AUTHOR: WILLIAM BLAKE

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

DATE: 1794

PAGE #: 71

REPRODUCTION DIMENSIONS:

HISTORY/DESCRIPTION: THE POET AND ARTIST, WILLIAM BLAKE, WAS BORN IN LONDON IN 1757. HE WAS APPRENTICED TO AN ENGRAVER, AND STUDIED DRAWING AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY. IN 1783 HE PUBLISHED HIS FIRST BOOK OF POETRY, POETICAL SKETCHES. BLAKE WAS A RELIGIOUS MYSTIC, WHO ESCHEWED THE TRADITIONAL TEACHING OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES TO INVENT HIS OWN DOCTRINES AND SYMBOLS, WHICH HE DREW FROM CLASSICAL AND CELTIC MYTHOLOGY, IN ADDITION TO MANY OTHER SOURCES. THE PRINTING OF THE BOOK OF URIZEN, FROM THE ROSENWALD COLLECTION AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, INTRODUCES A FIGURE, URIZEN, WHOM FOR BLAKE REPRESENTED MORALITY AND LEGALITY. MOST OF BLAKE’S BOOKS WERE NOT PUBLISHED IN THE TRADITIONAL SENSE, BUT PRINTED FOR SPECIAL COMMISSIONS BY PRIVATE COLLECTORS, OR LONDON BOOKSELLERS. AS A CONSEQUENCE, THEY ARE EXTREMELY RARE. BLAKE DIED IN 1827, IN POVERTY AND RELATIVE OBSCURITY, BUT BY THE MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY HE HAS BECOME, IN THE WORDS OF THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY, “ONE OF THE CULTURAL ICONS OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD.”

REPRODUCTION DETAILS: OUR HARDCOVER BOOKS ARE MADE WITH REAL WOOD FOR THE INTERIOR OF THE FRONT AND BACK COVERS AS WELL AS THE SPINE. THE LEATHER IS A 4 OZ COWHIDE, FROM A SMALL SUPPLIER IN NORTH CAROLINA. THE LEATHER IS ADHERED TO THE COVERS WITH GLUE AND MOLDED INTO THE SHAPE AT THE HAND OF OUR LOCAL ARTISANS. THE SIGNATURES/PAGES ARE HANDSEWN USING A LIBRARY BINDING METHOD. THE SEWN BOOK IS BOUND WITH A STRONG ADHESIVE GLUE THAT MAKES THE BINDINGS LAST, ESPECIALLY FOR THE LARGER BOOKS. WE ALSO ADD A THICK MULL CLOTH TO THE OUTSIDE OF THE BINDING, DRYING IN BETWEEN EACH LAYER, A TRADITIONAL WAY TO MAKE THE BINDING STIFF, STRONG, AND RESILIENT FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

NOTE: ALL OF OUR FACSIMILES ARE MADE TO ORDER. PLEASE ALLOW 4-6 WEEKS FOR NOTIFICATION OF SHIPMENT.