ARTICLE
Blake in the Marketplace, 2004
Once again, the marketplace offered a sufficient supply of important Blake materials to rescue this report from triviality. The blockbuster event of 2004 was the sale of the 1795 large color print (or “color-printed drawing”), The Good and Evil Angels Struggling for Possession of a Child, from the Betsey Cushing Whitney estate on 5 May at Sotheby’s New York (illus. 2). Mrs. Whitney died in March 1998; her copy of The Book of Urizen (copy E) was sold at Sotheby’s New York for $2,532,500—then a record price for any work by Blake—on 23 April 1999.1↤ 1. For information about copy E and illus., see Blake 33.4 (spring 2000): cover and 100-02, 105, 128-34, 141-43 The Good and Evil Angels is arguably the most important single pictorial work by Blake remaining in private hands, and 1 of only 3 of the large color prints still in private ownership.2↤ 2. The others are Lamech and His Two Wives (Butlin #298, collection of Robert N. Essick) and Naomi Entreating Ruth and Orpah to Return to the Land of Moab (Butlin #300, Keynes Family Trust). The latter is on deposit in, and destined for eventual ownership by, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Except for God Judging Adam, probably a relief etching, all the color prints appear to have been printed planographically from an unetched matrix, either metal or millboard. Its sale was a much-anticipated event among Blake scholars, dealers, and collectors.
Blake’s color print was one of the works of art left by Mrs. Whitney to the Greentree Foundation, which she founded in 1982. The foundation was selling many of these objects, including Picasso’s Boy with a Pipe of 1905 and works by Manet, Degas, Monet, and Braque, to maintain Mrs. Whitney’s Long Island home as an international conference center and fund its educational programs. Thus, the auction situated Blake in a context in which his work had not previously been placed, accompanied by some of the most familiar names in 19th- and early 20th-century European art. Sotheby’s was clearly hoping that Blake as a pictorial artist, rather than a poet or maker of unusual books, would find a new audience at the upper reaches of the art market. Estimated at $1-1.5 million, The Good and Evil Angels was small potatoes compared to the Picasso, estimated at over $70 million.
In addition to the general sale catalogue, Sotheby’s published a separate, illustrated pamphlet for the Blake lot alone. This contained a scholarly essay, not published in the general sale catalogue, by David Bindman on the large color prints. The auction began shortly after its scheduled time of 7pm to an audience of bidders and spectators of about 1200. The color print was the 5th lot out of only 34, immediately preceded by an oil painting by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot that fetched a disappointing $904,000 (inclusive of the buyer’s premium charged by Sotheby’s) on the same estimate granted the Blake. Bidding on the color print started at a modest $600,000 and quickly ran up to $800,000. After a brief pause, more bidders entered the fray and pushed the print past the estimate range. There were still 4 bidders—2 in the room, 2 on the telephones—at the $3 million mark. The Good and Evil Angels fell to one of the telephone bidders at a hammer price (the actual bid) of $3.5 million, making a total of $3,928,000 inclusive of the buyer’s premium. This figure set a new record for any work by Blake, and I believe a record for any single print by any artist. For the first time, the Blake record is held by one of his completely pictorial works rather than an illuminated book. I have not yet been able to discover the purchaser. At first I suspected that it was the American wife and husband who, over the last 2 decades, have formed the finest collection of Blake’s illuminated books in private hands. Sotheby’s tells me, however, that the purchaser was a European art collector not previously associated with Blake. The Picasso fetched $104,168,000 (inclusive of buyer’s premium) to establish a new record price for any work of art at auction.
When Sotheby’s was gathering materials for the Whitney sale of 1999, the book and print departments made a thorough search for Visions of the Daughters of Albion copy N, last recorded in the Whitney family in 1953.3↤ 3. Geoffrey Keynes, A Bibliography of William Blake (New York: Grolier Club, 1921) 132, states that copy N (which he then designated as copy L) is “now in the possession of Mrs. H. H. Whitney [possibly Helen Hay Whitney].” Keynes and Edwin Wolf 2nd, William Blake’s Illuminated Books: A Census (New York: Grolier Club, 1953) 32, states that copy N was “later in the possession of Mrs Harry Payne Whitney, of New York, and presumably now the property of her heirs.” Bentley 476 repeats this information from Keynes and Wolf and in footnote 2 comments that “inquiries among all the surviving heirs named in her [Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney’s] will have been unsuccessful.” The volume was not found by Sotheby’s, but it has now turned up at Swann Galleries, the New York auction company. In August, a man (who remains to me unidentified) brought a copy of Visions to Christine von der Linn of Swann’s book department. Its bibliographic characteristics, including the Ruse & Turners 1815 watermark, identified it as copy N. According to von der Linn, the possessor (and apparent owner) of the book told her that he had acquired it from an antiques dealer who was selling the contents of a private collection unrelated to the Whitney family. This immediately raised some suspicions about the book’s post-1953 whereabouts. Fortunately, Nancy Bialler of Sotheby’s was able to contact members of the Whitney family about this matter Swann had hoped to offer the volume at an April 2005 auction, but by October 2004 it was tied up in a legal dispute over its ownership. The issue remains unresolved as of January 2005.
Bonhams, the London auction house, offered 47 lots of Blake or Blake-related materials, all from a private British collection, on 24 February. The sale included 18 letterpress books begin page 125 | ↑ back to top containing engravings by or after Blake, plus a set of the Job engravings; details may be found in the listings below. All lots sold at moderate prices, generally within the estimate range, perhaps in part because many of the bindings were either not contemporary or not in good condition. Several of the better works were acquired for stock by John Windle, the San Francisco book dealer who specializes in Blake and his circle.
George Goyder (1908-97) is well known to Blake scholars through his association with the William Blake Trust and his collection of important pictorial works by Blake. Two tempera paintings from Goyder’s estate, The Flight into Egypt (Butlin #404) and Christ the Mediator (Butlin #429) are on long-term loan to the Tate Collection (formerly Tate Britain, formerly Tate Gallery). Three works on loan to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, were withdrawn by the Goyder family in Feb. 2004: The Christ Child Asleep on a Cross (tempera, Butlin #410), The Fail of Fair Rosamund (pencil sketch, illus. 1), and “The Man Sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour” (white-line metal cut). The Fall of Fair Rosamund was offered at Christie’s London on 3 June. Given the aggressive estimate of £40,000-60,000, it is not surprising that the drawing did not sell; indeed, there did not appear to be any actual bids in the room. In early July, I acquired the drawing by private treaty at substantially less than the low estimate. Other works from the Goyder collection in this auction included 3 by Samuel Palmer—see illus. 12 and the listings under Palmer below. Goyder’s impression of “The Man Sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour” was sold at a Christie’s auction on 30 June. The Christ Child Asleep on a Cross presumably remains with the Goyder family.
In Blake 34.4 (spring 2001): 138-39, G. E. Bentley, Jr., announced the discovery that a plate by Blake after Stothard, previously known only in separate impressions, was published as the frontispiece to vol. 1 of [Elizabeth Blower], Maria: A Novel (1785). Thus it was with some delight that I opened Bloomsbury Book Auctions’ 17 June catalogue and found, as lot 191, a copy of Blower’s rare work. A week later, I learned from Steven Weisman of Ximenes Rare Books that the plate was not present. There was no clear evidence, such as a stub, that the frontispiece was ever in this copy, bound in contemporary calf. Bentley reports that the copy in the British Library also lacks the plate; perhaps the book was published both with and without the illustration.
Scholars have long held the opinion that Henry Fuseli designed the illustrations, signed by Blake as the engraver, in two books by Charles Allen published in 1798, A New and Improved History of England and A New and Improved Roman History. We now have additional evidence for this attribution in the form of a pen and ink drawing sold by Christie’s London on 6 July. Cardinal Pandulph Granting King John Absolution (illus. 9-10), engraved by Blake as the 2nd plate in Allen’s History of England (illus. 11), bears all the hallmarks of a work by Fuseli, including the characteristic left-hand hatching strokes.4↤ 4. Conventional, right-hand hatching rises on a diagonal from left to right. Left-hand hatching rises from right to left. Further, the drawing is the “to size” preliminary used by Blake to calk and counterproof the drawing onto his copperplate—see the captions to illus. 9-11 for further explanation. This is hardly one of Fuseli’s masterpieces as a draftsman, but it offers fascinating insights into Blake’s activities as a reproductive engraver. The only other calked preliminary drawings for Blake’s etchings or engravings known to me are his own designs for Mary Wollstonecraft’s Original Stories from Real Life (1791).
The internet continues to transform the buying and selling of antiquarian books, as the number of “EB” and “online” offerings listed below demonstrates. I have not repeated online items previously listed in my 2002 and 2003 sales reviews, even if still available according to the dealers’ web sites.
The year of all sales and catalogues in the following lists is 2004 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 2004 sales will be covered in the 2005 review. For help in compiling this review I am grateful to Nancy Bialler, David Bindman, Harriet Drummond, Donald Heald, Mary Lynn Johnson, Chris Loker, Max Reed, Justin Schiller, Steven Tabor, Christine von der Linn, David Weinglass, Steven Weisman, 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, auctioneers, London |
| 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) |
| CL | Christie’s, London |
| CNY | Christie’s, New York |
| CSK | Christie’s, South Kensington |
| E | The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, ed. David V. Erdman, newly rev. ed. (New York: Anchor P, 1988) |
| EB | eBay online auctions |
| Essick | Robert N. Essick, William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations (Oxford: Clarendon P, 1991) |
| 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
Visions of the Daughters of Albion, copy N. Brought to Swann in Aug. for possible sale at auction. See the introduction to this review for the status of this copy as of January 2005.
Drawings and Paintings
The Fall of Fair Rosamund (recto), Upper Part of a Nude Demon (verso). Pencil drawings, recto 31.0 × 44.0 cm., recto dated by Butlin to c. 1815-20, verso much earlier. Butlin #607. CL, 3 June, #70, from the collection of George Goyder, recto illus. color (not sold; estimate £40,000-60,000). Acquired 2 July by R. Essick, with the assistance of Harriet Drummond of Christie’s and John Windle. See illus. 1.
Separate Plates and Plates in Series
“Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims.” Swann, 2 March, #51, 5th st., no description of the paper but probably a Sessler restrike, illus. ($3800); 6 May, #252A, 5th st. on laid India, Colnaghi impression, illus. (not sold; estimate $3500-5000); same Colnaghi impression, 14 Sept., #92, illus. ($4600). Neales Auction, Nottingham, 19 Nov., #831, 3rd st., apparently cut close with the imprint partly trimmed off, stained over most of the image, illus. (no price information; estimate £80-120).
begin page 127 | ↑ back to topDante engravings. Dallas Auction Gallery, 13 May, #260-B, pl. 2 only, probably the 1892 printing, framed, illus. color ($550).
The Good and Evil Angels Struggling for Possession of a Child. Planographic color print finished in pen and ink and water colors, 43.8 × 58.5 cm., probably 1795. Butlin #324. SNY, 5 May, #5, illus. color ($3,928,000 on an estimate of $1-1.5 million). See illus. 2 and the essay introductory to this sales review.
Job engravings. Ursus Books, Jan. cat. for the Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, #13, 1826 printing on Whatman paper after the removal of the “Proof”
As Butlin suggests, the squiggles dangling from the Queen’s right hand and cascading behind Rosamond’s head to touch the ground probably represent the thread which, legend has it, the Queen followed to find Rosamond in her hiding place. Hull’s play makes no mention of the thread and thus it is not pictured in Stothard’s design. The unwinding of a “silken clue” (i.e., a ball of silk thread) is first mentioned in the story of Rosamond as related in Robert Fabyan’s New Chronicles of England and of France (1516). In Blake’s design, the twisted object on the ground just right of the Queen’s left foot is probably the remnants of the clue. A thread rises from it and crosses Rosamond’s upper left arm. In his Chronicles of 1577-87, Raphael Holinshed states that the silk thread was accidentally drawn out by the King’s foot when leaving Rosamond. Samuel Daniel, in his poem “The Complaint of Rosamond” (1592), claims to the contrary that the thread was purposely unraveled by Henry as a way of finding Rosamond in her labyrinth-like bower. A possible source for Blake’s knowledge of the motif is the ballad “Fair Rosamond,” now generally attributed to Thomas Deloney, as printed in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, ed. Thomas Percy (London: Dodsley, 1765) 2:133-45. Blake owned a copy of Percy’s work—see Bentley #736. In this poem, the Queen follows a “clue of twined thread” (2:143). The “clew of silk” is briefly noted (p. 61) in Charles Allen’s New and Improved History of England (1798), a book for which Blake executed engravings (see illus. 11). For a detailed study of the legend, see Virgil B. Heltzel, Fair Rosamond: A Study of the Development of a Literary Theme (Evanston: Northwestern U. Studies, 1947).
On Jerusalem pl. 57, Blake refers to “Rosamonds Bower” and asks “What is a Wife & what is a Harlot? What is a Church? & What / Is a Theatre?” (E 207). The following quatrain appears at the top of pl. 77:
I give you the end of a golden string,The myth of Ariadne may be the primary source for these lines, but, given the reference in Jerusalem to “Rosamonds Bower,” perhaps the unwound ball of thread in the Rosamond legend also lies behind Blake’s image of a string to be wound into a ball. Other string and thread images in the poem, including “the iron threads of love & jealousy & despair” (E 195), may also be related to the story of Rosamond.
Only wind it into a ball:
It will lead you in at Heavens gate,
Built in Jerusalems wall. (E 231)
Vala is summoned to “come . . . with knife & cup” in Jerusalem (E 167); later, she bears “the Druid Knife of Revenge & the Poison Cup / Of Jealousy” (E 214-15). Queen Eleanor is motivated by the same two passions. Vala’s confrontations with Jerusalem, the former generally aggressive and the latter passive, would also seem to participate in the same dynamic portrayed in The Fall of Fair Rosamund. Blake pictures another female with a knife in her right hand and a goblet in her left on Jerusalem pl. 69, lower right. One of Blake’s early commercial copy engravings, the drawing reproduced here, and his concluding epic are intertwined in multiple ways.
“The Man Sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour.” White-line metal cut, 8.0 × 16.1 cm. CL, 30 June, #5, from the estate of George Goyder, sheet 33.0 × 23.0 cm. with a J Whatman watermark, framed, illus. color (£35,850 on an estimate of £30,000-50,000 to Alan Parker, London). Impression 2F in Essick, The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1983) 103.
begin page 128 | ↑ back to top
Blake called the impression of this print now in the Tate Collection (Butlin #323) “Good & Evil Angel” in his accounts with Thomas Butts of 5 July 1805 (see G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Records, 2nd ed. [New Haven and London: Yale UP, 2004] 764). The first appearance of the same basic design on pl. 4 of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790) offers a textual context for interpreting the iconography of the image. On the previous pl., Blake writes of the fundamental contraries of human existence, from which “spring what the religious call Good & Evil” (E 34). On pl. 4, “The voice of the Devil” speaks of several “Errors,” including the association of “Evil” with “Energy” and the “Body,” and “Good” with “Reason” and “the Soul” (E 34). The design may be a similar perspective on the projection of mental errors into an external reality, with the child representing humanity struggling within a dualistic universe. The shackle and chain on the ankle of the figure on the left—presumably the “evil” angel—adds further complexities. His energies (or desires) have already been restrained. As we learn on pl. 5 of The Marriage, “the restrainer or reason usurps its [desire’s] place & governs the unwilling” (E 34). Beginning with copy E of The Marriage, printed c. 1794-95, and extending through all later printings, Blake added the shackle and chain to the design on pl. 4. The flames behind the shackled figure can be interpreted from two perspectives, one that views fire as hellish “torment” enforced by a punishing “God” (E 34), and one that views fire as “the enjoyments of Genius” (E 35). See also the discussion in the essay introductory to this sales review.
[View this object in the William Blake Archive]
Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, Including Prints Extracted from Such Books
Allen, New and Improved History of England, 1798. For the preliminary drawing for pl. 2, see Cardinal Pandulph Granting King John Absolution under Fuseli, below, and illus. 9-11.
Allen, New and Improved Roman History, 1798. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #9, the 4 pls. only, illus. (£1000). Bishopston Books, Oct. online cat., later cloth slightly worn (a bargain at £30).
Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1783. John Price, Sept. cat., #8, 5 vols., contemporary calf worn, front cover of vol. 1 “holding on for dear life” (£300).
Bible, The Royal Universal Family Bible, 1780-81. Maggs Bros., full-page advertisement in The British Art Journal 5 (spring/summer 2004): [i], 2 incomplete copies in 2 vols., both contemporary calf worn, offered as a pair to form 1 complete copy, pl. 5 illus. color (price on request).
Blair, The Grave. BBA, 11 Dec. 2003, 1808 quarto, foxed and stained, early half roan rebacked, worn (not sold; estimate £500-700). Estates of Mind, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1808 quarto, some foxing on pls., uncut in original boards rebacked, cover label ($3850). BH, 24 Feb., #484, 1808 quarto, some spotting, 4 leaves loose, contemporary half morocco very worn, cloth slipcase, illus. (£420). EB, March, pl. 12 only, 1813 imprint, possibly from the 1870 ed., illus. color ($83). EB, April, pl. 5 only, 1926 printing, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $115); April-May, same impression, same result on a required minimum bid of $99. EB, April, pl. 12 only, 1813 imprint, possibly from the 1870 ed., illus. color (reserve not met; top bid $47). Swann, 15 April, #20, 1808 quarto, foxed, original boards with cover label, spine split, leaves loose, cloth slipcase worn ($2800). EB, May, frontispiece portrait of Blake and pls. 2, 4, 6, 7, 10 only from the 1813 quarto, offered individually, illus. color ($99.50 for pl. 4, $125 for pl. 10, no bids on the other pls.). Phillip Pirages, May cat. 50, #92, 1808 quarto, later half morocco worn, illus. (reduced from $2800, as offered in earlier cats., to $2200). Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #10, pls. 2 (illus.), 4, 7, 9, 10, 12 only, 1813 imprints, probably from the 1870 portfolio of unbound pls. (£60 for pl. 4, £120 for pl. 12, £75 for each of the others). EB, July, 1870 ed., some offsetting, publisher’s cloth, illus. color ($356). EB, Aug.-Sept., 1926 portfolio of the pls. only, complete in original folder, illus. color ($203.50). EB, Sept., 1808 quarto, engraved title page trimmed at foot, minor marginal spotting on most pls., quarter morocco over contemporary boards worn, illus. color ($1162). EB, Nov., 3 pls. sold individually, described as printed on “laid paper” and thus from the 1926 portfolio: pls. 9 ($171.50), 11 ($225), 12 ($201.50). Blackwell’s, Nov. cat. B146, #64, 1870 ed., original cloth repaired (£450). EB, Dec., pl. 6 only, 1813 imprint, probably the 1926 printing, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £60); same impression, Dec. (£37).
Boydell, Graphic Illustrations of . . . Shakspeare, c. 1803. BBA, 25 March, #38, foxed, morocco worn, with Shakespeare, Works, ed. Knight, 2 vols., c. 1865, morocco worn (not sold; estimate £400-500); same group, 15 July, #93 (£376).
Bryant, New System . . . of Ancient Mythology, 1775-76. BH, 24 Feb., #503, 2nd ed., 3 vols., contemporary calf worn (£220).
Cumberland, Thoughts on Outline, 1796. See first entry under Flaxman, Hesiod designs, below.
Darwin, Botanic Garden. BH, 24 Feb., #504, 1799 ed., 2 vols., contemporary morocco rubbed (£140); #505, 3rd ed. (1795) of Part 1, 2nd ed. (1790) of Part 2, 2 vols. in 1, contemporary calf, hinges weak (£320). Peter Murray Hill, Feb. cat. 193, #35, 3rd ed. (1795) of Part 1, 4th ed. (1794) of Part 2, 2 vols., contemporary calf rebacked (£375). EB, Aug., Part 1 only, 1791, 1st ed., foxed, some text pages damaged, lacking covers, spine damaged, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $475). Books on High, Oct. online cat., 2nd ed. (1791) of Part 1, 3rd ed. (1791) of Part 2, 2 vols. in 1, quarter calf worn, covers loose ($1050). Peace of Mind, Oct. online cat., 1799 ed., apparently 2 vols. in 1, some spotting, “rebound” ($475). EB, Nov., 1st ed. (1791) of Part 1, 2nd ed. (1790) of Part 2, pls. foxed, contemporary calf very worn, covers detached, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $875); same copy, Nov.-Dec. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $525); same copy, Dec. ($406.01).
Darwin, Poetical Works, 1806. Kitazawa Bookstore, Oct. online cat., 3 vols., 12 of 25 pls. hand colored, modern half calf ($1427).
Enfield, The Speaker, 1797. Margaret Riccetti, Oct. online cat., foxed, contemporary calf very worn (£40). K Books, Oct. online cat., recent quarter calf (£50).
Euler, Elements of Algebra. Beacon Books, June online cat., 1797 ed., 2 vols., foxed, binding not described other than “gold lettering on a black leather background on the spines,” apparently well worn ($1400). The copies of the 1810 ed. offered online by Powell’s Books and Antiquariaat Ovidius do not contain Blake’s pl.
Flaxman, Hesiod designs. BH, 24 Feb., #506, 1817 ed., some spotting, contemporary cloth-backed boards; with Flaxman, Iliad designs, 1805, contemporary half morocco; Cumberland, Thoughts on Outline (“incomplete” set of the pls. only), 1796; and Flaxman, Lectures on Sculpture, 1829 (£340). Adam and Eve Books, March online cat., 1817 ed., damp stained, boards rebacked, worn (£200). Tobo—The Online Bookstore, March online cat., 1817 ed., some foxing, bound with Flaxman, Aeschylus begin page 130 | ↑ back to top designs, 1831, quarter calf (£595). EB, March, 1870 ed., original printed boards, illus. color ($307.50). Dreweatt Neate auction, Donnington, 19 May, #558, 1817 ed., “some slight damage,” modern quarter morocco (£100). EB, May, 1817 ed., bound with Flaxman’s Aeschylus designs (1831), scattered foxing, later quarter roan, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £295). Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #12, pl. 21 (the fly-title to the “Theogony”) only, proof before letters on paper with an 1812 watermark, illus. (£500; acquired by a private British collector). Bauman Rare Books, Oct. online cat., 1817 ed., bound with the Aeschylus designs, 1831, contemporary three-quarter morocco rebacked, slight wear ($2500). Alibris, Oct. online cat., 1817 ed., pls. loose in a quarter morocco box ($937.72).
Flaxman, Iliad designs. EB, March, 1870 ed., original printed boards, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $1). EB, April, 1805 ed., bound with Flaxman’s Odyssey designs, 1805, some spotting, “covers are worn,” illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $449). Adrian Greenwood, Oct. online cat., 1805 ed., pls. loose in a quarter morocco box, title pl. soiled (£325). Kingswood Books, Oct. online cat., “1806” (probably an error for 1805) ed., foxed, half calf very worn (£500). EB, Oct., Blake’s 3 pls. offered individually, marginal foxing, illus. color (£26.01, £10.50, £22). See the first entry under Flaxman, Hesiod designs, above, for another copy of the 1805 ed.
Gay, Fables. BH, 24 Feb., #507, 1793 ed., 2 vols. in 1, contemporary calf rebacked (£190). CSK, 24 March, #70, 1793 ed., 2 vols., light spotting, contemporary calf very worn, 1 cover loose, with Gay, Polly, 1729 (£382). EB, March, pls. 8 and 10 only, offered separately, elaborately framed (no bids on a required minimum bid of $279 and $295). John Windle, April cat. 38, #25, 1793 ed., 2 vols., slight foxing, later morocco ($1500). Phillip Pirages, May cat. 50, #91, 1793 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf worn, illus. (reduced from $1500, as offered in earlier cats., to $1150). George Barry, Oct. online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols. in 1, “modest foxing throughout,” full calf ($695). Rulon-Miller, Oct. online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols. in 1, contemporary calf worn ($990). EB, Oct., vol. 2 only, ed. not recorded, some stains, covers detached, spine missing, a miserable wreck, illus. color ($90). EB, Nov., ed. not recorded, 2 vols. in 1, marginal foxing, modern cloth, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £299); same copy, Nov. (£295). EB, Nov.-Dec., 2 vols., 1810 ed., foxed, contemporary calf very worn, illus. color ($203.51).
Gough, Sepulchral Monuments, 1786. Christopher Edwards, Feb. private offer, pl. 10 only, “Portrait of Queen Philippa,” proof before letters from the collection of Raymond Lister, pen and ink inscriptions, pencil inscriptions probably by Gough (£2750). Previously sold Cheffins, Grain & Comins auction, Cambridge, 28 Oct. 1999, #98 (£440 on an estimate of £200-300). For illus. of this impression, design only, see Lister, Infernal Methods: A Study of William Blake’s Art Techniques (London: Bell and Sons, 1975) pl. 1.
Hayley, Life of Cowper, 1803-04. EB, Jan.-Feb., 1st ed., 3 vols., apparently with the 1806 supplement bound in vol. 3, minor spotting, contemporary calf, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £199.99); same copy, Feb. (same minimum and result); same copy, Feb.-March (£175). BH, 24 Feb., #511, apparently 1st ed., 3 vols., some spotting, contemporary calf very worn, 2 covers loose (£70). Jarndyce, March cat. 157, #256, 1st ed., 3 vols., extra-illus. with 13 pls. (none by Blake) and an ink silhouette portrait of Cowper dated 1791, contemporary calf rubbed (£2500). EB, Sept., pl. 1 only (portrait of Cowper after Romney), apparently with the title and imprint trimmed off, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $149). LJM Books, Oct. online cat., 1st ed., vols. 1 and 3 only, stained, calf very worn (£50).
Hayley, Life of Romney, 1809. G. W. Stuart, Jan. cat. 111, #27, minor foxing, later half morocco ($475); #84, foxed, original boards uncut, very worn, covers detached ($275). BH, 24 Feb., #509, some spotting, uncut in later half morocco (£180). Clint Rusk, Oct. online cat., “full leather” ($295). First Folio, Oct. online cat., contemporary calf rebacked ($600).
Hayley, Triumphs of Temper. Howard Mott, Jan. cat. 245, #7, 1803 ed., apparently the small-paper issue, contemporary calf rebacked ($300). BH, 24 Feb., #510, 1803 ed., issue not indicated, opening gatherings loose, some spotting, contemporary calf very worn, lacking spine and covers loose (£130). EB, May, 1803 ed., apparently the small-paper issue, contemporary calf, front cover missing, illus. color ($234.37). Phillip Pirages, May cat. 50, #93, 1803 ed., apparently the small-paper issue, contemporary calf worn (reduced from $750, as offered in earlier cats., to $575). James Fenning, Oct. online cat., 1803 ed., small-paper issue, contemporary calf (£517.50). Ruth Kidson, Oct. online cat., the rare 1807 ed., light foxing, contemporary half calf (a bargain at £22).
Hogarth, Works. Manfred Nosbüsch, Oct. online cat., 1822 ed. (or possibly the c. 1880 issue by Quaritch with “1822” on the title page), contemporary calf ($3787). Heritage Book Shop, Oct. online cat., undated Baldwin and Cradock issue, contemporary half morocco ($4500). E&C Books, Oct. online cat., undated Baldwin and Cradock issue, 2 vols., scattered foxing, quarter calf worn, one cover loose ($1800). Asher Rare Books, Oct. online cat., 1822 ed. (or possibly the c. 1880 issue by Quaritch with “1822” on the title page), later half morocco ($4124). D & E Lake, Oct. online cat., undated Baldwin and Cradock issue, contemporary half morocco worn ($3200). Nicholas Goodyer, Oct. online cat., undated Baldwin and Cradock issue, water staining in margins, foxed, “binding broken” (£1400). EB, Oct., Blake’s pl. only, st. not given but clearly a late impression from the worn pl., possibly even the modern restrike, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $295). EB, Nov., Blake’s pl. only, probably 4th st., illus. color ($82). BBA, 18 Nov., undated Baldwin and Cradock issue, spotting and water staining, contemporary half morocco very worn, covers detached (not sold; estimate £1000-1500).
begin page 131 | ↑ back to topHunter, Historical Journal, 1793. E. M. Lawson, Jan. cat. 311, #18, quarto issue, possibly large paper but slightly trimmed, later half calf (£2350). Heritage Book Shop, Oct. online cat., quarto issue, full calf ($5500). Camberwell Books, Oct. online cat., quarto issue, contemporary calf rebacked ($4192). Hoffman’s Bookshop, Oct. online cat., issue not identified, stained and foxed, no description of the binding ($3500).
Josephus, Works, c. 1785-91. EB, Jan., apparently between Bentley’s “A” and “B” issues, clean copy, modern half morocco, illus. color ($1009). EB, Feb., probably Bentley’s “E” issue, contemporary calf badly worn, covers detached, illus. color (£31). BH, 24 Feb., #512, Bentley’s “E” issue, contemporary calf rebacked (£220). EB, Feb., probably between Bentley’s “B” and “C” issues, some browning and staining, contemporary calf worn ($405). Rulon-Miller, May cat. 86, #94, probably Bentley’s “E” issue, contemporary calf rebacked ($1750). K Books, Oct. online cat., probably Bentley’s “D” or “E” issue, “lacks title and prelims and 9 pages of the index,” cloth worn (£100). Bauman Rare Books, Oct. online cat., Bentley’s “D” or “E” issue, contemporary calf rebacked ($2500).
Lavater, Aphorisms. BH, 24 Feb., #517, 1788 ed., later calf worn, upper cover loose (£100). John Windle, April cat. 38, #111, 1788 ed., 1st st. of the pl., half calf worn ($595). E. M. Lawson, Sept. cat. 313, #32, 1788 ed., contemporary calf, hinges very weak (£145). James Cummins, Oct. online cat., 1794 ed., 2nd st. of the pl., some browning, signature of Geoffrey Keynes, lacking the half title, contemporary calf worn ($600).
Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy. EB, Feb., 1810 ed., 3 vols. in 5, contemporary calf very worn, illus. color ($520.50); another copy, Feb., 3 vols. in 5, later quarter calf ($790). BH, 24 Feb., #516, “1792” ed. (actually c. 1818), 3 vols. in 5, some spotting and browning, contemporary morocco repaired (£460). John Windle, April cat. 38, #112, “1789-92” (but actually 1789-98) ed., 3 vols. in 5, fine contemporary morocco, pl. after Fuseli (not engraved by Blake) illus. ($6750). EB, May, pl. 2 only, slight foxing, illus. color (£103.77). EB, July, pl. 2 only, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $224). Classic Bindings, Oct. online cat., “1792” (actually c. 1818) ed., 3 vols. in 5, contemporary morocco worn (£1750). Rachel Lee Books, Oct. online cat., “1789,” 3 vols. (of 5?), contemporary calf repaired (£450). Franz Kühne Antiquariat, Oct. online cat., 1810 ed., 3 vols. in 5, calf repaired ($3000). Antiquariat Gundel Gelbert, Oct. online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, quarter calf ($3742). EB, Oct.-Nov., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, contemporary calf rebacked, scuffed, illus. color ($2024.99).
Malkin, Father’s Memoirs of His Child, 1806. BH, 24 Feb., #518, later half calf, “from the library of Siegfried Sassoon,” illus. (£340).
Nicholson, Introduction to Natural Philosophy. CSK, 24 March, #8, 1782 ed., 2 vols., light spotting, contemporary calf very worn (not sold; estimate £300-500). B&L Rootenberg, Oct. online cat., 1782 ed., 2 vols., some browning, contemporary calf worn ($950). Heritage Book Shop, Oct. online cat., 1782 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf ($1500). Classic Bindings, Oct. online cat., 1787 ed., 2 vols., full calf (£1200). Kennys Book Export, Oct. online cat., 1787 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf ($2661).
Novelist’s Magazine, vol. 8, 1782. J & S Wilbraham, Sept. online cat. 47, #6, minor spotting, contemporary calf worn (£85).
Rees, The Cyclopædia, 1820. EB, Jan., pl. 3 only, water stain in lower right corner, illus. color (a bargain at $7.50). This impression of pl. 3, “Gem Engraving,” is the rarer of 2 distinct copperplates of this image—see Essick 110, pl. 3A. BBA, 15 Jan., #121, 45 vols. in the original 70 parts including all 6 pls. vols., “original printed boards” damaged, with “a small quantity of other” works (£440). Sims Reed, April cat. of “Prints,” #174, complete in 45 vols., contemporary calf (£4500); same copy and price, Oct. cat., #100. Barter Books, Oct. online cat., vol. 2 of pls. only, foxed, calf very worn (£562). Keogh’s Books,[e] Oct. online cat., complete in 45 vols., some pls. foxed, contemporary half calf (£2500). Neil Summersgill, Oct. online cat., pls. vols. 1-4 only, some spotting, half calf very worn, spines missing (£695).
Salzmann, Elements of Morality, 1799. Rosley Books, June online cat., 3 vols., lacking the frontispiece to vol. 1 and the pls. numbered 5 and 18, the latter 2 attributed to Blake, contemporary sheep, slipcase (£1650).
Scott, Poetical Works, 1782. BH, 24 Feb., #524, contemporary calf rebacked (£240). Caney Booksellers, Oct. online cat., minor soiling, modern quarter calf ($500).
Shakespeare, Dramatic Works, 1802. Alexandre Antique Prints, June online cat., 9 vols., some pls. foxed, contemporary morocco rebacked ($7500). Sotheby’s Milan, 23 June, #927, 9 vols., contemporary calf worn, hinges weak, illus. (not sold; estimate 3000-4000 euros).
Shakespeare, Plays, 1805. Blackwell’s, June cat. 125, #109, 10 vol. issue, some foxing, contemporary Russia (£2250); same copy and price, Nov. cat. B146, #650.
Stedman, Narrative, 1813, colored copies. Wm. Reese, May cat. 231, #184, 2 vols., modern three-quarter morocco, pl. 12 illus. ($9000).
Stedman, Narrative, uncolored copies. BH, 24 Feb., #527, 1813 ed., 2 vols., contemporary half calf rebacked, illus. (£550). EB, May, 1796 ed., 2 vols., badly water stained, modern cloth, illus. color ($717). Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #7-8, pls. 2 and 6 only, illus. (£175 each). The 19th Century Shop, Oct. cat. 102, p. 27 (no item entry number), 1796 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf, pl. 2 illus. ($7000). Adrian Harrington, Oct. online cat., 1813 ed., 2 vols., recent calf (£2500). Charles Agvent, begin page 132 | ↑ back to top
![VOLT[AIRE]
STERN[E]
Stothard del.
Blake sculp.
THE TEMPLE OF MIRTH.
Published as the Act directs, by Harrison & Co. Febry. 1. 1784.](img/illustrations/TempleOfMirth.1st.38.4.bqscan.png)
![VOLT[AIRE]
STERN[E]
Stothard del.
Blake sculp.
THE TEMPLE OF MIRTH.](img/illustrations/TempleOfMirth.2st.38.4.bqscan.png)
![[VOLT]AIRRE
SWIFT
Stothard del.
Blake sculp.
THE TEMPLE OF MIRTH.
Published as the Act directs by Harrison & Co. Feby. 1. 1784.](img/illustrations/BB513.1.2.COM.300.jpg)
Stuart and Revett, Antiquities of Athens. Tim Bryars, Oct. online cat., vols. 1-4, 1762-1816, some spotting, modern half calf (£15,000). Gonzalo Fernández Pontes, Oct. online cat., vols. 1-3, 1762-94, uncut, contemporary half calf ($21,133). Bonhams & Butterfields, Los Angeles and San Francisco auction, 23 Nov., #5098, vols. 1-3, 1762-94, slight foxing, contemporary calf worn with covers detached ($7637); #5099, vol. 3 only, 1794, scattered foxing, early calf worn, covers detached ($2643). Blake’s 4 pls. are in vol. 3.
Virgil, Pastorals, 1821. BH, 24 Feb., #528, 2 vols., later calf, George Goyder’s copy with his bookplate, illus. (£7200). Blackwell’s, June cat. 125, #8, 2 vols., some foxing, original sheep rebacked, modern folding box, illus. color (£12,000).
Virgil, The Wood Engravings of William Blake for Thornton’s Virgil, 1977. Maggs, Nov. cat. 1365, #282, inscribed “Printers’ Trials for Douglas Cleverdon from Iain Bain,” each print inscribed in pencil “Printer’s trial impression 6 ’76,” with an additional impression of the first cut, original slipcase, illus. (£3200).
Wit’s Magazine, 1784. John Windle, March private offer, pl. 1 only, 2nd st., imprint trimmed off (acquired by R. Essick). See illus. 3-5.
begin page 134 | ↑ back to topWollstonecraft, Original Stories, 1791. Heritage Book Shop, Oct. cat. for the Nov. Boston Book Fair, #212, sts. of the pls. not indicated, contemporary sheep rebacked ($5500).
Young, Night Thoughts, 1797, uncolored copies. Heritage Book Shop, Jan. cat. for the Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, #28, with the “Explanation” leaf, slight staining in some margins, later half morocco, illus. ($10,000). BH, 24 Feb., #529, with the “Explanation” leaf, some leaves cropped, some spotting, modern morocco, illus. (£2800). Sims Reed, March cat. for the New York Book Fair, #11, no mention of the “Explanation” leaf (because not present?), no comments on condition, contemporary morocco (£9000); same copy and price, April cat. of “Prints,” #23. John Windle, April cat. 38, #179, lacking the “Explanation” leaf, some pls. trimmed, later morocco ($8250). Phillip Pirages, May cat. 50, #94, with the “Explanation” leaf, George Goyder’s copy, contemporary morocco slightly worn, illus. (reduced from $19,500, as offered in earlier cats., to $15,500). Appelfeld Gallery, Oct. online cat., with the “Explanation” leaf “in facsimile,” later morocco ($12,500). Neal Auction Company, New Orleans, 4 Dec., #92, with the “Explanation” leaf, pls. trimmed with edges gilt, light marginal staining, “full leather,” illus. color online, with the 1960 Blake Trust/Trianon Press facsimile of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and the 1875 reproduction of Blake’s Job engravings ed. Charles Eliot Norton ($2600).
Interesting Blakeana
G. Chaucer, Works, ed. Speght, 1687. Brick Row Book Shop, June cat. 5, #30, modern morocco ($6000); same copy and price, Nov. cat. 144, #77. Probably the ed. used by Blake—see Alexander Gourlay, “What Was Blake’s Chaucer?” Studies in Bibliography 42 (1989): 272-85.
C. Rogers, A Collection of Prints in Imitation of Drawings, 1778. Sims Reed, May cat. for the London Book Fair, #87, 2 vols., pls. by Bartolozzi, Basire, Ryland, and others, contemporary half calf rebacked (£6500); same copy and price, Oct. cat., #107. Blake, while an apprentice to James Basire from 1772 to 1779, may have assisted his master in etching and engraving some of these fine plates. Even those engraved by Basire at an earlier date may have influenced Blake—see illus. 6-7.
J. Egerton, Egerton’s Theatrical Remembrancer, 1788. James Fenning, summer cat. 212, #71, near contemporary calf (£245). Lists Blake’s “King Edward the Third” from Poetical Sketches. The first bibliography to include a work by Blake (see Bentley #522A).
Homer, The Iliad and Odyssey, trans. Cowper, 1791. John Price, spring 2004 cat. of “Recent Acquisitions,” #86, 2 vols., contemporary calf rebacked (£500). “Mr. W. Blake, Engraver” appears in the “List of Subscribers” (see Bentley #689).
![Hinc Terræ Tremor, hinc Motus.
In the Collection of Mr. Reynolds.
R edidt.
[de]lt.
J Ba[sire]](img/illustrations/HincTerrae.Basire.38.4.bqscan.png)
G. Cumberland, Lewina the Maid of Snowdon, 1793, bound with Cumberland, A Poem on the Landscapes of Great-Britain, 1780. Bertram Rota, Jan. cat. 303, #16, “uncut in original boards” (£550). Given their long friendship, these works by Cumberland were very probably known to Blake.
J. Ireland, Hogarth Illustrated, 2 vols., 1793, with the Supplement, 1798. Argonaut Book Shop, May Pasadena Book Fair, 3 vols. in all, quarter calf ($750). There is a reference to Blake, as the engraver of Hogarth’s “Beggar’s Opera,” in the Supplement, p. 368. “Thew” is mistakenly named as the engraver of Blake’s pl. in this ed. of Hogarth Illustrated, 2:329.
W. Hayley, Triumphs of Temper, 1799. See under Stothard, below, for this ed. Blake probably owned a copy—see Bentley #729.
W. Blake, attributed to. Blake Rising Out of the Flames. Pen and brown ink, 22.0 × 15.0 cm. Swann, 29 Jan., #354, illus. ($1150; estimate $1500-2500). Previously offered Swann, 4 Feb. 1999, #172, ascribed to “William Blake (follower of),” dated to “circa 1800,” and with dimensions of 23.0 × 16.5 cm. (not sold). This drawing, apparently cut from a larger composition, is not by Blake or anyone among his known circle or followers.
J. and J. Boydell, An Alphabetical Catalogue of Plates, 1803. Marlborough Rare Books, Jan. cat. for the Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, #17, inscribed in pencil, modern half morocco ($2700). Lists Blake’s “Beggar’s Opera” after Hogarth, p. 21.
S. Richardson, Correspondence, ed. Barbauld, 1804. John Price, spring 2004 cat. of “Recent Acquisitions,” #128, 6 vols., lacking portrait frontispieces, half calf very worn (£200). Marlborough Rare Books, May cat. 200, #34, 6 vols., later cloth (£650). In his letter to William Hayley of 16 July 1804, Blake alludes to this ed. of “Richardson” and notes his high regard for “Mrs Klopstocks Letters Vol 3.” This letter not in E; see William Blake’s Writings, ed. G. E. Bentley, Jr. (Oxford: Clarendon P, 1978) 2:1609.
T. Butts, Jr. “Man on a Drinking Horse,” etching/engraving signed “T Butts: sc” and dated “22 Jany 1806,” platemark 5.1 × 8.7 cm., printed in an ed. of 250 in the 1940s by the Miniature Print Society of Kansas City, Missouri. EB, March, on original mounting sheet, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $40). Since the 3 people (Bentley, Essick, Gourlay) interested in this print already have impressions, the market has apparently collapsed. For illus. and comments, see Alexander S. Gourlay, “‘Man on a Drinking Horse’: A Print by Thomas Butts, Jr.,” Blake 37.1 (summer 2003): cover illus. and 35-36.
Associated Painters in Water Colors, cats. of the 1st through 5th exhibitions, 1808-12. Ken Spelman, Aug. cat. 52, #18, slight foxing, later half morocco, bookplate of the art collector John Sheepshanks (1787-1863), the only recorded complete run of these cats., title page for the 1812 cat. illus. (£1600). The 1812 exhibition included several works by Blake (see Bentley #531). For a discussion of the pls. from Jerusalem in this exhibit, see Robert N. Essick, “Blake’s 1812 Exhibition,” Blake 27.2 (fall 1993): 36-42.
W. Blake, attributed to. “Hand enameled engraving c. 1809,” 25.4 × 20.3 cm. EB, March-April, illus. color (reserve not met; highest bid $1025). Not enameled, not an engraving, and not by Blake. This would appear to be a water color, or a photolithographic reproduction of a water color, or just possibly a colored aquatint, showing a woman in Renaissance costume holding a fan. She stands on a balcony with a grapevine framing the right and top margins of the image.
W. Wordsworth, The Excursion, 1814. Blackwell’s, March cat. B144, #432, minor spotting, fancy 20th-century morocco (£950); same copy and price, June cat. 125, #124. Henry Crabb Robinson lent a copy of this ed. to Blake in 1826, and Blake wrote out his comments on the poem on separate sheets and gave them to Robinson. See Bentley #752.
W. Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, 1818. Jarndyce, March cat. 157, #351, contemporary half calf rebacked (£120); #352, another copy, contemporary calf worn (£85). Contains a paraphrase on p. 50 of a statement about Chaucer from Blake’s Descriptive Catalogue. This 1st ed. is incorrectly dated “1819” in Bentley #1816.
W. Hayley, Memoirs, 1823. BookLustr Books, Oct. online cat., 2 vols., some foxing, binding (not otherwise described) repaired with tape ($180). Contains important contemporary references to Blake.
J. T. Smith, Nollekens and His Times. Peter Murray Hill, Feb. cat. 193, #179, 1829 ed., 2 vols., later half calf (£185). Simon Finch, May cat. 60, #204, 1828 ed., 2 vols., some spotting, contemporary half calf (£200). Claude Cox, July cat. 162, #154, 1829 ed., 2 vols., light foxing, modern half calf (£110). Howes Bookshop, July cat. 307, #257, 1829 ed., 2 vols., uncut in original boards worn, spines repaired (£150). Ken Spelman, Aug. cat. 52, #21, 1828 ed., 2 vols., contemporary morocco rubbed (£140). Contains an important brief biography of Blake.
A. Cunningham, Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, 1st ed., 1829-33. Ken Spelman, May cat. 51, #59, 6 vols., contemporary half morocco (£120). Contains an important early biography of Blake.
G. Hamilton, The English School, 1831-32. Kevin Mullen, Oct. online cat., 4 vols., issue published by Bossange, Barthés, and Lowell, three-quarter calf very worn, “suitable for rebinding” ($90). Patrick Vargo, Oct. online cat., 4 vols., issue published by Tilt, half parchment worn ($150). The Antique Cat, Oct. online cat., vols. 2-4 only, issue published by Tilt, damp staining and foxing, calf very worn, covers loose ($50). Steve Burak, begin page 137 | ↑ back to top Oct. online cat., number of vols. not given, issue published by Tilt, “card covers” (£20). EB, Nov.-Dec., 4 vols., issue published by Tilt, occasional foxing, contemporary quarter calf worn, illus. color (£26). Vols. 3 and 4 contain engravings based on 2 of Blake’s designs for Blair’s Grave—see Bentley #463.
[R. Southey], The Doctor, 1834-47. Simon Finch, May cat. 60, #217, 7 vols., contemporary half calf rubbed (£750). Vols. 6 and 7, both of 1847, contain references to Blake’s lost painting, The Ancient Britons, and the engravings of Blake’s “Ghost of a Flea” in Varley’s Zodiacal Physiognomy, 1828.
Bible, The English Version of the Polyglott Bible. Northampton, MA: J. H. Butler; Buffalo, NY: T. and M. Butler, 1836. EB, July, with an engraving based on Blake’s Job, pl. numbered 1, stained, contemporary calf very worn, illus. color ($21.50). See illus. 8.
W. Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Pickering ed., 1839. James Jaffe, May cat. 74, #91, issue not specified, original cloth, spine darkened ($3500); same copy and price, Aug. “Summer Miscellany 2004,” #11. The first letterpress ed.
M. Pilkington, A General Dictionary of Painters, 1840. Claude Cox, July cat. 162, #258, original cloth (£35). The first ed. with an entry on Blake.
J. T. Smith, Book for a Rainy Day, 1845. Cheshire Book Centre, Jan. online cat., 1st ed., half calf (£100). Peter Goodden, Jan. online cat., 2nd ed., original cloth, hinges repaired (£130). Both eds. contain an important reference to Blake reading and singing “several of his poems” (82). The only copy of the 2nd ed. I have seen on the market.
W. B. Scott, Memoirs of David Scott, 1850. Ken Spelman, Aug. cat. 52, #25, original cloth (£160). Contains a brief reference to Blake, p. 238.
A. Gilchrist, Life of Blake, 1863, extra-illus. copies only. EB, Feb.-March, 2 vols. with 72 added pls., mostly portraits neither engraved by nor picturing Blake but including 26 engravings by Blake, contemporary calf rebacked, publisher’s front covers bound in, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $2900). Previously offered EB, Nov. 2003, same required bid and result. For a list of the added Blake pls., see Blake 37.4 (spring 2004): 127.
begin page 138 | ↑ back to topBlackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, American ed., vol. 60, no. 3, March 1865. Library Books, April online cat., original wrappers ($35). Contains, pp. 291-307, an unsigned review of Gilchrist’s Life of Blake, 1863. Not previously recorded?
J. Linnell, letter of 1866 with a reference to his portrait miniature of Blake. See under Linnell, below.
D. G. Rossetti, Ballads and Sonnets, 1881. CL, 3 March, #196, “proof copy of the first edition with the poet’s manuscript corrections and mock-up binding after W. M. Rossetti’s design,” unbound in a cloth portfolio, pp. 314-15 illus. color (£10,157). The pen and ink corrections include, in the sonnet “William Blake” (p. 314), the insertion of the hyphen in “Death-Room” (line 2 of the subtitle) and the correction of “new” to “now” (last line of the poem). Both corrections were followed in the published version.
The Century Guild Hobby Horse, 1884, 1886-94. BBA, 18 March, #341, 11 vols., vols. 1-7 plus New Series nos. 1-3, a complete run of this journal, vols. 1-7 bound without wrappers, New Series and the suppressed no. 1 in original wrappers, illus. (£3290 on an estimate of £750-1000); same set, Sims Reed, March cat. for the New York Book Fair, #33 (£5500). Issues of 1886-87 and 1890 contain essays on Blake by Herbert H. Gilchrist (with a facsimile of Blake’s Little Tom the Sailor) and Herbert P. Horne (with a facsimile of On Homers Poetry [and] On Virgil), and the first letterpress eds. of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and The Book of Los. John Windle, July private offer, June 1888 issue, with reproductions of 3 of Blake’s Virgil wood engravings “by kind permission of H. H. Gilchrist” (according to the “Contents” list on the inside front wrapper), original wrappers ($250).
W. Muir facsimiles of Blake’s illuminated books. John Hart, March cat. 66, #14, There is No Natural Religion, 1886, Muir’s copy number not recorded, original wrappers, front cover faded (£850); possibly the same copy, Simon Finch, May cat. 60, #146, Muir’s copy #20 (£1250). BBA, 29 April, #771, Songs of Innocence, 1927, Muir’s copy #23, 1st 2 leaves soiled, original wrappers soiled and frayed (£165).
H. H. Gilchrist, ed., Anne Gilchrist, Her Life and Writings, 1887. Jarndyce, March cat. 157, #616, original cloth (£160). A surprisingly rare book with interesting references to Blakean topics discussed within the Gilchrist/Rossetti circle.
E. J. Ellis and W. B. Yeats, eds., Works of William Blake, 1893. Maggs, Feb. cat. 1352, #332, 3 vols., small-paper issue, Eva Gore-Booth’s copy with her bookplate, original cloth with minor wear (£2500—almost certainly a record asking price). Gore-Booth (1870-1928), a friend of Yeats, was a poet and political activist in Ireland and England. BH, 24 Feb., #485, 3 vols., small-paper issue, original cloth, “a fine copy,” illus. (£1000 on an estimate of £250-350—probably an auction record).
W. B. Yeats, ed., Poems of William Blake, large-paper issue, 1893. Maggs, Feb. cat. 1352, #333, original vellum-backed boards, spine darkened (£850—a record asking price). James Jaffe, May cat. 74, #793, light foxing, original vellum-backed boards ($1750—a new record asking price, established only 3 months after Maggs’ record price).
R. Bridges (poet, 1844-1930), 5 notes and 2 postcards to Thomas Wright concerning the Blake Society, 1916-25. David Holmes, July cat. 81, #14 ($675).
F. Hollyer, color photo-lithographs of Blake’s designs, many published for the Blake Society in the 1910s and 1920s. EB, June-July, The Ten Virgins (i.e., The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, Butlin #481, now collection of Leon Black), The Mercy Seat (i.e., Christ in the Sepulchre, Guarded by Angels, Butlin #500), The Devil Rebuked: The Burial of Moses (Butlin #449), offered individually, most with Hollyer’s labels, illus. color (£20-21 each). Hollyer published about 30 color reproductions of Blake’s pictorial works.
H. Speed (1872-1957), The Vale of Leutha. Oil painting, 135.2 × 151.2 cm., signed, 1st exhibited in 1928. CL, 11 June, #101, illus. color (£26,290). A decidedly non-Blakean design based on Oothoon’s search for flowers in “the vales of Leutha” (E 45) in Visions of the Daughters of Albion.
P. Robinson, book dealer, typescript, 35 pp., of Blake materials from the Linnell collection, c. 1937. Matheson Books, March cat. 11, #602, loose-leaf ring binder stamped “William Blake” and “Philip Robinson[,] 16, Pall Mall, London” in gilt ($100; acquired by R. Essick). The works listed without prices are as follows: the “Linnell” set of Job proofs; the Dante copperplates; 2 sheets of the Virgil wood engravings, proofs before the blocks were reduced; an album of the Virgil wood engravings, Linnell impressions; “Hiding of Moses” for Remember Mel, proof before the pl. was reduced; For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise, copy K; a complete set of the Job engravings, published “Proof” issue on laid India; Poetical Sketches, copy T; A Descriptive Catalogue, copy K; portrait sketch of John Linnell (Butlin #688); Lady Torrens and Family, after John Linnell (Butlin #801). All these works were acquired by Lessing J. Rosenwald in 1937 and are now in either the Library of Congress or the National Gallery of Art, Washington. The typescript was probably sent by Robinson to Rosenwald, who in turn may have passed it on to Elizabeth Mongan, print expert and adviser to Rosenwald.
L. Baskin, imaginary portraits of Blake and his followers, wood engravings, c. 1956. EB, May, 3 portraits of Blake, offered individually, each signed and/or titled by Baskin in pencil, illus. color ($76, $153.50, $143.50). EB, Sept., portrait of Edward Calvert based on a drawing by his 3rd son, very dark impression on thin Japan paper, signed by Baskin and inscribed “AP” (i.e., artist’s proof), illus. color ($255). These begin page 139 | ↑ back to top engravings, without pencil notations and on different paper, were published in Blake and the Youthful Ancients: Being Portraits of William Blake and His Followers Engraved on Wood by Leonard Baskin and with a Biographical Notice by Bennett Schiff (Northampton, MA: Gehenna P, 1956).
W. Blake, Poems from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence, illus. M. Sendak, 1967. John Windle, Nov. cat. 39, #204, original printed wrappers, illus. color ($6500). Quinn’s auction, Falls Church, Virginia, 9 Dec., #1214, illus. color online ($3500).
W. Blake, Satan Watching the Endearments of Adam and Eve, an illustration to Milton’s Paradise Lost, the Thomas set in the Huntington Library (Butlin #529.5). EB, Dec. 2003, reproduced photographically and in color (apparently in 2003) on “tumbled Italian Botticino Marble” tiles, each tile approx. 10.2 cm. square, a total of 30 tiles used to make up the full mural image, illus. color ($220).
W. Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience [sic], illus. Joel-Peter Witkin, 2004. Justin Schiller, March private offer, original cloth and box, front paste-down endpaper and box signed by the illustrator, 1 of 915 copies in this format ($295). The black and white photo illus. feature dismembered body parts, laceration, amputees, deformed infants and fetuses, decapitation, torture, cruelty to animals, hermaphrodism, and child pornography. And that’s just in the Innocence section. Not for the squeamish.
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
Note: The titles of Barry’s etchings follow the standard catalogue in William L. Pressly, The Life and Art of James Barry (New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1981) 263-81. All impressions listed below are very probably from the 1808 printing.
“The Angelic Guards,” etching. EB, Oct., upper margin repaired, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £70); relisted Oct. for a “buy it now” price of £70.
“The Glorious Sextumvirate,” etching. EB, Oct., illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £70); relisted Oct. for a “buy it now” price of £70.
“A Grecian Harvest-Home,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #5, illus. (£280).
“King George and Queen Charlotte,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #6, illus. (£320).
“Lord Baltimore and the Group of Legislators,” etching. EB, Oct., illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £170).
“Orpheus,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #4, illus. (£320).
“Queen Isabella, Las Casas and Magellan,” etching. EB, Oct., illus. color (offered only at the “buy it now” price of £75).
“Reserved Knowledge,” etching. EB, Oct., water stained lower left, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £170).
Barry, Letter to the Dilettanti Society, 2nd ed., 1799. Ken Spelman, May cat. 51, #43, contemporary calf rebacked (£650).
CALVERT, EDWARD
“The Bacchante,” wood engraving, probably cut by Welby Sherman after a design by Calvert. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #14, illus. (£1800).
“The Chamber Idyll,” wood engraving. Larkhall Fine Art, July online cat., from the Memoir, 1893, narrow margins, illus. color (£4250).
“The Sheep of His Pasture,” engraving. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #13, from the Memoir, 1893, illus. (£850).
FLAXMAN, JOHN
Figure Study. Pencil, with verses in ink below, 38.5 × 24.5 cm., signed and dated 1782. SL, 1 Dec., #26, illus. color, sold with “a quantity of watercolours and drawings by various other hands” (not sold; estimate £750-950). The inscribed verses are from Shakespeare’s Henry V, lines 5-8 of the preface, and Julius Caesar, act 3, scene 1, line 273.
Flaxman, portrait of, by Archibald Skirving. Pastel, 24.1 × 19.0 cm., dated to 1791. Acquired Aug. 1998 by York Art Gallery (see Burlington Magazine 145 [Dec. 2003]: 897, for a color illus.).
Prometheus Chain’d. Pen and ink over pencil, 23.6 × 23.8 cm. Acquired Aug. 1995 by York Art Gallery (see Burlington Magazine 145 [Dec. 2003]: 897, for a color illus.). A preliminary drawing for Flaxman’s Aeschylus designs, pl. 6.
St. John. Pencil and wash, 73.5 × 38.0 cm. SL, 26 May, #30, illus. color (not sold; estimate £2000-3000).
begin page 140 | ↑ back to topStudy of a Lady Wearing an Elaborate Hat. Pen and ink, gray wash, 14.7 × 13.9 cm. CL, 18 Nov., #27, illus. color (not sold; estimate £1500-2000). According to a prior cat. entry, the now-discarded mount was signed by Flaxman and inscribed “Florence 1798.” The year may be an error (for 1789?) since Flaxman is not known to have been in Italy in 1798.
Autograph letter signed, 1 p., to Sir Thomas Lawrence, 21 Feb. 1825. Michael Silverman, March online cat. (£350).
Autograph letter signed, 2 pp., probably to Joseph Henry Green, 2 April 1825. Julian Browning Autographs, March online cat. (£275).
Aeschylus designs. Bernard Shapero, March online cat., 1795 ed., “large paper copy on papier velin,” contemporary morocco, modern box ($12,400—a record asking price for any engravings after Flaxman. Or did Mr. Shapero accidentally add an extra zero?). Toby English, March online cat., 1831 ed., heavily foxed, half morocco worn (£200). EB, March, 1870 ed., original printed boards, illus. color ($54). EB, June, 1795 ed., cloth-backed boards (not sold on an ambitious “buy it now” price of $5000). See also copies of Flaxman’s Hesiod designs under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, above.
Dante designs. Howes Bookshop, Feb. cat. 305, #15, Rome 1802 ed., the pls. by Piroli, contemporary calf rebacked (a bargain at £150). EB, Oct., 1807 ed., lightly foxed, some damp staining, 2 pls. hand colored, contemporary calf worn, illus. color ($305). EB, Oct., 1807 ed., pl. 10 (“Limbo”) for the “Purgatorio” only, full margins, slight foxing, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $9.99).
Eight Illustrations of the Lord’s Prayer, 1835. Christopher Edwards, Sept. cat. 30, #47, Edward Lear’s copy with his signature (illus.), roan-backed boards, all pls. loose (£750).
Flaxman, Anatomical Studies, 1833. The Title Page, March online cat., paper boards very worn, water damage ($225). Brian Mills Books, March online cat., original cloth stained (£125). George Jeffery Books, March online cat., modern cloth (£180). K Books, March online cat., frontispiece portrait only (£25).
Flaxman, Lectures on Sculpture. Ken Spelman, March online cat., 1829 ed., contemporary calf rebacked (£220). Ben Franklin Bookstore, March online cat., 1838 ed., half calf ($100). EB, April, 1838 ed., publisher’s(?) cloth, illus. color ($54).
Hesiod designs. See under Letterpress Books with Plates by and after Blake, above.
Iliad designs. Librairie Ancienne Minet Frères, March online cat., bound with the Odyssey, Hesiod, and Aeschylus designs, all engraved by Piroli, “Florence, 1826” according to the bookseller, half morocco worn ($1183). Falk+Falk Antiquariat, Oct. online cat., Rome 1793 ed., contemporary calf ($217.58). See also under Letterpress Books with Plates by and after Blake, above.
Milton, Latin and Italian Poems, 1808. G. W. Stuart, Jan. cat. 111, #92, light foxing, contemporary Russia, covers coming loose ($350).
Odyssey designs. Goya Books, March online cat., 1805 ed., badly foxed, original boards rebacked, cover label ($400). EB, March, 1870 ed., original printed boards, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $1). EB, Oct., 1805 ed., scattered foxing, disbound, illus. color (£118.79).
FUSELI, HENRY
Callipyga: Mrs. Fuseli with Her Skirts Lifted to Her Waist Standing before a Dressing Table. Brown ink, 15.9 × 9.5 cm. CL, 3 June, #79, illus. color (£10,157). Previously sold SL, 13 Nov. 1997, #59, illus. color (£17,250); previously offered CL, 21 Nov. 2002, #15, illus. color (not sold; estimate £12,000-18,000). For illus. and comments, see Blake 31.4 (spring 1998): 131, illus. 15 and the racy caption thereto.
Cardinal Pandulph Granting King John Absolution. Pen and brown ink, brown wash, many lines incised for etching/engraving, the verso rubbed with black chalk for transfer, 14.5 × 8.0 cm. CL, 6 July, #188, illus. color (£5497 against the reserve, on an estimate of £6000-8000, to Maggs Bros. acting for J. Windle acting for R. Essick). Engraved by Blake for Charles Allen, A New and Improved History of England, 1798, pl. 2 (“King John absolved by Pandulph”). See the essay introductory to this sales review and illus. 9-11.
Every Man in His Humour, Act I, Scene V. Oil, 60.5 × 51.0 cm., datable to 1790-91. Christie’s Geneva, 7 June, #2, illus. color (not sold; estimate 100,000-150,000 Swiss francs); CL, 23 Nov., #29, illus. color (£59,750). This illus. to Ben Jonson’s play was engraved by Charles Grignion and published in Bell’s British Theatre, 1791.
Huon and Amanda with the Dead Alphonso. Oil, 60.0 × 44.0 cm., datable to 1804-05. Christie’s Geneva, 7 June, #1, illus. color (not sold; estimate 100,000-150,000 Swiss francs); SL, 25 Nov., #61, illus. color (£57,600). The design was engraved by R. H. Cromek and published as an illus. to canto 9, verse 39, of Christoph Wieland, Oberon, trans. William Sotheby, 1805 (pl. imprint dated 1 March 1806).
Bible, A Practical Family Bible, published by Payne, London, 1775. EB, Oct.-Nov., 14 pls., stained, contemporary calf worn and damaged, illus. color (£131). Contains 2 pls. after Fuseli, begin page 141 | ↑ back to top
Bible, published Macklin, 1800. EB, Aug., 7 vols., some staining, contemporary morocco worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $9999.99); same copy?, Nov.-Dec., illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $4999.99).
Bonnycastle, Introduction to Astronomy. Ken Spelman, Aug. cat. 52, #170, 1786 ed., contemporary calf rebacked (£260). Elgen Books, Oct. online cat., 1796 ed., lacking 3 folding pls., quarter calf repaired ($100). Caliban Bookshop, Oct. online cat., 1816 ed., foxed, original boards very worn, covers detached ($150). Barter Books, Oct, online cat., 1811 ed., foxed, “hinges weakening” (£179). Moorside Books, Oct. online cat., 1803 ed., contemporary calf rebacked (£250).
Boothby, Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope, 1796. John Windle, April cat. 38, #81, “large-paper copy,” pl. after Fuseli “before all letters” (but actually with the small Fuseli signature centered below the design), slightly foxed, uncut in original boards, cover label ($4500). Marlborough Rare Books, May cat. 200, #51, apparently the small-paper issue, contemporary calf worn (£850). EB, Oct., large-paper issue, marginal foxing, contemporary “Etruscan” style calf, illus. color (£82).
Boydell, Collection of Prints . . . Illustrating . . . Shakspeare, 1803. EB, Feb.-March, 1 pl. only, “Midsummer Nights Dream, Act IV, Scene I,” Simon after Fuseli, illus. color ($416). Sims Reed, April cat. of “Prints,” #33, complete set, 2 vols., “some plates proof before letters,” contemporary morocco (£12,000); same copy and price, Oct. cat., #17, binding illus. color. EB, May, 1 pl. only, “The Tempest, Act I, Scene II,” Simon after Fuseli, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $125). EB, July, 1 pl. only, “Hamlet,” Thew after Fuseli, marginal stains, framed, illus. color (reserve not met; top bid $51). EB, Nov., complete set, 2 vols., later quarter morocco, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $7500). SNY, 3 Dec., #450, 2 vols., light foxing, contemporary morocco worn ($5700). See also under Stothard, below.
Dragonetti, Treatise on Virtues and Rewards, 1769. Ken Spelman, Aug. cat. 52, #116, contemporary calf (£480).
Gray, Poems, Du Roveray ed., 1800. EB, June, described as containing all 6 pls. but only “one” (of 3) by Fuseli, later calf, spine very worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £49.99). Nothing like a confusing description to inhibit bidders.
Homer, Iliad, trans. Pope, Du Roveray ed., 1813. EB, May-June, 6 vols., modern cloth, illus. color ($456).
begin page 143 | ↑ back to topHume, History of England, published Bowyer, 1806. EB, May, Fuseli’s pl. only, “The Death of Cardinal Beaufort,” engraved by Bromley, slight foxing, illus. color (£3.99).
Lavater, Aphorisms on Man, Dublin, 1790. David Hecht, Aug. online cat., contemporary calf ($150). See also under Letter-press Books with Plates by and after Blake, above.
Milton, Paradise Lost, published F. C. and J. Rivington, et al., 1817. R. G. Watkins, April cat. 54, #180, extra-illus. with the 6 pls. after Fuseli from Paradise Lost, published J. Johnson et al., 1808, margins of pls. foxed, mid-19th century morocco (£100).
Milton, Poetical Works. EB, Jan., 1844 ed., “cover faded,” illus. color (£15). EB, March, 1855 ed., slight spotting, contemporary calf, illus. color ($99). EB, June-July, 1845 ed., some spotting, contemporary calf, illus. color ($146.50). Internet Bookshop, Oct. online cat., 1836 ed., no description of binding other than “loose spine” (£32). EB, Oct., 1842 ed., contemporary calf amateurishly rebacked, illus. color ($20.50). The 1836, 1842, and 1844 eds. contain “Silence” after Fuseli; the 1845 and 1855 eds. contain his “Satan and Beelzebub.”
Pope, Rape of the Lock, 1798. EB, July, later calf, illus. color (reserve not met; highest bid $100).
Shakespeare, A New Edition of Shakespeare’s Plays, published Heath and Robinson, 1802-04. EB, Oct., full pl. design of “Macbeth and Banquo” only, Heath after Fuseli, illus. color (withdrawn). This impression may be from the Stockdale reissue of 1807.
Shakespeare, Plays, 1805. EB, April, pl. for The Winter’s Tale only, Neagle after Fuseli, illus. color ($16.50).
Wieland, Oberon, trans. Sotheby, 1805. E. M. Lawson, Sept. cat. 313, #159, 2 vols., contemporary calf (£120).
Winckelmann, Reflections on the Painting and Sculpture of the Greeks, trans. Fuseli, 1765. Sevin Seydi, May cat. of “Translations,”, #447, contemporary calf repaired (£750). EB, Oct., text torn from pp. 167-68, recent half calf, illus. color ($325).
Young, Catalogue of the Celebrated Collection of Pictures of . . . Angerstein, 1823. EB, Nov.-Dec., contemporary quarter morocco worn, front cover damaged, illus. color (£80).
LINNELL, JOHN
Coastal Beach Scene. Pencil and gouache, 19.0 × 28.0 cm., signed and dated 1811. SL, 14 July, #44, illus. color (£840).
A Coming Storm. Oil, 71.0 × 98.0 cm., signed and dated 1873, damaged. SL, 25 Nov., #8, illus. color (not sold; estimate £8000-12,000).
The Farmer’s Boy. Oil, 62.0 × 45.5 cm., signed and dated 1830. SL, 1 July, #18, illus. color (not sold; estimate £100,000-150,000). The basic design was developed by Linnell and Samuel Palmer, the two working together on separate but directly related versions.
The Isle of Wight from Lymington Quay. Oil, 28.6 × 40.0 cm., signed and dated 1825. Lowell Libson, Jan. private offer (price on request). For a color illus., see Burlington Magazine 146 (Jan. 2004): [xxv].
Milking Time. Oil, 24.5 × 39.0 cm., dated to c. 1829. SL, 14 July, #31, illus. color (not sold; estimate £4000-6000).
Portrait of Ann Pepper. Oil, 29.0 × 23.0 cm., signed and dated 1819. SL, 25 Nov., #55, illus. color (£8160).
Portrait of Miss Jane Puxley in a Blue Dress, Half-Length, with a Landscape Beyond, and Portrait of Miss Puxley in a Pink Dress, Half-Length, with a Landscape Beyond, a pair. Oil, each 91.5 × 71.2 cm., each signed and dated 1826. CL, 23 Nov., #30, illus. color (not sold; estimate £20,000-30,000).
Southampton. Water color, 17.1 × 28.3 cm., signed and dated 1819. Lowell Libson, fall exhibition, illus. color online (price on request).
View of Lymington. Pencil, 11.5 × 17.0 cm., signed and dated 1815. CL, 3 June, #76, illus. color (£836).
A Workman’s Hut, Kensington Gravel Pits. Pencil heightened with white on blue paper, 19.2 × 28.2 cm., signed and dated 1811. Lowell Libson, fall exhibition, illus. color online (price on request).
Autograph letter signed. Wittenborn Art Books, Dec. 2003 online cat., “regarding his submittal of 2 art works for exhibition at the Royal Academy,” dated by the dealer to c. 1830, addressee not recorded ($125).
Autograph letter signed, 3 May 1866, to George Cumberland, Jr., with a passing reference to “a photo of a miniature of Blake that I [Linnell] painted about a year before he died.” Americas Antiquarium, Dec. 2003 online cat., number of pages not given ($350). This portrait is probably the miniature on ivory now in the Fitzwilliam Museum; see Geoffrey Keynes, The Complete Portraiture of William & Catherine Blake (London: Trianon P, 1977) 135-36 and pl. 26. Keynes dates the miniature to 1821 on the solid basis of an inscription Linnell wrote on a copy of the portrait he executed in 1861, “Fac Simile of a begin page 144 | ↑ back to top Portrait on Ivory painted from life by John Linnell 1821.” The 1866 letter to Cumberland indicates a later date, c. 1825-26, but it has no more authority than Linnell’s inscription on the 1861 drawing.
“Saul,” mezzotint by Linnell after a painting by Linnell and John Varley. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #81, cleaned and with repairs, “amongst the very rarest of all of John Linnell’s works,” illus. (£1800).
MORTIMER, JOHN HAMILTON
Il Reposo. Pen and ink, 28.0 × 21.0 cm., datable to c. 1778. CL, 18 Nov., #61, illus. color (£13,145 on an estimate £3000-5000).
Study Relating to “The Drake Family.” Pen and ink, brown wash, 18.5 × 24.0 cm., datable to c. 1777. SL, 10 March, #25, illus. color (£2160).
“Banditti Taking His Post,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #3, 1821 printing, illus. (£115).
“A Captain of Banditti and His Family,” etching, Ireland after Mortimer. EB, Sept., st. with the dedication to Sir George Beaumont, marginal folds and staining, illus. color (£29.99).
“Pastoral,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #2, from the c. 1811 printing, illus. (£135).
“Saint Paul Preaching to the Britons,” etching, Haynes after Mortimer. EB, Oct., imprint trimmed off, stained, illus. color (offered only at the “buy it now” price of £90).
PALMER, SAMUEL
Autumn Landscape with a View of the Sea (formerly titled Chaldon Down, Dorset). Oil, 26.7 × 38.1 cm., c. 1834-35. Acquired 2003 by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Illus. color in Burlington Magazine 146 (July 2004): 511.
The Bay of Naples. Water color, 19.5 × 41.5 cm., signed, datable to 1838. SL, 25 Nov., #220, illus. color (£19,200).
Beddgelert Bridge, North Wales. Water color, 25.0 × 36.0 cm., datable to 1837. SL, 1 July, #210, illus. color (not sold; estimate £10,000-15,000).
A Cliff Top View in Cornwall. Black chalk, 10.4 × 17.4 cm., inscribed “CORWALL [sic] 28” and “sisters / short island,” datable to c. 1858. CL, 3 June, #75, illus. color (not sold; estimate £3000-5000).
The Goatherd. Water color, lightly squared in pencil, 19.2 × 27.7 cm., datable to the 1870s. CL, 3 June, #72, from the collection of George Goyder, illus. color (not sold; estimate £50,000-80,000).
Illustration to Milton’s “Lycidas.” Water color, 39.5 × 58.4 cm., signed on the reverse and datable to 1873. SL, 25 Nov., #204, illus. color (£89,600).
Landscape with Peasant Girl Minding Cattle: Evening. Water color, 27.5 × 38.0 cm., signed, datable to c. 1877. SL, 25 Nov., #196, illus. color (not sold; estimate £100,000-150,000).
Opening the Fold: “And Folded Flocks Were Loose to Browse.” Water color, 14.0 × 21.0 cm., signed, datable to c. 1880. SL, 25 Nov., #213, illus. color (£69,600). Palmer’s etching of the design was published in his English Version of the Eclogues of Virgil, 1883.
The Porta di Posillipo and the Bay of Baiae, Italy—with Ischia and the Promontory of Misenum. Water color, 19.0 × 41.0 cm., datable to 1845. SL, 1 July, #234, illus. color (not sold; estimate £8000-12,000).
A Sailing Vessel in a Squall off a Headland. Gray wash, 9.0 × 9.8 cm., datable to c. 1821. CL, 3 June, #73, from the collection of George Goyder, illus. color (not sold; estimate of £10,000-15,000).
Sepham Barn, Shoreham. Brown ink and brown wash, 20.3 × 27.5 cm. on paper with an 1829 watermark, datable to c. 1829. CL, 3 June, #71, from the collection of George Goyder, illus. color (not sold; estimate £70,000-100,000). See illus. 12.
A series of c. 104 letters to the artist Richard Redgrave and his family, most 1859 to 1880, some with references to etching techniques. CSK, 8 June, #158 (not sold; estimate £20,000-30,000); CL, 17 Nov., #33, illus. color (not sold; estimate £12,000-18,000).
A series of 47 letters to members of the Wright family, 1866-81, many concerning religion. CSK, 8 June, #159 (not sold; estimate £8000-12,000); CL, 17 Nov., #32, illus. color (not sold; estimate £5000-8000).
“The Cypress Grove,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #22, 2nd st. from An English Version of the Eclogues of Virgil, 1883, illus. (£275).
“The Early Ploughman,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #18, 5th st., 1868 printing, illus. (£395).
“The Homeward Star,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #21, 2nd st. from An English Version of the Eclogues of Virgil, 1883, illus. (£295). CSK, 21 Oct., 2nd st. (£119).
begin page 145 | ↑ back to top
“The Morning of Life,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #19, 7th st. from Etchings for the Art-Union of London by the Etching Club, 1872, illus. (£750).
“Opening the Fold,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #20, 10th st., 1926 printing, illus. (£1750).
“The Skylark,” etching. Garton & Co., Sept. cat. 95, #2, 3rd st., a counterproof apparently printed by (or for) Palmer in the course of developing the pl., illus. color ($12,500—more than the asking price for any impression pulled directly from the pl.).
“The Willow,” etching. Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #17, 2nd st. from The Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer, 1892, illus. (£450).
Dickens, Pictures from Italy, 1846. EB, May, original cloth, illus. color ($603.01—very probably an auction record).
Hamerton, Etching & Etchers, 1868. Blackwell’s, March cat. B144, #210, original quarter morocco slightly worn (£1200). Contains an impression of Palmer’s “The Early Ploughman.”
Milton, Shorter Poems, 1889. BH, 24 Feb., #523, publisher’s cloth (£110). BBA, 25 March, #101, apparently the largepaper issue, slight foxing, original vellum worn (£59).
Moore, Lalla Rookh, 1860. James Cummins, Oct. online cat., original cloth rubbed ($65).
A. H. Palmer, Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer, 1892. BH, 24 Feb., #520, publisher’s cloth rebacked (£110). Contains Palmer’s etching, “The Willow,” 2nd st.
S. Palmer, An English Version of the Eclogues of Virgil, 1883. Abbott and Holder, Jan. online cat. 358, #243-46, the 4 pls. begun by Palmer and finished by his son (£450 each). BH, 24 begin page 146 | ↑ back to top Feb., #522, small-paper issue, publisher’s cloth (£480). Sims Reed, April cat. of “Prints,” #158, large-paper issue, publisher’s vellum rubbed (£1250). BBA, 7 Oct., #37, small-paper issue, publisher’s cloth worn, spine torn (£470).
Songs & Ballads of Shakespeare, Illustrated by the Etching Club, 1853. Adam Mills, Nov. online cat., #38, some spotting, original cloth rebacked (£145). Contains Palmer’s etching “The Vine or Plumpy Bacchus,” 4th st.
RICHMOND, GEORGE
The Blessed Valley. Water color, 32.4 × 21.0 cm., signed with initials and dated 1829. CL, 3 June, #77, illus. color (not sold; estimate £4000-6000). Previously offered CL, 21 Nov. 2002, #32, illus. color (not sold; estimate £7000-10,000). For a color illus., see Raymond Lister, George Richmond: A Critical Biography (London: Garton, 1981) pl. X.
Figures in a Landscape. Pen and brown ink over pencil, partly squared in pencil, 22.7 × 17.5 cm., signed with initials and dated 1828. Flavia Ormond Fine Arts, May private offer (price on request).
Study of a Figure in Contemplation. Pen and brown ink, 23.5 × 15.2 cm. CL, 18 Nov., #25, illus. color (not sold; estimate £800-1200).
Study of a Male and Female Figure in Flowing Robes. Pen and brown ink, 18.5 × 23.5 cm. CL, 18 Nov., #26, illus. color (not sold; estimate £600-1000). The male figure may be Christ.
ROMNEY, GEORGE
A Folio of Figure Studies. 15, 12 in pencil, 3 pen and ink, largest 26.0 × 20.0 cm., including studies for “Charity” and “L’Allegro.” SL, 25 Nov., #137, 1 illus. color (£2160).
The Annunciation. Pen and brown ink, 18.0 × 14.0 cm. SL, 25 Nov., #136, illus. color (£2160).
Portrait of a Gentleman, Possibly William Hayley. Oil, 46.0 × 35.5 cm., datable to the early 1780s. SL, 25 Nov., #56, illus. color (£20,400).
Study of John Howard, the Prison Reformer, Visiting a Lazaretto. Pencil, 14.0 × 23.0 cm. SL, 26 March, #94, illus. color (not sold; estimate £2000-3000).
Study of a Standing Woman. Pen and brown ink, brown wash, 30.5 × 26.0 cm. SL, 1 July, #181 (not sold; estimate £2500-3500).
RUNCIMAN, ALEXANDER
“A Collection of Sixteen Original Etchings by Alexander Runciman.” Campbell Fine Art, June cat. 11, #1, 11 early impressions plus 5 from the 1826 printing, bound in an album, 4 pls. illus. (£5000).
STOTHARD, THOMAS
Two drawings, pen and gray washes, each approx. 2.5 × 4.9 cm., showing knights sitting around a table, inscribed “They carv’d at ye meal in gloves of steel”; and a man and woman at a dance, inscribed “Edward / The company was struck 2/276.” EB, June, illus. color ($100 the pair). The design of knights around a table is inscribed with lines from Walter Scott’s Lay of the Last Minstrel and was probably published in The Royal Engagement Pocket Atlas, 1807. The other design is a preliminary for an engraving for the 1806 Pocket Atlas illustrating John Moore, Edward: Various Views of Human Nature, Taken from Life and Manners, Chiefly in England.
Design for One of the Outer Compartments of the Wellington Shield: The Battle of Douro, Oporto Liberated, May 12 1809. Pen and brown ink, varnished, 15.5 × 28.5 cm. SL, 1 July, #182, illus. color (not sold; estimate £2000-3000).
Design for a US Bank Note. Oil, 9.3 × 18.2 cm., dated to c. 1795. Maggs, Nov. cat. 1365, #296, illus. color (£4000).
Hippomenes and Atalanta. Pen and gray washes, 2.5 × 6.4 cm. EB, July, illus. color ($159.37). Very probably a preliminary drawing for a book illustration, complete with wash frame, but I have not been able to identify the specific work illustrated. Possibly for an issue of The Royal Engagement Pocket Atlas, 1790-1826.
Illustrations to a Novel [sic]. Oil, 29.2 × 95.2 cm. CL, 11 June, #33, illus. color (£3824). This painting is composed of 5 separate designs surrounded by a gold ground, decorated with arabesques and masks, which serves as a painted frame for each image. The designs are basically the same as the engraved illus. for the following works: “Cymon and Iphigenia” from John Dryden’s Fables, 1806 (far left); canto 4 in Sir Walter Scott’s Rokeby, 1813 (second from left); William Somerville, The Chace, 1800 (third from left); Robert Paltock, The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, published in The Novelist’s Magazine, 1783 (far right). I have not been able to identify the textual source for the design second from right.
Petruchio and the Tailor. Pen and brown ink, brown wash, 18.4 × 22.9 cm., paper evenly stained brown. EB, Nov., illus. color ($160.49). Apparently an illus. to Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, act 4, scene 3.
begin page 147 | ↑ back to topA Shepherd Admiring a Stone Monument Erected in 1658(?) by the Rt Hon George W(?). Pen and gray wash, 15.2 × 22.9 cm. Abbott and Holder, May online cat. 360, #90 (£275).
View of Seringapatam, with English Soldiers Overlooking Indian Cavalry. Oil, 33.7 × 51.0 cm. CL, 11 June, #56, illus. color (£8962).
“Caroline & Walstein” and “The Power of Innocence,” a pair, stipple pls. by Strutt after Stothard. BBA, 18 Nov., #88, light spotting, framed, “Power of Innocence” illus. color (not sold; estimate £300-500).
“Cassino,” Cook after Stothard, no doubt a book illustration. EB, Oct., framed, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $19.50). I have not been able to identify the book in which this pl. was published.
“Her Royal Highness Princess of Wales,” Murphy after Stothard, 1795. EB, Nov., hand colored (and possibly color printed), framed, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $50).
Stothard, portrait of, engraving by Meyer after Jackson. K Books, Oct. online cat., matted (£50).
“The Wellington Shield,” engraved after Stothard’s design, 1822. EB, Aug., central boss only, framed, with a vol. related only in subject (Cotton, A Voice from Waterloo, 1862), illus. color (a bargain at $9).
Aesop, Fables, 1793. Marilyn Braiterman, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 2 vols., later calf ($3000). EB, Oct., lacking the texts of 2 fables and their 2 pls. (but with the 1 after Stothard), browned, damp stained, foxed, apparently disbound (£23).
Akenside, Pleasures of the Imagination, 1810. EB, Dec., contemporary morocco, illus. color ($22.50).
The Alphabet, wood engravings designed by Stothard, published Pickering, 1830. Maggs, Oct. online cat., original wrappers (£2500); same copy, Nov. cat. 1365, #295 (£2200).
Armstrong, Art of Preserving Health, 1795. Old Rectory Books, Oct. online cat., “contents becoming loose in case” ($52).
Bacon, Essays Moral, Economical and Political, 1822. EB, Feb., later quarter calf, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £12).
Bible, The Self Interpreting Bible with . . . Commentary by . . . John Brown, published by Kelly, London, 1824. EB, Nov.-Dec., some stains, contemporary calf very worn, covers detached (no bids on a required minimum bid of £75). With at least 1 pl. after Stothard, not previously recorded.
Bijou, 1828. Waterfield’s, Dec. cat. 210, #81, publisher’s quarter roan worn (£95).
Boccaccio, Decamerone, 1825. EB, March, pls. only, apparently cut from the book rather than the separate issue of pls. only, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $9).
Bonnycastle, Introduction to Mensuration, 1816. D & E Lake, Oct. online cat., light foxing, contemporary sheep very worn ($120). Old Book Company, Oct. online cat., original boards very worn, lacking backstrip ($120).
Book of Common Prayer, 1794. EB, April, apparently the octavo issue, contemporary morocco, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $498.50); offered again, May, same result.
Boydell, Collection of Prints . . . Illustrating . . . Shakspeare, 1803. EB, Dec., “King Henry the Eighth, Act 1, Scene IV” only, Taylor after Stothard, illus. color ($99.99). See also under Fuseli, above.
Burns, Works, Philadelphia, 1835. EB, June, scattered foxing and staining, contemporary calf worn, illus. color ($153.50). With the title-page vignette of “The Birthplace of Burns” after Stothard first(?) published in an 1817 ed. of the Poetical Works.
Catullus, Tibullus, et Propertius, Pickering ed., 1824. EB, July, foxed, original cloth stained and worn, hinges splitting, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £60). Howes Bookshop, July cat. 307, #204, some staining, original cloth, hinges repaired (£55).
Cervantes, Don Quixote, 1810. Heritage Book Shop, Oct. online cat., 4 vols., later fancy morocco ($4500—apparently because of the binding).
Collins, Poetical Works, 1797. Blackwell’s, Nov. cat. B146, #176, contemporary calf (£125).
Cowper, Poems. EB, Jan., 1800 ed., vol. 2 (of 2) only, containing 6 of the 10 pls. after Stothard, contemporary morocco, illus. color ($44). EB, April, 1798 ed., 2 vols., some staining, contemporary calf worn, foot of 1 spine missing, illus. color ($34.33). EB, Sept., 1803 ed., 2 vols., pls. hand colored (probably at a later time), stains in the margins of some pls., contemporary calf very worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $99.99); same copy, Oct. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $49.99).
begin page 148 | ↑ back to topCromek, ed., Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, 1810. Blackwell’s, Nov. cat. B146, #188, title page with Stothard’s design foxed, modern half calf (£115).
Defoe, Robinson Crusoe. EB, Jan., 1790 ed., 2 vols., considerable foxing, contemporary calf worn, illus. color ($275). EB, Jan., 1804 ed., 2 vols., foxed, contemporary calf very worn, illus. color ($122.41). David Holmes, July cat. 81, #142, 1820 ed., 2 vols., later three-quarter morocco ($875). EB, Aug., 1847 ed. with 8 of the 22 pls. engraved by Heath first published in 1820, pls. foxed, quarter calf, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £99.99); same copy, Sept. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £79.99). EB, Oct., 1804 ed., vol. 2 only, slight foxing, contemporary calf, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $100). EB, Oct., 1804 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf worn, rebacked, illus. color (£29). EB, Nov.-Dec., 1820 ed., 2 vols., later half morocco worn, 1 cover detached, illus. color ($172.50).
Falconer, The Shipwreck. Camberwell Books, Oct. online cat., 1811 ed., some foxing, half calf worn ($37). Old Rectory Books, Oct. online cat., 1796 ed., damp stained, contemporary calf very worn, front cover loose ($59). J & S Wilbraham, Nov. online cat. 48, #76, 1794 ed., contemporary half calf rubbed (£25).
Fénelon, Adventures of Telemachus, 1795. EB, June, modern calf, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £180).
Goldsmith, Miscellaneous Works, New York, 1809. EB, Aug., 6 vols., half morocco, illus. color ($100). Contains at least 2 pls. after Stothard re-engraved after pls. 1st published in Miscellaneous Works, London, 1793 and 1805. Not previously recorded.
Hayley, Triumphs of Temper. EB, May-June, 1788 ed., pls. foxed, contemporary calf very worn, part of spine missing, illus. color (£12.50). Davies Fine Books, Oct. online cat., 1788 ed., contemporary calf (£35). Geoffrey Jackson, Oct. online cat., 1793 ed., contemporary calf (£65). Mountain House Books, Oct. online cat., 1795 ed., full calf ($195). WestField Books, Oct. online cat., 1793 ed., contemporary calf worn (£25). Old Book Company, Oct. online cat., 1793 ed., full calf worn ($130); 1796 ed., contemporary morocco ($120). Simon Finch, Oct. online cat., 1793 ed., contemporary calf (£75). Bruce Ramer, Oct. online cat., 1799 ed. (an ed. probably owned by Blake—see Bentley #729), contemporary calf worn ($250).
Hume, History of England, published Bowyer, 1806. EB, May, 4 pls. only after Stothard, illus. color (£3.99 each).
Josephus, Works, trans. Clarke, 1785. EB, March, 59 of 60 pls., contemporary calf very worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $675). Not previously recorded as containing, as the seller claims, at least 1 pl. after Stothard. Possibly the same design appearing in Maynard’s ed. of Josephus.
Macpherson, Poems of Ossian, 1795. EB, April, 2 vols., contemporary calf very worn, illus. color (£21).
Novelist’s Magazine. EB, Jan., Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe only, 1781, apparently lacking general title page, early boards rebacked, worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $499.95); Feb., same result on a required minimum bid of $399.95. EB, Feb., Arabian Nights only, 1785, apparently lacking general title page, modern quarter calf, illus. color ($365). John Price, spring 2004 cat. of “Recent Acquisitions,” #109, Marmontel’s Moral Tales only, 1792, with 5 of the 6 pls., apparently lacking general title page, contemporary calf very worn, covers detached (£250). Book Haven, Oct. online cat., vol. 1 only, 1790, foxed, binding falling apart ($150). Antiquariat Theresia Stenderhoff, Oct. online cat., vols. 1-2 only, 1780, calf worn ($261). Skyline Books, Oct. online cat., vol. 3 only, 1791, foxed, modern wrappers ($100). See also under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, above.
[Paltock], Peter Wilkins, 1816. EB, Jan., 2 vols., contemporary quarter calf very worn, illus. color ($104.50). With 3 pls. after Stothard, newly engraved after designs first published in The Novelist’s Magazine, 1783. Not previously recorded.
Pope, Rape of the Lock, 1798. See under Fuseli, above.
Ritson, ed., The Caledonian Muse, 1821. EB, July, quarter calf, illus, color ($110).
Rogers, Italy. EB, Dec. 2003, 1836 ed., some leaves damp stained, brief letter from Rogers, 1 Feb. 1830, inserted, modern morocco, illus. color ($173.50). Peter Harrington, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1838 ed., large-paper issue, original calf (£650). EB, April-May, 1836 ed., modern cloth (£41). EB, June, 1830 ed., later morocco, illus. color (£59). EB, June-July, 1842 ed., some bad foxing here and there, contemporary (publisher’s?) calf, illus. color ($98.74). Jarndyce, July cat. 159, #262, 1830 ed., presentation inscription from Monckton Milnes to Joseph Severn, contemporary vellum (£1250); #263, 1830 ed., later morocco worn (£110); #264, 1830 ed., with Rogers, Poems, 1834, 2 vols., later morocco (£650); #265, same combination as #264, some spotting, contemporary morocco (£280); #266, 1836 ed., contemporary morocco (£85); #267, 1852 ed., original cloth (£75); #268, 1852 ed., original cloth worn (£35); #269, 1854 ed., some stains, contemporary calf (£65). EB, July, 1836 ed., modern cloth, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £19); same copy, Aug., illus. color (£12). Bow Windows Bookshop, Aug. online cat., 1830 ed., some marginal browning, later morocco (£100). EB, Nov., 1836 ed., soiled, contemporary calf worn, illus. color ($34). begin page 149 | ↑ back to top John Windle, Nov. cat. 39, #195, 1838 ed., with Poems, 1838 ed., slight foxing, uniformly bound in publisher’s morocco ($2250—very probably a record asking price); #196, 1830 ed., with Poems, 1834 ed., uniformly bound in publisher’s morocco ($550).
Rogers, Pleasures of Memory. EB, May, 1804 ed., contemporary morocco, illus. color ($46). Apparently a reissue of the 1801 ed., with the same pls. There are also issues of 1802 and 1806. EB, June, 1810 ed. with the wood engravings by Clennell, apparently small paper, minor soiling, contemporary calf worn, illus. color (£135). Jarndyce, July cat. 159, #241, 1795 ed., later morocco (£60); #242, 1799 ed., contemporary half vellum (£75); #243, 1801 ed., contemporary morocco (£50); #244, 1803 ed., calf (£50); #245, 1810 ed., contemporary calf worn (£40). EB, Sept., 1803 ed., contemporary calf, illus. color (£9.88). Hugh Anson-Cartwright, Oct. online cat., apparently the “New Edition” of 1802, water stained, contemporary calf ($81). J & S Wilbraham, Nov. online cat. 48, #331, 1803 ed., contemporary calf rubbed (£25). EB, Nov.-Dec., 1810 ed. with the wood engravings by Clennell, apparently small paper, contemporary calf worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $85).
Rogers, Poems. Glasser Rare Books, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, 1834 ed., contemporary calf ($100). EB, Feb., 1834 ed., contemporary calf, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £12.50). EB, March, 1834 ed., contemporary calf worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £24.99). EB, April, 1834 ed., with Italy, 1834, uniformly bound in full calf, illus. color ($152.50). EB, April-May, 1842 ed., publisher’s cloth worn, illus. color (£12.99). EB, May, 1853 ed., contemporary calf, illus. color ($60). EB, May, 1843 ed., minor foxing, publisher’s cloth rebacked in roan, illus. (£9.99). EB, June, 1834 ed., later morocco, illus. color (£50). Jarndyce, July cat. 159, #246, 1814 ed., uncut in original boards (£65); #247, 1816 ed., contemporary calf worn (£65); #248, 1822 ed., contemporary morocco worn (£65); #249, 1834 ed., original boards, cloth spine (£110); #250, 1834 ed., contemporary morocco rubbed (£85); #251, 1839 ed., original cloth (£40); #252, 1852 ed., original cloth (£45); #253, 1853 ed., contemporary calf repaired (£15). Pickering’s Books, Oct. online cat., 1812 ed., foxed, contemporary calf (£25). Peter Goodden, Oct. online cat., 1814 ed., scattered foxing, half roan very worn (£35). J & S Wilbraham, Nov. online cat. 48, #330, 1816 ed., contemporary calf rubbed (£20). EB, Nov., 1834 ed., boards damaged, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $45).
Rogers, Poetical Works. EB, June, 1869 ed., with the steel engravings after Stothard and Turner, contemporary calf, illus. color ($93.56). EB, Aug., 1852 ed., with the wood engravings by Clennell after Stothard, publisher’s cloth worn, 1 cover detached, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $9.99).
Scott, Rokeby. Jarndyce, July cat. 159, #349, 1813 ed., bad spotting, contemporary morocco (£75). Kelmscott Bookshop, Oct. online cat., 1815 ed., some foxing, “leather boards” ($100).
Shakespeare, Dramatic Works, New York, 1826. EB, Nov., 10 vols., badly foxed, contemporary calf, illus. color ($536). Not previously recorded as containing pls. after Stothard.
Shakespeare, A New Edition of Shakespeare’s Plays, published Heath and Robinson, 1802-04. Ian Hodgkins, Oct. online cat., title-vignette pls. offered individually as follows: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (£55), The Taming of the Shrew (£45), The Tempest (£55). EB, Oct., pls. offered individually as follows, all illus. color: King John, full pl. design; Love’s Labours Lost, title vignette; The Taming of the Shrew, title vignette; The Tempest, full pl. design; Twelfth Night, title vignette; Two Gentlemen of Verona, full pl. design. All were withdrawn by the vendor before the end of the auction period. These pls. may be from the Stockdale reissue of 1807.
Shakespeare, The Plays, published Stockdale, 1807. Old Book Company, Oct. online cat., 6 vols., complete with the pls. by Heath after Stothard, some foxing, contemporary calf worn, covers loose ($3250).
Shakespeare, Seven Ages of Man, 1799. EB, March, “Pantaloon” only, Bromley after Stothard, possibly a later reissue, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £5).
The Spectator. EB, Feb., vol. 2 only from Bell’s British Classics, 1812, early boards, illus. color ($5). EB, May, 1812 ed. published by Suttaby, 8 vols., some foxing, quarter calf worn, illus. color ($99.99).
Sterne, Sentimental Journey. EB, Feb., 1821 ed., foxed, original printed boards worn, spine replaced, illus. color (£3.95). EB, Aug.-Sept., 1792 ed., some water staining, contemporary calf worn, library labels on spine, illus. color ($77.98). E. M. Lawson, Sept. cat. 313, #162, 1821 ed., full morocco (£40).
The Tatler, 1786. EB, April, vols. 3-6 of 6 only, said to contain 4 pls. after Stothard (1 illus. color), contemporary calf very worn (no bids on a required minimum bid of £14.99). Not previously recorded as containing pls. after Stothard.
Taylor, Picturesque Beauties of Shakespeare, 1783-87. Librairie Bertran, Oct. online cat., 39 pls. (including the 7 after Stothard?) mounted in an album ($580).
Thomson, Seasons. EB, Jan., 1795 ed., water stained, contemporary calf very worn, illus. color ($46). EB, Feb., 1793 ed., 1 pl. only, signed by Stothard, illus. color (£4.99). EB, March-April, 1794 ed., title page badly water stained, original boards very worn, illus. color (£6). EB, Aug., 1794 ed., lacking 1 pl., begin page 150 | ↑ back to top scattered foxing, contemporary calf worn, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of £45).
Watts, ed., Literary Souvenir, 1828. J & S Wilbraham, Sept. online cat. 47, #142, contemporary morocco worn (£20).
Young, Night Thoughts, 1798. EB, Dec. 2003, slight foxing, contemporary calf, illus. color (no bids on a required minimum bid of $99.99); same copy, Jan., same result on a required minimum bid of $74.99. John Windle, April cat. 38, #160, light spotting on pls., early calf ($350). J. N. Bartfield, Oct. online cat., contemporary morocco ($550).
Appendix: New Information on Blake’s Engravings
Listed below are substantive additions or corrections to Robert N. 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 only for the rarer separate plates.
The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue
Pp. 103-04, “The Man Sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour,” impression 2F. For the sale of this impression, see the listing under Separate Plates and Plates in Series, above.
William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations
Pp. 41-42, Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy, 1789-98. Mary Lynn Johnson, “Blake’s Engravings for Lavater’s Physiognomy: Overdue Credit to Chodowiecki, Schellenberg, and Lips,” Blake 38.2 (fall 2004): 52-74, offers a wealth of information about the sources of Blake’s 4 pls. Pls. 1 and 4 are based on designs by Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki. Pls. 1, 3, and 4 very probably had their immediate models in the pls. engraved by Johann Rudolf Schellenberg (pl. 1) and an unknown engraver or engravers (pls. 3, 4) published in Lavater, Essai sur la physiognomonie, The Hague, vol. 1 [1781]. Johnson has very kindly told me in correspondence that Blake’s pl. 2, “Democritus” after Rubens, probably also had its immediate model in the engraving by Johann Heinrich Lips published in vol. 1 of the Essai, although Blake’s handling of the image may have been influenced by Vorsterman’s engraving noted in William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations, p. 42.
P. 76, Allen, A New and Improved History of England, 1798, pl. 2, “King John absolved by Pandulph.” Henry Fuseli’s pen and brown ink preliminary drawing for this pl., incised and with black chalk on the verso for transfer, was acquired by R. Essick in July 2004 (earlier history unknown). The existence of this drawing, the only one traced for the 4 pls. in Allen’s History of England and the 4 in his Roman History (1798), supports the long-held opinion that all 8 pls. were designed by Fuseli. See illus. 9-11 and the captions thereto for further comments.
P. 105, Flaxman, Compositions from the Works Days and Theogony of Hesiod, 1817, pl. 21, the fly-title to the “Theogony.” A proof before all letters, printed on paper with an 1812 watermark, was offered by Campbell Fine Art, June 2004 cat. 11, #12, illus. (£500). This proof is now in a private British collection.