Blake in the Marketplace, 2010

ARTICLE

BY ROBERT N. ESSICK^[e]

AFTER several years of vibrant activity, the Blake marketplace was calm throughout 2010. To my knowledge, just one Blake drawing came fresh to market; no illuminated books or rare separate plates appeared in auction or dealers’ catalogues. Only the discovery, by G. E. Bentley, Jr., courtesy of Google Books, of many previously unrecorded references to Blake published before Alexander Gilchrist’s biography of 1863 kept the dedicated Blake collector busy.¹↤ 1. See “Checklist” under Abbreviations, below. A small selection of the more intriguing Bentley discoveries, available for sale in 2010, is included under Interesting Blakeana, below.

In my 2009 report, I noted the sale of a fourth-state impression of “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims” with the drypoint inscriptions clearly printed (Blake 43.4 [spring 2010]: 120). I received the print too late for reproduction with last year’s installment and thus include some images here (see illus. 1-2). The caption for illus. 2 includes information on the fourth and fifth states that extends and corrects statements about them in SP. I also described the rediscovery and sale of a letter by Blake in last year’s report. For a reproduction, transcription, and discussion of this letter, see Mark Crosby and Essick, “‘the fiends of Commerce’: Blake’s Letter to William Hayley, 7 August 1804,” Blake 44.2 (fall 2010): 52-72.

In April I learned from Alison Smith, Head of Acquisitions, British Art to 1900 at Tate Britain, that the museum was “no longer pursuing” the acquisition of the recently discovered impression of Blake’s 1793 separate plate of “Job.”²↤ 2. E-mail, 19 April 2010. For information on this impression, see Martin Butlin and Robin Hamlyn, “Tate Britain Reveals Nine New Blakes and Thirteen New Lines of Verse,” Blake 42.2 (fall 2008): 52-54. Acting on my behalf, John Windle made an offer to the owner of the print, Gabriel Summers, a private collector in London.³↤ 3. In an e-mail to Windle of 31 Oct. 2010, Summers gave me permission to include his name in the provenance record and requested that this impression be referred to as “the Summers copy.” This was informally accepted on 29 July. An export license was obtained without difficulty, but various complications hindered the purchase for several months. Payment and title were exchanged on 8 November and the print was released from Tate Britain, where it had been on deposit since 2007, on 17 November. Shipping to California was delayed when a large wooden crate labeled “one antique engraving” raised suspicions with security at Heathrow Airport. It was necessary to affirm on multiple forms that “no part of this consignment originated in or transited Yemen or Somalia, and that it does not contain ink or toner cartridges.” After the crate made its way through the hands of at least five different shippers and export/import agents, Windle finally received the work on 7 December. The next day, having lost faith in commercial transport and wishing to bring the trials of “Job” to an end, he drove the 380 miles from San Francisco to the San Gabriel Valley and delivered the print to me.

A variety of Blake-related materials, both real and imagined, continues to appear regularly on eBay. For one of the merely imagined Blakes, see The Olympic Devils (c. 1824-30?) under Interesting Blakeana. A far more convincing eBay offering is a watercolor copy of John Linnell’s 1820 pencil portrait of Blake; see under Linnell, below, and illus. 7-8.

By assembling several bits of information about Blake, William Hayley, and George Romney, Mark Crosby has discovered that an engraved portrait of Romney was based on a miniature by Blake. Another portrait of the same sitter may have been based on a second Blake miniature. Both of these works were in turn copied from self-portraits by Romney and thus, strictly speaking, Blake cannot be credited with designing the images. Blake’s role in these instances is similar to his production of a reduced drawing of a painting by Nicolas Poussin, which drawing was then engraved by John Byfield in R. J. Thornton’s edition of The Pastorals of Virgil (1821) (BB #504, pl. 25). For the engravings of Blake’s miniature portraits, see Hayley, Life of Romney, under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, and the European Magazine (1803) under Interesting Blakeana, below.

This is my first sales report since the 1978-79 installment not to list a copy of Young’s Night Thoughts with Blake’s engraved illustrations. Perhaps that splendid book is finally becoming rare. William Muir’s facsimiles of Blake’s illuminated books are also increasingly scarce—and expensive. They now fetch prices close to what the originals were selling for within living memory. Paul Mellon purchased copy F of Songs of Innocence and of Experience for $13,200 in 1947 (BB p. 414). Windle’s Blake catalogue of fall 2009 offered the Muir Songs of 1884-85 for $12,500. It sold summer 2010 at full price. Reproductions of Blake’s art and writings, ranging from the earliest nineteenth-century publications to the Internet, are also attracting scholarly notice. Blake’s own graphic media have long been of interest, but now attention has turned to the capabilities and distortions of the technologies used to reproduce and disseminate the originals. To what extent is our perception of Blake’s works shaped by their representations? To what extent does the marketplace determine the nature and availability of those representations?

The year of all sales and catalogues in the following lists is 2010 unless indicated otherwise. Most reports about auction catalogues are based on the online versions. Dates for dealers’ online catalogues are the dates accessed, not the dates of begin page 117 | ↑ back to top

CHAUCERS CANTERBURY PILGRIMS
Painted in Fresco by William Blake & by him Engraved & Published October 8 1810.
Ye gon to Canterbury God mote you spede.

1. “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims.” Etching/engraving, 4^th st. with the drypoint inscriptions left and right of the title. Image in this impression 30.3 × 94.0 cm. Laid paper without watermark, chain lines 3.9 cm. apart, leaf trimmed within the platemark at the top and on both sides to 36.0 × 94.8 cm. Etched and engraved 1810, this st. executed and this impression printed c. 1823-26. Essick collection. See the caption to illus. 2 for discussion.

publication. Works offered online by dealers and previously listed in either of the last two sales reviews are not repeated here. All illustrations are in color unless noted otherwise. Most of 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 2010 sales will be covered in the 2011 review. I am grateful for help in compiling this review to G. E. Bentley, Jr., Stephen Bidewell, David Bindman, Catherine Clement, Mark Crosby, Tim Linnell, Nicholas Lott, Julian Rota, Grant Scott, Philippa Simpson, Alison Smith, Gabriel and Leonie Summers, and Joseph Viscomi. My special thanks go to John Windle for heroic efforts in the pursuit of Blake’s works and to Alexander Gourlay for his generosity in keeping me abreast of eBay auctions and for assistance with “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims.” Once again, Sarah Jones’s editorial expertise and John Sullivan’s electronic imaging have been invaluable.

Abbreviations

BB	G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Books (Oxford: Clarendon P, 1977). Plate numbers and copy designations for Blake’s illuminated books and commercial book illustrations follow BB.
BBS	G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Books Supplement (Oxford: Clarendon P, 1995)
Bennett	Shelley M. Bennett, Thomas Stothard: The Mechanisms of Art Patronage in England circa 1800 (Columbia: U of Missouri P, 1988)
BG	Bloomsbury auctions, Godalming
BHL	Bonhams auctions, London
BHNY	Bonhams auctions, New York
BHO	Bonhams auctions, Oxford
BHSF	Bonhams auctions, San Francisco
BL	Bloomsbury auctions, London
BNY	Bloomsbury auctions, New York
BR(s)	G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Records, 2^nd ed. (New Haven: Yale UP, 2004)
Butlin	Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, 2 vols. (New Haven: Yale UP, 1981)
cat(s).	catalogue(s) or sales list(s) issued by a dealer (usually followed by a number or letter designation)
CB	Robert N. Essick, William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations (Oxford: Clarendon P, 1991)
Checklist	G. E. Bentley, Jr., “William Blake and His Circle: A Checklist of Publications and Discoveries in 2009,” Blake 44.1 (summer 2010): 4-[48]
CL	Christie’s auctions, London
CNY	Christie’s auctions, New York
Coxhead	A. C. Coxhead, Thomas Stothard, R.A. (London: Bullen, 1906)
CSK	Christie’s auctions, South Kensington
DNY	Doyle auctions, New York
E	The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, ed. David V. Erdman, newly rev. ed. (New York: Anchor-Random House, 1988)
EB	eBay online auctions
illus.	illustration(s), illustrated
LH	Leslie Hindman auctions, Chicago
PBA	PBA Galleries auctions, San Francisco
pl(s).	plate(s)
SL	Sotheby’s auctions, London
SNY	Sotheby’s auctions, New York

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Clerk of Oxenford. Cook. Miller. Wife of Bath. Merchant. Parson. Man of La[w]

A morrow when the day began to spring
Up rose our Host and was our alder cocke

The Use of Money
& its Wars

CH[AUCERS]
Pain[ted]

a Citizen. Lady Abbess. Nun. 3 Priests. Squires Yeoman. Knight. Squire

[PILGRI]MS
[Canterbur]y God mote you spede.

An Allegory of
Idolatry or Politics

And gadird us together on a flock—
Let see now: Who shall tell the first Tale

2. “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims.” Details of the drypoint inscriptions in the impression in illus. 1. The upper image shows the inscriptions to the left of the title; the lower shows those to the right. The drypoint inscriptions exhibit considerable burr, particularly noticeable on the “r” of “Wars” and the “A” in “A morrow” (left side), and the “A” in “And gadird” and the “a” before “flock—” (right side). Some of the ruled lines used as guides for lettering are also quite clearly printed. There are a few fragments of very lightly scratched letters on the right, including the letter “R” over which the initial letter of “And gadird” was more deeply inscribed, the letter “a” between “Let” and “see,” the letter “L” over which the initial letter of “now” was inscribed, a “t” and “s” under the final letter of “now,” and the words “one of us” to the right of the line ending “a flock—.” The 3 letters covered by “now” suggest that Blake initially inscribed the first two words in this line of drypoint text (“Let see”) further to the right. Fine lines above the final letter of “gadird” do not seem to constitute a letter and may be accidental scratches. Except for the word “one,” slightly darker in SP impression 4BB, these features are more clearly printed here than in any other recorded impression and thus indicate that this impression was one of the first few pulled after the execution of the 4^th-st. inscriptions. The presence of drypoint burr is particularly significant since it quickly wears off a copperplate. The laid paper (see the caption to illus. 1) may be unique to this print, with the possible exception of a few 3^rd-st. impressions such as SP 3W, reported to be on laid paper by Larkhall Fine Art in June 2010. The impression reproduced here may be the only known example of the first printing of the 4^th st.

Among the 5 known 4^th-st. impressions, the one illus. here has the best chance of coming from a lifetime printing by Blake himself. The pl. was well inked, but wiped to create a somewhat thin (a print dealer would say “delicate” or “silvery”) impression. This inking and printing style complement the work Blake executed on the copperplate to convert the dark 3^rd st. into the much lighter 4^th. The burnished illumination from the rising sun upper right is augmented in the 4^th st. Accordingly, the pilgrims, assembling in the crepuscular light before daybreak in the 3^rd st., are now bathed in dawn’s early light. If Blake’s print is true to the month of April established in the first line of Chaucer’s poem, one could imagine the time as 5:30 a.m. in the 3^rd st. and 6 a.m. in the 4^th.

The drypoint inscriptions include 4 lines quoted from the concluding passage of the “Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales: “A morrow when the day began to spring / Up rose our Host and was our alder cocke” (left of the title); “And gadird us together on a flock— / Let see now: Who shall tell the first Tale” (right of the title). Blake’s knowledge of The Canterbury Tales was probably based on the 1687 Thomas Speght ed. of Chaucer’s Works; see Alexander Gourlay, “What Was Blake’s Chaucer?” Studies in Bibliography 42 (1989): 272-83. If this was the source for the drypoint inscriptions, Blake has slightly modified Speght’s text, which reads: “A morrow when the day gan to spring, / Up rose our Host, and was our alder cocke, / And gadird us togedirs on a flocke, / [6 lines skipped, possibly indicated by the dash following “flock” in Blake’s inscriptions] / Let see now who shall tell the first tale” (8). The inscribed lines accord with the moment of departure pictured in the design, with the dawn beginning “to spring” over the horizon upper right and the Host’s arms spread wide to gather the pilgrims “together” in “a flock.” In the 3^rd st., the Host’s lips are closed. For the 4^th st., Blake burnished a small white space between the lips. Although barely noticeable except under magnification, this may have been Blake’s attempt to indicate that the Host is speaking the final line quoted, as indeed he is in Chaucer’s poem.

The remaining drypoint inscriptions are Blake’s own words: “The Use of Money / & its Wars” (left of the title); “An Allegory of / Idolatry or Politics” (right of the title). The relationship between these words and the scene above them offers some intriguing possibilities. Gourlay has convincingly demonstrated that some of the portraits of the pilgrims are based on classical sculpture and, in a few cases, on contemporary political figures. See “‘Idolatry or Politics’: Blake’s Chaucer, the Gods of Priam, and the Powers of 1809,” Prophetic Character: Essays on William Blake in Honor of John E. Grant, ed. Gourlay (West Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill P, 2002) 97-147. In Gourlay’s view, even in its earliest extant version as a tempera painting of 1808 or 1809 (Butlin #653), the design represents “Allegory” (the conversion of poetic tales into hegemonic religions), “Idolatry” (the worship of pagan idols and the deification of mortals), and “Politics” (William Pitt as the Pardoner, Charles James Fox as the Sompnour—see M. E. Reisner, “Effigies of Power: Pitt and Fox as Canterbury Pilgrims,” Eighteenth-Century Studies 12.4 [summer 1979]: 481-503). The idolatry of political figures in Blake’s time and the long history of religious idolatry, pagan or Christian, are manifestations of the same mental error, a displacement of the spiritual by the material. Given this perspective, Blake’s drypoint texts make verbally explicit what was already implicit in the pictorial image, much as the drypoint quotations from The Canterbury Tales make explicit the time and events pictured in the design.

The locations of Blake’s words may be significant: “The Use of Money / & its Wars” below the Merchant, “An Allegory of / Idolatry or Politics” below the “Lady Abbess” (as Blake names her in the list of pilgrims immediately below the design). The relationship between money and the Merchant inheres in his profession; Chaucer’s description of him in the “Prologue” makes clear his interest in “bargeins” and “cheuisaunce” (i.e., financing; Speght 3). In Jerusalem, Blake criticizes those who “freeze Love & Innocence into the gold & silver of the Merchant” (E 215). There are many contending interpretations of Chaucer’s characterization of the Lady Abbess (or Prioress), but Blake may have considered her love of the world as much as of God, and her interest in “stateliche of manere” (courtly manners, Speght 2) and finery as much as in faith, to be forms of idolatry.

The phrase “one of us” (or even just “of us”) does not appear in Chaucer’s “Prologue.” These words, as well as the ghostly letters barely visible beneath the quotation from Chaucer on the right, are probably remnants of an earlier group of drypoint inscriptions replaced by the words more clearly evident in this impression of the 4^th st. Their fragmentary presence in a few impressions is probably an accidental result of the way the copperplate was inked and its surface wiped before printing.

When did Blake execute the 4^th st.? In 1983 I suggested “c. 1820-1823” (SP 68); this now seems a bit too early. The conversion of the 3^rd into the 4^th st. included extensive alterations in the pictorial image (see SP 68 for an overview of the major changes). The drypoint inscriptions unique to the 4^th st. may have been added at a somewhat later date than the work in the design, but they are probably part of the same revisionary endeavor. The pictorial changes are notable for the addition of burnishing as an element of composition. Blake apparently used this technique to increase the sense of glancing light reflected off the figures, clouds, and landscape as the pilgrims ride eastward toward the sun about to rise over the horizon far right. This sophisticated and dramatic use of lighting is generally similar to what we find in Blake’s Job engravings, begun in 1823 but not completed until late 1825 or early 1826. Blake’s criticism of allegory dates from earlier in his career, most famously in the distinction between “Allegory” and “Vision” in “A Vision of the Last Judgment” of 1810 (E 554-55). His most forceful statements about war, money, and the nexus between them date from much later. The drypoint inscription left of the title finds several analogs with the texts Blake added, probably c. 1826, to his engraving of the Laocoön: “Christianity is Art & not Money / Money is its Curse”; “Art Degraded Imagination Denied War Governed the Nations”; “Who first spoil & then destroy Imaginative Art For their Glory is War and Dominion”; “The True Christian Charity not dependent on Money”; “Where any view of Money exists Art cannot be carried on, but War only” (E 274-75). Blake’s damning critique of R. J. Thornton’s version of the Lord’s Prayer, published in March 1827, expresses similar views on “Money or Debt or Tax,” “Power” and “War,” and a “God” who is “only an Allegory of Kings & nothing Else” (E 669). Taken together, the graphic techniques and textual parallels suggest a date of c. 1823-26 for the 4^th st.

The transition from the 4^th to the 5^th st. might have come about simply through wear on the copperplate, rather than any purposeful activity, since the only difference between them is the absence of the drypoint inscriptions in the latter. Such a process is indicated by the waning of the inscriptions in what may be sequential pulls, from the impression reproduced here to SP impression 4BB, to 4CC, to 4AA, to an impression (not recorded in SP) in the Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, and finally to 5^th-st. impressions, a few of which show fragmentary traces of the drypoint due to heavy inking (for example, 5QQ, 5VV, and an impression presently in John Windle’s stock). The copperplate, now in the Yale University Art Gallery, shows no evidence of either the drypoint inscriptions or any scraping or burnishing used to remove them. Thus the distinction between the 4^th and 5^th sts. may be somewhat arbitrary; the latter may simply be later impressions of the former. The astute print dealer Nicholas Lott disagrees. He believes that the drypoint would not have disappeared (or almost disappeared) by the time Colnaghi, the London art dealer, acquired the copperplate in Feb. 1881 unless it had been purposely erased. The 2 examples I have examined from Colnaghi’s first printing, on so-called “Japan” paper, show no evidence of the drypoint inscriptions.

Catherine Blake, Frederick Tatham, or John Giles may have printed a few impressions (4AA-CC?) from the copperplate when in their successive possession after William Blake’s death on 12 Aug. 1827. On 29 Sept. 1827 John Linnell sold an impression of “Cant Pilgrim’s” on “India” to “M^r Flowers” for £2 (BR[2] 791); this might be impression 4AA, the only recorded 4^th-st. example on laid India paper. Linnell’s accounts for the same month also show that he paid Catherine Blake for an unstated number of “proofs [probably meaning “impressions”] of the Canterbury Pilgrims.” There is, however, no documentary record of any printings between 1827 and the acquisition of the plate by Colnaghi in 1881.

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SP	Robert N. Essick, The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1983)
st(s).	state(s) of an engraving, etching, or lithograph
Swann	Swann auctions, New York
Weinglass	D. H. Weinglass, Prints and Engraved Illustrations by and after Henry Fuseli (Aldershot: Scolar P, 1994)
#	auction lot or catalogue item number

Drawings and Paintings

The Christ Child Asleep on a Cross. Tempera, 32.7 × 49.2 cm., datable to c. 1799-1800. Butlin #410. Given summer 2010 by the heirs of George Goyder to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. The museum has not accessioned the work, pending investigation of its provenance. According to Butlin, the painting was “acquired from a bombed house in 1940 by [the dealer James] Rimell.” The Fitzwilliam would like to identify the owner of the work before Rimell obtained it under these unusual circumstances. For illus., see the Blake web site <http://www.rochester.edu/college/eng/blake/newsletter.html> or the William Blake Archive <http://www.blakearchive.org> (see object 11 under Drawings and Paintings, Paintings, Illustrations to the Bible).

Edward III (?), a Visionary Head datable to c. 1819-20. Pencil, approx. 18.0 × 14.0 cm. on a leaf 24.2 x 20.5 cm. with a “J GREEN 1819” watermark. Butlin #736. CNY, 27 Jan., #149, illus. ($15,000 to an anonymous bidder on the telephone; estimate $4000-6000).

Separate Plates and Plates in Series

“Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims.” Larkhall Fine Art, June-July online cat., 3^rd st. on “thin laid paper,” SP impression 3W, repaired tears, illus. (price on request); another impression, 5^th st., Japan paper with chain lines 2.9 cm. apart, minor discoloration and rubbed spots, illus. “from a reproduction, not the original on offer” (£8000). The 5^th-st. impression was previously offered privately at the same price in June 2009.

Dante engravings. Larkhall Fine Art, June-July online cat., 6 of 7 pls. offered individually (lacking only pl. 1, “The Whirl-wind of Lovers”), 1968 printing, illus. (£2250-2500 each). Swann, 17 June, #231, pl. 5 (“The Serpent Attacking Buoso Donati”) only, 1968 printing, in a copy of the deluxe issue of the Blake Trust/Trianon P Illustrations of Dante (1978), as originally issued in a “calf-backed clamshell box,” illus. (not sold; estimate $1000-1500); acquired shortly after the auction by John Windle acting for Essick. The impression of pl. 5 in the Blake Trust publication is inscribed in pencil, “A restrike from the copper plate in my collection / August 1968 Lessing J. Rosenwald” and (in the hand of the plate printer Harry Hoehn), “Hry hoehn imp 68.” For information on the 1968 printing, see Ruthven Todd, “Blake’s Dante Plates—Revised Version,” Book Collecting and Library Monthly no. 6 (Oct. 1968): 164-71, reprinted as a pamphlet, Blake’s Dante Plates, “with addition” dated 7 Oct. 1968.

“George Cumberland’s Card.” EB, Dec. 2009, printed in black on a leaf 5.4 × 10.3 cm., slight foxing, no description of the paper but apparently the rather soft laid paper of several other posthumous impressions, attached to a paper mount extensively inscribed in pencil, long note on a separate leaf attached to the cover mount below the window, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $6999.95 or “best offer”); same impression, Feb. (“buy it now” price reduced to $5599.96); same impression, April (“buy it now” price reduced to $4249.96).

“Job,” the separate pl. of 1793. The “Summers copy,” 1st st., acquired Nov. by Essick from Gabriel Summers, London, John Windle acting as agent and with the assistance of Julian Rota. SP #V, this impression not recorded. The only other traced impression of the 1^st st. is in the Keynes Family Trust, on deposit at the Fitzwilliam Museum (SP impression 1A). See notes 2-3 and the discussion in the introductory essay.

Job engravings. Swann, 27 April, #150-53, pls. numbered 8, 11, 13, and 16 offered individually, the 1^st 3 on laid India, printing not indicated but probably 1874, the last a published “Proof” impression not described as being on laid India and thus perhaps on so-called “French” paper, all illus. (pl. 8 not sold, $2040 each for pls. 11 and 16, $1680 for pl. 13); 21 Sept., #3, pl. numbered 5 only, apparently an impression on Whatman paper after removal of the “Proof” inscription, illus. ($3120); 28 Oct., #433, same impression of the pl. numbered 8 offered on 27 April, illus. ($1560). Larkhall Fine Art, June-July online cat., pls. numbered 1-6, 8-20 offered individually, impressions on Whatman paper after removal of the “Proof” inscription, illus. (£2500-3500 each). R. E. Lewis & Daughter, June online cat., #40, pl. numbered 11 only, apparently an impression after removal of the “Proof” inscription, from the collection of the art historian Lorenz Eitner (1919-2009), illus. ($2000); Oct. online cat., #42, pl. numbered 14 only, published “Proof” impression on laid India, illus. ($3500). EB, Aug.-Sept., pl. numbered 13 only, published “Proof” on laid India, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $800 or “best offer”).

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

Ariosto, Orlando furioso. Book Gallery, Jan. online cat., 1783 ed., vol. 3 only, presumably containing Blake’s pl., stained, “hardcover” worn ($40); Oct. online cat., 1783 ed., 5 vols., begin page 121 | ↑ back to top stained, “hardcover” very worn, covers detached, 1 missing ($95). Bernard Michel, Jan. online cat., 1799 ed., 5 vols., half “leather” worn ($1200 Canadian). Brimstones, Jan. online cat., 1785 ed., 5 vols., extra-illus. with pls. from an Italian ed., “leather” very worn (£400). Taurus Books, Jan. online cat., 1785 ed., 5 vols., some marginal damp staining, full calf worn ($345). Berkelouw, Jan. online cat., 1783 ed., 5 vols., full calf worn ($600 Australian). First Place Books, Jan. online cat., 1783 ed., 5 vols. in 3, extra-illus. with pls. from a later ed., early 191h-century half calf ($1000). White Hills Farm, Jan. online cat., 1799 ed., 5 vols., half “leather” worn ($300). EB, April, 1799 ed., 5 vols., full calf, vol. 2 rebacked, illus. ($405). BL, 13 May, #127, 1783 ed., 5 vols., vol. 4 water stained, contemporary calf worn (£200). La Brocante, Oct. online cat., 1783 ed., 5 vols., half “leather” very worn ($1200 Canadian). Am Here Books, Oct. online cat., 1783 ed., 5 vols., contemporary calf worn, 1 cover detached ($1350).

Blair, The Grave. EB, Jan., “1813” (actually 1870) folio, modern quarter calf, extensively illus. ($811); Feb., 1808 quarto, scattered light foxing, later full calf and folding cloth box, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $2000 or “best offer”); pl. 3 only, 1813 imprint, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $600 or “best offer”); March, “1813” (actually 1870) folio, scattered foxing, publisher’s cloth, illus. (£350); April-May, pl. 11 only, 1813 imprint, light foxing, illus. (£34); May, pl. 5 only, 2^nd published st. from the 1808 quarto ed., leaf 35.6 × 26.7 cm., margins stained, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $450 or “best offer”); pls. 1, 4, 7, and 10 only, offered individually, 1813 imprints, leaves 38.0 × 29.0 cm. and thus probably from the 1813 folio, slight marginal stains, pl. 1 foxed, illus. (£27 for pl. 1, no bids on required minimum bids of £25 for pl. 4, £26 for pl. 7, £25 for pl. 10); pl. 2 only, 1813 imprint, marginal foxing, fairly heavy at the top, illus. (£12.50); July, pls. 7 and 12 only, 1813 imprints, tear in top margin of pl. 7, marginal stains and slight damage in the upper part of the image in pl. 12, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of £149.99 each); Oct., “1813” (actually 1870) folio, “lacks 1 plate” (not otherwise described), some pl. margins “frayed.” publisher’s cloth very worn, spine missing, illus. (£123.12). Ketterer Kunst auction, Hamburg, 17 May, #68, 1808 “folio” (but probably the quarto), some stains and repaired tears, modern calf and cloth slipcase, illus. (no price information; estimate €2500). Virginia Book Shop, Oct. online cat., 1813 quarto, scattered foxing on pls., “uncut” (but actually unopened), leaves 34.7 × 27.9 cm., quarter morocco with minor wear, binding illus. ($1200). DNY, 1 Nov., #112, 1808 quarto, foxed, three-quarter morocco very worn, front cover detached, illus. ($750). LH, 18 Nov., #201, “1813” (actually 1870) folio, damp stains, later half morocco, illus. ($170.80).

Boydell’s Graphic Illustrations ... of Shakspeare, c. 1803. Staniland, Jan. online cat., lacking 5 pls. but apparently with Blake’s pl. after Opie, marginal foxing, contemporary morocco crudely rebacked, worn (£1200). White Fox Books, Oct. online cat., marginal foxing, modern half calf, illus. ($4750). D & E Lake, Nov. online cat., some foxing, contemporary morocco ($4500).

Bryant, New System ... of Ancient Mythology. Petersfield Bookshop, Jan. online cat., 2nd ed., 1775-76, lacking 2 pls., contemporary “leather” rebacked, worn (£550). Malter Galleries auction, Encino, California, via <http://www.liveauctioneers.com>, 16 Oct., #1, 1st ed.; 1774-76, modern half calf ($575). BHO, 30 Nov., #361, 2nd ed., 1775-76, 3 vols., contemporary half calf worn (£156).

Catullus, Poems, 1795. James Penning, Oct. online cat., 2 vols., contemporary calf, slight wear (£850). Santiam Bookseller, Oct. online cat., 2 vols. in 1, scattered foxing, calf worn, covers detached ($949.97).

Darwin, Botanic Garden. Quaritch, Dec. 2009 cat. 2009/19, #50, 1^st eds. of both parts (1791, 1789), 2 vols., occasional spotting, imprint on Blake’s pl. 1 (and others?) trimmed off, at least 1 view of the Portland Vase trimmed at the sides, contemporary calf, illus. (£2500). EB, Jan., Blake’s pls. 2-5 only from 1 of the quarto eds., imprint trimmed from pl. 2, tear in pl. 2 and image trimmed on the right margin, light marginal foxing, illus. (£166); Blake’s pl. 6 (“Tornado”) only from the 3^rd ed. of Part 1, 1795, hand colored, badly foxed, framed, illus. ($142.50 to Grant Scott, Muhlenberg College); Feb., 1^st ed. of Part 1, 3^rd ed. of Part 2, both 1791, lacking 9 botanical pls. but all pls. by Blake present, 2 vols. in 1, contemporary calf worn, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $285); same copy, later in Feb., illus. ($285). Peace of Mind Bookstore, Jan. online cat., 1799 ed., apparently 2 vols. in 1, light foxing, modern cloth ($427.50). Books on High, Jan. online cat., 2nd ed. of Part 1, 3rd ed. of Part 2, both 1791, 2 vols. in 1, pls. foxed, some heavily, quarter “leather” worn, covers loose ($945). Philadelphia Rare Books, Jan. online cat., eds. not indicated but dated to 1791, lacking 3 pls. including 2 of Blake’s 4 pls. of the Portland Vase, other missing pl. not by Blake, “library buckram” ($650). BHSF, 21 Feb., #6215, 1799 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf worn, illus. ($171). BHO, 23 Feb., #7, eds. not stated but both dated to 1791, 2 vols. in 1, “lacking one preliminary leaf,” foxed, contemporary calf very worn, covers detached, illus. (not sold; estimate £150-300). Brimstones, Oct. online cat., 1^st ed. of Part 1, 3^rd ed. of Part 2, both 1791, browning and foxing, 2 vols. in 1, “leather” rebacked, worn (£500). Books on High/Tri-Village Book Co., Oct. online cat., 2^nd ed. of Part 1, 3^rd ed. of Part 2, both 1791, pls. foxed, 2 vols. in 1, contemporary calf very worn, covers detached ($945).

Flaxman, Hesiod designs, 1817. BG, 15 April, #3 99, dated to “1816” (probably an error for 1817), bound with Flaxman’s Iliad (1805), Odyssey (1805), and Aeschylus designs (dated to “1817”), foxed, contemporary morocco worn (£140). EB, April-May, scattered foxing, a few pls. water stained in margins, early boards rebacked and worn, illus. (£67).

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Flaxman, Iliad designs, 1805. BL, 14 Jan., #207, bound with Flaxman’s Odyssey designs, 1805, slightly spotted, 19^th-century half calf worn (£140). GDS Books, Jan. online cat., bound with Flaxman’s Odyssey designs, 1805, few tears, browned and soiled, quarter “leather” worn ($199.95). EB, Feb., bound with Flaxman’s Odyssey designs, 1805, scattered light foxing, later calf worn (£258.35); March, foxed, original boards worn with cover label, illus. (£36); March-April, Blake’s pl. 1 only on “heavy cream wove paper,” illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $89.95). Bouquinerie de la Reppe—Librairie Cosmopolite, April online cat., bound with Flaxman’s Aeschylus designs, 1795, boards, slight damp staining (€400). Interquarian, April online cat., bound with Flaxman’s Odyssey designs, 1805, foxed throughout, half calf worn (£350). Hollett & Son, April online cat., foxed and water stained, contemporary half calf worn and stained, binding illus. (£350). BHO, 12 Oct., #161, bound with Flaxman’s Odyssey designs, 1805, contemporary morocco very worn, upper cover detached, with Flaxman’s Dante designs, 1807, contemporary quarter morocco worn, illus. (£48). McLean Arts & Books, Oct. online cat., modern three-quarter calf ($800). See also Flaxman, Hesiod designs, above.

Gay, Fables. Riverby Books, Jan. online cat., 1793 ed., apparently vol. 2 only with 3 pls. by Blake, “fine binding” in “leather” ($400). Xerxes Books, Jan. online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols. in 1, some spotting, three-quarter “leather” ($850). Book Gallery/Mike Riley, Jan. online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols., “leather” rebacked ($2250). Ryan O’Horne, Jan. online cat., [1811] issue, 2 vols., with Aesop, Fables, 1793, 2 vols., full calf (£1910). B & L Rootenberg, Jan. online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols., with Aesop, Fables, 1793, 2 vols., “large paper copy,” full calf ($4950). Peter Harrington, Jan. online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols., 19^th-century morocco (£1375). Alan Wofsy, Jan. online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols., “contemporary leather and marbled boards” ($1100). Addyman Books, Jan. online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols. in 1, lacking title and contents page in vol. l, foxed, no description of binding other than “rebacked” (£300). EB, Jan.-Feb., Blake’s pl. 11 only, full leaf, foxed, illus. (£54.50); Feb.-March, Blake’s pl. 10 only, full leaf, foxed, illus. (£23); 1793 ed., 2 vols. in 1, scattered foxing on pls., contemporary half calf very worn, spines damaged, covers detached, some leaves loose, illus. (£226); May-June, Blake’s pl. 10 only, trimmed to margins of approx. 2.5 cm., slight foxing in margins, illus. ($49); Aug., Blake’s pl. 10 only, full leaf, minor marginal stains, illus. (£210, probably an auction record for a single pl. from Gay’s Fables); 1793 ed., vol. 2 only, scattered foxing, 19^th-century half calf worn, illus. (£46); 1793 ed., 2 vols. in 1, scattered foxing, contemporary morocco rebacked and worn, illus. ($310); Sept., Blake’s pl. 5 only, full leaf, illus. (£29.95); Sept-Oct., Blake’s pl. 3 only, full leaf, illus. (£58.50); Oct., Blake’s pl. 6 only, full leaf, illus. (£41); another impression, slight staining, full leaf, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of €12.90); Nov., Blake’s pl. 8 only, full leaf, illus. (£41); Dec., Blake’s pl. 4 only, full leaf, illus. (£51.09). Swann, 12 April, #127, 1793 ed., 2 vols., “contents washed with some residual toning, some plates browned,” later calf ($720). BHNY, 4 Oct., 1793 ed., 2 vols., contemporary calf worn, binding illus. ($244). Craftsbury Books, Oct. online cat., 1793 ed., a few pls. browned, 2 vols., later full calf ($1400). Unsworth’s Booksellers, Oct. online cat., 1793 ed., some spotting, 2 vols., contemporary morocco worn (£500). Adrian Harrington, Oct. online cat., 1793 ed., 2 vols., with Aesop, Fables, 1793, 2 vols., early 20^th-century morocco, bindings illus. (£750). BHO, 30 Nov., #438, 1793 ed., 2 vols., some spotting, contemporary calf worn, vol. 1 rebacked, illus. (£60). Some of these copies of the “1793” ed. may be the [1811] issue.

Hayley, Ballads, 1805. Quaritch, Aug. cat. 2010/14, #107, 2^nd st. of pls. 1-3, contemporary calf (£1000).

Hayley, Life of Cowper, 1803-04. Second Life Books, Jan. online cat., 1^st ed., 3 vols., light foxing, contemporary calf rebacked ($825); same copy and price, Aug. cat. 174, #172. Classic Bindings, Jan. online cat., 1^st ed., “two volumes” (3 vols. in 2, or only vols. 1-2?), recent calf (£350). Robert Temple, April online cat., 1^st ed., 3 vols., scattered light foxing, contemporary calf rebacked ($677.85). EB, April-May, 2^nd ed., 3 vols., contemporary calf worn, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £545); Sept., vol. 3 only, half calf very worn, spine damaged and back cover missing, illus. (£231); apparently 1^st ed., 3 vols., scattered foxing, contemporary calf, 1 spine label missing, illus. (£149.95). Red Star Books, Oct. online cat., 1^st ed., 3 vols., with the Supplementary Pages (1806) bound into vol. 3, some browning and foxing, calf worn (£250). Barberry Hill Books, Oct. online cat., apparently 1^st ed., 3 vols., with the Series of Views (1803) and Supplementary Pages (1806) bound into vol. 3, calf worn ($800).

Hayley, Life of Romney, 1809. James Fenning, Jan. cat. 248, #225, slight foxing, later half morocco rubbed (£650). Powell’s Books, Jan. online cat., frontispiece partly detached, contemporary calf very worn ($350). Howes Bookshop, Feb. Los Angeles Book Fair, large-paper copy uncut in original boards, modern cloth folding case ($1050). BG, 18 March, #270, lower edges stained, modern half calf (£60). Tony Hutchinson, Oct. online cat., lacking 4 pls. but including Blake’s, marginal stains, later half calf worn, binding illus. (£125). Kitrenwick Books, Oct. online cat., later half calf (£290). The publisher’s printed spine label on the Howes copy (now Essick collection) reads “HAYLEY’s / LIFE / of / ROMNEY. / Illustrated / WITH / TWELVE PLATES / BY / CAROLINE WATSON.” Watson in fact engraved only 7 of the 12 pls.; the spine label ignores the contributions by other engravers, including Blake’s 1 pl. The printed spine label on small-paper copies makes no mention of Watson. For the significance of the large-paper label and the possibility that 1 of the 3 portraits of Romney in Watson’s engraved frontispiece is based on a miniature by Blake, see Mark Crosby and Essick, “‘the fiends of Commerce’: Blake’s Letter to William Hayley, 7 August 1804,” Blake 44.2 (fall 2010): 64, 70-71, and illus. 5.

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Hayley, Triumphs of Temper, 1803. Thornton’s Bookshop, Jan. online cat., large-paper copy, light foxing on pls., 19^th-century morocco worn (£900); another copy, apparently small paper, lacking pl. 1, pls. foxed, some imprints trimmed off, disbound (£75). Justin Schiller, March cat. 55, #13, apparently small paper, slight foxing, contemporary calf rebacked, illus. ($1250).

Hoare, Inquiry, 1806. Le Pettit Libraire, Jan. online cat., half sheep, illus. (€250).

Hogarth, The Beggar’s Opera by Hogarth and Blake, 1965. Metanoic Books, March online cat., original portfolio with “minor exterior wear” ($299). Rain Dog Books, March online cat., apparently in the original portfolio, “fine” ($300). EB, March-April, original portfolio, illus. ($275). LH, 16 March, #202, original portfolio worn, illus. ($122); another copy?, 18 Nov., #205, original portfolio worn, illus. ($122).

Hogarth, Works. Kevin Mullen, Jan. online cat., 1822 ed., 119 pls., “leather” worn, front cover detached ($4750). Adrian Greenwood, Jan. online cat., undated Baldwin and Cradock ed., 116 leaves of pls., some water stains, tears, and foxing, half morocco worn (£1250). Alexandre Antique Prints, Jan. online cat., undated Baldwin and Cradock ed., some tears and creases, half morocco worn ($3750). Argosy Book Store, Jan. online cat., undated Baldwin and Cradock ed., 116 leaves of pls., three-quarter “leather” ($4000). BHO, 23 Feb., #72, undated Baldwin and Cradock ed., 115 leaves of pls., occasional spotting and foxing, contemporary half morocco very worn, upper cover detached, illus. (£780). EB, March-April, Blake’s pl. only, probably 6^th st., illus. ($127.50); Aug.-Sept., Blake’s pl. only, 6^th st., the pl. very worn, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $300 or “best offer”); Sept., Blake’s pl. only, perhaps 4^th st., illus. (£20); Dec., 8 very worn pls. only including Blake’s, st. not identifiable but certainly late, stained and with large holes in the image, illus. ($41). Swann, 17 June, #231, 1822 ed., lacking 1^st text leaf, 1^st pl. torn, contemporary morocco very worn, rebacked with cloth, illus. ($1320). Book Press, Sept. cat. 192, #37, 1822 ed., 119 leaves of pls., 2 vols., quarter calf ($5000). Darvill’s Rare Prints, Sept. online cat., Blake’s pl. only, possibly 4^th st., foxed, illus. ($325). Donald Heald, Oct. online cat., undated Baldwin and Cradock ed., 115 leaves of pls., contemporary half morocco, binding illus. ($3750). Peter Harrington, Oct. online cat., “3 plates” only including Blake’s 1 pl., probably 4^th st., “good condition” (£245).

Hunter, Historical Journal, 1793, quarto issue. Grant & Shaw, Jan. online cat., “large paper copy,” late 19th-century half calf (£3000). Berkelouw, Jan. online cat., some foxing, 19^th-century morocco ($5000 Australian). Family Album, Jan. online cat., lacking some pls. but apparently with Blake’s, foxed and damp stained, disbound ($800). Henry Sotheran, Jan. online cat., “occasional light spotting,” 19^th-century half calf (£4995). CSK, 23 Sept., #72, some light browning, contemporary calf worn, illus. (£2500). Arader Galleries, Oct. online cat., contemporary calf rebacked ($4500). Kenneth Hince, Oct. online cat., near-contemporary half calf rebacked, modern folding box ($5399). BHNY, 9 Dec., #6027, foxed, later half sheep worn, illus. ($1952).

Josephus, Works. Kay Craddock, Jan. online cat., BB issue A, lacking 1 pl. not by Blake, contemporary calf very worn ($3000 Australian—a record asking price). Barnaby Rudge, Jan. online cat., BB issue D or E, recent half morocco, binding illus. ($1000). Abbey Books, Jan. online cat., BB issue D or E, contemporary calf rebacked, illus. (£350). EB, June, Blake’s pl. 3 only, st. not indicated but probably 2^nd, illus. (£52.77); June-July, Blake’s pl. 2 only, “a few light brown spots,” 2^nd st., illus. (£42.75); Nov., Blake’s pl. 1 only, brown stain lower left in image, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $125). Best Buy Books, Oct. online cat., probably BB issue D or E, contemporary calf very worn, covers detached ($700).

Kimpton, History of the Bible, c. 1781. Andersens Antikvariat, Jan. online cat., contemporary calf rebacked ($277). Eric Chaim Kline, Jan. online cat., “incomplete” (no further explanation), water stained, contemporary calf very worn ($250). Peter Kennedy, Jan. online cat., “old” half calf (£185).

Lavater, Aphorisms on Man. Larry W. Price, Jan. online cat., 1788 ed., verso of Blake’s pl. damp stained, “period leather” ($595). J & S Wilbraham, Jan. online cat., 1788 ed., contemporary calf worn (£150). EB, Feb., 1794 ed., 2^nd st. of Blake’s pl., slight marginal foxing on the pl., later calf, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £110); same copy, same result on a required minimum bid of £98; same copy, March, same result on a required minimum bid of £95; same copy, trying once again, this time with a required minimum bid of £75; same copy, March-April, still seeking the market price with a required minimum bid of £65; same copy, April, the saga continues with a required minimum bid of £50 (at long last sold for £50). E. M. Lawson, June cat. 329, # 19, 1788 ed., with Douglas Cleverdon’s book label designed by Eric Gill, contemporary calf (£320). Magus Books, Oct. online cat., 1788 ed., soiled, stained, some tears, modern “leather” ($100).

Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy. EB, Jan., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, scattered foxing and browning, contemporary calf worn, illus. ($1225); May, 1789-98 ed., 3 vols., scattered foxing (heavy on some pls.), contemporary Russia very worn with covers detached, illus. (reserve not met; highest bid $405); same copy, May-June, illus. ($486.99). Alexandre Antique Prints, Jan. online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, some foxing, contemporary calf rebacked ($3000). Peter Bichsel, Jan. online cat., some foxing, 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, 20^th-century half vellum (€2312). BWB Antiquarian, Jan. online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, some foxing, modern cloth ($621.01). Antikvariat Röde Orm, Jan. online cat., “1792” (actually c. 1818) ed., 3 vols. in 5, some damp stains, “full leather” ($4306). Artisan Books, Jan. online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, some pls. begin page 124 | ↑ back to top missing (but Blake’s are apparently present), scattered foxing, quarter “leather” very worn, some covers detached and spines missing ($1200). Classic Bindings, Jan. online cat., “1792” (c. 1818) ed., 3 vols. in 5, contemporary morocco worn, binding illus. (£1750). BL, 16 June, #248, “1792” (c. 1818) ed., 3 vols. in 5, “occasional marginal foxing or browning,” contemporary morocco worn, illus. (£500). BHO, 12 Oct., #91, 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, some spotting and damp stains, later half morocco very worn, some covers detached (£144). Donald Heald, Oct. online cat., 1789-98 ed., 3 vols. in 5, “extra-illustrated with an early proof state of the illustration by F. Bartolozzi on p. 411 in the final volume,” contemporary Russia ($6500). Librairie Jean-Etienne Huret, Oct. online cat., “1792” (c. 1818) ed., 3 vols. in 5, 19^th-century calf (€5500). DNY, 1 Nov., #114, a mixed set, 1789, 1792, 1810, 3 vols. in 5, some foxing, contemporary calf rebacked, illus. ($448). BHNY, 9 Dec., #6030, 1810 ed., 3 vols. in 5, scattered foxing, contemporary Russia worn, illus. (not sold; estimate $800-1200).

Nicholson, Introduction to Natural Philosophy, 1782. Blackwell’s, Sept. cat. of “Sciences,” #106, 2 vols., contemporary calf repaired (£600).

Novelist’s Magazine. John Price, Jan. online cat., dated to “1780” and “1788” by Price, 21 vols., lacking vols. 5 and 13 (which contain no pls. by Blake), contemporary calf (£2750). EB, March, vol. 8, Blake’s pl. 2 (Don Quixote) only, 1st st., illus. (£26.55); March-April, vol. 8, Blake’s pl. 1 (Don Quixote) only, 1^st st., illus. (£18); Sept., vol. 9, Blake’s pl. 3 (Launcelot Greaves) only, 1^st st., right margin torn, illus. (£2.99). This last pl. would very probably have attracted higher bids if “William Blake” had been part of the headline title on EB rather than just “Stothard.”

Rees, Cyclopædia, 1820. Barter Books, Jan. online cat., 4 vols. of pls. only, contemporary calf very worn, spines missing, binding illus. (£780). Evans the Book, Jan. online cat., lacking 4 text vols. and with only vol. 4 of the pls. (presumably with Blake’s pls. 4-7), very worn binding, covers detached (£400). Wonder Books, Jan. online cat., “Volume XLII: Plates” only (apparently pls. vol. 3, with Blake’s pl. 3), foxed and soiled, 2 pls. “cut;’ no description of the binding other than “worn” ($125). EB, Feb., Blake’s pl. 2 only, marginal foxing, illus. ($52).

Ritson, Select Collection of English Songs, 1783. Church Green Books, Jan. online cat., 3 vols., no description of the binding (£300). Wykeham Books, Jan. online cat., 3 vols., light foxing, full calf ($673).

Scott, Poetical Works. Am Here Books, Jan. online cat., 1782 ed., presentation inscription from Scott to John Hoole, half morocco ($1650). Powell’s Books, Jan. online cat., 1782 ed., some foxing, contemporary calf worn ($125). Kenneth Karmiole, Jan. online cat., 1786 ed., 20^th-century cloth ($250). David Kenyon, Jan. online cat., 1782 ed., some foxing, “leather” worn (£250). EB, Feb., 1782 ed., scattered foxing, contemporary calf worn, illus. (£77).

Shakespeare, Dramatic Works, 1802. Alexandre Antique Prints, Jan. online cat., 9 vols., contemporary morocco ($7500). Vashon Island Books, Oct. online cat., 9 vols., foxed, calf very worn, most covers detached ($4500); another set, lacking vol. 8, foxed, morocco very worn ($1911). SNY, 10 Dec., #88, 9 vols., pls. with contemporary hand coloring, some foxing, contemporary morocco worn, vol. 1 covers detached, vol. 9 hinges restored, illus. ($10,000). Blake’s pl. is in vol. 9.

Shakespeare, Plays. Thomas Goldwasser Books, Jan. online cat., 1805 ed., 10-vol. issue, contemporary calf rebacked ($3000). EB, May, 1805 ed., vols. 6 and 9 only of the 9-vol. issue, with Blake’s 2 pls., offered individually, contemporary calf very worn, spines repaired with tape, illus. (no bids on required minimum bids of £19.99 each); May-June, 1805 ed., 9-vol. issue, contemporary calf worn, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $1600 or “best offer”); same copy, June, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $1400 or “best offer”); same copy, July, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $1200 or “best offer”); same or very similar copy, July, illus. ($211.50); Sept., 1805 ed., vols. 7 and 10 only from the 10-vol. issue, with Blake’s 2 pls., offered individually, later calf, illus. ($249.50 for vol. 7, $331 for vol. 10). Johnnycake Books, Oct. online cat., 1811 ed., 9 vols., foxed, half calf worn ($1250).

Stedman, Narrative, 1796, colored copies. John Windle, April private offer, 2 vols., 3 pls. heightened with gold, some browning to a few leaves, contemporary marbled boards rebacked with modern calf ($29,750); same copy and price, Oct. online cat.

Stedman, Narrative, uncolored copies. EB, Dec. 2009, Blake’s pl. 1 only, stained, illus. ($212.50); Jan., 1806 ed., vol. 1 only, disbound, lacking the title page and the map of Surinam but apparently with the 8 Blake pls., stained, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $599.99); Oct., Blake’s pls. 1, 3, 7 only, offered individually, stained, illus. (no bids on required minimum bids of $29 each); same impression of pl. 1, Oct.-Nov., illus. ($32); same impression of pl. 7, Nov., illus. ($29). PBA, 8 Feb., #154, 1796 ed., 2 vols., “some fairly moderate foxing and aging,” modern quarter calf, illus. ($3600). Libreria Antiquaria Perini, Oct. online cat., 1796 ed., 2 vols., later half calf (€5000). BHNY, 9 Dec., #6039, 1813 ed., 2 vols., 19^th-century half morocco worn, illus. ($2684).

Virgil, Pastorals, 1821. Larkhall Fine Art, June-July online cat., apparently vol. 1 only with Blake’s 17 wood engravings, “a very good copy,” no description of binding, 3 illus. “made from reproductions, not the originals on offer” (price on request).

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Wits Magazine, 1784. EB, Dec. 2009, Blake’s pl. 4 only, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $599); same impression, March, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $599 or “best offer”); same impression, Oct.-Nov., illus. (same minimum bid and result). Kenneth Karmiole, Jan. online cat., pls. 2, 4, 5 only, framed ($1000 the set).

Interesting Blakeana

The Bible in Miniature, or a Concise History of the Old and New Testaments. London: E. Newbery, 1780. Maggs, Nov. private offer, inscribed “a a Blake” on the front paste-down endpaper (facing the title page) and “W Blake” on the back paste-down endpaper, both in pen and black ink, contemporary calf very worn (price on request). I think it very unlikely that these inscriptions, probably by the same juvenile hand, are by the poet and artist.

F. Basan, Dictionnaire des graveurs anciens et modernes. “Seconde Édition.” Paris: Chez L’Auteur, Cuchet, et Prault, 1789. Ancre de Miséricorde, May online cat., 2 vols. in 1, “solid binding” (€380). Antiquariat Wolfgang Braecklein, May online cat., 2 vols. in 1, later quarter calf (€240). The brief entry on Blake (1: 70) is the same, except for minor differences in punctuation and spelling, as that recorded for the 1809 ed. in BB #1129 and for the Supplément of 1791 in BB #A1129. There are also entries for James Basire and James Parker (1: 51, 2: 74). Basan includes “Blake” (2: 280) in a list of entries in Joseph Strutt, Biographical Dictionary ... of ... Engravers, 2 vols. (1785-86), but the only Blake listed there is “C. J. Blake. ... A young lady of distinction, who for her amusement etched the portrait of her uncle, Sir Francis Blake Delaval, in the year 1775” (1: 99). There is of course no “Blake” entry in Basan’s 1^st ed., 1767. The 1789 ed., one of the earliest published references to Blake, is not in BB or BBS.

European Magazine, and London Review 43 (Jan.-June 1803). PsychoBabel Books, Jan. online cat., contemporary half calf worn (£25). The frontispiece in the April issue, a portrait of George Romney engraved by William Ridley, is based on a miniature portrait by Blake, which in turn was based on Romney’s self-portrait now in the National Portrait Gallery, London. See Mark Crosby and Essick, “‘the fiends of Commerce’: Blake’s Letter to William Hayley, 7 August 1804,” Blake 44.2 (fall 2010): 62-64, and illus. 6.

W. P. Carey, Critical Description of the Procession of Chaucer’s Pilgrims to Canterbury, Painted by Thomas Stothard, 1808. EB, Feb., title page inscribed “to W^m. Young Esq^r. M. D. Sheffield, with W^m. Carey’s respects” (lined through) and “The typographic errors are noted in the text and margin of this copy. W. C.,” front paste-down endpaper inscribed “Received f^rm y^e Author Oct. 15. 09 - W. Y.,” bound with Carey, Letter to I*** A***** (1809), half calf over marbled boards very worn, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £150); June, bound with Green, Catalogue ... of the Whole of the Works of ... Callot (1804), later calf (offered at the “buy it now” price of £376.42 or “best offer”). Quaritch, Feb./March cat., #5, contemporary calf rebacked (£850). The Critical Description (BB #1338A) includes a passing reference to Blake.

The Olympic Devils. Pencil, pen and ink(?), and gray wash, leaf approx. 17.8 × 23.5 cm. with a “J Whatman / Turkey Mill” watermark. EB, Sept., “an Amazing, Rare, Early ‘The Olympic Devils’ original William Blake (1757-1827) pencil drawing,” inscribed with the title top left, apparently in pencil, and “W. Blake” bottom left in black ink, other inscriptions partly trimmed off along the bottom margin (not recorded or decipherable from the illus.), watermark with a “partial date of 1824,” in an elaborate but damaged gilt frame with a “William Blake / 1757-1827” label beneath the drawing and a “Christie’s East” sticker on the back, illus. ($4837.97). This amateurish drawing may be c. 1824-30 but is not by Blake. The “W. Blake” inscription looks nothing like his handwriting. The drawing attracted 17 bidders, 16 of whom were fortunate.

[A. and J. Taylor], City Scenes (BB #260). Bath and West Books, March online cat., 1828 ed., publisher’s cloth rebacked, illus. (£140). Hava Books, March online cat., 1828 ed., foxed, quarter calf (£180). Hollett & Son, March online cat., 1828 ed., publisher’s cloth rebacked (£450). Hobbyhorse Books, Dec. cat. 56, #145, 1818 ed., boards with roan spine, worn ($470). Includes Blake’s “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Innocence. See illus. 4, 5.

Dictionnaire de la conversation et de la lecture, vol. 6. Paris: Belin-Mandar, 1833. Le Chat qui souris, March online cat., contemporary (original?) half calf very worn (€12). Includes Ch. Romey, “Blake (William), graveur, peintre et poète anglais d’une étonnante imagination, d’un talent plein de magie, l’un des artistes les plus originaux de cette Angleterre ....” An enthusiastically positive essay on Blake, based in large measure on Cunningham’s biography. First recorded in Checklist 44, an earlier issue of BB #2546, vol. 3 (1852), the author mistakenly identified as “Romney.”

J. Landseer, A Descriptive ... Catalogue of Fifty of the Earliest Pictures Contained in the National Gallery of Great Britain, 1834. Red Star Books, March online cat., publisher’s boards and cloth spine with spine label, worn, illus. (£50). States that Michelangelo’s famous drawing, The Dream of Human Life, had been “quoted, we believe, and rendered more perspicuous and credible, by Flaxman and by Blake” (51). Landseer probably had in mind Blake’s title page to Blair’s Grave. Blake may have seen an engraving of Michelangelo’s drawing and been influenced by it. Similarly, a print of Michelangelo’s drawing of Ganymede may have had some impact on Blake’s frontispiece for “The Eagle” (BB #466, pl. 6) in Designs to a Series of Ballads, Written by William Hayley (1802). Note particularly begin page 126 | ↑ back to top

3. “Holy Thursday,” pl. 19 from Songs of Innocence. Songs of Innocence and of Experience, posthumous copy h, printed in light orange ink c. 1831-32. 11.6 × 7.9 cm. Essick collection. The boys (top) are led by 2 beadles wearing hats, possibly bicorns or tricorns. Blake’s poem (E 13) refers to the “wands” they carry, but only the beadle second from the right carries one in the design. The girls (bottom) are led by a single figure, probably a female matron possibly wearing a hat or head-covering of some sort. In some impressions (such as copies E, L, V, Y, Z, and AA of the combined Songs) she appears to be holding a book. There is no clear evidence of this motif in the etched image, and thus the book was added to individual impressions in watercolor or pen and ink. For the historical context of Blake’s poem, see Stanley Gardner, Blake’s Innocence and Experience Retraced (London: Athlone P; New York: St. Martin’s P, 1986) 30-37. See illus. 4-6 for other pictures of the same annual event.

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4. Unsigned illus. to Blake’s “Holy Thursday” (Songs of Innocence) published in [Ann and Jane Taylor], City Scenes, or a Peep into London (London: Darton, Harvey & Darton, 1818), following p. 66 (Blake’s poem printed in letterpress on 67-68). Unsigned etching/engraving, image 5.5 × 7.3 cm. Essick collection. Both beadles wear bicorn hats and carry staves of office (Blake’s “wands”). The poem specifies that the children are being led “into the high dome of Pauls” (E 13), but in this design they are clearly exiting a church bearing little resemblance to St. Paul’s, London. The girls follow the boys; both groups walk “two & two” (that is, in pairs) as in the poem and in Blake’s own design (illus. 3). A man wearing a brimmed, flat-crowned hat (not a bicorn) stands to the right of them, near the juncture between the genders; a female adult (matron?) stands at the end of the line just at the doorway to the church. Her hat would also appear to have a brim. This pl. was printed again, rather worn, in the 1823 ed. of City Scenes but replaced by a different design in the 1828 ed. (illus. 5).

5. Unsigned illus. to Blake’s “Holy Thursday” (Songs of Innocence) published in [Ann and Jane Taylor], City Scenes, or a Peep into London (London: Harvey & Darton, 1828), following p. 66 (Blake’s poem printed in letterpress on 69). Unsigned etching/engraving, image 4.4 × 7.1 cm. Essick collection. A substitute for the pl. published in the 1818 (illus. 4) and 1823 eds., perhaps necessitated by the worn condition of the earlier copperplate. In this version, the girls lead the boys. The figure just to the left of the boys might be a female wearing a large, brimmed hat rather than the man of the earlier pl. An adult in a brimmed top hat is pictured at the end of the line, now well outside the church door. This final figure is difficult to see because he (?) merges with shading on the façade behind. Compare also illus. 3, 4, and 6.

begin page 128 | ↑ back to top the way the eagle’s head turns sharply to the right in both designs. Michelangelo’s drawings were engraved by Nicolas Beatrizet (1515-after 1565), whose print of a figure from Michelangelo’s The Crucifixion of St. Peter may have been the basis for Blake’s engraving “Joseph of Arimathea among the Rocks of Albion” (see SP 8). In his annotations to The Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Blake notes that he studied the “Prints from Rafael & Michael Angelo. in the Library of the Royal Academy” (E 639) when the keeper was George Michael Moser, who died in 1783. The reference in Landseer’s book was 1^st recorded in Checklist 40.

Penny Magazine 6 (1837). Clent Books, March online cat., scattered foxing, contemporary half calf worn, illus. (£39). Includes Blake’s “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Innocence. First recorded in Checklist 27. See illus. 6.

W. Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Pickering ed., 1839 (the 1^st letterpress ed. of the Songs). BL, 24 Nov., #56, issue (with or without “The Little Vagabond”) not indicated, “Charles Augustus Tulk’s copy,” presentation inscription to James Peard Ley, publisher’s cloth, with 2 other vols. including Tulk’s Aphorisms on the Laws of Creation, Songs title page illus.

6. “Cheapside—Children from the Parochial and Ward Schools going to St. Paul’s” (letterpress caption). An illus. to Anon., “Educational Charities,” Monthly Supplement of the Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge 6.358 (30 Sept.-31 Oct. 1837): 420-24 (this illus. on 424). Unsigned wood engraving, image 10.5 × 15.1 cm. Essick collection. The essay discusses the event, with reference to the first celebration in 1782 and “this year’s anniversary” (423), and thus the design may not have been meant specifically as an illus. to Blake’s “Holy Thursday,” printed on 424. In this picture (see also illus. 3-5), there are 3 lines of children. On the left are boys, with 2 beadles near (but not at) the front of the group; each wears a bicorn and carries a staff. Girls form the central column, led by 2 beadles similarly accoutered. Another group of girls on the right is accompanied by a single beadle just behind the fifth pair. The other adults, far left and right, may be spectators rather than parade officials, although the tall adult female on the right, wearing a hood-like bonnet, and the frontmost female on the left might be matrons. The artist has given a sense of the vast number of participants—“amounting to near 5000” in 1782, according to the article (423)—by extending the rows of children to the design’s vanishing point. Since they are “going to St. Paul’s” (caption), as in Blake’s poem, the cathedral would be behind the viewer.

begin page 129 | ↑ back to top (£500). Tulk (1786-1849), a Swedenborgian, was a friend of Blake’s. See BR(2) 53, 326; Geoffrey Keynes, “Blake, Tulk, and Garth Wilkinson,” Library 4^th ser. 26 (1945): 190-92; and Raymond H. Deck, Jr., “New Light on C. A. Tulk, Blake’s Nineteenth-Century Patron,” Studies in Romanticism 16.2 (spring 1977): 217-36.

A. Aglio, William Blake’s Cottage, Hampstead Heath. Watercolor, 23.5 × 31.5 cm., date unknown (c. 1840-57?). Christie’s Amsterdam, 15 Dec., #610, titled as above in the cat., inscribed “A Aglio Blakes Cottage Hampsheath” lower right within the image, illus. (€584). Previously sold Christie’s Amsterdam, 19 Jan. 1999, #81. Blake never lived in a cottage on Hampstead Heath. The drawing would appear to picture Collins’s Farm, where John Linnell lived 1824-28. Blake, in his last few years, visited Linnell at this house on several occasions (see BR[2] 395-96, 448; E 775, 779, 780, 785). The Italian artist Agostino Aglio (1777-1857) moved to England in 1803.

A. E. Evans and Son, Catalogue of a Collection of Books, Part 3, [1845]. K Books, March online cat., 16 pp. numbered 33-48, items 682-1106, apparently complete for “Part III,” no binding (£10). Includes Jerusalem copy A, Visions of the Daughters of Albion copy A, “a Stereotype design for Pilgrim’s Progress [probably “The Man Sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour”], presented by Mrs. Blake to Mrs. Tatham,” “a Small Etching by him [Blake], representing Sampson destroying the Lion,” and “a very Curious Coloured Drawing, illustrating the Revelations by this original Artist, signed and dated 1809.” This last is probably The Whore of Babylon, sold by Evans to the British Museum in 1847 (see Butlin #523). No traced impression of “The Man Sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour” bears, or is accompanied by, a presentation inscription to Mr. or Mrs. Tatham. I am not able to identify the etching of Samson. The Blake lots were 1^st noted in Checklist 21.

Howitt’s Journal, 1847-48. Henry Pordes Books, Jan. online cat., vols. 1-3, 1847 (vols. 1-2) and 1848 (vol. 3), publisher’s cloth, possibly a reprint or remainder of the original issues (£95). Vol. 2, no. 47 (20 Nov. 1847) includes Anon., “Death’s Door. By William Blake” on p. 322 (BB #914). The essay is accompanied, on p. 321, by a fine wood engraving, 21.3 × 12.9 cm., of Blake’s “Death’s Door,” signed lower left within the design “H. Harrison S^c.” Like 1 of W. J. Linton’s 2 wood engravings of the design, 22.0 × 13.8 cm., Harrison’s version has rounded corners at the top. Linton’s block was printed in the Illustrated Exhibitor and Magazine of Art 1 (12 June 1852), and in The Ladies’ Drawing Room Book of the same year (BB #911A-B). See also M. W. Burger, Histoire des peintres de toutes les écoles: école anglaise, 1863, below.

P. Cunningham, Hand-Book of London, 1850. Unsworth’s Booksellers, March online cat., publisher’s cloth worn, spine damaged (£20). Includes comments on 2 of Blake’s residences, his grave in Bunhill Fields, and his “interviews with angels and persons of scarcely inferior distinction” (341). First recorded in Checklist 35.

Gentleman’s Magazine 37 (Jan.-June 1852). Abbey Books, Jan. online cat., modern buckram (£26.88). An anonymous review of Anna Eliza Bray’s Life of Thomas Stothard (BB #969) in the Feb. issue includes the text of Robert H. Cromek’s letter to Blake of May 1807 rejecting Blake’s design for the dedication page in Cromek’s ed. of Blair’s Grave. This text was apparently based on a transcription, made by Allan Cunningham, of a copy of the letter retained by R. H. Cromek. The reviewer was given access to this A. Cunningham transcription by “Mr. Peter Cunningham” (149), whose father, A. Cunningham, had acquired the letter retained by R. H. Cromek from his son, Thomas H. Cromek, in 1833 (BR[2] 860-61n19; see also Blake 43.1 [summer 2009]: 11). The original letter sent to Blake, the copy retained by R. H. Cromek, and A. Cunningham’s transcription of the latter are all untraced. P. Cunningham (1816-69) may have been the reviewer of Bray’s book. To preserve his anonymity, he claims he is “indebted” (149) to the anonymous owner for being allowed to see the letter. There is at least 1 other manuscript transcription of the letter, by T. Cromek and now among the Cromek papers in the Princeton University Library, but this may have been copied from the Gentleman’s Magazine. See BR(2) 241-44 (text of the letter) and Checklist 10.

J. Hannay, Satire and Satirists, 1854. Pioneer Books, March online cat., publisher’s cloth bit worn ($33 Australian). Hannay writes as follows: “I have seen a MS. of Blake the painter, in which, speaking of somebody’s praise of somebody else, he says: ‘Christ used the Pharisees in a rougher way’” (272). The quotation is from verses (unpublished in 1854) in Blake’s Notebook about Joshua Reynolds’s praise of Michelangelo (E 511). The Notebook was in the possession of Dante Gabriel Rossetti between 1847 and 1882 (BB p. 334). The journalist James Hannay (1827-73) was a close friend of Rossetti’s; see William Michael Rossetti, Some Reminiscences of William Michael Rossetti, 2 vols. (London: Brown Langham, 1906) 1: 163-66. This reference in Hannay’s book was 1st recorded in Checklist 37.

T. Grinsted, Relics of Genius, 1859. High Barn Books, March online cat., rebound in “leatherette,” earlier spine label retained (£85). Includes comments on Blake’s “chronic insanity,” his “journey to Jerusalem,” his “want of discipline,” and his death in “1828” (158). Accuracy was not Grinsted’s strong suit. First recorded in Checklist 37.

[J. Weale], Rudimentary Dictionary of Terms Used in Architecture, ... Fine Art, ... Etc. 2^nd ed., 1860. E. Lubbe Books, May online cat., publisher’s cloth a little worn ($85). Includes a brief entry on Blake with references to Songs of Innocence, The Gates of Paradise, and “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims.” The Blake entry does not appear in the 1^st ed. of 1849-50. Some begin page 130 | ↑ back to top copies of the 2^nd ed. are dated “1858-9.” First recorded in Checklist 47.

J. W. Palmer, ed., Folk Songs, 1861. Robert’s Bookshop, March online cat., publisher’s embossed calf ($50). Includes Blake’s “Introduction” to Songs of Innocence, here titled “The Piper.” BB #281, where the editor’s name is incorrectly given as “Piper.”

M. W. Bürger, Histoire des peintres de toutes les écoles: école anglaise, 1863 (BB #1317, indicating that “Bürger” is a pseudonym for J. Thoré). Librairie Mathis, April online cat., contemporary quarter morocco (€31). Versandantiquariat Karl Heinz Schmitz, April online cat., modern quarter calf (€125). Le-livre.com, April online cat., Blake chapter only, 4 pp. (as issued separately?), no description of binding (€14.90). EB, April, contemporary morocco, binding illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of €60). The chapter on “William Blake” includes yet another wood engraving of “Death’s Door,” 17.4 × 11.3 cm. and signed “L. Chapon” as the engraver (Léon Louis Chapon, 1836-1918). See also Howitt’s Journal, 1847-48, above. “Death’s Door” appears to have been Blake’s most reproduced design throughout the 19^th century. Bürger’s book, apparently a collection of individually paginated chapters 1^st issued separately, also includes essays on Barry, Fuseli, Mortimer, Romney, and Stothard.

A. C. Swinburne, William Blake, 1868. EB, June, with the rare 1^st issue title page with “Zamiel” printed below the vignette, publisher’s cloth badly stained, illus. (€12.50).

H. C. Robinson, Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence. Ed. Thomas Sadler. 2 vols. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1871. EB, Sept., publisher’s cloth worn, illus. (sold at the “buy it now” price of $32). This reissue of BB #2535C, published in Boston by Fields, Osgood, & Co. in 1869, is not in BB or BBS.

New Quarterly Magazine 2 (April-July 1874). Boz Books, Jan. online cat., contemporary cloth (£7). An essay by “the Editor” (Oswald Crawford), titled “William Blake: Artist, Poet, and Mystic,” 466-501 (BB #1425), includes a brief summary of a letter by Blake about a “vision” he had in Westminster Abbey, probably during his apprentice years (475). According to a footnote, the letter was “addressed apparently to Mr. Butts, which was purchased, with others, at a sale in 1861 by a friend of the present writer.” This is the only record of such a letter; see BR(2) 16.

“Toddiana,” a small group of materials, datable to 1876-c. 1942, from the collection of Ruthven Todd (poet and Blake scholar, 1914-78), including 2 exhibition cats., 10 auction cats. or clippings therefrom (most annotated by Todd with prices and purchasers), and the following unique items:
a. Typescript copy of the 1876 Blake exhibition, Burlington Fine Arts Club (BB #571), annotated by Todd.
b. Typescript titled “Blake’s Separate Plates by Geoffrey Keynes. Copy from typescript 3.11.41.” A draft of the section on plates designed and engraved by Blake published in Keynes, Engravings by William Blake: The Separate Plates, 1956 (BB #669). An annotation by Todd states that “Neither Enoch nor The Canterbury Pilgrims are included in this rough draft.”
c. Typescript titled, by Keynes in pen and ink, “William Blake Letters Register. Duplicate, for Ruthven Todd Jan. 1942.” With a few annotations by Keynes and a note by Todd inserted. Published as the “Register” in Keynes, ed., The Letters of William Blake, 1956 (BB #93A).
d. Autograph manuscript by Keynes titled “William and Robert / A page from the Life of William Blake / by Geoffrey Keynes.” Pen and ink, 10½ pp. Datable to c. 1942; published as “William Blake’s Brother,” Times Literary Supplement (13 Feb. 1943), and reprinted in slightly revised form in Keynes, Blake Studies, 1949 and 1971 (BB #2046).
The collection acquired from Todd by the dealer Paul Grinke in the 1960s; sold to Windle at the London Book Fair, June; 8 of the auction cats. and items a-d acquired June by Essick.

Portrait of W. Blake, 1881 etching by William Bell Scott after a painting derived from Schiavonetti’s engraving of the painting by Thomas Phillips. Grosvenor Prints, Aug. online cat., laid India paper, 1 of 100 impressions published by Colnaghi before the image was reduced from 21.1 × 16.0 cm. to 18.9 x 13.3 cm., “Printseller’s Association Seal lower right,” illus. (£240).

W. Muir, “The Edition of the Works of Wm. Blake,” 1884-90 (BB #249). John Windle, March private offer, 2 vols., book-plate of Henry Martin Gibbs of Barrow Court, Somerset (1850-1928), full morocco ($102,500). This complete set of Muir’s early facsimiles includes the following: Songs of Innocence, copy no. 37, original wrappers bound in; Songs of Experience, no. 21, wrappers bound in; Visions of the Daughters of Albion, no wrappers or copy no.; The Book of Thel, no wrappers or copy no.; The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, no. 18, wrappers bound in; Milton, no. 14, wrappers bound in; There is No Natural Religion, no. 16, wrappers bound in; The Gates of Paradise, no. 9, wrappers bound in; The First Book of Urizen, no. 9, wrappers bound in; America, no. 1, wrappers bound in; Europe, no. 12, wrappers bound in; The Song of Los, no wrappers or copy no.; Little Tom the Sailor, no copy no.; On Homer’s Poetry [and] On Virgil, no. 5. The set also includes the following supplementary materials: a watercolor title page by Muir, inscribed “The Works of / William Blake. / Vol. I,” decorated with motifs based on the title pages of Visions of the Daughters of Albion and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell; the William Griggs facsimile of The Book of Ahania (BB #15, dating this ed. to 1892); a letter from Muir about the set; and a Quaritch cat. of 1885 advertising the Muir facsimiles.

W. Muir facsimiles offered individually. Argosy Book Store, Jan. private offer, Songs of Experience, 1885 (BB #249d), copy begin page 131 | ↑ back to top no. 32 signed by Muir, original wrappers “chipped” ($4500). PBA, 8 Feb., #16, The Gates of Paradise, 1888 (BB #249m), 20^th-century vellum, original wrappers (and hence the copy no.) not retained, slight marginal browning, illus. ($1440).

Century Guild Hobby Horse 1.4 (Oct. 1886). Ian Hodgkins, April online cat., uncut and unopened in publisher’s wrappers (£145). Includes a convincing reproduction of Blake’s broadside, Little Tom the Sailor (apparently by William Muir—see BB #249i, 470B), Herbert H. Gilchrist, “Nescio Quæ Nugarum. No. III. ‘The Ballad of Little Tom the Sailor’” (BB #1683), and an interesting description of the inspiration for D. G. Rossetti’s sonnet about Blake in Frederic Shields, “Some Notes on Dante Gabriel Rossetti” (too brief to be within the purview of BB or BBS). Windle, April private offer, Little Tom the Sailor only, paper with folds and stabholes from prior binding but otherwise in good condition, with Gilchrist’s note on 1 leaf also extracted from the journal ($750).

W. Blake, Songs of Innocence [and] Songs of Experience. Ariel Booklets no. 150. New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, Knickerbocker P, n.d. (c. 1903). UHR Books, July online cat., leaves 13.9 × 9.5 cm., 86 pp. + 6 unnumbered pp. list of “Ariel Booklets” at the end, bookplate of Gertrude Schuyler Norton, publisher’s roan, spine chipped at head and foot ($15). Also includes “A cradle song” (E 468) from Blake’s Notebook. My dating is based on the characteristics of the binding, endpaper designs, typography, and copyright date in 2 other titles in the Ariel Booklets series. The only record I have seen of this ed.; not in BB or BBS.

William Blake’s Illustrations to Thornton’s Pastorals of Virgil. Enlarged Fac-similes in Platinotype ... by Frederick H. Evans, 1912 (BB #507). Argosy Book Store, Jan. online cat., “the photographer’s own copy, with Evans’ bookplate,” and a note by Evans stating that this is “one of two un- numbered presentation copies;’ three-quarter morocco ($2000).

C. A. Stonehill Ltd., 1938 cat. 140. Huntington Library, April, original wrappers, offered on the “these items are free” library truck. This cat. includes the following Blake items:
#10. “Blake (William). Death Mask of. Original [pencil and chalk?] drawing by George Richmond. 6½ × 6 inches. August, 1827[.]” Illus. in black and white (£40).
#11. “The Whirlwind of Lovers, from Dante’s Inferno. Unrecorded Proof State.” Leaf 27.8 × 35.5 cm. (£60).
The attribution of the drawing to Richmond seems right, but it is unlikely that the subject is Blake. The shapes of the eyes and nose are quite different from Blake’s. The drawing is not a copy of Blake’s life mask, often mistakenly identified as a death mask. Richmond was present at Blake’s death, or shortly thereafter, on 12 Aug. 1827,⁴↤ 4. BR(2) 459: “George Richmond, who came in just after he [Blake] died, ‘closed the poet’s eyes and kissed William Blake in death ....’” Richmond told H. H. Gilchrist that he “closed the poet’s eyes and kissed William Blake in death,” but this statement does not indicate whether Richmond arrived at Blake’s deathbed before or soon after he died. For Richmond’s comment, see Anne Gilchrist: Her Life and Writings, ed. Herbert Harlakenden Gilchrist (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1887) 258-59. but the style of this drawing suggests a much later date of composition. The description of the Dante pl. (not quoted here) and its leaf size indicate that it is very probably the proof now in the Princeton University Art Museum, the gift of Frank Jewett Mather, Jr., in 1944. For the Princeton proof, see Geoffrey Keynes, “The Dante Engravings,” Blake’s Illustrations of Dante (London: Trianon P for the William Blake Trust, 1978), description of “Plate I” (unpaginated) and unnumbered illus.

G. Keynes, manuscript datable to c. 1942. See “Toddiana,” 1876-c. 1942, above, item d.

The Book of Job Translated in Rhyme by J. H. Schwarz with William Blake’s Illustrations. Peoria: Rev. J. H. Schwarz, 1974. EB, Aug., publisher’s cloth, illus. ($47). Includes reproductions of published “Proof” impressions of Blake’s Job engravings, exclusive of the title page. Not in BB or BBS, perhaps because not a complete reproduction.

Graham Sutherland (British artist, 1903-80), engraved portrait of Blake based on the life mask, 1975. Thomas Goldwasser Books, April private offer, wove paper, inscribed in ink “G S. 20 VI 75” and “Trial Proof / Portrait of William Blake, / from the Life Mask,” inscribed in pencil “1^st State” ($6000). Apparently never published.

William Blake, exhibition cat., Tate Gallery, 1978 (BBS p. 295). EB, May-June, inscribed “Allen Ginsberg / London / Boulder / 1979,” paperback worn, inscription illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $34.99). The handwriting is Ginsberg’s (American poet, 1926-97).

W. Blake, Infant Joy and The Blossom. N.p.: Cherub P, 1981. EB, Feb., miniature book, leaves 6.0 × 5.2 cm., 4 pp., no. 9 of 45 copies on Rives Velin paper from a total printing of 240, publisher’s thin paper boards and dust jacket, illus. (£29.99). The only record I have seen of this ed. of these 2 poems from Songs of Innocence; not in BBS.

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 pls., books by (or with pls. by or after) the artist.

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BARRY, JAMES

Barry, Series of Etchings by, 1808. BL, 4 Nov., #330, 5 pls. only, unidentified except for “Elysium and Tartarus,” with “Pandora,” Schiavonetti after Barry, 1810, 3 pls. with folds, some with tears, “spotting and dampstaining,” illus. (£240).

Boydell, Collection of Prints ... Illustrating ... Shakspeare, c. 1803. EB, Dec. 2009, 1 pl. only, “King Lear” engraved by Legat, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $249). See also Boydell under Fuseli, below.

BASIRE, JAMES

“Le Champ de Drap d’Or,” imprint dated 10 Nov. 1774, engraved by Basire after a watercolor by Edward Edwards of 1771, in turn based on the anonymous original painting now in the Royal Collection, Hampton Court. Alecto Historical Editions, May private offer, a modern restrike on Heritage Book paper, leaf 84.5 × 137.8 cm. (£350 uncolored, £650 hand colored on commission). Blake, while an apprentice to Basire, may very well have worked on this enormous pl. (platemark 67.9 × 123.8 cm.) during the 2-3 years it took Basire’s shop to produce the engraving. For information on the paintings, the engraving, and the production of the “Antiquarian” paper large enough to accommodate the pl., see Thomas Balston, James Whatman Father and Son (London: Methuen, 1957) 28-33, and the essay by Bernard Nurse, Librarian, Society of Antiquaries, <http://www.alectouk.com/Antiquarian%20Print%20Details.htm>, accessed 1 June 2010.

“The Embarkation of Henry VIII at Dover,” imprint dated 5 July 1781, engraved 1779-81 by Basire after a watercolor by Samuel Hieronymous Grimm of 1779, in turn based on the anonymous original painting now in the Royal Collection, Hampton Court. Alecto Historical Editions, May private offer, a modern restrike on Heritage Book paper, leaf 84.5 × 137.8 cm. (£275). For further information, see the online essay by Nurse listed under “Le Champ de Drap d’Or,” above.

“Sir George Savile Bar^t,” engraved by Benjamin Wilson and Basire after Wilson’s portrait, 1770. Sanders of Oxford, April online cat., illus. (£120).

Bryant, New System ... of Ancient Mythology, 1774-76. See under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, above.

Garrick, The Farmer’s Return, 1762. Darvill’s Rare Prints, April online cat., frontispiece after Hogarth only, illus. ($200).

Morell, Thesaurus Graecæ Poeseωs, 1762. EB, April, frontispiece portrait of Morell after Hogarth only, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $24.99).

Rogers, A Collection of Prints in Imitation of Drawings, 1778. EB, April, 1 pl. only, 3 figures mourning over a dead woman(?) based on a drawing by Guercino, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of €125).

CALVERT, EDWARD

Girl’s Head, Possibly of Calvert’s Daughter, Mary. Pen and ink, 5.0 × 4.5 cm., datable to c. 1840. EB, July-Aug., from the collection of Raymond Lister, illus. (£403). For an illus., see Lister, Edward Calvert (London: Bell, 1962), pl. III.

CUMBERLAND, GEORGE

Chepstow Castle. Pencil, 19.4 × 24.8 cm. EB, Nov., inscribed in ink on the mount “gate way to Chepstow Castle” and “G. Cumberland Sen^r.,” illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of €129.99 or “best offer”). The inscriptions look like Cumberland’s hand.

Mountain Landscape. Watercolor, 14.5 × 23.3 cm., inscribed “Cumberland 1811.” EB, April, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of €380).

Cumberland, Essay on the Utility of Collecting ... Engravers of the Italian School, 1827. E. M. Lawson, June cat. 329, #18, very light foxing, recent quarter calf (£135). Cumberland showed Blake the manuscript of this work in Nov. 1823 and later proposed that Linnell or Blake should execute the frontispiece portrait; see BR(2) 388, 405. The published frontispiece was engraved by Thomas Woolnoth.

FLAXMAN, JOHN

Online listings of Flaxman’s classical compositions with insufficient information to identify the ed. have been excluded. Individual prints of Flaxman’s classical designs offered on EB and 19^th-century reengravings of Flaxman’s designs, such as those on a reduced scale by Henry Moses, are not included. See also Flaxman under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, above.

Seventy-one drawings in “a sketchbook of drawings made in Italy.” Pencil, leaves 23.3 × 26.2 cm., some drawings by other hands, inscribed by John Leslie. SL, 6 July, #210, illus. (£12,500).

Six drawings, including 2 designs for memorials, 2 studies of standing figures, a leaf of studies of Roman soldiers, and a study of dead bodies. Pencil, pen and ink, monochrome washes, 8.0 × 8.7 cm. to 16.7 x 23.7 cm., 2 signed, monument to a naval captain dated 1 June 1794. SNY, 29 Jan., #575, from begin page 133 | ↑ back to top the collection of Arthur M. Sackler, monument to the captain illus. ($4375).

Two drawings for the Iliad, Then Sleep by Death, Two Twins of Winged Race and I Shot from Heav’n and Gave His Arm the Day. Pen and ink over pencil, lines illus. inscribed below the images, each 22.2 × 28.6 cm. EHL, 29 Sept., #83, “unpublished,” illus. (£3600).

Angels Guiding a Soul to Heaven. Pen and gray ink and gray wash, 48.3 × 71.1 cm., possibly dating from the 1790s. Acquired in 2007 by Princeton University Art Museum. For earlier sales and advertisements, see Blake 41.4 (spring 2008): 155.

Giving Alms. Pencil on leaf 8.8 × 10.8 cm., title inscribed in pencil on recto and signature in ink on verso. EB, Feb., illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $299). Previously offered BHL, 2 June 2009, #172, illus. (not sold; estimate £400-600). Possibly associated with Flaxman’s Acts of Mercy but not included in the 1831 publication of 8 designs.

Portrait Sketch of “Platt.” Pencil, leaf 20.0 × 18.0 cm., inscribed in pencil “Platt.” EB, Sept., backing leaf inscribed in ink “Drawn by Flaxman (from Life) Platt friend of Flaxman” and “Bought at Christies Apl 26/76 (‘Flaxman Collection’),” illus. (£75). The sitter might be the engraver William Platt (1798-1852).

Autograph letter signed to E. D. Clarke, 14 Sept. 1818, 1 p., concerning the statue of Sir John Moore. EB, June, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of £250). Previously offered by Julian Browning Autographs, May 2009 cat. (same price).

“Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides,” 2 Wedgwood blue and white jasperware plaques designed by Flaxman, 16.1 × 27.9 cm. SNY, 28 April, #301, the pair in giltwood frames, impressed with “WEDGWOOD” marks, dated to “1795-1800” (but possibly later), illus. ($6250; estimate $1200-1800).

Portrait of Flaxman, engraved by Richard Woodman after John Jackson for Knight’s Portrait Gallery, 1833. EB, Dec. 2009, 3 impressions, illus. (offered individually at the “buy it now” prices of $16.99, $17.50, and $20 each).

Aeschylus designs. Antiquarian Collections, April online cat., 1795 ed., original wrappers (a record asking price of $3500). Barter Books, April online cat., 1831 ed., foxed, library stamps on versos, boards with cloth spine and cover label worn, title page detached (£160). Powell’s Books, April online cat., 1831 ed., heavily foxed, tears in some pls. repaired with tape, half morocco very worn ($175). EB, Sept., engraved by Réveil, Paris, 1855, marginal stains, publisher’s wrappers worn, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of €120).

Dante designs. EB, April, 1807 ed., foxed, later calf, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £249); same copy, April (offered at the “buy it now” price of £249 or “best offer”); July, engraved by Réveil, Paris, n.d. (1840s?), minor foxing, quarter calf, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of €90). Adrian Greenwood, April online cat., possibly the same 1807 copy offered on EB in April (£249). Antiquariat Hammer, April online cat., Carlsruhe, 1833-35 ed., contemporary “leather” (€150).

Hesiod designs. BG, 22 July, #252, L’Oeuvre des fours et de la Theogonie d’Hesiode, “1823” (probably a reprint of the Paris 1821 ed.), edges browned, publisher’s wrappers chipped and soiled (£40).

Iliad designs. BL, 14 Jan., #206, Iliade d’Homere, n.d. (dated by BL to “?1793” but more probably Rome, c. 1818 or later re-issue), spotted, “first five plates with pencil quotations in English from Homer’s text,” contemporary half parchment worn (£70). Antiquaria Bok- och Bild Antikvariat, April online cat., Florence, 1826 ed., bound with the Odyssey, Aeschylus, and Hesiod designs of the same date, scattered foxing, contemporary boards stained, spine lacking, illus. ($908). EB, July, Iliade d’Homere with Sujets de l’Odissée d’Homere, Rome, n.d. (c. 1818 or later reissue?), damp staining, described as a “hardback” but appears to be in original paper wrappers worn, illus. (£108).

Odyssey designs. Grosvenor Prints, April online cat., 1805 ed., boards, illus. (£350). EB, April-May, Berlin, 1817 ed., lacking 1 pl., stained, contemporary boards worn, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $1120); same copy, May (offered at the “buy it now” price of $1100 or “best offer”); July, Paris, 1835 ed., publisher’s wrappers tattered and worn, front cover detached, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $195).

Oeuvre complet de Flaxman, engraved by Réveil. EB, April, 104 pls. for the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeschylus (thus lacking Hesiod, Dante, and “sujets divers”), n.d. (1840s?), some pls. badly foxed and 1 detached, contemporary half calf very worn, spine missing, front cover detached, illus. ($9.99).

FUSELI, HENRY

Embracing Couple, apparently on a stage with onlookers in the background, attributed to Fuseli. Pen and ink, gray wash on laid paper, leaf 22.9 × 15.2 cm. with a “S & C WISE / 1812” watermark, inscribed “Fusili.” EB, Feb., illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $195); Nov., illus. ($512). The embracing man and woman stand in the same posture as the couple in Fuseli’s Küssendes Paar, a pencil drawing in the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel. The right-handed hatching strokes in the EB drawing make the attribution questionable because Fuseli was left handed.

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Huon Encounters Sherasmin in the Cave on Mount Lebanon. Oil, 61.3 × 45.0 cm., datable to 1804-05. Richard L. Feigen & Co., exhibited at the European Art Fair, Maastricht, 12-21 March ($525,000). An illus. to William Sotheby’s version of Christoph Martin Wieland’s Oberon, engraved by James Heath for the 1805 ed.

“Prince Arthur’s Vision,” engraved by Peltro William Tomkins, 1788. EB, Nov., all but the tops of the imprint letters trimmed off, marginal stains, framed, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $385 or “best offer”). Originally issued as part of Macklin’s British Poets.

Bible, published by Macklin, 1800. BL, 13 May, #137, 6 vols., foxed and browned throughout, contemporary morocco worn (£1300); 8 July, #370, 7 vols., some “severe foxing,” some pages cropped, contemporary morocco worn, binding illus. (£550). EB, Aug., 7 vols., light marginal foxing on the pls., uncut in later 19^th-century half calf, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $12,000 or “best offer”); same copy, Sept., illus. ($2937.98); Aug., 6 vols., some foxing, contemporary morocco with slight wear, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $5900 or “best offer”); same copy, Sept., illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $4759). Phillip Pirages, Sept. cat. 59, #112, 7 vols., “most plates printed before letters,” fancy contemporary morocco by G. F. Krauss, illus. ($75,000). Beckham Books, Sept. online cat., 7 vols., contemporary calf rebacked, illus. (£3800). Vol. 7, containing the Apocrypha, was not published until 1816.

Boothby, Sorrows, Sacred to the Memory of Penelope, 1796. EB, March, large-paper copy, marginal stains, “original” quarter cloth over boards, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $1225 or “best offer”); Oct., Fuseli’s pl. only, 2nd st., illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $499.95 or “best offer”); Nov., another impression of Fuseli’s pl. only, 2^nd st., illus. (£10).

Boydell, Collection of Prints ... Illustrating ... Shakspeare, c. 1803. BHSF, 14 Feb., #1080, 2 vols. in 1, “dampstains throughout,” contemporary morocco very worn, “covers and end-papers detached,” illus. ($2074). EB, Oct., 1 pl. only, “King Henry the Fifth, Act II, Scene ii” engraved by Robert Thew, “open letter proof” on paper with a J. Whatman watermark, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $459.95 or “best offer”). BHL, 23 Nov., #111, 2 vols., some damp staining, contemporary morocco worn, illus. (£1800). Individual pls. in published sts. are not listed.

Boydell’s Graphic Illustrations ... of Shakspeare, c. 1803. See under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, above.

Conjuror’s Magazine 1 (Aug. 1791-July 1792). EB, Sept., stained and damaged, contemporary quarter calf very worn, front cover missing, illus. (£102). Includes reengravings of 4 pls. after Fuseli published in Lavater’s Physiognomy, vol. 2 (1792), “Head of Satan,” “Cain,” “Balaam Blessing the Children of Israel,” and “Martha Hess,” plus the profile portrait of Fuseli engraved by Holloway after J. H. Lips. Not in Weinglass.

Cowper, Poems, 1808. EB, Jan., 2 vols., pls. with light foxing, contemporary calf rebacked, worn, illus. ($110.50).

Darwin, Botanic Garden. See under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, above.

Darwin, Temple of Nature, 1803. BL, 25 Feb., #382, pls. “slightly cropped,” water stains and foxing, contemporary calf worn (£150). EB, March, scattered foxing, contemporary half calf very worn, covers and 1^st few leaves loose, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $325); another copy, damp stained, contemporary half calf “recased,” illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $1500 or “best offer”); same copy, April (price reduced to $1250); another copy, Nov., lacking 1 pl., “The Creation of Eve” after Fuseli, scattered foxing (some heavy), contemporary Russia rebacked, illus. (£266.60).

Gray, Poems, Du Roveray ed., 1800. EB, Jan., margins of pls. foxed, contemporary calf, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $375). Hume, History of England, 1793-1806. EB, Jan., vol. of 194 pls. only, presumably including Fuseli’s “Death of Cardinal Beaufort,” dated to 1806 by the vendor but possibly the 1812 reissue of the pls., contemporary half calf probably rebacked, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $789); another copy of the pls. only, July, some staining, contemporary morocco very worn (offered at the “buy it now” price of $295 or “best offer”).

Hume, History of England, continued by Gaspey, [1852]. EB, Oct.-Nov., Fuseli’s pl. only, “The Death of Cardinal Beaufort” engraved by John Rogers, illus. (£1.50); Nov., Fuseli’s pl. only, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $17.54).

The Ladies New Dispensatory, and Family Physician. London: Johnson and Payne, 1769. Pickering & Chatto, Jan. cat. 785, #88, with an “engraved title vignette by [Charles] Grignion,” minor stains, recent calf, title page illus. (£1250). The oval vignette, 5.6 × 7.3 cm., is based on a design by Fuseli. Weinglass 12-13, #15, records the publication of the pl. in Giacinto Dragonetti, A Treatise on Virtues and Rewards, also published by Johnson and Payne in 1769, but does not note the presence of this vignette in The Ladies New Dispensatory.

Lavater, Aphorisms on Man. EB, July, Boston 1790 ed., pl. badly stained, contemporary calf very worn, front cover detached and spine “half perished,” illus. ($55). John Windle, Oct. private offer, Boston 1790 ed., later morocco, endpapers begin page 135 | ↑ back to top browned ($150). In the unsigned Boston pl., the engraver has extended the seated man’s cloak over his upper thigh, exposed (or covered with skintight hose) in both Fuseli’s preliminary drawing and Blake’s pl. of the design. A similar sense of modesty led the New York publisher and printmaker A. L. Dick to cover genitals with wisps of drapery in his reengravings of Blake’s designs for Blair’s Grave.⁵↤ 5. Robert Blair, The Grave (New York: A. L. Dick, 1847). See also under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, above.

Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy. EB, March-April, 1797 ed. published by Symonds, 1 pl. only, “Head of Satan” engraved by John Barlow (Weinglass 116, #89A, variant 1), illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $99.95); June, 1789-98 ed. published by Murray, 1 pl. only, “Brutus” engraved by Thomas Trotter, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £9.95); 1 pl. only, “Mary Sister of Martha” engraved by Thomas Holloway, illus. (£14.95); June-July, 1 pl. only, “Ezzelin Count of Ravenna” engraved by Holloway, illus. (£17); July, 1 pl. only, “The Daughter of Herodias” engraved by Holloway, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £29.95); same impression, Aug. (same result on a required minimum bid of £24.95). See also under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, above.

Milton, Poetical Works. EB, April, 1852 ed., publisher’s cloth, binding illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of £40); 1848 ed., half calf very worn, covers detached, binding illus. (£10.50); Sept., 1844 ed., publisher’s calf, illus. (£15.08).

Penny Magazine no. 18 (July 1832). EB, Oct.-Nov., disbound, illus. (£3.50); same copy?, Nov.-Dec., disbound, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of £3.50).

A Series of Magnificent Engravings, to Illustrate the Various Folio or Quarto Editions of the Works of Shakespeare and Milton, 1818. BL, 8 July, #472, foxed and soiled, contemporary morocco, “and another, similar, folio” (£100). James Cummins, Nov. online cat., 38 Shakespeare pls. and 13 for Milton, contemporary morocco very worn, front cover detached, “spine partially perished” ($850). Contains 3 pls. after Fuseli, “Oberon Squeezing the Flower on Titania’s Eyelids,” “Titania Embracing Bottom,” and “The Witches Appear to Macbeth and Banquo.”

Shakespeare, Dramatic Works, published by Virtue, n.d. (dated in Weinglass to 1847-48). EB, Dec. 2009, 1 pl. only, “Prospero, Miranda, Caliban, and Ariel,” an anonymous steel engraving of Fuseli’s design for The Tempest 1^st published as a much larger pl. in Boydell’s Collection of Prints ... Illustrating ... Shakspeare (1803), illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $7.99). See Weinglass 157-58, #117H.

The Shakspeare Gallery; Being Engravings Illustrative of the Plays of Shakspeare, from Pictures by Eminent British Artists. London: M’Gowan and Co., 1839. EB, Jan., with at least 2 pls. based on Fuseli’s Boydell Shakespeare illus., “The Tempest” and “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” foxed, engraved title page torn, publisher’s cloth worn, extensively illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £165). Although the 2 pls. noted above are listed in Weinglass (158, #117H variant 1, #119H variant 1), the book is not.

Shakespeare, Plays, published by Rivington, 1805. EB, April, 2 pls. only, “Hamlet and the Ghost” engraved by J. Smith and “Othello and Desdemona” engraved by R. Rhodes (Weinglass 266-68, #224-25), both probably from the 9-vol. small-paper issue, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of €24.50); May, vols. l, 4, 5, 7, and 8 only of the issue in 9 vols., offered individually, contemporary calf very worn, spines repaired with tape, illus. (no bids on required minimum bids of £19.99 each); Sept., vols. 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 only from the issue in 10 vols., offered individually, some pls. foxed, later calf, illus. ($179.50 for vol. 2, $342 for vol. 3, $115 for vol. 5, $104.50 for vol. 6, $122.50 for vol. 8, $192.50 for vol. 9). See also under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, above.

Shakespeare, The Plays, published by Stockdale, 1807. EB, Feb., 1 pl. only, “I’ve Done the Deed” (from Macbeth) engraved by J. Heath, 1804 imprint as usual, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of €80). Peter Harrington, Nov. online cat., 6 vols., scattered foxing, contemporary calf rebacked (£2500); another copy, 6 vols., contemporary Russia (£6500). Adrian Harrington, Nov. online cat., 6 vols., contemporary calf worn, bindings illus. (£4500).

Thirty Pictures by Deceased British Artists Engraved Expressly for the Art-Union of London by W. J. Linton, 1860. EB, Dec. 2009, Fuseli’s “The Witches in ‘Macbeth’” only, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $20.30).

Thomson, Seasons, 1802. EB, Aug., foxed, contemporary morocco worn, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £4.95); same copy, Sept., illus. (£4.20).

Winckelmann, Reflections on the Painting and Sculpture of the Greeks, translated by Fuseli, 1765. BHO, 23 Feb., #21, uncut in contemporary quarter calf very worn, upper cover detached, spine missing (£60).

LINNELL, JOHN

Betwys y Coed. Black and white chalk, 27.9 × 43.2 cm., signed and dated 1813. Abbott and Holder, June online cat. 402, #172 (£875).

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Evening. Oil, 38.1 × 55.9 cm., signed and dated 1849. CNY, 27 Jan., #201, illus. ($22,500). Previously sold CNY, 8 April 2008, #81, illus. ($11,250).

Harvest Scene, attributed to Linnell. Oil, 45.7 × 61.0 cm. EB, March, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $26,500 or “best offer”); April, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $22,500 or “best offer”).

Landscape, attributed to Linnell. Oil, 25.4 × 45.7 cm., signed and dated 1874. EB, April, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $6,500 or “best offer”).

Anne Law, First Lady Ellenborough. Miniature portrait, 10.9 × 8.4 cm., datable to c. 1815, medium and support not recorded. EHL, 24 Nov., #189, framed, illus. (£1560).

Moonlight, Southampton. Pencil, 16.0 × 22.5 cm., inscribed by Linnell in ink, “moon light Southampton 1819 J Linnell.” BHO, 9 June, #67, illus. (£840).

On the Edge of the Forest. Oil, 30.5 × 45.7 cm., inscribed “J Linnell 1879.” EB, Jan., illus. ($610). The attribution might be questioned.

Portrait of William Blake. Watercolor copy of Linnell’s 1820 pencil portrait of Blake. EB, Sept-Oct., illus. (£65). See illus. 7-8.

Portrait of Cornelia Maria and Frederick Darling. Oil, 47.0 × 37.0 cm., signed and dated 1825. Bonhams auction, Sydney, 14 Nov., #354, illus. ($21,600 Australian). The 2 children are pictured in a room with a window opening onto a very Palmer-like landscape.

Portrait of John Davies Gilbert. Oil, 44.2 × 35.2 cm., signed and dated 1834. CNY, 24 June, #182, illus. ($813; estimate $2500-3500). For earlier sales and attempts to sell, see Blake 43.4 (spring 2010): 142.

Portrait of Dr. Robert Gooch. Oil, 30.0 × 24.0 cm., signed and dated 1827. CSK, 17 Nov., #191, illus. (not sold; estimate £2500-3500). See Linnell’s engraving of this portrait, below.

Portrait of a Lady. Miniature, 14.6 × 11.5 cm., medium and support not indicated, “unfinished,” back of gilt-metal frame inscribed “J. Linnell / Portrait of a Lady / from the Linnell Colln.” BHL, 8 April, #141, illus. (£9600; estimate £600-800).

A Surrey Glade. Oil, 26.5 × 33.0 cm., signed “J Linnell.” BHL, 22 April, #124, illus. (£6960).

Windsor Forest. Black and white chalk on tan paper, 27.9 × 40.6 cm., signed and dated 1815. Abbott and Holder, March online cat. 401, #125 (£1100). Previously offered SL, 12 April 1995, #8, titled The Fallen Monarch, Windsor Forest (not sold; estimate £400-600).

The Woodcutter, attributed to Linnell. Oil, 38.0 × 28.0 cm., signed “J Linnell.” EB, Dec. 2009, illus. (£1320).

Autograph letter signed to “Dear Sir,” 1 p., dated 22 Aug. 1858, concerning a “wood cut” of a work by Linnell. EB, Sept., illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of £75).

“Robert Gooch,” engraved by Linnell, 1831. BNY, 24 March, #29, illus. ($250). See Linnell’s painting, above, on which this pl. is based.

MORTIMER, JOHN HAMILTON

“Banditti Going Out,” etched by Robert Blyth, 1780. EB, Jan., stained, illus. ($32).

“A Captain of Banditti and His Family,” etched by Samuel Ireland, c. 1785. Michael Finney Prints, April online cat., illus. (£280).

“Departure of the Canterbury Pilgrims,” engraved by James Hogg, 1787. EB, Jan., a few small stains, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $1500 or “best offer”); same impression?, June, illus. ($27).

“Nicholas the Carpenter and Robin” (Chaucer’s “Miller’s Tale”), engraved after Mortimer, 1787. EB, Jan., claimed by the vendor to have been engraved by “Jacob” (i.e., James) Hogg but more probably by Francis Chesham, illus. (offered at the ludicrous “buy it now” price of $3000 or “best offer”).

“Woman at Her Toilet,” engraved by Charles Reuben Ryley, 1780. EB, May, corners a little stained, illus. ($37).

Camöens, The Lusiad, 1778, frontispiece designed and etched by Mortimer. EB, Jan., foxed, contemporary calf very worn, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $199.99 or “best offer”).

PALMER, SAMUEL

A Chase in Venezia. Watercolor, 19.5 × 43.0 cm., signed and dated 1861. BHL, 29 Sept., #86, illus. (£15,600).

The Gleaning Field. Oil and tempera, 42.o·x 52.0 cm., datable to c. 1832-33. Lowell Libson, Jan. cat., pp. 78-83, illus. (not priced, but apparently for sale).

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A Portrait of William Blake at Shoreham.

7 and 8. Portrait of William Blake. Watercolor, image and leaf 31.4 × 19.4 cm. Inscribed on the verso in brown ink, just below the top edge of the leaf, “A Portrait of William Blake at Shoreham” (illus. 8). Thin laid paper, chain lines 2.65 cm. apart, with a large crown and Britannia watermark. Essick collection.

A copy of John Linnell’s pencil portrait of Blake, now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, signed by Linnell with his initials and inscribed by him “Portrait of W^m. Blake / 1820.” For the pencil original, leaf 20.1 × 15.5 cm., see William Blake: Catalogue of the Collection in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, ed. David Bindman (Cambridge: W. Heffer and Sons for the Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum, 1970) 55-56, #46, and pl. 63, and Geoffrey Keynes, The Complete Portraiture of William and Catherine Blake (London: Trianon P for the William Blake Trust, 1977) 135 and pl. 24. The pencil portrait remained in the Linnell family collection until its sale at auction in 1918. It was first exhibited publicly in 1913-14 and was not reproduced until 1921 in Keynes’s Bibliography of William Blake. Thus, it seems probable that the watercolor copy was executed by someone (such as a family member) with access to the Linnell collection prior to 1918, or by someone who attended the exhibitions of 1913-14, or by someone working from the 1921 reproduction. The fact that the watercolor is considerably larger than its pencil model indicates that the former was not made by tracing or counter-proofing. The watercolor shows no evidence of squaring; it was probably composed freehand.

The watermark is very similar to an example dated to 1790 in W. A. Churchill, Watermarks in Paper in Holland, England, France, etc. in the XVII and XVIII Centuries (Amsterdam: M. Hertzberger, 1967), #232. Provenance of the watercolor: early history unknown; acquired at an unknown time by Richard Moy of Spread Eagle Antiques, Greenwich, London SE10; sold from his estate to Stephen Bidewell, London, c. 2007; sold by Bidewell on eBay, Oct. 2010 (£65 to Essick).

Before acquiring the watercolor, I began an e-mail correspondence about it with David Bindman, Mark Crosby, Tim Linnell (a knowledgeable collector of his family’s art), and Joseph Viscomi. I sent them medium-resolution digital images of the work or directed them to the same images on eBay; none had seen the original watercolor. Joe commented that it “looks like it was done by a pro” and that “it is most likely by one of the Linnell kids.” David stated that the work “looks rather nice and is certainly 19th century. It could be by one of Linnell’s family but there is also a possibility it is a copy by Linnell himself. There are signs of a professional hand and the inscription is certainly quite early.” Alfred T. Story comments that Linnell “began to drill” his children “in art” at “an early age” (The Life of John Linnell, 2 vols. [London: Richard Bentley, 1892] 1: 253-54). David and Tim confirmed that these lessons included copying works by Blake, Linnell, and other artists.

In mid-Nov., Mark visited the Fitzwilliam Museum and compared the verso inscription on the portrait with several Linnell family documents. He found only one correspondence, the formation of a capital “B” occasionally used by John Linnell’s daughter Hannah (1818 or 1819-93). Other letter forms used by Hannah, who married Samuel Palmer in 1837, did not match the verso inscription.

Tim had the most to say. His “instinctive first impression” of the verso inscription was that it was written by John Linnell, Jr. (1821-1906). This looked like a “juvenile hand, and arguably the handling of the watercolour would suggest this idea.” Subsequent comparisons revealed some differences between the inscription and writing samples by the younger John Linnell, particularly the formation of the “B,” but did not rule out John Jr. Other comparisons of the handwriting convinced Tim that the verso inscription was not written by John Linnell, Sr. (my own research supports this conclusion), nor by his sons James Thomas Linnell (1823-1905) and William Linnell (1826-1906). A notebook in Tim’s collection, used by John Jr. probably in the 1840s, is on laid paper with a Britannia watermark “very similar (but not identical) to” the watercolor leaf. Tim concludes that “there is support for the contention that such notebooks and paper were used by Linnell children for artistic exercises well into the 19th century, whatever the date of the paper. I can tell you certainly with absolute confidence that anything usable that is present in a Linnell household is likely to be retained and used at some point, so it could even be the case that the sketch [i.e., the watercolor] is far more modern than you suppose and could even have been the work of a grandchild.”

My own view is close to Tim’s. The watercolor was very probably executed by a member of the Linnell family prior to the sale of its model in 1918. As Tim points out, the handling of the watercolors is “too loose” to be by John Linnell himself. The suggestion that this copy might be by a grandchild leads us into unknown territory and, given the age of the paper, seems rather unlikely. The best candidate for the copyist is John Linnell, Jr., probably early in his life when still under his father’s tutelage. This attribution would date the work to about the same time as, or a few years earlier than, his notebook with similar paper. John Jr. and two of his brothers were active draftsmen in the late 1830s. In Dec. 1839, the senior Linnell submitted “drawings by John, James and William to the [Royal] Academy Schools” and the “three boys were enrolled as probationer students” (David Linnell, Blake, Palmer, Linnell and Co. [Lewes: Book Guild, 1994] 211).

The verso inscription—“... Blake at Shoreham”—would appear to indicate the location of the portrait’s subject at the time Linnell’s original pencil drawing was executed, not the location of the watercolorist when he made his copy. Shoreham is the village in Kent frequented by the circle of young artists, including the senior Linnell, Samuel Palmer, George Richmond, and Edward Calvert, who gathered around Blake in his final years. The reference to Shoreham is intriguing but difficult to reconcile with the “1820” date Linnell inscribed on the pencil original. The year would appear to be written with the same pencil used in the drawing and thus is probably contemporaneous with its execution. The exact time of Blake’s only recorded trip to Shoreham, at the invitation of Palmer, is unknown, but has been dated by Bentley to Aug.-Sept. 1825 (BR[2] 412). The description of this visit by Calvert’s son, in his 1893 Memoir of his father, includes one “evening” when “Blake was occupied at the table in the large room, or kitchen,” of the house where the party was staying (BR[2] 413). The portrait accords nicely with this scene: Blake is intently “occupied” by something that may be resting on a table before him. Calvert, however, does not mention the presence of Linnell, who is not known to have visited Shoreham before Aug. 1828 (Blake, Palmer, Linnell and Co. 117). I suspect that either the date on the pencil portrait is wrong—which seems improbable, particularly if inscribed by Linnell at the time he drew the picture—or the verso reference to Shoreham is the watercolorist’s error. Tim Linnell suggests that “a mistaken attribution to ‘at Shoreham’ might indicate a conflation of a family story of Blake having been at Shoreham at some point with the existence of the portrait.”

The Harvesters Return. Watercolor, 19.5 × 42.5 cm., signed and dated 1861. BHL, 29 Sept., #85, illus. (not sold; estimate £10,000-15,000).

Sabrina, based on Milton’s Comus. Watercolor, 16.5 × 23.5 cm., datable to c. 1855-56. Richard L. Feigen & Co., April online cat., illus. (price on request). Previously sold SL, 14 June 2001, #34, illus. (£75,000), and 30 June 2005, #315, illus. (£66,000).

A Sketch in Clovelly Park, Looking towards the Cliffs on the Farther Side of Mouth-Mill Ravine. Watercolor, 26.0 × 37.5 cm., datable to the 1840s. Addison Fine Arts, San Francisco, Feb. private offer, from the collection of Joseph and Deborah Goldyne (price on request).

The Sleeping Shepherd. Chalk, tempera, and oil, with scratching out on paper, laid down on board, 39.4 × 51.8 cm., datable to c. 1833-34. CNY, 27 Jan., #57, illus. (not sold; estimate $2,500,000-3,500,000). The most important painting by Palmer to be offered at auction in many years.

A Welsh Landscape. Pencil and watercolor, 24.1 × 33.0 cm., datable to 1835. CL, 16 June, #77, illus. (not sold; estimate £3000-5000).

Autograph letter signed to the art dealer Henry Mogford, 23 Oct. 1854, 1 p. BL, 8 July, #151 (£110). Not in The Letters of Samuel Palmer, ed. Raymond Lister, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon P, 1974).

“The Bellman,” etching. BHL, 25 May, #75, 7^th st., 1926 printing, illus. (£2280; estimate £600-900); another impression?, 13 July, #60, 7^th st., 1926 printing, illus. (£1680).

“Christmas,” etching. BHO, 17 March, #13, 4^th st., illus. (£1200).

“The Cypress Grove,” etching. Swann, 21 Sept., #64, 4^th st., illus. (not sold; estimate $1000-1500).

“The Early Ploughman,” etching. BHO, 13 July, #59, 8^th st., illus. (£480). EB, Nov., probably 5^th st., illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £549.95); same impression, Nov.-Dec., illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £475); another impression, Dec., 5^th st., illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $799.99 or “best offer”).

“The Herdsman’s Cottage,” etching. EB, March, 2^nd st., illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $499 or “best offer”); possibly the same impression offered by a different vendor (offered at the “buy it now” price of $750); another impression, lightly browned, illus. ($375); another impression, Sept., illus. (£375). Sanders of Oxford, April online cat., 2^nd st., illus. (£875).

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“Opening the Fold,” etching. BHO, 8 Sept., #37, 8^th st., illus. (£936). BHL, 30 Nov., #44, 6^th st., pencil signature, collector’s mark lower-left margin, illus. (£2,400).

“The Rising Moon,” etching. BHO, 17 March, #27, 7^th st., illus. (£648).

“The Weary Ploughman,” etching. R. E. Lewis & Daughter, June online cat. of “Prints from the Collection of Lorenz Eitner,” #63, 5^th st. on “China paper,” pencil signature, “damage in the margins,” illus. ($1500).

Book of Favourite Modern Ballads, 1860. EB, Feb., Palmer’s 2 illus. only, offered individually, full leaves with letterpress text, illus. (no bids on required minimum bids of £12.99 each).

P. Hamerton, Etching and Etchers, 1880. BHO, 12 Oct., #167, publisher’s quarter morocco, illus. (£432). Includes Palmer’s etching, “The Herdsman’s Cottage,” 2^nd st.

A. H. Palmer, Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer, 1892. EB, Dec., no. 29 of 130 large-paper copies, foxed, publisher’s calf very worn, spine missing, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £349.99). Previously offered EB, Aug.-Sept. 2009 (no bids on a required minimum bid of £400). Includes Palmer’s etching, “The Willow,” 2^nd st.

A. H. Palmer, Samuel Palmer: A Memoir, 1882. BHO, 12 Oct., #181, publisher’s cloth rebacked with calf (£576; estimate £200-300). Includes Palmer’s etching, “Christmas,” 4^th st.

S. Palmer, English Version of the Eclogues of Virgil, 1883. BHO, 29 June, #172, small-paper issue, corners of some pages damp stained, publisher’s cloth worn, illus. (£456).

PARKER, JAMES

“The Ticket,” engraved after James Northcote. Michael Finney Prints, April online cat., dated to “c. 1795,” printed in sepia, marginal browning, illus. (£250).

Boydell’s Graphic Illustrations ... of Shakspeare, c. 1803, and Shakespeare, Dramatic Works, 1802. See under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, above.

Falconer, The Shipwreck, 1806. EB, Feb., contemporary calf, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of £84.99). Three of the 4 pls. after Stothard, dated 1795 in their imprints, were engraved by Parker.

Flaxman, Iliad and Odyssey designs, 1805. See Flaxman, Iliad designs, under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, and Odyssey designs, under Flaxman, above.

Hume, History of England, 1793-1806. EB, Dec., 1 pl. only, “Q. Elizabeth at Tilbury,” engraved after Stothard, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $21.60). See also Hume under Fuseli, above.

Josephus, Works, and Kimpton, History of the Bible. See under Letterpress Books with Engravings by and after Blake, above.

RICHMOND, GEORGE

Elijah at the Mouth of the Cave (recto), sketch of a left foot and part of a chair or throne (verso). Recto pen and brown ink, inscribed with a quotation from 1 Kings 19.12-13; verso pencil, inscribed “Novr” and “Decr 2nd 1827.” W·S Fine Art/Andrew Wyld, June cat., #23, illus. (£5500). Previously offered by the same firm, then called W/S Fine Art, June 2006 cat., #47, illus. (£7500).

Portrait of Jesus Christ. Pencil, 19.5 × 14.5 cm., datable to 1837, inscribed in pencil “Sketched at Milan from the fresco G. R.” EB, April-May, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $600 or “best offer”). Richmond passed through Milan on his way to Rome in late Oct. or early Nov. 1837; see Raymond Lister, George Richmond: A Critical Biography (London: Garton, 1981) 30.

Seated Woman. Pencil, 16.0 × 9.0 cm. on paper with an 1836 watermark. EB, July, illus. (£12.50). A slight sketch, probably based on a classical statue.

Study of a Man, attributed to Richmond. Pen and ink, 9.0 × 8.0 cm. with a rounded top. EB, Dec., illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of £200 or “best offer”). Awkward and unpleasant, but the attribution is probably correct.

Study of Arms. Pencil and chalk, 26.5 × 42.5 cm. BNY, 24 March, #38, illus. ($550).

ROMNEY, GEORGE

An Allegory of Fury. Pen and ink, 11.1 × 12.1 cm. BHL, 27 Oct., #25, illus. (£1560). Very slight.

The Death of Alcestis. Pencil, pen, brown and gray washes, 17.2 × 25.1 cm. CL, 7 July, #381, illus. (not sold; estimate £3000-5000).

The Expulsion of Women. Pen and brown ink, 11.1 × 18.4 cm. SL, 6 July, #208, illus. (not sold; estimate £4000-6000).

A Female Muse. Pencil and brown wash, 23.5 × 19.1 cm. CNY, 27 Jan., #148, illus. ($7500).

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The Fiend Conjured Up by Bolingbrook (Henry VI, Part II, Act 1, Scene 4). Pen and ink, gray wash, leaf 40 .0 × 29.5 cm. Addison Fine Arts, San Francisco, Feb. private offer, from the collection of Joseph and Deborah Goldyne (price on request).

Heads of Two Orientals. Pen and ink, 19.5 × 16.0 cm. BNY, 24 March, #4, illus. ($9500).

Study of Three Women. Pen and ink over pencil, 21.5 × 16.5 cm. BL, 15 July, #89, illus. (£350).

“Il Penseroso L’Allegro,” mezzotint by George Keating, 1798. EB, July, trimmed within the platemark, lower margin stained, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of €95). Romney’s painting on which this print is based is generally titled Miss Wallis as “Mirth” and “Melancholy” (National Trust, Petworth House).

STOTHARD, THOMAS

Books with illus. by Stothard are listed only for eds. not recorded in the standard reference works, Coxhead and Bennett.

Christian and Hopeful Meeting the Shepherds on the Delectable Mountains. Oil, 15.2 × 20.3 cm., oval. Abbott and Holder, Jan. online cat. 400, #13 (£2250). Previously sold BHO, 25 Nov. 2009, #177, titled Christian and Hopeful, illus. (£780).

The Dwarf Throwing Out the Clue. Monochrome wash drawing, 13.4 × 8.5 cm., datable to 1780. EB, Dec. 2009, backing mount inscribed with the title, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $190). A variant preliminary drawing for an illus. to James Ridley’s Tales of the Genii in the Novelist’s Magazine, engraved by William Walker and dated Sept. 1780 in the imprint.

A Family’s Lament. Pen and ink, Wash, 9.5 × 12.5 cm., inscribed “T. Stothard” (possibly not a signature). BHL, 3 Feb., #22, illus. (£96); EB, June, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of £695 or “best offer”); July (offered at the “buy it now” price of £495 or “best offer”); Sept. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £750).

The Frontispiece for Lyson’s “Military Science”: Fame Garlanding Warlike Mars. Gray washes, 17.8 × 12.7 cm. Abbott and Holder, Sept. online cat. 404, #97, framed (£275). The author of A Treatise on the Military Science (London, 1780), for which this design was engraved by James Heath, is Thomas Simes, not “Lyson” or “Lysons.” See Coxhead 144.

Girls Bathing. Watercolor, 27.0 × 20.0 cm. BHO, 8 Sept., #98, illus. (not sold; estimate £800-1200). A variant of a design engraved by Augustus Fox and published as an illus. to the sixth night in Illustrations of the Decameron of Boccaccio (London: Pickering, 1825) and in Pickering’s ed. of the stories, also 1825. A similar watercolor, 22.9 × 16.5 cm., was sold EB, June 2005 (£800.04).

Illustration to “The Rival Brothers,” a Poem by Mary Leapor. Monochrome wash, 13.0 × 8.0 cm. EB, March-April, with part of a letter or a presentation inscription signed by Stothard and dated 15 Sept. 1829 pasted to the back of the mount, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of $8,500—probably a record asking price for a small drawing by Stothard). An engraving of the design by William Angus, reversed, was published in Lady’s Poetical Magazine 4 (1782).

Love and War, attributed to Stothard. Oil, 27.4 × 15.5 cm. EB, June-July, framed, dated by the vendor to c. 1800, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of £1000).

Music. Oil, 20.3 × 27.9 cm. Abbott and Holder, June online cat. 402, #20, “amorous couples calmed by a piper,” framed (£1750).

Seated Man and Woman, Fashionably Dressed. Pencil, pen and ink, size not recorded. BL, 24 Nov., #41, with several manuscript materials (none by Stothard) including a letter by William Wilberforce to Thomas Harrison, 18 July 1812, the mount of the drawing inscribed “An Original Sketch by Thos Stothard - belonging to Chas. Aug. Tulk given me by my dear Mother 1859. C. L. Harrison,” illus. (£550). For Tulk, see W. Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, 1839, under Interesting Blakeana, above.

Vicar of Wakefield. Pencil and sepia wash, circular, 17.8 cm. diameter. Abbott and Holder, June online cat. 402, #101, “young people in a garden with the Vicar of Wakefield just visible at the edge,” framed (£350). Possibly a preliminary drawing for the pl. engraved by James Parker and published in Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield, 1792 (see Coxhead 116, “The Family in the Arbour”).

Young Parents Admiring Their Sweet Sleeping Offspring. Ink and watercolor, 7.6 × 10.2 cm., signed. Abbott and Holder, Sept. online cat. 404, #98, framed (£425).

“The Anniversary Meeting of the Guardians of the Asylum [Chelsea Hospital],” an invitation to a 26 May 1824 meeting, headpiece by Stothard engraved by William Skelton. EB, March, several old creases, illus. (£33). Coxhead 208 dates an earlier version of this pl., or a different pl. with the same design, to 9 May 1816.

“Caroline de Lichtfield,” a pair of pls. illustrating Isabelle de Montolieu’s novel, engraved by Charles Knight, 1788. EB, May, 1 pl. only, “The Baron, Proposing Walstein, to Caroline,” hand colored, cut to the circular image and framed, the inscriptions begin page 141 | ↑ back to top trimmed off and pasted to the back of the frame, illus. (£26). Grosvenor Prints, May online cat., 1 pl. only, “Lindorf’s First View of Caroline,” brown ink, trimmed to or just within the platemark, illus. (£190). Coxhead 178 records only “Lindorf’s First View of Caroline.”

“Charlotte’s Visit to the Vicar,” engraved by John Ogborne, 1785. EB, Nov., illus. (€5.50). This pl., based on an incident in Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther, was advertised in Thomas Macklin’s 1794 cat., p. 64.

“The Death of Lord Robert Manners,” engraved by John Keyse Sherwin and Charles Sherwin, 1786. The Old Print Shop, Feb. online cat., illus. ($1000). EB, Feb.-March, marginal tears, illus. (£28). A large (platemark 48.8 × 60.9 cm.) separate pl. published by Thomas Macklin and advertised in his 1794 cat., p. 53. Not in Coxhead. The etching/engraving is based on Stothard’s oil painting, commissioned in 1782 by Manners’s brother, the Duke of Rutland. It remains at Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, the seat of the Manners family since 1508.

Milton, Paradise Lost, 13 pls. engraved by Bartolozzi, n.d. EB, Feb., foxed, publisher’s wrappers with cover label, illus. (offered at the “buy it now” price of €600 or “best offer”). The only letterpress text in this issue is the cover label: “Thirteen Plates, the Subjects from Milton; Designed by Stothard and Engraved by Bartolozzi. Price Five Guineas.” For a list of the subjects, see Coxhead 103-04 (issues of 1792-93, 1818, and 1826). Several pls. are dated 1795 in their imprints.

“Pilgrimage to Canterbury,” engraved by Schiavonetti and Heath, 1817. EB, Sept., badly stained, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $199.99).

Portrait of Stothard, engraved by William Henry Worthington after the painting by George Henry Harlow, 1818. EB, Feb.-March, laid India, marginal foxing, illus. (£15).

“The Power of Innocence,” 1 of 4 pls. illustrating Burney, Cecilia, engraved by Joseph Strutt, 1792. EB, Jan., proof printed in sepia with signatures and imprint but before title, illus. (£36). Coxhead 178 notes only this pl. (not the complete suite) and dates it to 1788, but all impressions I have encountered are dated 1792 in the imprint.

“Procession of the Flitch of Bacon,” engraved by James Henry Watt, 1832. EB, Sept., framed, illus. (no bids on a required minimum bid of $199.99).

“The Sailors Return,” mezzotint by William Ward, 1798. The Old Print Shop, Feb. online cat., illus. ($750).

Appendix: New Information on Blake’s Engravings

Listed below are substantive additions or corrections to Essick, The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue (1983), and Essick, William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations (1991). 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 sts. of Blake’s engravings are listed for only the rarer separate pls.

The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue

Pp. 17-20, “Job.” One of 2 traced impressions of the 1^st st. acquired Nov. by Essick. See under Separate Plates and Plates in Series, above, and the discussion in the introductory essay.

Pp. 60-89, “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims.” For revised information about the 4^th and 5^th sts., see the caption to illus. 2.

P. 107, “The Man Sweeping the Interpreter’s Parlour,” untraced impressions. For an impression reported to have been presented by Mrs. Blake to Mrs. Tatham, see A. E. Evans and Son, Catalogue of a Collection of Books, Part 3, [1845], under Interesting Blakeana, above.

William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations

David Alexander’s discovery that Blake took Thomas Owen as an apprentice in June 1788 introduces the possibility that Owen participated in the production of his master’s etchings and engravings from that date until the expiration of the usual 7-year term.⁶↤ 6. Alexander, “William Blake, graveur d’interprétation.” William Blake (1757-1827): Le Génie visionnaire du romantisme anglais, exhibition catalogue under the direction of Michael Phillips with the collaboration of Catherine de Bourgoing (Paris: Petit Palais, 2009) 80. See also Checklist 4-5. It is of course possible that Owen did not serve the full term of his apprenticeship. If we have a chance of perceiving the hand of an apprentice in any of Blake’s graphic productions during that period, it would be reasonable to look first at his lesser copy engravings, particularly small book illustrations. Given that assumption, my first choice would be the unsigned pls., bearing imprints between Oct. 1790 and March 1791, in C. G. Salzmann’s Elements of Morality. They are technically quite simple, in comparison with Blake’s other etchings/engravings of the period, and contain awkward patches that have led some scholars to attribute only a selection to Blake. Perhaps the basic similarities in graphic syntax, but differences in the skillfulness of execution, between Blake’s pls. for Mary Wollstonecraft’s Original Stories from Real Life (1791) and the Salzmann pls. reveal the distinction between master and apprentice. More documentary information about Owen and begin page 142 | ↑ back to top any subsequent career he may have had as an engraver might warrant more detailed investigations, or at least speculations.

P. 110, Rees, Cyclopædia, pls. 3A and 3B. The three views of a gem showing the head of Jupiter Serapis, very probably the only images on these pls. engraved by Blake, were copied after pl. 2 in Lorenz Natter, A Treatise on the Ancient Method of Engraving on Precious Stones (London: for the author, 1754). Pls. 3A and 3B are 2 different copperplates of the same design; both are inscribed lower left, “Drawn by Farey.” This may be either John Farey, Jr., who “made numerous Mechanical Drawings,” or Joseph Farey, who “made many mechanical and miscellaneous Drawings,” according to a list of contributors to Rees’s Cyclopædia in Anon. (possibly Alexander Tilloch), “Notices Respecting New Books,” Philosophical Magazine and Journal 56 (Sept. 1820): 220. I am indebted to Mark Crosby for the information about Natter’s book.

Addendum

“A Census of Complete Copies” of Designs to a Series of Ballads, Written by William Hayley ... Drawn, Engraved, and Published, by William Blake (Chichester, 1802) was appended to my 1999 sales review; see Blake 33.4 (spring 2000): 125-27. I can now add the following sales records for copies containing the prefatory material and all 4 ballads:
a. Mr. Evans, London, 13 Feb. 1821 and 12 following days, auction of William Hayley’s library. Lot 1636 on the 8^th day, “Hayley’s Ballads, with Blake’s Designs, 4 Numbers, 1802” (4s.6d. to “Smith,” probably a dealer). No recorded copy can be traced back to this lot. The auction also included a copy containing 3 ballads (lot 1637, 3s.6d. to “Rivington,” probably one of the booksellers and publishers of that name or the firm of Rivingtons and Cochran). This may be the volume now in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, the only traced copy with 3 ballads.
b. Sotheby’s, 29 Nov.-9 Dec. 1843, auction of the “second portion” of the library of Archdeacon Francis Wrangham (poet and translator, 1769-1842). Lot 557 on 30 Nov., “Blake (W.) Designs to a series of Ballads written by W. Hayley, plates, 4 parts Chichester, 1802” (13s. to “Evans,” probably the dealer R. H. Evans). The cat. description is insufficient to identify this copy with any of the 7 traced, and 1 untraced, copies listed in the “Census.” Wrangham also owned a copy of Blake’s Descriptive Catalogue of 1809, listed in the cat. of “the English portion” of his library in 1827, p. 630 of the supplement (BBS pp. 65 [copy C], 284). Wrangham may have obtained his copy of the 1802 Ballads directly from Hayley. Mark Crosby tells me that there is a draft of an undated note by Hayley to Wrangham in the collection of Princeton University Library.
c. Sotheby’s, 29-30 Jan. 1878, auction of the library of Albert George Dew-Smith (collector and photographer, 1848-1903). Lot 197 on 29 Jan., “Blake (W.) Designs to a Series of Ballads written by W. Hayley, with the Ballads annexed, fine impressions of the plates, green morocco extra, g. e. [gilt edges] Chichester, 1802” (£9 to “Jones,” presumably a dealer). Although the lot description does not record the number of ballads, this may be copy B in the “Census,” still bound in green morocco with all edges gilt, sold from the Earl of Gosford’s collection in 1884 and now in my collection. Dew-Smith also owned copies of Blake’s Visions of the Daughters of Albion (copy N, American private collection) and America (copy B, Morgan Library), sold in lots 196 and 247. For information on Dew-Smith, see Joseph Viscomi, “Two Fake Blakes Revisited; One Dew-Smith Revealed,” Blake in Our Time: Essays in Honour of G. E. Bentley Jr, ed. Karen Mulhallen (Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2010) 35-78.

Volume 44 · Issue 4

Spring 2011

ARTICLE