25.7 cm. CL, 14 July, #38, recto illus. color (£2420).

Appendix: New Information on Blake’s Engravings

Listed below are substantive additions or corrections to Essick, The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue (1983), and Essick, William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations (1991).

The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue

P. 30, provenance of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell copy B. The “Dyer” from whom Douce purchased the vol. was almost certainly the bookseller Gilbert Dyer, as Joan K. Stemmler has shown in “‘Undisturbed above once in a Lustre’: Francis Douce, George Cumberland and William Blake at the Bodleian Library and Ashmolean Museum,” Blake 26 (1992): 9-18, esp. 13 and n133.

P. 63, “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims,” impression 3D. According to 2 notes in Francis Douce’s manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, he acquired this impression in November 1824 or March 1825 from the dealers Hurst & Robinson (recorded by Stemmler n145—see her essay under p. 30 above).

P. 90, “The Chaining of Orc.” An impression was exhibited at the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts in 1892, no. 188 in the cat., entitled “Adam and Eve over a Manacled Youthful Figure.” G. E. Bentley, Jr., who pointed out this entry to me, has also suggested that the appearance of an impression in this 1892 exhibition opens up the possibility that the impression I call untraced impression 1 was actually two different impressions. Since “The Chaining of Orc” exhibited in Philadelphia in 1892 is listed in a section of works from the collection of “Herbert H. Gilchrist” (p. 20 of the cat.), it can be identified with the impression exhibited in Boston in 1880 (collection of Mrs. Gilchrist) but not with the impression exhibited in Boston in 1891 (collection of E. W. Hooper). The recently discovered impression (see my 1991 sales review) might be either of these two impressions.

P. 118, “George Cumberland’s Card,” untraced impression 5, from the collection of A. E. Newton. Offered by Bromer Booksellers at the Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair—see under sales of Separate Plates above. On laid paper, sheet 9.8 × 15.6 cm., with a fragment of a Britannia watermark (as in impression 11), mounted in an album also containing Keynes’s letter to Newton, Newton’s bookplate on the front cover. With the bookplate of Harris Elliott Kirk and a clipping from his (auction?) sale, dated by Bromer to the mid-1940s. Keynes’s letter, like the description in the Newton sale cat., Parke-Bernet, 17 April 1941, lot 158 ($40—to Kirk?), notes 2 sts., the 1st “with the letters of the name open.” I have never seen such a st. and suspect that it is a ghost based on a misunderstanding of impression 1E (British Museum), which has the name printed only as a blind embossment.

P. 156, “Rev. John Caspar Lavater.” The small re-engraving by William Holl was published in The Biographical Magazine, 2 vols. (London: E. Wilson, 1819-20), vol. 1 (arranged alphabetically by subject and not paginated).

P. 239, “The Morning Amusements of Her Royal Highness [and] A Lady in the Full Dress.” As Elizabeth Bentley has demonstrated, this pl. was almost certainly engraved for The Ladies New and Polite Pocket Memorandum-Book, published as an annual by Joseph Johnson between at least 1777 and 1788. Blake’s pl., bearing an imprint dated November 1782, probably appears as the frontispiece to the vol. for 1783, but no copy of this issue has yet come to light. See E. B. Bentley, “Blake’s Elusive Ladies,” Blake 26 (1992): 30-33.

William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations

P. 26, The Protestant’s Family Bible, c. 1781, pl. 3, “Joseph sold to the Ishmeelites.” As Butlin (see p. 27, below) has pointed out, the publication by David Bindman to which he refers (in Butlin no. 155) is William Blake: Catalogue of the Collection in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge (Cambridge: Fitzwilliam Museum, 1970) 5-6 (“The immediate source for the designs [to the story of Joseph] is probably to be found in Blake’s engraving after Raphael’s Joseph and his Brethren from the Loggie, for the Protestant’s Family Bible, 1780-2”).

P. 27, Bonnycastle, Introduction to Mensuration. In a review of Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations in Burlington Magazine begin page 159 | ↑ back to top 134 (March 1992): 192-93, Martin Butlin suggests that the title-page vignette in Bonnycastle (illus. 14), engraved by Blake after Stothard, “may very well have influenced not only Blake’s characterisation of Urizen in his book of that name but also the significance of the compasses in Newton and The Ancient of Days.” Butlin is no doubt referring to Stothard’s plump child who leans over and points with a stick (not dividers or compasses) to a demonstration of the Pythagorean theorem scratched on the ground. It’s a bit of a stretch from this light-hearted vignette to “Blake’s characterisation of Urizen,” but perhaps the Bonnycastle design is one of a large number of possible influences on an important Blakean motif, the man leaning down with dividers, that first appears on pl. 10 in There is No Natural Religion, 2nd series (c. 1788). I suspect, however, that the main influence on all these designs is the most famous and obvious—the figure of Euclid in Raphael’s School of Athens in the Stanza della Segnatura of the Vatican.

P. 30, The Novelist’s Magazine. I failed to point out that Bentley 1977, p. 599, states that “Proofs of all the Novelist’s Magazine [pls.] are in Princeton in an extra-illustrated copy of Mrs. Bray’s [Life of Thomas] Stothard.” Elizabeth Bentley has very kindly checked this information for me and found that the impressions of the Blake pls. in these vols. at Princeton are all in the 1st published st.

P. 44, The Original Works of William Hogarth, Blake’s engraving of “Beggar’s Opera, Act III.” Following Paulson, Hogarth’s Graphic Works (1970) 1: 71, I recorded 1789 as the year in which the Boydells acquired Hogarth’s original copperplates. Nichols and Steevens, Supplementary Volume to the Works of Hogarth 198, and Nichols and Steevens, The Genuine Works of Hogarth 3: 198 (see under Literature, below), suggest a 1790 date, for they record that “Mr. Alderman Boydell” paid for the pls. with “a bond, bearing the date 21 May 1790.” This later date would make it even more probable that Blake’s pl., dated 1788 in the imprint of the etched proof st., was commissioned well before the Boydells were in a position to publish a vol. of Hogarth’s Works.

P. 45, Works of Hogarth, Literature. G. E. Bentley, Jr., has kindly pointed out to me that Nichols and Steevens, Supplementary Volume to the Works of Hogarth (n.d.), recorded in my 1991 sales review, is reprinted in (or is a reprint of?) Nichols and Steevens, The Genuine Works of William Hogarth; with Biographical Anecdotes, 3 vols. (London: Nichols, et al., 1817) vol. 3. Besides the Blake reference on p. 99, both

14. John Bonnycastle, An Introduction to Mensuration, 1782. Title-page vignette, intaglio etching/engraving by Blake after Thomas Stothard, 6.3 × 8.7 cm., first state. Essick collection.

works list “Beggar’s Opera” for 10s. 6d. on p. 199.

P. 47, Darwin, The Botanic Garden (1791), pl. 1, “Fertilization of Egypt.” To the list of designs influenced by the storm god in this pl., add the title-page to Visions of the Daughters of Albion of 1793 (winged figure in flames above the fleeing woman). To the list of Literature (p. 48) add Anthony Blunt, “Blake’s Pictorial Imagination,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 6 (1943): 212 (pl. 1 as a source for the bearded figure with outstretched arms in Blake’s large color print, The House of Death). Blunt’s essay is noted by Butlin (see p. 27, above).

P. 60, Bellamy’s Picturesque Magazine, 1793. Butlin (see p. 27, above) has expressed doubt about the ascription of the pl. to Blake because of the “almost rococo treatment of the illustration,” the “unlikelihood of Blake illustrating so anti-Republican a theme,” and “the use of a long ‘s’ in the inscription.” The attribution is a bit shaky, in spite of the prima facie evidence of the “Blake sc” signature, primarily because of the very conventional, relatively fine-line, engraving technique that could have been produced by a number of craftsmen of the period. It is even possible that William Blake of Exchange Alley executed the pl., although it looks a little too skillful to my eyes to be his work. As for the anti-republican text, the engraver may not have known the tenor of the publication when hired to produce the pl. The long “s” in “sc” is a bit anachronistic for 1793, but all the lettering on the pl. was probably executed by a writing engraver, not “Blake.”

Pp. 86 and 88, Hayley, The Life, and Posthumous Writings, of William Cowper, 1803-04. Caroline Watson’s reduced reengraving of the Lawrence portrait of Cowper was also published as the frontispiece to vol. 1 of J. Johnson’s 1808 ed. of Cowper’s Poems.

P. 93, The Plays of William Shakespeare, ed. Chalmers, 1805, 1811. G. E. Bentley, Jr., has kindly informed me that, according to T. H. Cromek’s manuscript biography of his father, R. H. Cromek, the former inquired about the copperplates at the publishers, Rivington & Co., in about 1856, but found that they had been “destroyed many years” earlier.

P. 110, Rees, Cyclopaedia, pl. 3A, “Gem Engraving.” The three views of the engraved gem of Jupiter Serapis are based on pl. 2 in Johann Laurenz Natter, A Treatise on the Ancient Method of Engraving on Precious Stones (London: For the Author, 1754), engraved by C. H. Hemerich. This same pl. in the French language ed. of Natter (London: J. Haberkorn, 1754) is reproduced in Barbara Maria Stafford, Body Criticism: Imaging the Unseen in Enlightenment Art and Medicine (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991) 57, pl. 21. This reference was kindly pointed out to me by Alexander Gourlay.

Volume 26 · Issue 4

Spring 1993