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ARTICLES

Blake in the Marketplace, 2003

For the second year in a row, I begin with the saga of Blake’s 19 water colors illustrating Robert Blair’s The Grave. They were recorded in an 1836 Edinburgh auction catalogue and not rediscovered until 2001; they have already received considerable attention in this journal.11. Martin Butlin, “New Risen from the Grave: Nineteen Unknown Watercolors by William Blake,” Blake 35.3 (winter 2001-02): 68-73; G. E. Bentley, Jr., “William Blake and His Circle: A Checklist of Publications and Discoveries in 2001,” Blake 36.1 (summer 2002): 13-16; Robert N. Essick, “Blake in the Marketplace, 2002,” Blake 36.4 (spring 2003): 116; Alexander S. Gourlay, “‘Friendship,’ Love, and Sympathy in Blake’s Grave Illustrations,” Blake 37.3 (winter 2003-04): 100-04. Based on various reports in the British press, plus a few private sources. I can now fill in several gaps in the history of the designs.22. Much of the information given here, including the provenance of the designs from 1836 to 2001, is taken from Martin Bailey, “From £1,000 to £10 Million in Two Years,” The Art Newspaper no. 136 (May 2003): 42. This article includes the first reproduction known to me of the water color apparently illustrating the following passage: “Methinks I see thee with thy head low laid; / Whilst, surfeited upon the damask cheek, / The high-fed worm, in lazy volumes roll’d, / Riots unscar’d . . .” (p. 11 in the 1808 ed. with Blake’s illustrations). The artist John Stannard (1794-1882) acquired the illustrations at or shortly after the 1836 auction. At his death they passed to his son Henry John Stannard (1840-1920), then to his son, Henry John Sylvester Stannard (1870-1951), and grandson, and finally to a Stannard nephew living in Glasgow. In 2000, this last owner sold them to, or placed them on consignment with, a Glasgow shop, Caledonia Books. In the next year, they were purchased for about £1000 by the book dealer Paul Williams of Fine Books, Ilkley, Yorkshire. In partnership with, or at least with the assistance of, another dealer, Jeffrey Bates of Bates & Hindmarch in Leeds, Williams took the water colors to the auction house of Dominic Winter, located in Swindon, who contacted Martin Butlin and Robin Hamlyn. These two Blake scholars authenticated the designs. In February 2002, Tate Britain offered £4.2 million for the set. All parties agreed to the sale, the water colors were placed on deposit at the Tate, and the gallery was given 5 months to raise the necessary funds (£4.9 million when the value-added tax is included).

Only weeks after the agreement with the Tate had been signed, Caledonia Books learned, apparently through press reports, about the true value of the designs. A dispute over ownership and sales rights began, culminating in a court writ issued on behalf of Caledonia Books barring any sale. The matter was settled between Caledonia and the two Yorkshire dealers in November 2002 and the Tate arranged for a meeting on 18 December to continue with the sales agreement. Only 5 days before the meeting, the Tate was notified that, the 5 months’ fund-raising period having expired, the designs had been sold to another party.

The story becomes murky at this point, but apparently the joint owners of the designs, now including at least the Glasgow and Yorkshire dealers, sold them to the London art dealer Libby Howie. She promptly offered the designs to the American wife and husband who have, over the last 20 years, assembled a remarkable collection of Blake’s illuminated books. They expressed no interest at the asking price of $20 million. Press reports indicate that Howie sold the drawings to some other collector, probably an American; but John Windle, the San Francisco book dealer who specializes in Blake, tells me that a rumor in the London book trade has it that the designs are still with Howie, who plans to keep them for some time as an investment. The supposed private purchaser may be someone providing Howie with the requisite financial resources. Let us hope that the Grave water colors do not again disappear for another 165 years.

Blake’s tempera painting of The Virgin Hushing the Young Baptist, Who Approaches the Sleeping Infant Jesus came to the market late in 2002 (illus. 2). One of just six temperas by Blake remaining in private hands, it is the only one in acceptable condition and free of obvious over-painting by a restorer. The work had a number of localized condition problems when acquired in 1975 by the San Francisco book dealer Warren Howell, but it was expertly repaired before its sale in 1977 to a man who in turn gave it to his wife, Elaine Klemen of Chicago, as a birthday present. Klemen placed The Virgin Hushing on joint consignment with John Windle and Artemis Fine Arts of New York in the summer of 2002. The first public announcement that the painting was for sale appeared in Windle’s mid-December 2002 catalogue. A color reproduction of the painting also appears in the fifth in Windle’s series of catalogues devoted to Blake and Blakeana, issued as cat. 36 in Sept. 2003. All materials from cat. 36 regularly covered by my sales reviews are included in the lists below. Although most of the 397 lots are modern works of scholarship and criticism, Windle’s latest effort is one of the more impressive Blake catalogues published by a book dealer.

Late in 2002, Ursus Books of New York contacted Windle, asking questions about Blake’s Poetical Sketches (1783). Ursus claimed that a copy in a late nineteenth-century binding was part of a collection they were evaluating for insurance or estate purposes. Only copy E (see Bentley) is still recorded as being in private hands; it was sold by the London book dealer Pickering & Chatto to an American collector in 1991. Ursus told Windle that the copy in question is not copy E. Perhaps untraced copy M, last recorded in the Buxton Forman sale in 1920, was the volume brought to Ursus. Although copy M was bound in blue morocco by Roger de Coverly in the twentieth century, the binding might appear to be earlier. Neither begin page 117 | back to top Windle nor I have seen the book, and it is possible that Ursus was fooled by the very convincing William Griggs facsimile of 1890. I have not been able to learn anything further about the volume other than a rumor that a copy of the book—perhaps the Ursus copy—had been acquired by a collector in Washington, D.C.

In recent years, Swann Galleries, the New York auction firm, has offered some exceedingly dubious materials as works by Blake. There could be no question, however, about the authenticity of the drawing offered by Swann on 23 January 2003. This slight pencil sketch, dated by Butlin to the 1790s, had been untraced since 1968. It is always satisfying to rediscover any portion of Blake’s oeuvre, however minor. Further information is given in the caption to illus. 1.

A previously unrecorded “Visionary Head” appeared on the market in 2003. It shows a menacing fellow, probably a warrior, wearing a tall hat decorated with a griffin (illus. 3). The first announcement of this discovery known to me is the catalogue of the 130th annual exhibition of water colors and drawings issued in March 2003 by the venerable London art dealer Agnew’s. I have not seen the original, but the attribution to Blake in this catalogue seems convincing.

By far the finest work by one of Blake’s contemporaries or followers to come to market in 2003 was Samuel Palmer’s The Golden Valley (illus. 5), one of only a handful of Shoreham-period water colors remaining in private collections. In spite of extensive advertising and elaborate cataloguing, the drawing fetched only a little above the low estimate at Christie’s London on 11 June.

Readers will find a great many entries for eBay online auctions (now abbreviated as “EB”) and for dealers’ names followed by “online cat.” Most of the latter are not individual online catalogues maintained by a dealer; rather, they are listings under a dealer’s name on search sites for antiquarian books, such as BookFinder (http://www.bookfinder.com) or Biblion (http://www.biblion.com). I have not repeated online listings previously recorded in my 2002 sales review.

The year of all sales and catalogues in the following lists is 2003 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. The value-added tax levied against the buyer’s surcharge in Britain is not included. Late 2003 sales will be covered in the 2004 review. I am grateful for help in compiling this review to Shelley Bennett, G. E. Bentley, Jr., David Bindman, Morris Eaves, Tim Linnell, Dennis Read, Steven Tabor, Joseph Viscomi, and John Windle. My special thanks go to Alexander Gourlay for his generosity in keeping me abreast of internet auctions. Once again, Sarah Jones’ editorial expertise and John Sullivan’s electronic imaging have been invaluable.

Abbreviations

BBA Bloomsbury Book Auctions, London
Bentley G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Books (Oxford: Clarendon P, 1977). Plate numbers and copy designations for Blake’s illuminated books follow Bentley.
BH Bonhams auctions, London unless otherwise specified
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)
CE Christie’s East, New York
CL Christie’s, London
CNY Christie’s, New York
CSK Christie’s, South Kensington
EB eBay online auctions
Essick Robert N. Essick, The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1983)
illus. the item or part thereof is reproduced in the catalogue
pl(s). plate(s)
SL Sotheby’s, London
SNY Sotheby’s, New York
st(s). state(s) of an engraving, etching, or lithograph
Swann Swann Galleries, auctioneers, New York
# auction lot or catalogue item number

Illuminated Books

Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy P. Since 1978 in the collection of Sir Paul Getty, who died on 17 April 2003. According to The Art Newspaper online service (accessed 9 June), Sir Paul’s entire library will go to the Wormsley Foundation, a dormant trust founded in 1992 and, I suspect, soon to spring to life through a generous bequest. The name of the foundation suggests that the collection will stay in its present location in Wormsley, Buckinghamshire.

Drawings and Paintings

The Death of Ezekiel’s Wife. Pen and washes over pencil, approx. 33 × 47 cm. Butlin #165, dated to c. 1785. The owner for many years, George C. Homans of Boston, died in 2002. The drawing is currently in his estate, with its final disposition uncertain.

Fate. Pencil sketch, 12.4 × 19.6 cm. on a sheet of wove paper 14.9 × 22.4 cm. Butlin #210, dated to c. 1793. Inscribed “Fate” lower right, possibly by William Michael Rossetti. Swann, 23 Jan., #395, illus. ($16,100 on an estimate of $6000-9000 to J. Windle acting for R. Essick). See illus. 1.

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Fate
1. Fate. Pencil, 12.4 × 19.6 cm. on a sheet of wove paper without watermark, 14.9 × 22.4 cm. Butlin #210, listed as untraced since 1968 and dated to c. 1793. Sold at Swann Galleries, New York, 23 Jan. 2003, #395.   Essick collection. The title inscription, lower right, is not by Blake, but may have been added by William Michael Rossetti, who lists the work under that title in his catalogue of Blake’s drawings and paintings in Alexander Gilchrist, Life of William Blake (London: Macmillan, 1863) 2:252, #147. The identification of the figure as “Fate” is supported by its similarity to Blake’s personifications of Destiny and Fate noted below. The figure, backed with what appear to be clouds, sits with eyes closed (suggesting “blind” fate?), or at least lowered with heavy lids, in a posture oddly suggestive of the lotus position in yoga meditation. The ovoid forms below and to the outer sides of each hand may be the links of large chains that further emphasize a conception of the natural body, its senses, and fallen time as profoundly limited and limiting—central themes in Blake’s writings by the mid-1790s. In Night the Fourth of The Four Zoas, Blake refers to “The Links of fate link after link an endless chain of sorrows” (David V. Erdman, ed., The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, Newly Revised Ed. [New York: Doubleday, 1988] 336). The loose sketching and deployment of multiple lines to define outlines distinguish the drawing from Blake’s more controlled and rigid style of the 1780s and help support Butlin’s dating.

As Butlin points out, the design is related to Blake’s emblem sketch on p. 85 of his Notebook, drawn above the following inscribed lines from John Donne’s “The Progresse of the Soule,” stanza 4: “Whose changeless brow / Neer smiles nor frowns.” The figure so described is “Great Destiny,” as indicated by the first line in Donne’s stanza. W. M. Rossetti’s brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, owned Blake’s Notebook from 1847 to 1882. Perhaps W. M., having noticed the similarities between the Notebook sketch and the one reproduced here, was prompted by the quotation from Donne to add the “Fate” title inscription. The Notebook figure is also curly-haired, bearded, seated with legs folded, and may have his eyes closed or at least lowered sharply; but his wrists are together (and probably bound) in front of him and the belt around his chest may be binding him to the background mountain. This configuration hints at a Promethean figure more forcefully than the present sketch. David V. Erdman suggests that the Notebook drawing recalls lines 43-45 from Blake’s French Revolution describing the “strong man” who sits “in the den nam’d Destiny” in the Bastille, “His feet and hands cut off, and his eyes blinded; round his middle a chain and a band / Fasten’d into the wall . . .” (The Notebook of William Blake, ed. Erdman, Revised Ed. [New York: Readex Books, 1977] N85). The personification of Fate on p. 55 of Night 9 in Blake’s Night Thoughts water colors (Butlin #330.473) also resembles the rediscovered drawing. He is bearded and blind (or at least has his eyes closed), but his legs are drawn up toward his chest in Blake’s typical Urizenic posture. He holds a chain in his left hand but does not seem to be bound by it.
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WB 1799
2. The Virgin Hushing the Young Baptist, Who Approaches the Sleeping Infant Jesus.   Tempera, 27 × 38.2 cm., inscribed “WB inv [in monogram] 1799.” Butlin #406. Reproduced by permission of John Windle.
[View this object in the William Blake Archive]

The Judgement of Solomon, a copy (with variations) of the Vatican fresco of the same subject designed by Raphael. Pen and black ink, water color with body color, 13.5 × 17.5 cm. Attributed to Blake; not in Butlin. SL, 27 Nov., #235, sold “The Property of a Lady” who acquired the work “circa 1960,” illus. color (£15,600). Previously sold SL, 28 Nov. 2002, #235, illus. color (£26,290). If actually sold in 2002, rather than bought-in, the water color was apparently returned to the vendor. For discussion and illus., see Blake 36.4 (spring 2003): 116-19.

Profile of a Man, Perhaps Voltaire, p. 106 from the Smaller Blake-Varley Sketchbook. Pencil on leaf 20.3 × 15.6 cm., datable to c. 1819. Butlin #692.106. Acquired Oct. by Adam Fuss, New York.

The Resurrection (recto), with studies of eyes, the head of an eagle, a human face, and a lion (verso). Some of the verso sketches are related to Blake’s 1802 Designs to a Series of Ballads by William Hayley. Pen and gray ink, gray wash over pencil (recto), pencil (verso), recto image and sheet 20.5 × 21 cm., recto datable to the mid-1780s. Butlin #610 (listed as untraced since 1863). Agnew’s, 130th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours & Drawings, 5-28 March, #17, recto illus. color (£260,000—a record asking price for a monochrome wash drawing by Blake). Previously sold SL, 5 July 2002, #183, recto and details of the verso illus. color (£144,150 on an estimate of £20,000-30,000 to Agnew’s). For illus. and discussion of the auction, see Blake 36.4 (spring 2003): 116, 121, illus. 5.

The Virgin Hushing the Young Baptist, Who Approaches the Sleeping Infant Jesus. Tempera, 27 × 38.2 cm., inscribed “WB inv [in monogram] 1799.” Butlin #406. John Windle, Dec. 2002 cat., no entry #, illus. color on the cover (“full details upon request”); Sept. cat. 36, #1, illus. color (“price on application”). Artemis Fine Arts, Jan. “Review 2002,” pp. 31-33, no entry #, with an essay on the painting by David Bindman, illus. color (not priced). According to Martin Bailey, “From £1,000 to £10 Million in Two Years,” The Art Newspaper no. 136 (May 2003): 42, the asking price is $3.8 million. See illus. 2.

Visionary Head: A Man Wearing a Tall Hat (provisional title). Pencil strengthened in part with black chalk, 36 × 27.7 cm. begin page 120 | back to top Datable to c. 1819-25. Not in Butlin. Agnew’s, 130th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours & Drawings, 5-28 March, #18, illus. color (£15,000). See illus. 3.

Manuscripts

Letter of 18 Jan. 1808 to Ozias Humphry, 4 pp. describing Blake’s Last Judgment design. Roy Davids, March 2000 cat. for “The Artist as a Portrait” exhibition and sale (3-14 April) at the Fine Art Society, London, #10, first and last pp. illus. (£40,000). Previously sold SNY, 14 Dec. 1988, #58 ($26,400 to the dealer John Wilson for stock); SL, 14 Dec. 1992, #16, p. 1 illus. (£19,800 to a private collector or possibly a consortium of dealers). By late 2002 sold by Davids to an anonymous private collector.

Separate Plates and Plates in Series

“Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims.” John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #12, 5th st., a Colnaghi printing on laid India, illus. ($18,750). Swann, 6 Nov., #310, 5th st., a Colnaghi printing on laid India, illus. (not sold; estimate $7000-10,000).

“Christ Trampling on Satan,” Butts after Blake. EB, Oct., Essick impression 1J, from the stock of the New York print dealer Donald Heald, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $2000).

Dante engravings. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #18-24, complete set sold individually, 1968 printing, all illus. (each priced at either £1500 or £1200). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #15, 5 pls. only, sold individually, all on laid India, printing date uncertain but probably 1892: pl. 1, illus. ($16,500); pl. 2 ($10,000); pl. 4 ($12,500); pls. 5 and 6 ($7500 each). EB, Oct., pl. 2 only, probably the 1892 printing, from the stock of the New York print dealer Donald Heald, illus. color ($2400).

“The Fall of Rosamond,” Blake after Stothard. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #17, st. not identifiable, printed in pink and brown, blue-green hand coloring, cut close (only signatures remaining from the inscriptions), with a similar (companion?) print, not by Blake and not further identified, both pls. illus. (£2500).

“George Cumberland’s Card.” John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #14, printed in black on wove paper, sheet 11 × 6 cm., illus. ($12,500; sold to Alan Parker, London).

Job engravings. Larkhall Fine Art, complete set, 1874 printing on laid India, light foxing, some pls. damp stained in upper margin, loose, illus. (£17,500). BH, 31 March, #23, pl. numbered 11 only, apparently the 1826 printing on wove paper, some staining, illus. (£480). R. E. Lewis & Daughter, May cat. of “recent acquisitions,” #13, pl. numbered 13 only, “Proof”

3. Visionary Head: A Man Wearing a Tall Hat (provisional title).   Pencil strengthened in part with black chalk, 36 × 27.7 cm. Datable to c. 1819-25. Not in Butlin. First published and attributed to Blake in Agnew’s 130th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours & Drawings, 5-28 March, #18, illus. color. The sheet of paper appears to have been trimmed, given the way the image is cut into on the right and left. But even at its present dimensions, this may be the largest single Visionary Head, comparable in size to the double portrait of Pindar and Lais the Courtesan on a sheet 26.7 × 41.9 cm. (Butlin #711). The presence of black chalk is unusual, but there are a few other Visionary Heads in which Blake (or possibly John Linnell or John Varley) used it to strengthen pencil lines (e.g., the head of an Archbishop on leaf 30 verso, and the head of Charlemagne on leaf 45 verso, of the Larger Blake-Varley Sketchbook). I have not been able to find any clear precedents, classical or medieval, for the extraordinary headgear. The cheek guard looks Roman. Reproduced courtesy of Agnew’s, London.
begin page 121 | back to top impression of 1826 on laid India, illus. ($3500). Peter Nahum, May cat. “Medieval to Modern,” #6, complete set, 1874 printing on laid India, “loose in original folder,” all 22 pls. illus. color, much reduced (£17,000). Sims Reed, July cat., #22, complete set, 1874 printing on laid India, loose, pl. numbered 2 illus. color (£14,000); #23, 1826 printing on Whatman paper after the removal of the “Proof” inscription, slight marginal foxing, tissue guards, original cloth-backed boards, cover label (£40,000); same copy of the printing on Whatman paper, Ursus Books, Nov. cat. 242, #11, illus. ($85,000). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #2, complete set, 1826 printing on Whatman paper after the removal of the “Proof” inscription, no information on condition, “original cloth-backed paper wrappers,” pl. numbered 7 illus. ($68,750); #3, pl. numbered 7 only, 1826 printing on Whatman paper after the removal of the “Proof” inscription ($3500). Swann, 6 Nov., #311, pl. numbered 3 only, 1826 printing on Whatman paper after the removal of the “Proof” inscription, illus. ($2200); #312, pl. numbered 13 only, same printing and paper ($1100). CL, 2 Dec., #6, complete set, 1826 printing on Whatman paper after the removal of the “Proof” inscription, wide margins, a few tears, half morocco worn, covers detached, pl. numbered 16 illus. color (£16,730). SNY, 10 Dec., #46, complete set, 1826 printing on Whatman paper after the removal of the “Proof” inscription, original boards worn, cover label, illus. color ($40,800).

“The Man Sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour,” 2nd st. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #11, Essick impression 2L, illus. (“price on application”). Windle has had this impression since Feb. 1999, 1 of only 6 remaining in private hands.

“Rev. John Caspar Lavater.” EB, Oct., 3rd st., possibly Essick impression 3I, from the stock of the New York print dealer Donald Heald, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $1200).

“Venus dissuades Adonis from Hunting,” Blake after Cosway. A 1st st. impression was acquired in fall 2003 by Louis Girling of San Francisco from the British print dealer Nicholas Lott. Although it seems probable that all uncolored impressions printed in black ink are 1st st., this is the only such impression known to me complete with the 1787 imprint.

Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, Including Prints Extracted from Such Books

Allen, Roman History, 1798. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #16, pl. 2 only, illus. (£225).

Ariosto, Orlando Furioso. EB, Dec. 2002, 1791 ed., 2 vols., Blake’s pl. foxed, modern boards, illus. color ($120). Andovers Books, April online cat., 1783 ed., 5 vols., slight foxing on some pls., contemporary calf ($850). Jeffrey Thomas Books, April online cat., 1783 ed., 5 vols., contemporary calf ($750).

Hava Books, April online cat., 1783 ed., 5 vols., Blake’s pl. loose, contemporary calf worn ($532). Book Net, Inc., April online cat., 1785 ed., 5 vols., some foxing, early calf worn, 1 cover loose ($600). Maggs, April cat. 1341, #5, 1799 ed., 5 vols., contemporary calf worn (£300). EB, Nov., 1783 ed., 5 vols., contemporary quarter calf worn, illus. color ($303). Farnworth Books, Dec. online cat., 1799 ed., 5 vols., later half morocco (£150).

Bible, The Royal Universal Family Bible, 1780-81. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #4, pls. 1-3, 5 only ($875).

Blair, The Grave. EB, Dec. 2002, pl. 3 only, “1911” (probably an error for 1926) printing, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $175). EB, Jan., pls. 1, 2, 4-12 only, offered individually, 1926 printings, illus. (no bids on required minimum bids ranging between $150 and $275). EB, Jan., apparently the 1813 ed., but in a cloth binding (backstrip repaired with tape) similar to the publisher’s binding of 1870, possibly an 1870 issue of 1813 letterpress sheets, sts. of the pls. not determined, illus. color ($611). EB, Feb., pl. 7 only, apparently the 1926 printing, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $140). EB, Feb., pl. 9 only, 1926 printing, illus. color ($162.50). EB, Feb., 1813 quarto, considerable foxing, quarter morocco, illus. color ($495). EB, Feb., 12 pls., 1926 printing, offered individually, illus. (only 1 sold, $165). EB, Feb., pl. 3 only, 1926 printing, illus. color (no bids); offered again, April ($227.50). EB, Feb., pl. 7 only, apparently 1926 printing, illus. color ($99). EB, March, pls. 1 and 12 only, offered individually, 1926 printings, illus. color (no bids on required minimum bids of $130 and $150 respectively). EB, April, pl. 4 only, 1926 printing, illus. color ($152.50). EB, July, pl. 10 only, imprint and printing date not indicated, illus. color ($275). Sims Reed, July cat., #21, 1813 quarto, later half morocco, illus. color (£500). EB, Aug., pl. 12 only, 1813 imprint, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $235). EB, Sept., pl. 3 only, 1813 imprint, illus. color ($181.48); pl. 5 only, 1813 imprint, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $175). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #5, 1808 quarto, pl. 1 cropped, some soiling and browning, later full morocco, illus. ($2750); #6, 1813 quarto, half morocco ($2250); #7, [1870] folio, original cloth ($1250); #8, [1870] folio, full morocco ($1250); #9, [1870] folio, half calf ($1000); #10, [1870] cloth portfolio of the pls. only, as issued ($950). Peter Harrington, Dec. online cat., “1813 folio” (probably either the 1813 quarto or the [1870] folio), half calf worn (£350). Book Alley, Dec. online cat., [1870] folio, original cloth ($800). Old Tampa Book Co., Dec. online cat., 1808 (quarto?), foxed, quarter calf worn ($2000). Phillip Pirages, Dec. online cat., 1808 quarto, half morocco ($2800).

Note: Several of the unsold individual pls. listed above were reoffered at least once on EB. I have not recorded these unsuccessful second attempts.

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Bonnycastle, Introduction to Mensuration. Cameron House Books, April online cat., 1787 ed., contemporary calf rubbed (£160). SessaBks, Dec. online cat., 1794 ed., Blake’s pl. stained, contemporary sheep worn ($125). All eds. of Bonnycastle containing the unsigned title-page vignette by Blake after Stothard are rare.

Boydell, Graphic Illustrations . . . of Shakspeare, 1803. The Lark, April online cat., margins foxed, some damp staining, early calf rebacked ($2200). EB, May, 54 pls. only, but including Blake’s, later quarter calf, illus. color ($510). BBA, 27 Nov., #34, marginal foxing, full morocco worn, illus. (not sold; estimate £750-1000). Eveleigh Books, Dec. online cat., foxing and damp staining, calf rebacked ($3157.89).

Bryant, New System . . . of Ancient Mythology. BBA, 3 April, #147, apparently 2nd ed., 1775-76, 3 vols., contemporary calf rubbed (£350). Chequamegon Books, April online cat., 1st ed., 1774, vols. 1-2 only, modern cloth ($250). Xerxes Books, April online cat., 2nd ed., 1775-76, vols. 2-3 only, full calf very worn, hinges repaired with tape ($500). Todd Leif Pratum, April online cat., 2nd ed., 1775-76, 3 vols., contemporary calf rebacked ($950). Librairie Ancienne Minet Frères, April online cat., 2nd ed., 1775-76, 3 vols., contemporary calf repaired ($816). Everyman’s Bookshop, April online cat., apparently 2nd ed., 1775-76, 3 vols., full calf ($1000). Kitazawa Bookstore, April online cat., 2nd ed., 1775-76, pls. from an 1807 ed. added, “early” cloth ($1670). N & A Smiles, April online cat., 1st ed., 1774-76, 3 vols., uncut in recent half calf, 1 leaf in vol. 1 loose ($1800). Richard Smith, Dec. online cat., 1st ed., 1774-76, 3 vols., foxed, recent half calf (£600). Hoffman’s Bookshop, Dec. online cat., 2nd ed., 1775-76, 3 vols., modern cloth ($650). Weiser Antiquarian Books, Dec. online cat., 2nd ed., 1775-76, 3 vols., later calf ($1315.80).

Catullus, Poems, 1795. Ximenes Rare Books, Sept. cat. M11, #33, 2 vols. in 1, lacking the half-titles, pl. 1 foxed, contemporary calf rebacked (£750).

Chaucer, Poetical Works, vol. 13, from Bell’s Edition of the Poets of Great Britain, 1782. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #13, contemporary calf ($975).

Cumberland, Attempt to Describe Hafod, 1796. Ken Spelman, Oct. cat. 49, #188, “a very good copy in original[?] marbled wrappers,” but with the leaves trimmed to 17.3 × 11.2 cm. (£480). Uncut copies of the small-paper issue measure 19.5 × 12.1 cm.

Darwin, Botanic Garden. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #15, 1791 ed., pl. 1 only, water stain in top margin, slight foxing, illus. (£375). SessaBks, April online cat., “1791” (apparently Part 1 so dated; Part 2 not dated), lacking frontispiece (not by Blake) and 2 of Blake’s pls. of the Portland Vase, stained, modern buckram worn ($650). A. Asher & Co., April online cat., 3rd ed. of Part 1 (1795), Part 2 dated 1794, contemporary half calf worn ($490). Kenneth Hince Books, April online cat., 1799 ed., 2 vols., slight water staining, contemporary half calf ($491). Woodburn Books, April online cat., 1799 ed., 2 vols., morocco worn ($400). EB, July, pl. 1 only ($265.99). Blackwell’s Rare Books, July cat. B141, #120, 1791 ed., 1st ed. of Part 1, 3rd ed. of Part 2, contemporary calf (£850). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #16, 1799 ed., 2 vols., half calf ($1250). Robert Frew, Oct. cat. 2003, #191, 1791 and 1789, 1st eds. of both parts, lacking the title page to Part 1, slight foxing, recent half calf (£750). James Cummins, Dec. online cat., 3rd ed. of Part 1 (1795), 2nd ed. of Part 2 (1795), some spotting and tears, contemporary calf ($1500). ASP Art & Science Projects, Dec. online cat., 1st ed. of Part 1 (1791), 2nd ed. of Part 2 (1790), 2 vols., uncut in recent half calf (£970). Hollett & Son, Dec. online cat., 2nd ed. of Part 1 (1791), 4th ed. of Part 2 (1794), 2 vols., foxed and damp stained, contemporary calf (£1200). Hordern House, Dec. online cat., “1791” (no further information on eds.), contemporary calf ($4810). Acadia Art & Rare Books, Dec. online cat., 1799 ed., 2 vols., “boards partially detached” ($500).

Darwin, Works, 1806. Kitazawa Bookstore, April online cat., 3 vols., few leaves torn, modern half calf ($1252.50). EB, June, 3 vols., contemporary calf worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $599); same copy, Aug. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $449).

Enfield, The Speaker, 1797. Barry McKay Books, April online cat., modern cloth (£40). Barter Books, Dec. online cat., foxed, calf very worn (£35).

Flaxman, Classical Compositions, 1870. Heritage Book Shop, Dec. online cat., contemporary morocco ($1500).

Flaxman, Hesiod designs, 1817. Tamerlane Books, March online cat., half morocco, 2 pls. repaired with tape ($950). Sims Reed, July cat., #92, fold-marks down the centers of the pls., later cloth-backed boards with the cover label relaid (£450); #93, bound with Flaxman’s designs for the Iliad (1805), Odyssey (1805), and Tragedies of Aeschylus (1795), some foxing, later full morocco, illus. (£1200). EB, Oct., bound with Flaxman’s Aeschylus designs (1831), scattered foxing, later quarter roan, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £600). For one of Flaxman’s preliminary sketches for pl. 7 of the Hesiod designs, see Study for Pandora Brought to Epimetheus under Flaxman in “Blake’s Circle and Followers,” below.

Flaxman, Iliad designs, 1805. BH, 31 March, #39, with the Odyssey designs, 1805, 2 vols., foxed and stained, illus. (not sold; estimate £200-300). Barter Books, Oct. online cat., foxed, original(?) boards worn, cloth spine partly detached (£229). Swann, 20 Nov., #117, foxed, with Flaxman, Odyssey begin page 123 | back to top designs, 1805, foxed, 2 vols., half morocco ($275). Kingswood Books, Dec. online cat., “1806” (very probably an error for 1805), foxed, boards (£500).

Gay, Fables. EB, March, pls. 3 and 11 only, sold individually, illus. color (no bids on a ridiculous required opening bid of $799.99 [pl. 3]; top bid of $91 failed to meet the hidden reserve price [pl. 11]); both offered again (no bids). EB, April, pl. 7 only in an elaborate frame, illus. color (reserve not met even though the bidding went to $700). Golden Legend, April online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols., full morocco ($2000). Henry Sotheran, April online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols. in 1, contemporary morocco (£1250). A Book By Its Cover, April online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols. in 1, some foxing, calf rebacked ($1200). EB, April, pl. 8 only in an elaborate frame, illus. color (reserve not met; highest bid $255). EB, April, pls. 3 and 11 only, sold separately, illus. color (pl. 3 not sold on a required minimum bid of $250; pl. 11 sold for an astonishing $513). EB, May-June, pls. 2, 3, 5, 7-10, 12 only, offered individually, most with slight foxing, elaborately framed, illus. color (no bids on ridiculous required minimum bids). EB, June, pls. 2-5 only, offered individually, illus. color ($249 each for pls. 2 and 5, no bids on pl. 3, top bid of $204 on pl. 4 did not meet the reserve). EB, July, pl. 6 only, illus. color (reserve not met; top bid $108.50); same impression, Aug., illus. color ($199.99). Ursus Rare Books, Sept. cat. 241, #36, 1793 ed., 2 vols., light foxing, contemporary calf worn, 1 spine damaged ($1250). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #17, 1811 ed., 2 vols., modern full calf ($575). Appelfeld Gallery, Dec. cat. 68, #31, 1793 ed., 2 vols., some spotting, later full calf ($1200). Hermitage Book Shop, Dec. online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols., calf rebacked ($1250). Phillip Pirages, Dec. online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf ($1500).

Note: Most of the unsold individual pls. listed above were reoffered at least once on EB. I have not recorded these unsuccessful second attempts.

Gough, Sepulchral Monuments, 1786-96. Kitazawa Bookstore, April online cat., 5 vols., lacking 3 title pages, half calf ($7097.50).

Hartley, Observations on Man, 1791. Rachel Lee Rare Books, Dec. online cat., quarto issue (Bentley 464A), contemporary half calf rebacked (£750).

Hayley, Ballads, 1805. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #19, lacking 1 pl. (not identified), signature of Sophia Dibdin, wife of the bibliophile Thomas Frognall Dibdin, half calf rebacked ($875). Chapter and Verse Booksellers, Oct. online cat., later full calf, “superb condition” (£2500). EB, Nov.-Dec., apparently 2nd st. of pl. 2 (and probably of all pls.), later full calf, illus. color (undisclosed reserve price not met; top bid $821.77).

Hayley, Essay on Sculpture, 1800. Quaritch, June cat. 1308, #37, pls. foxed, contemporary half calf rebacked (£475). Brand Bookshop, Dec. online cat., boards worn ($350).

Hayley, Life of Cowper, 1803-04. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #18, 2nd ed., 3 vols., calf rebacked ($375).

Hayley, Life of Romney, 1809. Heritage Book Shop, April online cat., contemporary Russia worn ($600); another copy, Dec. online cat., fancy binding ($1350). “Private Collector via Abebooks,” April online cat., some foxing, three-quarter calf worn ($450). James Fenning, May cat. 199, #252, slight foxing, half morocco (£650). Swann, 16 Oct., #21, contemporary calf rebacked, worn ($161).

Hayley, Triumphs of Temper, 1803. Kitazawa Bookstore, April online cat., small-paper issue, contemporary morocco ($1628.25). Strand Book Store, April online cat., apparently small-paper issue, calf rebacked, worn ($450). Ursus Rare Books, Oct. cat. 243, #31, small-paper issue, recent half calf ($750). Jarndyce, Oct. cat. 155, #18, apparently small-paper issue, later calf (£750). Appelfeld Gallery, Dec. addenda to cat. 68, #1, large-paper issue, contemporary calf slightly worn ($600).

Henry, Memoirs of Albert De Haller, 1783. John Gach Books, Dec. online cat., pl. water stained, later leather-backed marbled boards very worn, lacking spine ($150).

Hoare, Inquiry, 1806. Sims Reed, Nov. cat. of “Books on Art before 1900,” #137, half cloth over boards worn (£285).

Hogarth, The Beggar’s Opera by Hogarth and Blake, 1965. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #21, original folding cloth box worn ($975).

Hogarth, Works. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #20, Blake’s pl. only, 4th st., illus. ($1500). BBA, 25 Sept., #150, apparently an undated Baldwin and Cradock issue with the pls. “restored” by Heath, some staining and soiling, few tears, some leaves loose, contemporary half morocco very worn, covers detached (Alfred Boeddinghaus, £1293).

Hunter, Historical Journal, 1793. Hordern House, April online cat., octavo issue, contemporary calf ($1751). Messrs. Berkelouw, April online cat., quarto issue, some foxing, calf-backed boards ($2703); quarto issue, large paper, 2 copies, full calf and original(?) boards ($6082 each); Dec. online cat., octavo issue, modern half calf ($2595.95). St. Mary’s Books, April online cat., octavo issue, some soiling, contemporary calf worn ($3496). Peter Harrington, April online cat., quarto issue, recent calf (£4750). Time Booksellers, April online cat., quarto issue, later calf ($4792). Randall House, April online cat., octavo issue, lacking the frontispiece, contemporary calf worn, covers detached ($250). Michael Treloar, April online cat., octavo issue, later half calf ($768). J and SL Bonham, April online cat., quarto issue, some foxing, contemporary calf rebacked (£3500). Jane & Richard Adelson, April online cat., quarto issue, slight water stains to a few leaves, half calf begin page 124 | back to top

[T.] S. d
	W. B, sc
	1781
	A Lady in the full Dress, & another in the
	most fashionable Undress now worn.
4. “A Lady in the full Dress, & another in the most fashionable Undress now worn.”   The left image from a single copperplate bearing 2 designs, engraved by Blake after Stothard, for The Ladies New and Polite Pocket Memorandum-Book, published by J. Johnson in 1782 (for the year 1783). 2nd (only published?) st., trimmed to 11 × 6.2 cm., thereby eliminating a bit of the image at the top and about 2 mm. of the image (including the first letter of the signature “T. S. d”) on the left margin. Signed “W. B, sc” below the design on the right. A long, poorly-repaired tear extends upward from the left margin. Inscribed “1781” in pen and ink between the image and the title inscription. Essick collection. No copy of this issue of the annual has ever been located, in spite of a worldwide search by Dr. Elizabeth B. Bentley. A copy of the issue for 1780 (published 1779) is in the Huntington Library. Only the 4th recorded impression of this image. Pasted into an album of 186 fashion pls., c. 1755-1845, some probably from other issues of the same annual. One such unsigned pl., titled “Two Ladies in the most fashionable Dejeuner dresses,” is lightly inscribed in etched or drypoint letters, “Engraved for the Ladies New Memorandum Book for 1786.” Several other unsigned pls., particularly one inscribed “Fashionable Dresses for the Year 1787,” exhibit a graphic style remarkably similar to Blake’s own. We should, however, resist the temptation to make attributions on that basis alone since several other engravers who executed pls. after Stothard for publications such as The Novelist’s Magazine employed much the same engraving and etching style in the 1780s. For further information about this publication, see E. B. Bentley, “Blake’s Elusive Ladies,” Blake 26.1 (summer 1992): 30-33; and G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Books Supplement (Oxford: Clarendon P, 1995) 232-34.
($3185). Quaritch, Dec. online cat., octavo issue, some staining, uncut in original boards worn (£350). James Cummins, Dec. online cat., quarto issue, contemporary calf rebacked ($4250). Evergreen Books, Dec. online cat., apparently quarto issue, “rebound” ($2500).

Kimpton, History of the Holy Bible, c. 1781. Andersens Antikvariat, April online cat., 57 pls. only (of 61), full calf ($264). EB, Nov., some foxing, stains, and torn edges, quarter calf over very worn boards, illus. color (£62).

The Ladies New and Polite Pocket Memorandum-Book, 1782 (for 1783). Left image only from Blake’s pl., “A Lady in the full Dress, & another in the most fashionable Undress now worn,” 2nd st., pasted into an album of 186 fashion pls., some probably from other issues of the same annual. Complete album acquired summer 2003 by David Bindman at an Edinburgh bookshop; sold Aug. by Bindman to R. Essick. See illus. 4.

Lavater, Aphorisms on Man. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #28, 1789 ed., pl. in 1st st., half calf worn ($595). Adam Mills, Oct. online “Blake List,” #12, 1794 ed., st. of pl. not recorded, contemporary calf slightly worn (£250).

Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy. Alexandre Antique Prints, April online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, some foxing, contemporary calf rebacked ($2500). Thomas Goldwasser, April online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, uncut in three-quarter morocco worn, some covers detached ($1250). Antiquariat Nikolaus Weissert, April online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, early calf restored ($3263). www.zubal.com, April online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, no description of binding or condition ($2000). John Gach Books, April online cat., 1810 ed., 3 vols. in 5, modern leather spines over contemporary boards ($2500). Messrs. Berkelouw, April online cat., 1810 ed., 3 vols. in 5, full calf worn ($1845). Austwick Hall Books, April online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, full calf rebacked (£1600). BBA, begin page 125 | back to top 8 May, “1789-92” ed. (hence, a mixed set?), 3 vols. in 5, foxed, later calf rebacked, worn (£320). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #22, 1789-92 (hence, a mixed set?), 3 vols. in 5, contemporary morocco ($6750); #23, 1789, 1792, 1810 (hence, a very mixed set?), “uncut,” number of vols. not given, three-quarter morocco very worn, spines defective and covers detached ($1750); #24, pl. 1 only ($125); #25, pl. 3 only ($125); #26, pl. 4 only ($200). A. Asher & Co., Dec. online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, calf rebacked ($2444.20). Erasmushaus, Dec. online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, full morocco ($5145.40).

Malkin, Father’s Memoirs of His Child, 1806. Johnnycake Books, April online cat., with 2 impressions of the frontispiece, signed by Malkin, some spotting, uncut in original boards very worn ($1750). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #29, “large-paper copy,” original boards ($1675); #30, contemporary morocco worn ($1275). Jarndyce, Oct. cat. 155, #2, slight foxing, uncut in original boards worn, bookplate of Pamela and Raymond Lister, illus (£1200).

Novelist’s Magazine. EB, May, vol. 9 only, 1782, contemporary calf, illus. color ($308). EB, May, vol. 8 only, 1782, half calf, illus. color ($104.50). Adam Mills, Oct. online “Blake List,” #11, vol. 8 only, 1784, lacking pl. numbered 13 (not by Blake) and pp. 361-64, contemporary calf slightly worn (£165).

Olivier, Fencing Familiarized, 1780. Abracadabra Bookshop, April online cat., later half calf ($950).

Rees, Cyclopaedia, 1820. EB, Feb., pl. 7 only, stained, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $49.95); same impression and result, EB, March; same impression, EB, April ($24.95). FineArt, April online cat., number of vols. not indicated, 263 pls., full calf lacking spines, covers detached (£878). Henry Sotheran, April online cat., complete in 45 vols., recent quarter calf ($5592). Sims Reed, April online cat., complete in 45 vols., contemporary calf (£3500).

Ritson, Select Collection of English Songs, 1783. Argosy Books, April online cat., 3 vols., contemporary calf rebacked ($750). Kenneth Karmiole, April online cat., 3 vols., contemporary calf worn ($1250). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #31, 3 vols., half morocco ($1150); #32, pls. 1, 4, 6-8 only ($300).

Salzmann, Elements of Morality. Quaritch, handlist for the April New York Book Fair, #158, 1791 ed., 3 vols., modern calf, from the collection of Raymond and Pamela Lister with the latter’s bookplate ($6400). Jarndyce, April online cat., 1791 ed., 3 vols., minor tears and staining, contemporary calf, hinges repaired (£3500). Heritage Book Shop, April online cat., 1792 ed., 3 vols., pl. 34 partly hand colored, minor marginal staining, modern quarter calf ($6500). Robert Frew, Oct. cat. 2003, #349, 1791 ed., 3 vols., some browning and staining, minor tears, contemporary calf, hinges repaired, illus. (£3500).

A. Parker’s Books, Dec. online cat., 48 pls. only loose in a cloth portfolio, many foxed or stained ($3000).

Scott, Poetical Works, 1782. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #33, pls. 1 and 3 only ($175).

Shakespeare, Dramatic Works, 1802. CSK, 3 June, #195, 9 vols., some spotting, contemporary calf very worn, 3 covers detached (£881).

Shakespeare, Plays, 1805. EOS Buchantiquariat Benz, April online cat., 9 vol. issue, contemporary calf ($1313). Grant’s Bookshop, April online cat., 10 vol. issue, some foxing, contemporary calf ($2280). EB, July, pl. 1 only, illus. ($150). Blackwell’s, Dec. cat. B143, #350, 10 vol. issue, contemporary Russia (£2250).

Stedman, Narrative, 1796, colored copies. Sims Reed, April online cat., 2 vols., contemporary Russia, spines “renewed” (£9500). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #34, 2 vols., contemporary Russia rebacked, pl. 16 illus. color ($19,750).

Stedman, Narrative, uncolored copies. Peter L. Stern, April online cat., 1796 ed., 2 vols., foxed, modern quarter morocco ($2000). D & E Lake, April online cat., 1796 ed., 2 vols., foxed, some pls. browned, contemporary calf worn ($4000). J. N. Bartfield, April online cat., 1806 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf rebacked ($3000). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #35, 5 unidentified pls. from the 1813 ed., “details on request” ($250). Librería de Antaño, Dec. online cat., 1813 ed., 2 vols. in 1, three-quarter calf ($2500). Krul Antiquarian, Dec. online cat., 1806 ed., 2 vols., pls. browned, full calf ($5344). 19th Century Shop, Dec. online cat., 1796 ed., 2 vols., half calf ($7000). Bolerium Books, Dec. online cat., 1796 ed., 2 vols., foxed and stained, some tears, modern buckram ($2750).

Stuart and Revett, Antiquities of Athens. Paralos Ltd., April online cat., 5 vols., 1762-1830, some spotting, contemporary Russia rebacked (£19,000). CSK, 8 May, #272, 3 vols., 1762-94, some tears, contemporary calf worn (£5640).

Virgil, Pastorals, 1821. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #36, 2 vols., full calf, illus. ($22,500).

Virgil, The Wood Engravings of William Blake for Thornton’s Virgil, 1977. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #25, original folding box, 6 cuts illus. (£2600). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #160, original folding box ($6500).

Whitaker, The Seraph. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #37, “c. 1824” but apparently Bentley’s issue “A” dated by him to c. 1818-28, vol. 2 only (containing the pl. after Blake), calf-backed boards ($325); #38, pl. only from Bentley’s issue “C” of c. 1825-28 ($125).

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Wit’s Magazine, 1784. Fireside Books, April online cat., pls. torn, some parts missing, binding shot ($200); same copy, Dec. online cat. ($150). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #39-41, pls. 4-6 only ($400 each).

Wollstonecraft, Original Stories from Real Life, 1791. Phillip Pirages, cat. for the Feb. San Francisco Book Fair, #69, sts. of the pls. not described, 19th-century calf rebacked ($5500). Burkony Books, April online cat., lacking 2 pls., later full calf (£800). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #42, incorrectly described as having “all the plates in the final state,” 2 pls. “lightly stained,” later full morocco ($3750); same copy and price, Oct. cat. 37, #278, pl. 1 (clearly in the 1st st.) illus. Jarndyce, Oct. cat. 155, #17, sts. of the pls. not described, later morocco (£3200). Dailey Rare Books, Dec. online cat., stained and soiled, modern boards ($2500). Heritage Book Shop, Dec. online cat., contemporary sheep rebacked ($5500).

Young, Night Thoughts, 1797, uncolored copies. EB/Butterfields auction, live and online, 12 Jan., pp. 79-80, 87-88 (including pls. 36, 38, 39) only, illus. ($120). BH, 11 March, #7, apparently lacking the “Explanation” leaf, no description of the binding, illus. (£3500). Heritage Book Shop, March cat. for the April New York Book Fair, #25, with the “Explanation” leaf, slight staining in some margins, later half morocco ($10,000); same copy and price, Dec. cat. 212, #28, illus. color. Brillig Books, April online cat., “fair copy,” foxed, pls. trimmed, 3 leaves torn, apparently lacking the “Explanation” leaf, contemporary calf very worn, covers detached and spine missing (£2850). Sims Reed, April online cat., no mention of the “Explanation” leaf (and thus missing?), recent half calf (£5000). Scialom Jean-Pierre, April online cat., “Explanation” leaf supplied in photocopies, half calf ($10,941). Sims Reed, July cat., #24, no mention of the “Explanation” leaf (and thus missing?), contemporary morocco, illus. color (£9000). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #43, with the “Explanation” leaf, “well-margined copy,” full morocco worn, illus. ($9750); #44, lacking the “Explanation” leaf, some pls. trimmed, full morocco ($8250).

Interesting Blakeana

J. Boehme, Works, the so-called “Law edition,” 1764-81. Heritage Book Shop, Aug. cat. of “Recent Acquisitions,” #21, 4 vols., full calf ($12,500). SL, 20 Nov., #40, 4 vols., some spotting and damp staining, modern morocco, illus. color (£4080). The ed. of Boehme known to Blake and perhaps owned by him—see his comment to Henry Crabb Robinson on the beauty of the “figures” (i.e., the illus.) in “Law’s transln.” (G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Records [Oxford: Clarendon P, 1969] 313).

Dante, A Translation of the Inferno by H. Boyd, 2 vols., 1785. EB, July, vol. 1 only, water damaged, no description of the binding, illus. color (reserve not met; highest bid £26). Blake’s annotated copy also consists of vol. 1 only; see Bentley #721.

C. H. Tatham, Etchings, Representing the Best Examples of Ancient Ornamental Architecture, 1799. Ursus Rare Books, June cat. 240, #95, contemporary Russia, illus. ($5500). “Mr. William Blake” appears in the list of subscribers; see Bentley #744.

The Monthly Magazine. Philadelphia Rare Books, Dec. online cat., vol. 12, 1801, boards very worn ($150). The April 1801 issue, p. 246, notes that Blake received £80 from Thomas Macklin for engraving Stothard’s “The Fall of Rosamond,” published in 1783.

T. Butts, Jr., “Man on a Drinking Horse,” etching/engraving signed “T Butts: sc” and dated “22 Jany 1806.” EB, March, mounted in original folder with printed caption, illus. color ($25, acquired by G. E. Bentley, Jr.). For illus. and comments on this recent discovery, see Alexander S. Gourlay, “‘Man on a Drinking Horse’: A Print by Thomas Butts, Jr.,” Blake 37.1 (summer 2003): 35-36.

W. P. Carey, Critical Description of the Procession of Chaucer’s Pilgrims to Canterbury, Painted by Thomas Stothard, 1808. Quaritch, Feb./March cat., #5, contemporary calf rebacked (£850). Contains a passing reference to Cromek’s commission for Blake’s Grave designs.

P. Wakefield, Perambulations in London, and Its Environs, 1809. Londinium Books, Dec. 2002 online cat., contemporary calf worn (£60). Contains Blake’s “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Innocence, pp. 181-82. The second letterpress printing of the poem; the first appears in Malkin, A Father’s Memoirs of His Child (1806) xxix-xxx.

L. Schiavonetti, letter of 30 January 1810 to Messrs. Cadell and Davies discussing an engraving commission and with a passing reference to “Blake’s Portrait for Mr. Cromek” (i.e., the portrait of Blake published as the frontispiece in Cromek’s 1808 ed. of Blair’s The Grave). Nick Lott, May private offer (£300).

J. Montgomery, ed., The Chimney-Sweeper’s Friend, 1824. BBA, 27 Feb., #313, some foxing, contemporary boards rebacked, worn (J. Hart, £223). James Burmester, Sept. cat. 55, #58, some foxing, newer boards (£500). Contains Blake’s “The Chimney Sweeper” from Songs of Innocence.

W. Hayley, Memoirs, 1823. Adam Mills, Oct. online “Blake List,” #5, 2 vols., half calf, with the bookplate of Raymond Lister (£300). Kitazawa Bookstore, Dec. online cat., 2 vols., modern calf spine over old boards ($381.92). Contains important contemporary references to Blake.

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J. T. Smith, Nollekens and His Times. EB, June, 1829 ed., 2 vols., heavily foxed, quarter calf worn and chipped, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $39.99). Simon Finch, Norfolk, Nov. cat. 59, #34, 1828 ed., 2 vols., some spotting, contemporary half calf (£200). Contains an important early biography of Blake; see Bentley #2723.

[J. B. Nichols, ed.], Anecdotes of William Hogarth . . . to Which is Added A Catalogue of His Prints; Account of Their Variations, and Principal Copies, 1833. Choosebooks, Dec. online cat., later half calf ($150). The entry on “Beggar’s Opera” (p. 323) is I believe the first published description of the sts. of an engraving by Blake. There is also a reference to the pl., “Engraved by Blake,” on p. 174.

S. Maunder, The Biographical Treasury, 5th ed., 1845. Adam Mills, Oct. online “Blake List,” #15, some foxing, modern cloth, with the bookplate of Raymond Lister (£110). Contains a brief entry on Blake. Bentley #2194 lists only the 1st ed. of 1838.

B. D’Israeli, autograph letter signed to Mrs. Gilchrist, 4 pp., 5 Nov. 1862. Roy Davids, Sept. online cat. (£400). According to Davids’ website, the letter informs Mrs. Gilchrist “that there are some drawings, possible [sic] a considerable number, by Blake in the collection at Hughenden, though he [D’Israeli] has not seen them for years, and his impression is that they are ‘rather his own startings, colored by himself, than strictly speaking, drawings,’ offering to allow Mr [William Michael] Rossetti the opportunity of seeing the drawings, and stating that his father [Isaac D’Israeli] was not acquainted with Blake nor is there is [sic] a single book in the library at Hughenden ‘enriched by his drawings.’” Isaac D’Israeli owned a number of Blake’s illuminated books, but is not known to have owned any drawings (see Isaac D’Israeli’s letter of 24 July 1835 to T. H. Dibdin in G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Records [Oxford: Clarendon P, 1969] 243-44). Benjamin D’Israeli may simply have been confused about the matter. For more on Isaac D’Israeli’s Blake collection, see Joseph Viscomi, “The Myth of Commissioned Illuminated Books: George Romney, Isaac D’Israeli, and ‘One Hundred and Sixty designs . . . of Blake’s,’” Blake 23.2 (fall 1989): 48-74.

A. Gilchrist, Life of Blake, 1863, extra-illus. copies only. EB, Nov., 2 vols. with 72 added pls., mostly portraits but including 26 by Blake, contemporary calf rebacked, publisher’s front covers bound in (no bids on a required minimum bid of $2900). The Blake pls. are stated to be Lavater, Physiognomy, pl. 2; Darwin, Botanic Garden, pl. 1; Hunter, Historical Journal, only pl.; Wit’s Magazine, pl. 6; Allen, History of England, all 4 pls.; Hayley, Triumphs of Temper, 4 of 6 pls.; and Salzmann, Elements of Morality, 14 of 44 pls.

W. Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Camden Hotten facsimile, 1868. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #84, light foxing, boards ($1000); #85, foxing “as usual,” original leather-backed boards ($800).

S. Palmer and G. Richmond, letters concerning Blake’s The Spiritual Form of Pitt Guiding Behemoth (Butlin #651). Palmer’s letter of 7 July 1870, 1 p., to Sir William Boxall, Director of the National Gallery (London), offering the painting for £300, accompanied by 4 letters by Richmond, also of the 1870s, total of 9 pp., proposing and supporting the acquisition by the National Gallery. Nick Lott, May private offer (£1600). The Palmer letter is not in The Letters of Samuel Palmer, ed. Raymond Lister, 2 vols. (1974). The tempera was acquired by the National Gallery in 1882 after it failed to sell at auction at CL, 20 March 1882, #108.

W. Blake, Works, the Pearson “facsimiles” (to use the term loosely), 1876. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #167, original quarter roan worn ($1250).

W. Blake, Jerusalem, Pearson facsimile, 1877. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #64, full morocco, original wrappers bound in ($1975).

J. Giles (Samuel Palmer’s cousin) and G. Richmond, Christie’s auction cats. of their collections. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #344, 4 cats., as follows: Giles, 2 Feb. 1881 (including the original copperplate of Blake’s “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims,” sold to Colnaghi for £35); Richmond, 29 April 1897, including a “Head of William Blake” by Richmond and 2 water colors by Blake; Richmond, 1 May 1897, including 2 oil paintings by Palmer; Richmond, 6 July 1897, including sets of Blake’s Job and Dante engravings ($375 the lot).

W. Blake, There is No Natural Religion, Pickering facsimile, 1886. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #156, “large-paper copy,” full morocco, original wrappers bound in ($1500).

W. Muir facsimiles of Blake’s illuminated books. John Windle, Dec. 2002 cat., #57, America, 1887, 1 of c. 12 colored copies, no copy number by Muir, modern boards, original wrappers retained ($7500—probably a record asking price for a Muir facsimile); #59, Europe, 1887, Muir’s copy #50, hand colored, original wrappers, modern cloth folder ($4500); #61, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, 1885, Muir’s copy #45, hand colored, original wrappers, bookplate of T. E. Lawrence ($2950); #62, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, 2 vols. in 1, 1884-85, Muir’s copy #47 of Innocence, no inscribed copy # for Experience, contemporary vellum ($5500). Simon Finch, May cat. 56, #30, Songs of Innocence, 1884, Muir’s copy #49, original wrappers, “The Little Boy lost” illus. color (£2000). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #48, 54, 86, 145, same titles, copies, and prices as in his Dec. 2002 cat. listed above, with the title page to Europe illus. color; #87, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, 1885, Muir’s copy #40, original wrappers ($2000); #91, Milton, 1886, Muir’s copy #25, contemporary vellum ($2500); #92, Milton, 1886, no copy number by Muir, modern cloth, original wrappers bound in ($2250); #134, Songs of Experience, begin page 128 | back to top 1927, Muir’s copy #25, original wrappers ($1500); #150, The Book of Thel, 1885, Muir’s copy #38, full morocco, original wrappers bound in ($2500); #151, The Book of Thel, 1920, 2 copies, Muir’s copies #16 and 21, original wrappers ($2250 each); #157, There is No Natural Religion, 1886, “numbered and signed by Muir” but the number not recorded in Windle’s cat., original wrappers ($1675); #164, Visions of the Daughters of Albion, 1885, 1 of 7 copies on “Antique notepaper” (according to an inserted note by Muir), no copy number but inscribed “Academy” (probably meaning a review copy for the journal of that name) on the front cover, original wrappers ($2500).

W. Blake, Works, ed. Ellis and Yeats, 1893. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #168, 3 vols., large-paper issue, some foxing, original half morocco worn ($2750); #169, 3 vols., small-paper issue, original cloth ($3750). Apparently the handsome giltstamped cloth and better condition of the small-paper copy justify a higher valuation than the large-paper copy.

W. Blake, Poems, ed. Yeats, 1893. Locus Solus Rare Books, July cat., #991, large-paper issue, original parchment over cloth, spine rubbed ($2500). Certainly a record price for this “Muses’ Library” ed.

J. Grego, Mrs. Q— and “Windsor Castle,” 1906. Jarndyce, Oct. cat. 155, #16, endpapers heavily foxed, slight foxing elsewhere, original vellum spine and blue boards stained (a bargain at £60). Contains a lithographic facsimile of Blake’s 1820 separate plate, “Mrs Q” after Villiers, which is often mistaken for an original impression (see Bentley #462 and Essick 191-200). Although printed in an ed. of 500 copies, this is the only copy I have seen on the market in over 35 years of Blake collecting.

Postage stamp bearing a portrait of Blake, issued by the Soviet Union in 1958. EB, June, block of four, cancelled, illus. color (£2.20). For illus., see Blake 35.4 (spring 2002) cover.

W. Blake, A Letter from William Blake, illus. by Leonard Baskin, Gehenna Press, 1964. Swann, 20 Nov., #123, 1 of 25 with an extra suite of the illus., publisher’s full morocco ($1200 on an estimate of $500-750).

W. Blake, Poems from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence, illus. Maurice Sendak, 1967. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #141, original wrappers ($6500). This small pamphlet is now well established as the 4th most valuable (or at least most expensive) letterpress ed. of Blake’s poetry. Positions 1 through 3 are held by the following: Blake, Poetical Sketches, 1783 (reportedly sold in recent years for over $100,000); Blake, Songs of Experience, an “Artist Book” by Joel-Peter Witkin weighing “over 14 pounds,” Platinum Series vol. 2, 2002 (listed on the internet at $19,550); Blake, Songs of Innocence, also Witkin, Platinum Series vol. 3, 2003 ($15,000).

Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Manchester Etching Workshop facsimile of copy B, 1983. 3 complete sets of the 16 plates only, hand colored on order by Jacqueline Marshall, one of the original facsimilists (£2500 each set). Flyer from Marshall, Cheshire, England, included in a late Feb. mailing by the Blake Society at St. James’s, London. Also on offer are individual impressions of 15 plates, hand colored on order and ranging in price between £75 and £300.

W. Blake, “The Ancient of Days” (the frontispiece to Europe), feline version. EB, Sept., a color print (photo-lithograph?) of “The Ancient of Days” with a white domestic cat, left paw extended and holding the dividers, substituted for the human figure, size not given, illus. color (no bids).

Blake’s Circle and Followers

Works are listed under artists’ names in the following order: 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

“The Angelic Guards,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #11, 1808 printing, illus. (£395).

“Detail of the Diagoredes Victors,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #10, 1808 printing, illus. (£375).

“Divine Justice,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #12, 1808 printing, illus. (£220).

“Elysium and Tartarus,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #9, 1808 printing, illus. (£395).

“The Glorious Sextumvirate,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #13, 1808 printing, illus. (£275).

“A Grecian Harvest Home,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #14, 1808 printing, illus. (£280).

Barry, Series of Etchings, 1808. BBA, 10 April, #234, some margins stained and with tears into the images, line engraving of Barry’s “Pandora” by Schiavonetti inserted, upper cover detached and lower cover missing, “Lear and Cordelia” illus. (£600).

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CALVERT, EDWARD

Landscape with Man Driving Cattle. Tempera on vellum, 10 × 16.5 cm. SL, 2 July, #296, illus. color (not sold; estimate £300-400).

Calvert, The Early Engravings, published by Carfax & Co. (the so-called “Carfax Portfolio” of original impressions of Calvert’s engravings and lithographs), 1904. SL, 6 Oct., #56, slight foxing, with an additional impression of “The Sheep of His Pasture” in brown ink, “The Bacchante,” Sherman after Calvert, illus. color, original wrappers (£10,200 on a ridiculously low estimate of £1000-1500).

“The Flood,” lithograph. Garton & Co., April cat. 88, #1, India paper, “printed circa 1829-30,” illus. color (£2750).

“The Lady with the Rooks,” wood engraving. BH, 31 March, #31, probably from the Memoir, slight staining, illus. (£300).

“The Sheep of His Pasture,” engraving. BH, 31 March, #32, probably from the Memoir, illus. (£250).

FLAXMAN, JOHN

Head and Shoulders of a Boy, Arms Raised. Pencil, 15.2 × 20.3 cm. Abbott and Holder, Nov. online cat. 357, #37 (£850).

Study for Pandora Brought to Epimetheus, pl. 7 in Flaxman’s Hesiod designs, engraved by Blake. Pencil, 29.5 × 40 cm. CL, 5 June, #10, illus. color (£1553); Abbott and Holder, Aug. online cat., #39, titled Pandora Presented by Mercury to Prometheus (£3000).

Study of a Lady Wearing an Elaborate Hat. Pencil, gray ink, gray wash, 14.7 × 13.9 cm., signed and dated 1798. CL, 5 June, #2, illus. color (not sold; estimate £3000-5000).

Autograph letter signed, 2 pp., to William Hayley, 28 Aug. 1786. Quaritch, June cat. 1308, #26, in part about Flaxman’s bust of John Howard (£750).

Autograph letter signed, 2 pp., addressee not indicated, 11 May 1803. Erasmushaus, May cat. 916, #58, in part about the monument to Mr. and Mrs. Marsh, illus. (1400 euros—about $1700).

Autograph letter signed, 2 pp., to Dawson Turner, 1819. Roy Davids, Sept. online cat., “praising, with a proper degree of self-denegration, an etching of Ozias Humphry’s portrait of himself executed by Turner’s wife” (£400).

Aeschylus designs, 1831. Barter Books, Oct. online cat., foxed, original(?) boards worn, cloth spine detached (£229).

Dante designs. EB, March, apparently the 1802 ed. with inscriptions in Italian, bound into a copy of Dante, Divine Comedy, trans. Boyd (1802), 3 vols., some foxing, contemporary morocco, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $750). BBA, 12 June, #259, 1807 ed., some foxing, original cloth rebacked, worn (£40). J & S Wilbraham, Aug. online cat. 41, #228, 1807 ed., light foxing, early cloth, rebacked, with cover label (£125).

Flaxman, Anatomical Studies, 1833. EB, May, many pls. stained, original cloth, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $120). Sims Reed, July cat., #94, original cloth boards rebacked (£400). The Bookcellar, Dec. online cat., original cloth ($249.95).

Flaxman, Lectures on Sculpture. Krown & Spellman, April online cat., 1829 ed., heavily foxed, contemporary calf “artlessly rebacked in cloth,” worn ($250). J. Palmer, Dec. online cat., 1838 ed., calf rebacked ($125). Pageant Books and Prints, Dec. online cat., 1838 ed., pls. foxed, “rebound” ($175).

Milton, Latin and Italian Poems, trans. Cowper, 1808. G. W. Stuart, March cat. 106, #1063, light foxing, uncut in later quarter morocco ($595); #1064, contemporary morocco rebacked ($750). John Windle, Dec. online cat., large-paper issue, inscribed by Hayley (the ed.) to Lord Sheffield, modern half calf ($675).

Odyssey designs, 1805. www.zubal.com, April online cat., some damp staining, modern cloth ($900).

FUSELI, HENRY

The Empress Agrippina, a fragment from Caractacus at the Tribunal of Claudius at Rome. Oil, 40.6 × 33 cm., datable to c. 1786. CL, 25 Nov., #39, illus. color (not sold; estimate £2500-3500).

Portrait of Marta Hess, for an Idealised Portrait in Lavater’s Physiognomy. Pencil, 11.7 × 8.5 cm. CL, 20 Nov., #2, illus. color (not sold on an estimate of £4000-6000).

Sin and Death Bridging Chaos Meet Satan on His Return from Earth. Gray washes, 30.8 × 38.2 cm., c. 1821. SL, 12 June, #120, illus. color (£18,000).

The Vision of the Deluge. Oil, 254 × 210 cm., datable to 1799. CL, 20 Feb., #216, illus. color (£100,150).

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“Evening Thou Bringest All,” lithograph. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #2, 1st st., on the original backing sheet with aquatint border, illus. (£5000).

Portrait of Fuseli, engraved by Bromley, from Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy, 1789-98. John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #27 ($200).

Portrait of Fuseli, engraved by Rogers after Harlowe, 1834. R. G. Watkins, Aug. cat. of “Engraved Portraits,” #55 (£10).

Bible, published by Macklin, 1800. BBA, 13 Feb., #44, 6 vols. in 7, some water staining, contemporary Russia worn, pl. after Fuseli illus. color (£800). CSK, 25 March, #17, 7 vols., contemporary morocco, binding illus. color (£4700).

Boothby, Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope, 1796. J & S Wilbraham, Aug. online cat. 41, #14, some foxing, original boards backed with cloth, cover label (£150).

Boydell, Collection of Prints . . . Illustrating . . . Shakspeare, 1803. CSK, 25 March, #19, vol. 2 only, some tears and folds, contemporary morocco worn (£750). SL, 10 July, #90, 2 vols. complete, “some plates proofs before letters,” some foxing, contemporary morocco worn, binding and 1 pl. illus. color (£5760). SL, 11 Dec., #98, 2 vols. complete, “including proof duplicates,” later morocco, binding illus. color (£9600); #99, 2 vols. complete, contemporary Russia rebacked and repaired, 1 pl. after Fuseli illus. color (£2880).

Cowper, Poems, 1811. EB, Feb., 2 vols., contemporary calf, illus. color ($129.50).

Darwin, Botanic Garden, 1791. EB, June, frontispiece to vol. 1 only, “Flora Attired by the Elements,” Smith after Fuseli, framed, illus. color (£58).

Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, trans. Pope, 1805-06. EB, July, large-paper issue, 12 vols. in 6, pls. foxed, later quarter calf, illus. color ($412.99).

Lavater, Aphorisms. J & S Wilbraham, March online cat., Dublin 1790 ed., frontispiece by Maguire after Fuseli, stains in margins, contemporary calf worn (£63). Michael Brown, April online cat., Dublin 1790 ed., foxed, 2 signatures bound out of order, contemporary calf worn ($75). Minnesota Bookman, April online cat., Boston 1790 ed., contemporary calf worn, front cover detached ($150). Cobnar Books, April online cat., New York 1790 ed., contemporary sheep worn (£145). James Fenning, April online cat., Dublin 1790 ed., contemporary calf worn (£145). David Lesser, April online cat., Boston 1790 ed., calf rebacked ($275). Hoffman’s Bookshop, Dec. online cat., Worcester 1787 ed., foxed, “binding shot” ($200).

Milton, Paradise Lost. G. W. Stuart, March cat. 106, #1101, 1802 Du Roveray ed., 2 vols., apparently the small-paper issue, contemporary calf worn ($950); #1103, 1808 ed., contemporary calf very worn ($385). EB, Dec., 1802 Du Roveray ed., 2 vols., large-paper issue, some foxing, contemporary calf, illus. color (£205).

Park, ed., Works of the British Poets, 1805-09. EB, Dec. 2002, an incomplete set of 39 vols. but including both Milton vols. with the 2 pls. after Fuseli and other vols. with at least 3 of the pls. after Stothard, contemporary calf very worn, several spines missing, illus. color ($183.30).

Shakespeare, The Plays, published by Stockdale, 1807. EB, Dec. 2002, Macbeth, full-page pl. only, Heath after Fuseli, full margins, illus. ($19.95).

Shakespeare, Seventeen Engravings to Illustrate Shakspeare, published by Woodmason, 1817. EB, Dec. 2002, Macbeth only, Bromley after Fuseli, full margins, slight staining, illus. ($52).

Young, Catalogue of the Celebrated Collection of Pictures of . . . Angerstein, 1823. Sotheran’s, Nov. cat. 47, #88, large-paper issue, half morocco (£225).

LINNELL, JOHN

An Apple Tree. Water color, 14.6 × 10.2 cm., signed with initials and dated 1811. Acquired 2002 by The British Museum, Dept. of Prints and Drawings, either at, or shortly after, the sale of this early work at CL, 6 June 2002, #54, illus. color (£21,510).

The Children of Gen. John Smith with a Pony. Oil, 39 × 48.5 cm., signed and dated 1829. Derek Johns Limited, June cat., not numbered, illus. color (price on request).

At Cullercoats, Northumberland. Oil sketch, 19.1 × 24.8 cm., datable to 1817. CL, 5 June, #72, illus. color (not sold; estimate £4000-6000).

Dolwyddelan Valley, North Wales. Water color, 19.1 × 24.8 cm., signed and dated 1813. CL, 5 June, #76, illus. color (£2868).

Extensive Landscape in North Wales. Water color, 24.7 × 37.4 cm., signed and dated 1813. CL, 5 June, #75, illus. color (£6572).

Forest. Oil, 29 × 48 cm. SL, 29 Jan., #28, illus. color (not sold; estimate £4000-6000).

A Hillside. Black chalk and wash, 38 × 51 cm. SL, 2 July, #225, illus. color (£744).

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Portraits of Robert and Jane Ogle, Aged Five and Three. Oils, each 21.5 × 16 cm., both signed, one dated 1822. SL, 12 June, #81, both illus. color (£9600).

Resting Woodcutters, Bray Wood, Windsor. Water color, 16.5 × 27 cm., signed and dated 1827. CL, 5 June, #78, illus. color (£10,755). Previously sold SL, 8 April 1998, #55 (£14,950 to the dealer Spink-Leger, which offered the work in its Oct. 1998 cat. of “British Watercolours and Drawings” for £30,000). For illus., see Blake 32.4 (spring 1999): 110.

The Return of Ulysses. Oil, 124.5 × 185.5 cm., signed and dated 1848. CL, 19 Feb., #4, illus. color (£171,650). Possibly an auction record for a work by Linnell.

Rooks Hill, Kent. Water color, 29.2 × 34.9 cm., signed and dated 1828. CL, 5 June, #92, illus. color (£13,145 on an estimate of £4000-6000).

Shepherd’s Amusement. Oil, 67.9 × 90.2 cm., signed and dated 1816, retouched by Linnell in 1836. CL, 25 Nov., #144, illus. color (not sold; estimate £8000-12,000).

Sunset. Oil, 71.2 × 102.8 cm., signed and dated 1860. CL, 25 Nov., #124, illus. color (not sold; estimate £15,000-20,000).

Twilight. Oil, 36.8 × 29.2 cm., datable to c. 1819. Capes Dunn auction, Manchester, 29 July, #20, illus. color (a bargain at £2800).

Woodcutters, Bray Wood, Windsor. Pencil heightened with white on blue paper, 14.6 × 18.4 cm., signed with initials. CL, 5 June, #79, illus. color (£1195).

3 autograph letters signed, each 1 p., 1 to Richard Redgrave and 2 to unnamed correspondents, 1834, 1858, 1865. Roy Davids, Sept. online cat. (£150, £85, £150).

“Herne’s Oak, Windsor Forest,” etching, Prior after Linnell, c. 1850s? EB, Oct., illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £9.99).

MORTIMER, JOHN HAMILTON

Falstaff. Pen and ink, oval, 34.5 × 28.4 cm. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #3, apparently the direct preliminary (and not a copy by another hand) for the etching, illus. (£5400).

“Banditti Gambling,” engraving, Hall after Mortimer. Justin Skrebowski[e] Prints, March online cat., illus. (£220).

“Banditti Regaling,” etching, Ireland after Mortimer. EB, March, printed in brown ink, illus. color ($49.95).

“Banditti: Three Heads,” etching, Haynes after Mortimer. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #7, illus. (£165).

“Boat in a Storm,” etching, Blyth after Mortimer. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #6, illus. (£220).

“A Captain of Banditti and His Family,” etching, Ireland after Mortimer. BBA, 25 Sept., #89, with 3 pls. by Blyth after Mortimer (Michael Finney, £48).

“Captive Family,” etching, Blyth after Mortimer. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #5, illus. (£240).

“Cassandra,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #4, 1812 printing, illus. (£220).

“Gerard Lairesse,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #8, early impression, illus. (£420).

“King John Ratifying the Magna Carta,” etching, Ryland after Mortimer, 1799. Michael Finney, May online cat., color printed, marginal foxing (£500).

“Richard II,” etching. BBA, 25 Sept., #90, illus. (not sold).

Bell’s British Theatre, 1777. EB, March, 2 pls. only, “Tragedies” and “Operas,” offered individually, both Hall after Mortimer, margins stained, illus. color (no bids on either).

PALMER, SAMUEL

The Broken Bridge. Water color, 39.7 × 49.8 cm., datable to the second half of the 1840s. CL, 20 Nov., #59, illus. color (£31,070).

Evening: A Cottager Returning Home Greeted by His Children. Water color, 19 × 41 cm., c. 1848. SL, 12 June, #147, illus. color (£24,000).

The Golden Valley. Water color with body color, pen and black ink, gold, and scratching out, 13 × 16.2 cm., datable to c. 1833-34. CL, 11 June, #5, illus. color, accompanied by essays by Andrew Wilton and Colin Harrison and a list of the 17 “Shoreham Period Works on Paper in Private Collections” (£587,650 on an estimate of £500,000-800,000 to the New York collector Leon Black). See illus. 5.

Head of Christ, traditionally attributed to Palmer as in part a self-portrait. Oil, 34.8 × 23.5 cm. CL, 20 Feb., #219, illus. color (not sold; estimate £20,000-30,000). Perhaps the painting failed to sell because of uncertainties about its attribution to Palmer.

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5. Samuel Palmer, The Golden Valley.   Water color with body color, pen and black ink, gold, and scratching out, 13 × 16.2 cm., datable to c. 1833-34. Collection of Leon Black, New York. Arguably the finest Shoreham-period water color still in private hands, The Golden Valley can be grouped with 2 other fine works of about the same date, The Weald of Kent and The Timber Waggon, both in the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut. Photo courtesy of Christie’s London.

Landscape with Windmill. Water color, 12 × 16.5 cm., datable to c. 1851. Lowell Libson, London, Nov.-Dec. exhibition of water colors and drawings (price on request). Previously sold CL, 21 Nov. 2002, #31, under the title A Windmill near Pulborough, West Sussex, illus. color (£6572).

28 autograph letters signed, none published, Feb. 1857 to Aug. 1880, to members of the Redgrave family. Roy Davids, Nov. online cat. (£24,000). Apparently there are no references to Blake in these or any of the other Palmer letters listed below.

4 autograph letters signed, 2-4 pp. each, to Mrs. George, an unnamed correspondent, Leonard Valpy, and Ernest Gambart, 1872, undated (possibly c. 1865), 1866, and undated (possibly c. 1854). Roy Davids, Sept. online cat. (£1650, £750, £2000, £450).

Autograph letter signed, 4 pp., to George Richmond, 8 Jan. 1881. Quaritch, June cat. 1308, #66, on the death of Richmond’s wife (£600).

Letter by Palmer. See S. Palmer and G. Richmond under “Interesting Blakeana,” above.

“Bellman,” etching. Garton & Co., April cat. 88, #2, 6th st., 1879 printing, illus. color (£8500). EB, July, st. not indicated, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $249.99).

“Cypress Grove,” etching. CSK, 30 Oct., #25, with “The Sepulchre,” both 2nd st. (£352).

“Early Ploughman,” etching. EB, Jan., 8th st.?, illus. color ($449.99). SL, 25 March, #57, 6th st., pencil signature, slight begin page 133 | back to top foxing, illus. color (£1200). Swann, 18 Sept., #472, 5th st., illus. ($518). CSK, 30 Oct., #24, 7th st., pencil signature (£2585).

“Herdsman’s Cottage,” etching. SL, 25 March, #59, with “The Vine” and “The Sleeping Shepherd,” all final sts., slight foxing, “Herdsman’s Cottage” illus. color (£2040). Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #28, 2nd st., illus. (£750).

“Lonely Tower,” etching. SL, 25 March, #55, 6th st., some damage in margins, illus. color (not sold; estimate £1000-1200); #58, 6th st., pencil signature, upper corners replaced, illus. color (£3840). EB, July, st. not indicated, pencil signature, evenly stained brown, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $5000).

“Moeris and Galatea,” etching. CSK, 30 Oct., #26, with “Homeward Star,” both 2nd st. (£352).

“Morning of Life,” etching. EB, July-Aug., st. not indicated, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $249.99). Abbott and Holder, Oct. online cat. 356, #286, 7th st. (£950).

“Opening the Fold,” etching. BH, Chester, 15 April, #816, 10th st., 1926 printing (£240).

“Portrait of Samuel Palmer,” etching by C. W. Cope, 1884. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #32, illus. (£1500).

“Rising Moon,” etching. SL, 25 March, #53, 7th st., with “The Weary Ploughman” and “The Morning of Life,” both final sts., slight foxing, “Rising Moon” illus. color (£1200). Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #33, 7th st., illus. (£1250).

“Skylark,” etching. SL, 25 March, #60, 5th st., slight foxing, illus. color (£3000). Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #26, 7th st., illus. (£1450). EB, July, st. not indicated, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $99.99).

“Sleeping Shepherd,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #34, 4th st., illus. (£2000).

“Weary Ploughman,” etching. SL, 25 March, #54, 5th st., pencil signature, slight foxing, illus. color (£960).

Dickens, Pictures from Italy, 1846. EB, Dec. 2002, 1st ed., original cloth, illus. color ($482.87—probably an auction record). Adam Mills, March online cat., 1st ed., original cloth (£450); 2nd ed., original cloth (£400). EB, June, 2nd ed., later calf, illus. color (£42). Joseph Falcone, Nov. cat. 91, #168, 1st ed., original cloth slightly worn, full calf solander case ($1000).

Hamerton, Etching & Etchers. Swann, 6 Nov., #401, 1868 ed. with Palmer’s “Early Ploughman” etching, quarter morocco, illus. ($1500); #402, 1880 ed. with Palmer’s “Herdsman’s Cottage” etching, half calf ($1100).

Milton, Shorter Poems, 1889. Adam Mills, March online cat., small-paper issue, original cloth slightly worn (£200). EB, June, large-paper issue, foxed, original vellum stained, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $295). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #393, large-paper issue, original vellum slightly soiled ($1750).

A. H. Palmer, Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer, 1892. Adam Mills, March online cat., with Palmer’s etching of “The Willow,” large-paper issue, original cloth (£450). John Windle, Sept. cat. 36, #391, large-paper issue, original cloth ($975); #392, small-paper issue, original cloth ($550).

S. Palmer, English Version of the Eclogues of Virgil, 1883. SL, 25 March, #56, pls. only, minor stains in margins, “Opening the Fold” illus. color (not sold; estimate £1800-2200). Sims Reed, July cat., #193, large-paper copy, original vellum slightly worn, illus. color (£1250); #194, small-paper copy, original cloth slightly worn (£950).

Songs and Ballads of Shakespeare Illustrated by the Etching Club, “1843” (actually 1853). BBA, 12 Dec. 2002, #256, full morocco, including Palmer’s “The Vine or Plumpy Bacchus,” 4th st., illus. (£240). Campbell Fine Art, March cat. 10, #31, large-paper issue, no description of the binding, “The Vine or Plumpy Bacchus” illus. (£1200).

RICHMOND, GEORGE

Figures in a Landscape, perhaps Susanna and the Elders. Pen and brown ink over pencil, 22.7 × 17.5 cm. Agnew’s, 130th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours & Drawings, 5-28 March, #62, illus. color (£12,000).

Post Mortem Likeness of Our Beloved Mother. Pencil, 20.3 × 28 cm., dated 1836. Abbott and Holder, Jan. cat. 351, #75 (£425).

A Shepherd Waking. Medium not described, but apparently pencil, 14.3 × 20.5 cm. Agnew’s, 130th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours & Drawings, 5-28 March, #63, illus. color (£3500).

Study of a Figure in Contemplation. Brown ink, 23.5 × 15.2 cm. CL, 5 June, #24, illus. color (not sold; estimate £1500-2000).

Study of Figures in Classical Robes. Brown ink, 18.5 × 23.5 cm. CL, 20 Nov., #32, illus. color (not sold on an estimate of £800-1200).

Study of Trees. Black and white chalk on brown paper, 55.3 × 32.4 cm. CL, 5 June, #77, illus. color (not sold; estimate £2000-3000).

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16 autograph letters, all but 1 signed, c. 37 pp. in all, c. 1859-88. Roy Davids, Sept. online cat. (£450).

Autograph letter signed, 1 p., to Samuel Palmer, not dated. Roy Davids, Sept. online cat., an invitation to visit (£150).

Autograph letter signed, 3 pp., to William Boxall, not dated. Roy Davids, Sept. online cat. (£145).

Letters by Richmond. See S. Palmer and G. Richmond under “Interesting Blakeana,” above.

ROMNEY, GEORGE

The Fall of the Rebel Angels. Pencil, 13.5 × 16.5 cm. SL, 19 March, #127, illus. color (not sold; estimate £2500-3500).

A Mother Holding Her Child. Pencil, pen, brown wash, 24.7 × 16.5 cm. CL, 22 Jan., #11, illus. color (£26,290).

Serena Reading (based on Hayley’s The Triumphs of Temper). Pencil, 33.7 × 26 cm., slight figure studies on verso. Agnew’s, 130th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours & Drawings, 5-28 March, #16, illus. color (£15,000).

Studies of a Woman Dancing. Pen and brown ink, 19 × 15.5 cm. SL, 12 June, #118, illus. color (£2160).

Study for Howard Visiting the Prisons. Pencil, 16 × 19.5 cm. Swann, 23 Jan., #393, illus. ($920).

Study of Lady Macbeth. Pencil, 15.3 × 11.1 cm. Agnew’s, 130th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours & Drawings, 5-28 March, #15, illus. color (£2250).

Study of a Lady Sewing. Pencil, 17.2 × 11.5 cm. Agnew’s, 130th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours & Drawings, 5-28 March, #14, illus. color (£2250).

Study of a Standing Woman. Pen, brown washes, pencil, 30.5 × 26 cm. SL, 27 Nov., #233, illus. color (not sold; estimate £4000-6000).

Milton, Poems, Boydell ed., 1795-97. EB, Feb., “Milton and His Two Daughters” only, stipple and aquatint by B. Smith after Romney, illus. color ($51).

STOTHARD, THOMAS

Designs for the Outer Compartments of the Wellington Shield: Ten Drawings. 3 in pen and brown ink and oils on paper, varnished; 7 in brush and brown ink and brown wash over pencil. Each approx. 16.5 × 25.5 cm. EB/Sotheby’s live auction, 21 Oct., illus. color ($95,000 on an estimate of $30,000-40,000). I suspect that the high price had more to do with Wellington than Stothard.

Mother with Her Sleeping Baby. Water color, 12.7 × 12.7 cm. Abbott and Holder, Aug. online cat., #95 (£450).

Sylvia and the Outlaws: A Scene from Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona. Oil, 69.9 × 52.4 cm., with indistinct signature. CL, 20 Feb., #68, illus. color (£10,755).

“Catherine of France Presented to Henry V,” engraved by Cardon after Stothard, 1799. Michael Finney, May online cat., color printed (£480).

“Pilgrimage to Canterbury,” engraved by Schiavonetti and Heath after Stothard, 1817. EB, March, framed, perhaps stained, illus. color (reserve not met; highest bid £387).

Portrait of Stothard, engraved by Meyer after Jackson, 1815. EB, Jan., illus. (£1.50). K Books, May online cat. (£60). R. G. Watkins, Aug. cat. of “Engraved Portraits,” #146, marginal foxing (£15).

Aesop, Fables, 1793. Tavistock Books, 31 May-1 June Pasadena Book Fair, 2 vols., original boards uncut, new spine labels ($850). The finest copy I have ever seen.

Bijou, 1829. J & S Wilbraham, Aug. online cat. 41, #249, contemporary cloth (£20).

Book of Common Prayer, n.d. (c. 1811?). EB, June, with the 1794 pls. after Stothard (inserted?), some pls. foxed, contemporary calf very worn, illus. color (£16).

Bray, Life of Stothard, 1851, extra-illus. copies only. EB, June, 88 pls. added, not further identified, 19th-century morocco, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $275).

Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress portfolio of large pls., English/French ed. EB, June, “The Affright” only, Zancon after Stothard, stain lower right margin, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $25).

Burns, Poetical Works, 1817. EB, May, contemporary calf, illus. color ($72.50). With a title-page vignette after Stothard, not previously recorded.

Catullus, Tibullus et Propertius, Pickering ed., 1824. Grant & Shaw, Feb. cat. 58, #34, contemporary half calf rebacked (£50).

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Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, Pickering ed., 1822. BBA, 11 Sept., #281, 5 vols., browning and spotting, contemporary half calf very worn (Piers Rodgers, £188). This ed. contains Worthington’s small engraving of Stothard’s “Canterbury Pilgrimage.”

Cromek, ed., Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, 1810. Blackwell’s, Dec. cat. B143, #78, foxed, modern half calf (£150).

Defoe, Robinson Crusoe. Chapter and Verse Booksellers, May online cat., 1790 ed., 2 vols., some foxing and marginal tears, half calf (£275); 1820 ed., 2 vols., full morocco (£975). Harrington Rare Books, May online cat., 1820 ed., 2 vols., “plates in two states,” slight foxing, full morocco rubbed (£950). Stella and Rose’s Books, May online cat., 1790 ed., 2 vols., calf worn (£450). EB, Sept., 1790 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf rebacked, illus. color ($695). Marlborough Rare Books, Sept. cat. 197, #147, 1820 ed., the 22 pls. only, Heath after Stothard, proofs before titles on laid India, slight foxing, contemporary half morocco (£450). EB, Sept., 1804 ed., 2 vols., later quarter morocco, illus. color ($600). BBA, 27 Nov., #65, 1820 ed., 2 vols., contemporary morocco worn, covers detached (not sold; estimate £80-120).

Fenelon, Telemachus, 1795. EB, Dec., calf rebacked, illus. color (not sold).

Franklin, Works, 1809. EB, Feb., some staining, half morocco over very worn boards, illus. color ($50). EB, Feb.-March, contemporary calf worn, illus. color ($66).

Gessner, Works, 1802. John Price, Jan. cat., #108, 3 vols., modern half calf (£125). EB, April, 3 vols., contemporary morocco, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $180).

Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield. EB, April, 1801 ed., bound with 2 unrelated works, quarter calf, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $95). EB, Oct., 1819 ed. published by Bumpus, “engraved title and frontispiece by Stothard,” foxed, contemporary boards very worn, part of spine missing, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £4.99). The title-page vignette in this 1819 ed., Heath after Stothard, was first published by Suttaby, in his “Miniature Library,” in 1808. The frontispiece, however, is a completely different design. I could not tell from the EB illus. if the signature on the frontispiece is indeed Stothard’s.

Hayley, Triumphs of Temper, 1788. Sam Gatteno Books, April online cat., contemporary calf worn ($125).

Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, trans. Pope, 1805-06. See under Fuseli, above.

Josephus, Works, c. 1785-86? EB, July, 1 pl. only, “Pharaoh and His Host of Egyptians Drowned in the Red Sea,” Morris after Stothard, illus. color ($12).

Metastasio, Dramas and Other Poems, 1800. EB, Feb., 3 vols., contemporary quarter calf very worn, 2 spines missing, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $100).

Milton, Comus, 1799. EB, Dec. 2002, contemporary calf very worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £30).

Milton, Paradise Lost, suite of pls. engraved by Bartolozzi, c. 1792-95. EB, Jan., “Adam and Eve in Paradise” only, illus. color ($52).

Novelist’s Magazine. Glover’s Bookery, April online cat., vols. 1-4 only, 1780, no mention of pls., calf worn ($203 each). Kitrenwick Books, April online cat., vol. 2 only, 1787, disbound (£30). Books Junk Etc., April online cat., vol. 2 only, 1780, heavily foxed, calf very worn ($80). Goldsworth Books, April online cat., vol. 17 only, 1785, no mention of pls., calf worn (£70). Sanctuary Bookshop, April online cat., vol. 4 only, no mention of pls., binding very worn, some gatherings loose (£10). J & S Wilbraham, Aug. online cat. 41, vols. as follows, all in contemporary quarter calf: #49, vol. 4, 1781 (£28); #50, vol. 2, 1780 (£35); #51, vol. 1, 1781 (£30); #52, vol. 7, 1782 (£35). EB, Nov., vol. 4 only, 1781, quarter calf, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $499.95). EB, Dec., Fielding’s Jonathan Wild only, 1788, modern boards, illus. color (not sold). See also under “Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake,” above.

Park, ed., Works of the British Poets, 1805-09. See under Fuseli, above.

Robertson, History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V, 1798 (pls. dated 1799). David Mason Books, July online cat., 4 vols., contemporary calf ($250). Apparently A. C. Coxhead saw only the pls., and thus dates the work to 1799 (Thomas Stothard, R. A. [London: Bullen, 1906] 195; same dating in Shelley M. Bennett, Thomas Stothard [Columbia: U of Missouri P, 1988] 75). Coxhead titles each of the 12 pls. according to the inscriptions beneath the designs—with one exception: “A group of armed men.” He may have seen only an impression with the inscriptions trimmed off. This pl. is very probably “The Elector of Saxony a Prisoner before Charles V at the Battle of Mulhausen” (vol. 3, facing p. 365), not otherwise listed by Coxhead.

Rogers, Pleasures of Memory. EB, Jan., 1793 ed., with 2 pls. after Stothard, quarter calf, illus. color ($13.50). EB, April, begin page 136 | back to top 1794 ed., contemporary morocco, illus. color ($89). EB, May, 1794 ed., contemporary morocco, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $49). EB, Nov., 1806 ed., contemporary calf, illus. color ($28).

Rogers, Poems. EB, Feb., 1851 ed., no description of the binding, illus. color ($16). EB, Feb., 1854 ed., some foxing, full morocco worn, illus. color (£4.25). BBA, 11 Sept., #291, with Rogers, Italy, both 1838 large-paper issues, some spotting, contemporary morocco worn (Piers Rodgers, £129). Swann, 16 Oct., #201, 1830 ed., with Rogers, Italy, 1834, 2 vols. in later full morocco (not sold; estimate $250-350); #234A, same 2 eds., later full morocco (not sold; estimate $400-600).

Scott, Rokeby, 1813. Londonline Books, May online cat., “1815” (actually 1813?), foxed, calf very worn, spine missing and covers loose (£35). EB, Aug., foxed and browned, contemporary calf worn, illus. color (£14.99).

Shakespeare, The Plays, published by Stockdale, 1807. EB, Dec. 2002, the following pls., Heath after Stothard, full margins, illus. color, offered individually: Comedy of Errors, title pl. ($19.95); Comedy of Errors, full-page pl.; King John, fullpage pl. (no bids on these last 2 on a required minimum bid of $19.95 each).

Shakespeare, The Plays, published by Pickering, 1825. EB, May-June, 8 vols. only (lacking vol. 4), full calf, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $500).

Somerville, The Chase, 1800. Claude Cox, March cat. 154, #40, uncut in cloth-backed boards (£45).

Spectator, in The British Classics, pub. Sharpe, 1803. EB, Dec., vol. 1 of Spectator (vol. 5 of British Classics) only, scattered foxing, contemporary calf, illus. color ($24.99).

Thomson, The Seasons. EB, March, 1794 ed., 2 vols., later quarter calf worn, illus. color ($26). EB, May, 1793 ed., contemporary calf worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $275). Claude Cox, May cat. 155, #228, 1793 ed., contemporary calf slightly worn (£110).

Thomson, Works, 1802. EB, Feb.-March, with at least 1 pl. after Stothard, 3 vols., some foxing, contemporary calf worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $89.50). This ed. not previously recorded as having pls. after Stothard.

Young, Night Thoughts, 1824. EB, Feb., badly stained and spotted, contemporary calf very worn, illus. color ($9.99).

Appendix: New Information on Blake’s Engravings

Listed below are substantive additions or corrections to Roger R. Easson and Robert N. Essick, William Blake: Book Illustrator, vol. 1, Plates Designed and Engraved by Blake (1972); Essick, The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue (1983); and Essick, William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations (1991). Abbreviations and citation styles follow the respective volumes, with the addition of “Butlin” according to the List of Abbreviations at the beginning of this sales review. Newly discovered impressions of previously recorded published states of Blake’s engravings are listed for only the rarer separate plates.

The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue

“Venus dissuades Adonis from Hunting,” Blake after Cosway, p. 145. For the only 1st st. impression known to me complete with the 1787 imprint, see under “Separate Plates and Plates in Series,” above.

“James Upton,” Blake and John Linnell after Linnell, pp. 186-88. An impression in the 3rd state is reproduced in Seymour J. Price, Upton: The Story of One Hundred and Fifty Years (London: Carey P, 1935) facing p. 28. The inscriptions are not reproduced and no mention is made of Linnell, Blake, or the owner of this rare print.

“The Morning Amusements of her Royal Highness [and] A Lady in the full Dress,” pp. 239-41. A previously unrecorded impression of the left image only, “A Lady in the full Dress, & another in the most fashionable Undress now worn,” 2nd st., is now in the Essick collection—see The Ladies New and Polite Pocket Memorandum-Book under “Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake,” above, and illus 4.

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