begin page 41 | back to top

Blake in the Provinces

A correspondent has drawn my attention to a reference to Blake in A Century of Birmingham Life, Birmingham, 1868, vol. II, pp. 246-7. This recorded a paragraph on Blake published in Arris’s Birmingham Gazette for Monday, 28 July 1806. Mr. W. A. Taylor, City Librarian, has kindly sent me xerox copies of the relevant parts of the issue of the newspaper for this date, which shows that the following advertisement was published:

PROSPECTUS OF
          	
			A NEW and elegant Edition of BLAIR’s GRAVE,
			illustrated with twelve very spirited Engravings by LOUIS
			SCHIAVONETTI, from Designs invented by WILLIAM BLAKE.
			
			The Work will be printed by T. Bentley, Fleet-street, London,
			in Imperial Quarto.
			
			The Price to Subscribers will be two Guineas; one Guinea
			to be paid at the Time of subscribing, and the Remainder on
			Delivery of the Work. The Price will be considerably advanced
			to Non-subscribers.
			
			Messrs. Knott and Lloyd, Birmingham, will give the Address
			of the Proprietor of the Work, who will show the original Drawings
			and Specimens of the Style of Engraving.
			
			The Work has been honoured with the Subscriptions and Patronage
			of the following Gentlemen:
			
			BENJAMIN WEST, Esq. President of the Royal Academy.
			
			Sir William Beechey, R.A.
			Richard Cosway, Esq. R.A.
			Henry Fuseli, Esq. R.A.
			John Flaxman, Esq. R.A.
			Thomas Lawrence, Esq. R.A.
			Joseph Nollekens, Esq. R.A.
			
			James Northcote, Esq. R.A.
			J[ohn] Opie, Esq. Pr[ofessor] in Painting.
			Thomas Stothard, Esq. R.A.
			Martin Archer Shee, Esq. R.A.
			Henry Thomson, Esq. R.A.
			Henry Tresham, Esq. R.A.
			
			Thomas Hope, Esq. and William Locke, Jun[ior,] Esq.
begin page 42 | back to top

On another part of the same sheet was a paragraph of criticism:

FINE ARTS—We have never experienced greater satisfaction than is announced to our readers, that there are now in this town, for the inspection of the lovers of the fine arts, some most beautiful designs intended to illustrate a new and elegant edition of Blair’s Grave. At a period when the labours of the pencil are almost wholly directed to the production of portraits, they who dare soar in the sublime regions of fancy surely claim the patronage of men of taste and discernment; and the specimens here alluded to may, with the strictest adherence to truth, be ranked among the most vigorous and classical productions of the present age.

I do not know of any other exhibition of Blake’s work having taken place anywhere outside London at this early date. The list of subscribers printed in the book gives the names of sixty-six subscribers in Birmingham and the vicinity. The list suggests that the exhibition may have been circulated to other large centres such as Liverpool, Leeds, Wakefield, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Bristol and Edinburgh.

Print Edition

  • Publisher
  • Department of English, University of New Mexico
  • Albuquerque, NM, USA
    • Editors
    • Morris Eaves
    • Morton D. Paley
    • Associate Editor for Great Britain
    • Frances A. Carey
    • Editorial Assistants
    • Corinne M. Henning
    • Virginia Masi
    • Circulation Manager
    • Debra Sackett

    Digital Edition

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