.497 i913 ^ A = sss <= A = (yi - 1_ n = = re = r,^ 2 = o 8 m j> 6 m CD 33 7 m ^ 3J A = Tate Gallery, London Catalogue of Loan Exhibition of Works by Vfe, Blake GDEN i j THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES Second Edition. THE NATIONAL GALLERY, BRITISH ART. CATALOGUE OF LOAN EXHIBITION OF WORKS BY WILLIAM BLAKE, October to December, 1913. LONDON : PRINTED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE By DARLING and SON, Ltd., Bacon Stkeet, E. 1913. Price Sixpence. Second Edition. THE NATIONAL GALLERY, BRITISH ART. CATALOGUE OF LOAN EXHIBITION OF WORKS BY WILLIAM BLAKE. October to Decembee, 1913. LONDON: l»«INTED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, By DARLING and SON, Ltd., Bacon Street, E. 1913. Price Sixpence. PREFACE. The present exhibition is primarily one of Blake's paintings and drawings, and within these Hniits it has been sought to show his work at its highest level in all the periods of its development and in each of the various pi-ocesses employed by him. The nucleus of the collection will be seen to consist in the very considerable loans from Mr. Graham Robertson and the Linnell Trustees. The first of these, largely composed of works acquired from the Butts collection, will be found principally to represent the period of Blake's middle life, i.e., from about 1795-1810, and the second, to cover the final stage from 18 r 8 to his death. In addition to these highly important central features, the series is completed by a number of works of the first rank from other sources. In regard to the books and engravings, the same degree of completeness has not been attempted, and the specimens exhibited have been chosen either for their intrinsic qualities of excellence or in order to illustrate some special feature of interest in Blake's development. The series of portraits is as complete as it has been possible to make it ; prints, etc., easily accessible to the public in the other national museums have, however, been excluded. It is believed that the small collection of works by such of Blake's contemporaries as fell under his influence as well as by his immediate pupils, will be found of interest as further illustrating the place which he holds in British art. NOTE. The catalogue has been prepared by Mr. Archibald G. B. Russell ; and the Trustees and Director are much indebted to him also for advice iu the selection of the works exhibited. Most of the pictures are hung in Gallery V., the remainder on the end walls ol Galleries IV. and ?CV., adjoining Gallery V., or on Screens in those Galleries. BLAKE (WILLIAM), 17:)7-1827. William Blake, painter, engraver, poet and mystic, was born 28th Nov., 1757, at 28, Broad Street, Golden Square, in the parish of St. James's, Westminster ; and' died 12th Aug., 1827, at 3, Fountain Court, in the Strand. He received a training in art. such as his parents could afford, of an academic character. From the age of 10 to 14 he learned drawing in the school of Pars in the Strand. He was then (i77i)\irjipren- ticed to James Basire, engraver to the Society of Antiquaries and two years later was sent by him to make drawings of the monuments in Westminster Abbey and other London Churches. The acquaintance which he there made with the many master- pieces of Gothic art left a deep impress upon his imagination, and hereafter memories of Gothic form and Gothic ornament everywhere abound in his designs. In 1778 he entered the Royal Academy School, and he began about the same time to produce a number of small historical pictures (in water-colour) in the feeble manner of Hamilton and Mortimer ; with one of these. The DealJi of Earl Gooihviii, he appeared for the first time (1780) at the Academy Exhibition, to wliich he was during the next 30 years an occasional contributor. In 1780 he met Stothard and subsequently engraved a number of small plates after his work ; he was introduced by him to Fla.xman, who became a close friend until many years after an unhappy misundei- standing with the former ended in a quarrel with both of them. About this time, too, he became acquainted with Fuseli, who remained ever a constant friend and ardent admirer ; he afterwards composed the prospectus to Blair's Grave and several of his designs were engraved by Blake's hand. Blake married in 1782 Catherine Boutcher, a market gardener's daughter, who bore him no children but loved him affectionately and laboured for him with unwearying devotion throughout a long life of poverty and neglect ; he taught her to draw and she learned to help him in the printing and colouring of his engravings. In 1784 he set up a shop as engraver and printseller in partnership with James Parker, which proved, however, a financial failure. The death in 1 787 of his favourite brother Robert, from whose hand several drawings of a mystical nature are extant, made a profound impression upon him and the date may be taken to represent the beginning of his creative activity as a visionary artist ; he afterwards claimed to have received from him in a \ision the original process by which his " Prophetical Books" were engraved and illuminated. In 1793 he settled in Lambeth (13, Hercules Buildings), whence the majority of his mystical writings were published. About this time he entered upon his friendship with Thomas Butts, muster-master-general, who in 1799 gave him an order for 50 small i")ictures at a guinea apiece, so becoming the possessor of practically all his most important works from this date until 1810. In 1797 he completed a large series of drawings for Young's Alight Tlioiii^hls, many of which he engraved and published with the text in the same year. In September, 1800, Blake left London to do engraving and other work for the poet Hayley at Felpham, near Bognor, on the Sussex Coast. The cottage m which he then lived is still standing. During this time he composed his two great mystical epics, Millon and Jeriisalcin, which were engraved by him alter his return to London in 1803 ; and at (325'J8r— T.G.) Wt :50236— /21. mO. 11/13. D & S, A3 A nn^ /IOC the same time he elaborated the theory of art wliich he afterwards set oiit, somewhat incoherently, in the Dcscrlplivc Catnloi^iic (1809) and other writings. In 1804 he was summoned to answer a malicious charge of sedition preferred against him by a drunken soldier whom he had ejected from his garden at Felpham ; he was triumphantly acquitted at the trial. In the latter part of 1804, he began the series ot drawings for Blair's Grave of which a selection were in 1806 engraved by Schiavonetti. In 1809, he gave a small exhibition of his works and issued his famous Descriptive Cnlaloi^iie. He failed to attract the general public ; but won the admiration of Charles Lamb, Seymour Kirkup, and other distinguished critics. He afterwards published a fine engraving of bis picture of the Canterbury Pilgrimage which was his most important exhibit on this occasion. After this date he fell into more desperate poverty and lived unknown and neglected until his meeting in 1818 with John Linnell, the painter, who commissioned from him the series of engravings for the book of Job, as well as a 100 designs for Dante and other works, and thus enabled him to live in tolerable comfort until his death. He was introduced by Linnell to John Varley, the astrologer-artist, for whom he executed his well-known visionary heads of deccxased historical personages ; and also to Frederick Tatham, sculptor and miniature painter, who afterwards l3ecame his biographer. In these latter days he also became the centre of a group of young admirers, among whom were the artists George Richmond, Edward Calvert, and Samuel Palmer, " The nature of my work," Blake himself tells us, " is visionary or imaginative " ; and several anecdotes of his childhood as well as a few pencil scribbles which survive show from his earliest years a strong mystical tendency. The end of the i8th century was a time when the imaginative arts had become imprisoned in a petrilied classicism and Blake believed himself set apart and predestined for the renewal of spiritual light. His ever-present idea was to establish a Golden Age with Art for the religion and Imagination the only God. In laying claim to " vision," it is important to remember that Blake was not arrogating to himself an inspiration surpassing that of other artists, as he was careful to explain that he believed the genius of every age to be equally inspired ; and he did no more than point to what he supposed to be the origin, conscious or unconscious of every work of art. He placed the v/orks of the Old Testament prophets, of mystical philosophers, like Paracelsus and Boehme, of religious exstatics like Santa Teresa, upon the same spiritual level with those of Diirer and Michelangelo ; that is to say he believed the source of inspiration to be within the artist and not from without. Art is for Blake the transvaluation of nature, and its business, to display nature's glory as she really is in the imagination, and not as she appears to the stony eye of science. Believing, as he did, the things of Imagination to be alone real and vital, he was naturally in duty bound to copy them with the utmost precision. What he wished to produce was a realism of the imagination. Imagination was for him sharply distinguished from nature by its form or outline. It is the form which preserves the ideal character, and not the substance. He therefore declined to allow the softness and vagueness of nature to impair the vividness of his vision ; and for this reason he was full of enthusiasm for Diirer, Michelangelo and the other great draughtsmen of the linear school (whose works were chiefly known to him through a small collection of prints which he had begun in boyhood to assemble) and for the masterpieces of Gothic sculpture (with some of which we have already seen he had made an early acquaintance). He was as violently opposed to the principles of the coloLirists and chiaroscurists, and denounces Rubens, Rembrandt, Correggio and Titian as the enemies of true art. It was on this ground that the quarrel arose between himself and Reynolds on the occasion of their meeting ; and he afterwards annotated this painter's Discourses with some scathing strictures. In one of his writings on art he tells us that the business of life was to recover art to the Florentine original. Like his Florentine masters, he conceived the naked human body to be the vehicle most appropriate for the expression of the highest ideas. But his manner of treating it was widely different. He was little interested in the central problem of that school — how to produce an illusion of solidity. He was concerned rather with the lines of the body from the point of view of design and as a factor in the composition. His principal delight was to make a pattern of radiant forms in action. His favourite maxim was unbroken lines, unbroken masses, unbroken colours. Uniformity of colour and a long continuation of lines are distinguishing features of nearly all his best work. Different also in principle from the Florentme was his treatment of drapery v.^hich he held should adhere strictly to the shape of the nude, while the Florentine ideal was rather to suggest than to reveal the body by its clothing and to convey the living form beneath by the curves of the folds and the direction of the lines. His subordination of every element to the general design is the reason of another peculiarity of his style, which is the little use he makes of the subtleties and varieties of facial expression ; he is generally content with a certain number of vague and abstract types of countenance. It was also his almost invariable rule to confine the lines of his design within the single plane of the foreground, frankly accepting the limitations proper to the flat surface which it was intended to adorn, and making no attempt to lead the spectator's eye inwards by receding lines of perspective. For this reason his landscape and other backgrounds are generally of a very summary and conventional nature, after the fashion of a curtain for stage-players. It was his love of clearness and precision that led him at an early period to abandon the use of an oily vehicle. He devised instead a modification of tempera, for which he borrowed the name " fresco." Its essential features consisted in the employment of glue (instead of yolk of egg, as in true tempera), for mixing with his colours and in the use of a plaster ground. The majority of his pictures v/hich are not in watercolour are painted in this way. It is likely, however, that the uicdiiim employed was occasionally varied, as it is hard to believe that the very diverse appearances of many of the works which he styled " frescoes " could have been achieved by the use of the same vehicle. The general term '* tempera' ' has been given to all such works in the Catalogue, as although strictly spe^ik- ing it is also an inaccurate one, it appeared on the whole to be less misleading to the general student than the other. Blake also invented a new method of engraving for the purpose of printing his *' Prophetical Books." It was a process of relief etching. The darks were first drawn upon the copper or pewter in an impenious fluid with a brush ; the plates were then bitten with acid, leaving the letters and the illustrations or decorative borders in relief. These he printed upon the paper in black or colours and afterwards coloured them either by hand in watercolour or by transferring opaque colour from the copper itself. This method he further developed for a process in which some of his earlier and most inipressi\e works are executed, the Printed Drmvings. First the outline and then the colours were stamped off (by separate impressions) from a millboard on to the drawing paper — the pigment being tempered with a mixture of copal varnish and glue. The most remarkable of these 6 pruductioiis and perhaps the greatest monument of his genius is tlie Creation of Adam. (No. I, in the Catalogue.) An account, in his own words, of another of the special processes employed by him, to which he gave the name of "Woodcutting on pewter," will be found under No, 80 in the Catalogue. His ordinary engravings are for the most part executed in the contemporary mechanical method of cross-hatched lines, and it was not until he became acquainted with the work of Marc Antonio that he adopted the freer manner in which his famous illustrations of the Book of Job, his masterpieces of invention and design with the graver, are carried out. Special mention must also be made of his admirable woorlcuts for Thornton's Virgil (see No. 78 in the Catalogue), — the only ones that were ever cut by him, — which are certainly to be counted among the world's masterpieces of wood-engraving. Blake's influence upon his contemporaries was somewhat restricted owing to the obscurity and isolation in which he lived. Romnev, who became acquainted with him about 17S2, thought his historical drawings ranked with those of Michelangelo, and some attempts which he made towards the end of his life in creation in the grand style are strongly influenced by Blake. It was also under Blake's influence that Fuseli first began to develop his imaginative character and that his style underwent a change in the direction of restraint and refinement. Stothard and Flaxman, too, owe a considerable debt to Blake. Sir Thomas Lawrence had a keen appreciation for Blake's works and purchased several, one of which he commonly kept on his studio table as a study. Of his immediate followers and pupils of the younger generation the most important are John Linnell, Edward Calvert, Samuel Palmer and George Richmond. Some interesting specimens which are here exhibited of the earlier work of these painters, done in the fulness of the inspiration of their master's spirit, are in strong contrast to their later work. It was not until the time of the pre- Raphaelites that Blake came into full recognition and he became the divinity as he was the forerunner of that movement. Blake's actual achievement in art is less than his powerful imagination should have accomplished. There was an absence of tradition in England and there had not been, since the middle age, a school of imacinative painting. He found only a terrible neo-Michelangelism, carried out according to empty neo-Greek ideals ; and he was unable completely to rise above his time. It is in the invention of design that his great strength lies. Note.— The above biography is concerned only with Blake as painter and engraver. BIBLIOGRAPHY. 1. Life of William Blake, By Alexander Gilchrist. New and enlarged edition, London, 1880. 2. William Blake, a critical Essay. By Algernon Charles Swinbm'ne. New edition, London, 1906. 3. The Works of William Blake. By E. J. Ellis and W. B. Yeats. London, 1893. 4. William Blake. By Richard Garnett. London, 1895. 5. Die Mystik, die Kiinstler und das Leben (pp. 14-56, ''William Blake"). By Rudolf Kassner. Leipzig, 1900. 6. The Poetical Works of William Blake. By John Sampson. Oxford, 1905. 7. Die Visioniire Kunstphilosophie des William Blake By A. G. B. Russell. Leipzig, 1906, 8. The Letters of William Blake. By A. G. B. Russell. London, 1906. 9. William Blake. By Helene Richter. Strassburg, 1906. 10. William Blake. By Arthur Symons. London, 1907. 11. Allgemeines Lexicon der Bildenden Kiinstler, Vol. IV., pp. 84-88, "William Blake.'' By A. G. B. Russell. Leipzig, 1909. 12. The Engravings of William Blake, By A. G. B. Russell. London, 191 2. 13. "J'he Catalogues of the following exhibitions of works by Blake : — i. At 28, Broad Street, Golden Square, (Blake's, " Descriptive Catalogue," 1809, see No. 102 below.) ii. At the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1876. iii. At the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A., 1880 and 1891. iv. At the Carfax Gallery, 1904 and 1906. V. At the Grolier Club, New York, 1905. ABBREVIATIONS. G.=Gilchrist's Life of William Blake, ed. 1880, B,F.A.=The Catalogue of the Burlington Fine Arts Club exhibition, 1876, Carfax (1904) or (1906), = The Catalogues of the exhibitions at the Carfax Gallery in those years. N.s. or d. = No signature or date. N.d. = No date. 8 INDEX OF LENDERS. Antiquaries (Society of) Bateson (Professor) ... Brooke (Rev. Stopford A.) Carfax & Co., Ltd. Carthew (Miss) Colviii (Sir Sidney) Dodge (Miss) Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Fuller-Maitland (J. A.), Esq. ... Graham-Robertson (W.), Esq. Hardie (Martin), Esq. Jackson (T. W.), Esq. "Kennedy, Lady ... Linnell Trustees, The 4I' (I 79 Macdonald (Greville), Esq., ]\LD. MacGeorge (B. B.), Esq. MacMillan (George A.), Esq. ... Manchester Art Gallery Marsh (Edward), Esq. ... Methuen (A. M. S.), Esq. Morse (Mr. & Mrs. Sydney) ... National Gallery, The ... National Gallery, British Art, The Osmaston (F. O.), Esq Richmond, Sir William Richmond (John), Esq Richmond (John), Mrs Richmond, Miss ... Richmond (Walter), Esq. Russell (A. G. B.), Esq Sabin (F. T.), Esq. Stirling (Captain Archibald), D.L. Stirling-Maxwell (Sir John), Bart. University College, Gower Street Vaughan-Johnson (B.), Esq. ... Victoria & Albert Museum, The White (W. A.), Esq Whit worth Institute, Manchester XIX ,81, V), • •• ••• >>> -•• ••• ••• *5 ... • . • ... ... ••• •• • 5y ••• ••• ..• ••• ••- ••• ^/ 20, 119 8 '>ti 112 126 10, 18 ... 6, 46, 102 ,,, ... ••• vij ••• ... XA^ I, 5> 7. 9' ii» 14, 15- 16, 17, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 48, 51a, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 69, 71. 128, 129, 130, 131 T '^'y I '^o .), 42, 51, 52, (I-IV.), 53, 69a, 70, 72. 76, 77, 78, 83, 84, 85, 90, 93, 96, 100, loi, 103, 106, 107 108, 109, no, III, 125. So, 97 74, 86, 88, 91, 94, 95, 99, 100 ■■• ••• ••• ... ••• ••• >^ 61 (I-III 60, 104, 114, 116, 117, 118 73, 87, 89, 92 ••• ••• ••• ••• »•• ••• •tJ' 123 12,28,45,58,64,140 • *• «*. ••• ... •■• «•• i~ J 54, 105 57, 82 (I-II), 137, 142, 143, 144 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 141 75 138 ... ..( .•• ••• ••• ••• X ^^\J 5o(I-VIII) 3,23 2,29,40,43 ... 121 122 55,56 .. ... 124 35 -►, .,. 49 (I-II), 98 9 CATALOGUE, A.-ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BIBLE. 1. ELOHIM CREATING ADAM. Genesis ii., 7. Printed-drawing. 17I x 2i|- in. Signed, W. B. inv., and dated, 1795. G. 209, 20 ; B.F.A., 205 ; Carfax (1904), 18 : (1906), 30. Purchased by Butts from Blake, 4 Sept. 1805, for £1 is. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The Creator, a grand and terrible figure, ancient and winged, like some stupendous monument of an oriental imagination, clothed about the body with flowing drapery, with his hair streaming behind and with all the agony of creation upon his face, is engaged in forming Adam, who lies prostrate below him, out of the four elements ; and moulds his head with his hands out of the clay of the ground. About one of Adam's legs, which begin to take their shape in their original ligneous matter, are the coils of a huge worm, emblem of nature and mortality. Behind the hovering ligure of the Almighty is the lurid disc of the sun (representing Jire) ; dark clouds (air) roll thickly above ; and beneath the ligure of Adam is the green earth, with dark blue n'ater in front lapping the edge. One of Blake's grandest inventions. No other example of the print is known. The ** Rossetti MS." contains a slight study for the design. 2. ADAM NAMING THE BEASTS. Genesis, ii., 19 and 20. Tempera, on canvas. 29^ x 24^ in. Signed and dated, Fresco by Williani Blake, 1810. G. 213, 40 ; B.F.A., I. Butts sale, Foster's, 29 June, 1853 (together with '' Eve naming the Birds," its companion), 105.; Sir William Stirling Maxwell. Lent by Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Bart. Adam is a nude figure, | life size, seen ^- length to the front. He has a round (or very slightly oval) face, full of youthful charm, large brown eyes and short dark curly hair. The lingers of his left hand caress the bluish head of a serpent at his breast, one of its coils encircling his arm. His right hand is upraised, the forefinger erect. Behind him (r.) is an oak tree, a branch of which spreads over his head. In the middle distance are some cattle and sheep, together with a horse, a lion and other animals. The background is a grassy landscape, bounded by iow hills which rise from the banks of a river. 10 -?. Adam Naming the Beasts — continued. The colour is pale, thin and transparent ; the modelling, flat ; a good land- scape. The companion picture of " Eve naming the Birds " is also in Sir John Stirling Maxwell's collection ; originally a fine work, it has unfortunately suffered much from having been heavily repainted in oil colours. Figures on so large a scale are rarely to be met with in Blake's work, 3. THE TEMPTATION OF EVE. Tempera, on copper. 10 x 14I in. Signed W. B. inv., n.d. (? c. 1795). G. 235, 130 (and 131). Originally in the Butts collection ; Butts sale, Foster's, 29 June, 1853 (with one other), £1 ; Sir William Stirling Maxwell. Lent by Captain Archibald Stirling. Eve, a beautiful nude figure, with luxuriant yellow hair, stands in the midst, with her right arm uplifted : her face is radiant, charmed by the serpent whose golden yellow coils surround her, circling upwards behind her, its crested head uplifted high above her head, with the fruit in its jaws. Adam lies stretched in sleep uj^on the grass (r.) by the writhing folds of the serpent's tail, with one hand resting upon a spade at his side. The dark trunk of the Tree of Mystery stands massively to 1., over-arching the composition with its branches. In the background is a rocky landscape with a waterfall. Above in the dark blue sky of night the moon is eclipsed. A very beautiful work, full of mystery. The bluish half-tones of Eve's body are characteristic of Blake's handling. 4. THE DELUGE. India ink. 5;i] x 4I in. N.s. or d. G. 270, 156 : B.F.A. ; 4. W. B. Scott. Lent by Sydney Morse, Esq. A space of stormy sea, beneath a stormy sky with a rainbow. 1 Upon the reverse is a caricature sketch of a human-limbed elephant, dandling a similar infant elephant on his foot. Both designs were published by Bell Scott — '' The Deluge " in an etching and the other in a lithograph. 5. THE VISION OF JACOB'S LADDER. Genesis xxviii, 12. Water-colour, 14I x 11^ in. Signed, W. B. inv., n.d. (? c. 1800), • G. 220, 91 ; Blake's Descriptive Catatogiie (1809), xiii. Royal Academy (1808), 311 ; B.F.A., 154 ; Carfax (1906), 37. Butts ; Lord Houghton ; Lord Crewe. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq. In the foreground the youthful Jacob, propped upon a pillow of large stones, is stretched in sleep upon a grassy hill-top ; he is lightly clad in a yellow garment 11 5. The Vision of Jacob's ladder— contiinted. and holds a shepherd's crook in his left hand. Ending by his pillow and descending from a vast golden sun on high, whence emanate floods of bright yellow beams, is a white spiral stairway or ladder, npon which countless angels and girls and little children are passing up and down. Foremost among them is a winged angel bearing a basket of bread upon her head, and followed by a damsel with a jug of wine. Others are engaged in various delights : embracing one another, leading little children, one carrying a scroll, others a book, compasses, or a musical instrument — all joyful and beautiful. Beneath the rays of the sun is deep blue sky, star-spangled. It is difficult to dissociate this charming and beautifully coloured drawing from the vision of the ladder in the letter addressed to Mrs. Flaxman (sec Tlic Letters of Willinni Blake, 1906, pp. xxxi, 73); it is at any rate of about the same date {i.e. c. 1800). 6. JOSEPH'S BRETHREN BOWING BEFORE HIM. Genesis xlii, 6. Watercolour. 15I x 22 in. N.s. or d. G. 208, 7 ; Royal Academy (1785), 455 ; International Exhibition (1862) ; B.F.A., 9. Lord Coleridge. Lent by the Trustees of the Fitzwilliam Museum. Joseph, clad in a pale blue garment covered by a voluminous mantle of a pale red colour, is seated to r. ; his face, which has a youthful and somewhat feminine beauty, framed by long curls of yellow^ hair, is averted from his brethren and wears a dreamy abstracted look, as though reflecting upon the reversal of fortune ; his right hand rests upon his head. His ten brethren are grouped together ().), clothed in pale garments of yellow, red, blue, etc. ; and three of them, in front, are in the act of bowing. In the middle, beyond, a young woman in blue walks away, with a basket of grain upon her head ; and close by her is a youth bowed under a sheaf of corn. This drawing, together with its two companions ('' Joseph ordering Simeon to be bound," and "Joseph making himself known to his Brethren ") appeared at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1785, and are interesting examples of Blake's early manner. The set of three turned up in their original rose-wood frames at a dealer's in Wardour Street in the middle ofthe last century, and were subsequently purchased by the late Lord Coleridge, at whose death they were sold, and eventually passed into the Fit/.vvilliam Museum. The colour of the drawings is pale and harmonious, though a little muddy. The "Joseph making himself known to his Brethren" (wliich through an error on the part of the writer in giving the title, is not the one at present exhibited) is the best of liic three, both in colour and design. 12 7- THE FINDING OF MOSES. Exodus ii, 5 :md 6. Water-colour. 12^ x i2| in. Signed \V. B. iiiv., n.d. G. 235, 138 ; B.F.A., 207 ; Cariax (1906), 38. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The young princess dressed in white and with a gold coronet on her head, attended by two young girls, bends anxiously over the infant in its cradle of rushes. An attendant in a pale yellow dress kneels by the child, and another in slate blue peeps over her shoulder. Behind are two other maidens, one of them with a pitcher. Two palm trees rise above them. In the foreground is the water covered with white lilies, with a crane (r.), feeding her young with fish. The pyramids appear in the background (1.). A charming design, with lovely clear colour ; the princess is a very graceful and pleasing figure. 8. THE BLASPHEMER. Leviticus xxiv., 16 and 23. Water-colour. 15 x 13^ in. Signed, W. B. inv., n.d. G. 236, 142 ; B.F.A., 76 f Carfax (1906), 53. Butts sale, Sotheby's, 26 March, 1852, £1 195. ; Sir Charles Dilke. Lent by Miss Carthev/. The blasphemer's naked titanic frame is the central figure. He kneels on the ground, his body thrown back, and his head bent backwards over his right shoulder ; his arms are bound to his ankles behind. On either side of him three Jews bend over him with glaring eyes, each with a stone in uplifted right hand. Several stones, already cast, are lying by his knees. Behind him is a circling column of black fiame and thick smoke, arising from the burning of his goods. Little colour, mainly slate blue, grey and brown. The figure of the Blasphemer is of a P'uselian type and finely conceived ; altogether a striking design. 9. THE SACRIFICE OF JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER. Judges, xi , 39. Water-colour. 14!^ x i2| in. Signed and dated, W.B. inv., 180^. G. 213, 48 ; B.F.A., 168 ; Carfax (1906), 39. Butts (See The Lcllers of William Blake, 1906, p. 1 18). Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The lovely maiden, with roses in her hair, kneels naked, with folded hands, upon a square altar of hewn stones. Her lute and tambourine lie at her side, and liundles of brushwood are piled up behind her. Curtains of cloud hang above her, on the one side bluish and on the other dark brown. Jephthah, clad below the waist in a red garment, kneels below, with outspread arms gazing up at her. Beside the altar upon the ground is a blue vessel of burning incense. Two virgins in white stand on either side. The companion picture of " Jephthah met by his Daughter," a somewhat tlieatrical and altogether much less pleasing work, is also in Mr. Graham Robertson's collection. O 10. SATAN SMITING JOB WITH SORE BOILS. Job. ii, 7. Tempera, on mahogany panel. I2| x i6| in. Signed, W, Blake fecit, n.d. Not in G. ; B.F.A., 150 ; Carfax (1906), 18. George Richmond ; Frederick Locker ; Sir Charles Dilke. Lent by Miss Dodge. The composition is nearly identical with plate 6 of Tlie Book of Job. In the painting, however, Satan has hnge red wings which are outspread behind his extended arms, and Hames shoot out behind the dark cloud above. The colour is brilliant and lurid. The ball of the sun is suffused with orange-red as it sinks into the black water ; about it is a blood-red glow fringed with black, and above a circle of deep blue sky, the edges where the colours meet being as it were engrailed. There is gold upon the wings of Satan and upon the arrows in his hand and upon the blue iiame behind them. The hills and grass are bluish green. The work is finer and more complete than any to be found in either of the two great series of the original designs for Job, and indeed almost surpasses the engraved version itself ; it is certainly to be counted among Blake's most remarkable achievements in colour. 11. JOB CONFESSING HIS PRESUMPTION TO GOD, WHO ANSWERS FROM THE WHIRLWIND. Job xl., 3-6. Water-colour. 15^ x 13 in. Signed W. B. I'nv., n.d. G. 236, 144 ; B.F.A., 95 ; Carfax (1904), 7 : (1906), 40. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The Almighty appears in mid air with extended arms and with a compassionate look in the midst of a brilliant rainbow-like glory and surrounded by a wave of storm angels which whirls round him and passes earthwards out of the picture to r. The dark-robed figure of Job (seen from behind) kneels, with uplifted hands, gazing with appalled eyes at the vision above. His wife and three friends are prostrate with their faces in the dust at either side. The same subject is similarly treated in plate 13 of the Book of Job, where, however, the angels are omitted. 12. DAVID DELIVERED OUT OF MANY WATERS. Psalm xviii, 16. Watercolour. 16^ x 13^111. Signed IF. L'., n.d. G. 2^7, 153 (and probably, 275, 2) ; B.F.A.. 97. Butts sale,^ Foster's, 29 June 1853, £^ 2s. ; presented by Geo. Thos. Saul to the National Gallery, The Saviour, clothed in white, descends amid a flood of yellow light, and bendmg forward with outspread arms, gazes upon David whose head and extended arms, bound with a net-work of cords, appear above the waters below. 14 12. David delivered out of many wAtevs—i oniiniu-d. Beneath his teet is a young chenib upon whom he rides and at his side, as it were "the wings of the wind," six other cherubim attend him. The uphfted arms of the two foremost of these, together with those of the central cherub and of two others invisible at either side outside, cross at the wrists, making an interlaced pattern as in plate 14 of The Book of Job-. Beneath them are dark clouds and many lightnings. Fine in movement and colour, but unlinished in execution and too elaborately symmetrical in design. The figure of the Saviour is tinely conceived. 13. BATHSHEBA AT THE BATH. 11 Samuel xi, 2. Tempera, on canvas. loj x 14! in. Signed, W. B. ini'., n.d. G. 2;^^, 150 ; Carfax (1904), 8 ; (1906), 8. Lent bv F. O. Osmaston, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The lovely Bathsheba stands naked at the bath's edge, with her hands resting upon the shoulders of two young girls attending her. A woman attendant who sits (1.) with her legs dipped into the water and with one hand laid upon a vessel of unguent, offers her a flower. At either side of tlie bath, which opens into a garden of luxuriant tropical flowers bounded by a mass of dark green trees, there arises a pair of columns with branching capitals, supporting the roof. David, a distant hgure, crowned and wearing a red robe, walks on the roof of his palace (r.). The surface of this beautiful work is unfortunately a good deal cra'cked. Reproduced in Tlie Biiiiiiigloii Magazine, March, 1904. 14. ELIJAH ABOUT TO ASCEND IN THE CHARIOT OF FIRE. II Kings ii, 11 and 12. Printed-drawing. i6| x 2o| in. Signed and dated, W. B, iiiv., i'/9S- G. 209, 23 ; Carfax (1906), 27. Lent by Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. Elijah, an ancient figure with long white hair and beard, clothed in white, is seated (r.) in the iiery chariot, which is a globe of yellow, orange and black flames. His left hand rests upon an open book upon his knees, and w'ith his right he lays a golden sceptre upon the shoulder of Elisha, who is a similar figure to himself and stands naked, by the horses, with bowed head and folded hands. The two iire-coloured horses have flaming manes and tails. The air above is aglow with bright yellow light. One of Blake's finest inventions. Two other examples of the print are known. One of these, also originally in the Butts collection and sold at Sotheby's, 29 April 1862, for £1 145., is now in the possession of Mrs. Hunter- Weston ; in it the air is dark above and streaked with bright rays of light. It is without signature or date. Another, signed. Fresco, W. Blake iiiv., formerly in the possession oi 15 14- Elijah about to ascend in the Chariot of Five— couiiniicd. Mrs. Alexander Gilchrist, exhibited at the B.F.A. club (no. loi), and reproduced in Gilchrist's Life (ed. 1880) in a woodcut (facing p. 128, vol. i.), is now the property of Mr. James S. Inglis of New York City ; in it, Elijah wears a red robe ; it is probably the hnest of the three, but has not been seen by the writer. 15. RUTH PARTING FROM NAOMI. Ruth, i., 15-17. Water-colour. 13I x 12^ in. Signed and dated, W. B. inv., 180^^. G. 214, 50; Descriptive Catalogue (1809), XV.; B.F.A. , 209; Carfax (1904), 4: (1906), 54. Butts (see The Letters of William Blake, 1906, p. 119). Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq. Ruth, a tall slender figure, with long yellow hair, in a white flowing dress, and her mother, who wears a blue dress, embrace one another. Orpah, a very tall figure, in a pink dress, has turned away along the road, which winds by a river among trees in the foreground and mountains beyond. A windy sky, blue, white and dark grey. Beautiful in its colour, which is of a pale, silvery tone. A " printed-drawing '^ of the same subject (differently treated) is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. 16. SATAN IN HIS ORIGINAL GLORY. Ezekiel xxviii, 15. Water-colour. i6§ x 13^ in. Signed, W. B. inv., n.d. G. 243, 205 (and 275, n,) ; B.F.A., 170 ; Carfax (1906), 36. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The imagery of Ezekiel is literally presented. The King of Tyre (as "the covering cherub ") is depicted in a youthful form, " perfect in beauty and brightness," with six many-coloured wings outspread, and floating forward through the blue air. A crown of gold, set with a ruby-like star, is upon his head ; in his right hand is an orb of gold and in his left a golden sceptre ; a mantle of yellow light with a border of precious stones streams behind him. Attendant upon him are many faery-like angels, blowing trumpets, reading scrolls, etc., etc. Beneath his feet are the fixed stars and the planets ; and above is the grey of night, which he, as Lucifer or the Morning Star, is dispelling. A pretty drawing, with something of the character of an illustration to a faery-tale. 17. NEBUCHADNEZZAR. Daniel iv, 33. Printed-drawing. i6| x 23I in. Dated and signed, 1795, H'. B. inv. G. 208, 15 ; Carfax (1906), 33. Lent by \\\ (iraham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. 1 7. Nebuchadnezzar— n>H//////f(/. The i-iicuue oi the oiilcast kiii.cf, creeping" on all fours like a beast, with nails like bird's claws, hair like eagle's feathers upon his back and flanks, and wild eyes, gasping mouth, trailing tawny beard, and reddened flesh, is a literal presentation of the prophetic words. Behind him is a thatched lair or den, overshadowed by a tree (1.). Deep blue sky above (r.). A terrible picture of wild insanity, used by Blake to symbolize the bestial existence of the man who is under the domination of reason and whose imaginative life is dead. The pattern of the figure is borrowed from that of the saint creeping like a beast in the background of Diirer's print of " The Penance of St. John Chrysostom." Four other examples of the print are known to exist. One of these signed and dated, TF. Blake, I/95, is in the possession of Captain Archibald Stirling of Keir. Another (n.s. or d.) was sold at the Butts sale (Sotheby's, 29 April 1862) for _^4, and was subsequently in the possession of Mr. Palgrave, from whom it was acquired by Mr. Henry Adams of Washington, U.S.A. ; it was exhibited at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1880 and 1891. Ruskin had another, which passed about 1859 into the hands of Messrs. Colnaghi. Yet another was sold at Messrs. Southgate and Barrett's rooms, 7 June 1854, for £2 ys. od. (Graves). A shght study for the print is to be found in the '* Rossetti MS " (p. 48). The same figure appears also (in reverse) in ^'TJic Marriage of Heaven and Hell'^ (i79o), at the foot of p. 24. 18. THE ANGEL GABRIEL APPEARING TO ZACHARIAS. Tempera, on canvas. 10 x 14I in. Signed, W. B., n.d. G. 238, 158 ; Carfax (1904), 9 : (1906), 9. Butts sale, Sotheby's, 24 June, 1903, ^42 ; Messrs. Carfax & Co. Lent by Miss Dodge. Zacharias, in full priestly garments, the ephod with its robe of woven work all of blue and with alternate bells and pomegranates upon the hem, the breast plate with its four rows of stones, the inscribed linen mitre, etc., etc., stands (1.) before the altar, burning incense. His hand is stayed as he swings the censer and his eye amazed by the presence of the angel upon the right side of the altar, clothed in white, holding a golden sceptre and pointing heavenwards with his rif'ht hand. A cloud of blue smoke (matching the colour of the priest's robe) rolls above the flaming altar with its horns of brass, which is set in the midst. Behind the angel (to r.) is the table for the shew-bread, with the vessels and incense pots upon it. The seven-branched golden candlestick (decoratively treated) supported on either side below by two golden cherubim, stands behind the priest. Lovely, jewelled colour ; the surface a little rubbed. 19- THE NATIVITY. Tempera, on copper. loi x 14I in. G. 238, 159 (and 275, 7) ; "B.F.A., 89 ; Carfax (1904), 24. Butts sale, Foster's, 29 June, 1853, 65. ; J. C. Strange ; W. Bell Scott. Lent by Sydney Morse, Esq. 17 19- The Nativity — continued. Our Lady (1.), swooning in the miraculous childbirth, is sustained by St. Joseph ; while the Divine Infant, clothed with supernatural light, leaps forth upon the air ; St. Elizabeth (r.) holds out her arms to receive him ; the tiny Baptist, upon her knees, folds his hands in adoration. A pair of oxen are feeding at the manger (r. ). The star of the Nativity sheds a flood of light through a window at the back. Our Lady is clothed in white ; the other two figures, in blue. One of Blake's most daring inventions, and probably a unique treatment of the subject. It is perhaps worth noting that there exists in the Vatican a Roman bas-relief, representing, in a somewhat similar manner, the miraculous birth of Dionysus from the thigh of Zeus (in which the infant is represented as leaping joyfully forth into the light, while Hermes stands ready to recei^ e him), as it seems just possible that Blake may have been acquainted with a drawing of the relief done either by Flaxman or Cumberland or by another of his friends, and that the present design may have been suggested by it. The picture is unfortunately in very poor condition, the surface being a good deal cracked and darkened, and much of the colour having flaked off from the copper at the top. An etching of the picture was done, while it was in' his possession, by William Bell Scott. 2o. OUR LADY AND CHILD. Tempera, on panel. ii| x 9^ in. Dated and signed; Fresco, 182^, Blake. G. 226, 121 (and probably 243^^206) ; B.F.A., 151 ; Carfax (1906), 21. Lent by Messrs. Carfax and Co. The Holy Child is seated naked with uplifted hands upon the knees of Our Lady and between her uplifted hands. His head is encircled by a double nimbus of greenish gold with crimson spiked rays. Our Lady, who has a double nimbus of gold, is depicted with a round, smiling face. Dark landscape setting ; with sheep feeding behind, hills in the background, and stars above. A carefully finished work in a green and gold scheme, dark and rich in colour and highly varnished ; resembling an ikon and remarkable for the curious combination of convention and realism which give it its somewhat bizarre appearance. . . 21. THE ADORATION OF THE KINGS. Tempera, on canvas. 10^ x 14^ in. Signed and dated, W.B., I799- G. 210, 29 ; Carfax (1904), 2 : (1906), 10. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. 32145 B 18 21. The Adoration of the Kings—continued Our Lady, clothed in white and glowing with the miraculous light which surrounds the Infant upon her knee, sits upon a heap of straw (r.) within the stable. Joseph, in a yellow robe, stands behind, looking over her head. The three Kings, with crowns upon their heads, kneel (1.) and present their gifts to the Child. The one nearest the spectator is an ancient figure with a long white beard and clothed in a splendid crimson robe ; the other two, one of them wearing a dark crimson robe, the other, of dusky complexion, a red robe, are much younger. A pair of oxen are feeding behind Joseph. Through an open door the horses and retinue of the Kings appear, underneath a blue sky, in which the star shines brightly. The grandeur of the scene is nobly realised in a great simplicity of design and colour. 22. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. Tempera, on canvas. lo-^ x 15 in. Signed and dated, IT'. B. inv., 1790. G. 208, 10 ; B.F.A., 136 ; Carfax (1904), 29 : (1906), 11. Butts sale, 29 June 1853 (with one other), los. ; Aspland sale, Sotheby's, 27 January 1885, .^10. ; J. Annan Bryce, Esq. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq. Our Lady, clothed in white, with a white mantle passed over her head, sits facing the spectator upon an ass's back, with the Holy Child in her arms. A divine light rests upon them, and six infant forms (possibly intended for the souls of the Innocents) float around them. The ass, a heavy plodding creature, advances over dark bluish grass towards the left. Joseph in a brown garment walks in front, accompanied by an angel in red. Both look back at the Child. Behind are two watchful angels, whose outspread wings over-canopy their charge. High up to 1. is a crescent moon in a dark blue sky. The figure of Our Lady has a great spiritual beauty. The face of the Child has suffered from the relaying of the cracked paint. The whole surface of this lovely work is a good deal cracked, and the colour, which is varied and delicate, has considerably darkened. 23. OUR LADY WITH THE INFANT JESUS ON A LAMB AND ST. JOHN. Tempera, on canvas. io|- x 14^ in. Signed and dated, W. B. inv., iSoo. G. 243, 312 ; B.F.A., 149 ; Carfax (1906), 12. Butts sale, Foster's, 29 June 1853, iis. ; Sir William Stirling Maxwell. Lent by Captain Archibald Stirling. In the centre, the infant Jesus, upheld by Our Lady behind, rides (towards I.) through a grassy meadow, upon a lamb, which the infant St. John leads on with a handful of grass. Two slender trees, one of them wedded to a vine, overarch 19 23- Our Lady with the Infant Jesus on a lamb and St. Johia.— continued. the composition. Landscape background, with hills, woods and a river winding among grassy pastures, also a temple with pinnacles. Yellow, orange and blue sk}'. The landscape is a charming one. The companion picture of " Our Lndy adoring the Infant Jesus asleep on a cross," the surface of which is a good deal cracked and otherwise damaged, is also in Captain Stirling's possession. 24. CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN. Tempera, on canvas. io| x 14I in. Signed and dated, W. B. inv., i/QO. G. 208, II ; B.F.A., 139 ; Carfax (1904), 30 : (1906), 15. Butts sale, Foster's, 29 Jmie 1853, los. ; Aspland sale, Sotheby's, 1885, ^10; J. Annan Bryce, Esq. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq. Our Lord, clothed in white, sits, in the midst, upon a stone seat underneath the green spreading branches of a tree. Two infants nestle in his folded arms, and others play around him. To r. a kneeling mother presents to him her four children To 1. a tall grey-bearded man holds up his hand, enjoining silence, and close to him, with her back turned to the spectator, stands a woman, in a bluish green dress, with an infant in her arms. A rock rises up to r., and in the back- ground there are trees and a winding river with two temples on the further bank and hills rising above. The figure of the woman standing on the 1. is curiously Venetian in feeling. The diminutive children recall those of some early Greek reliefs. A good little picture, damaged however by cracks and the relaying of the surface. 25. THE TEN VIRGINS. Water-colour. 15I x 13 in. N.s. or d.' G, 216, 70 ; Carfax (1904). Purchased by Butts from Blake, 12 May 1805, for £1 is. ; Butts sale, Sotheby's, 26 March, 1852, £2 3s. Lent by Miss Carthew. The virgins quit a wooden hut (r.) at early dawn. Five of them (in white and blue dresses, with white mantles passed over their heads) move away to 1. in a serried row, radiant in the light of their burning lamps. The last of their number looks back to the five forgetful ones, who are huddled together before the door in various attitudes of supplication and despair, and points in the direction of 32145 B 2 20 ^5- The Ten Virgins— continued. the city behind them. An angel, overhead, summons the guest with a trumpet blast to the marriage. There are dark green hills in the background, and part of the city is indicated to r. Grey slcy faintly lighted by the dawn. A 'remarkable design, good in colour ; the angel is finely imagined. Three other versions of the composition are known : — i. In the Linnell collection, ii. In the possession of Mr. Sabin. by whom it was acquired not long ago at Christie's, iii. In the possession of Cecil Poynder, Esq. In reference to the last of these, the following interesting note appears in the diary of the grandfather of its present owner : — " Purchased by me (after some competition) on 20 May 1830 at Christie's [at the Sir Thomas Lawrence sale] . . . . It was Sir Thomas's favourite drawing, and he commonly kept it on his table in his studio, as a study. I paid a high price." The replica in question had been specially commissioned from Blake by Lawrence, whose acquaintance with the design was probably derived from the copy of the original Butts drawing done by Blake for Linnell ; the compliment paid was a high one since the Lawrence collection of drawings by the old masters was perhaps the finest that has ever been assembled (c.p. No. 46 below). 26. THE SOLDIERS CASTING LOTS FOR CHRIST'S GARMENT. Water-colour. i6|^ x 12^ in. Signed and dated, IF. B. inv., 1800. G. 211, 37 ; Bl'^ke.'s Descriptive Catalogue (1809), XII. ; B.F.A., 2 ; Carfax (1906), 42. Butts sale, Foster's, 29 June, 1853, 14s. ; Lord Houghton ; Lord Crewe. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq. In the foreground three soldiers are dicing excitedly for the seamless coat ; others (r.), leaning upon the shafts of their partizans, bend over them watching the game intently. Beyond is the crucifixion, seen from behind, with a group of holy women and others at the feet of Our Lord. In the distance, upon the terrace of the Temple, which rises up with its many pinnacles mysteriously in the back- ground, a multitude of spectators is dimly indicated. Many, too, crowd up beneath a portcullis-gate (1.), below the steep grassy rock upon which the cnicifixion takes place. A sombre design, grandly composed, with weird light effects. One of Blake's most remarkable productions. 27. THE CRUCIFIXION : " BEHOLD THY MOTHER ! " i6| X ii| in. Signed, W.B. inv., n.d. G. 240, 181 ; B.F.A., 71 ; Carfax (1906), 43. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. 21 2"]. The Crucifixion : " Behold Thy Mother ! "—continued. Our Lord, as he utters the last charge, hangs, pale and beautiful, his head encircled by a faint yellow glow, upon the cross which stands out against dark clouds tinged with red above. Before the cross are Our Lady (1.) with clasped hands and St. John (r.) with folded arms, both gazing upwards : and with them two of the holy women. All around are many dark bowed figures, with their faces hidden. A faint yellow glow hovers above them. A solemn and beautiful work. 28. THE PROCESSION FROM CALVARY. Tempera. lo^ x by 14I in. Signed, W. B. inv., n.d. G. 240, 182. Originally in the Butts collection ; presented by F. J. Palgrave to the National Gallery in 1884. The Body of Our Lord is borne on a bier over a grassy expanse by four bearers ; the nearer of the foremost pair (1.), a youthful figure in an orange^ coloured robe, is doubtless St. John ; Nicodemus and another are behind. Joseph of Arimathea, an ancient bearded figure carrying a staff, walks by the side of the body (in front). They carry each of them a vase of spice. Our Lady, a beautiful iigure in a blue robe with a white mantle passed over her head, follows the bier with bowed head and folded hands, and the two other Marys, in blue, walk together behind her. Beyond are some trees, and in the background the domes and pinnacles of the Temple, and Calvary with its three crosses rising to the right. Blue and white streaky sky. 29. THE ENTOMBMENT. Tempera, on canvas. 10^ x 14^ in. N.s. or d. G. 241, 183 ; B.F.A., 87 ; Carfax" (1906), 16. Sir William Stirling Maxwell. Lent by Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Bart. The scene is within the sepulchre, beneath the low round arch of the vault, the door being open beyond. The dead Christ, wrapped in a winding sheet, is laid on the bier. Joseph of Arimathea, an aged iigure with a long white beard and wearing a dark red robe, stands behind the bier, holding a blue vase of spices. On one side of him is St. John, in a dark golden-yellow robe, with folded hands ; on the other, another mourning Iigure, in a robe of the same colour, with his face hidden. Our Lady kneels (1.) by Our Lord's head, with bowed head and folded hands. Several other figures, both Apostles and women, are grouped around the body. Through the doorway of the tomb is seen a green lawn bounded by trees. The sky, streaked with dark blue and white, is darkening towards evening. An impressive picture ; a good deal cracked and darkened. 22 3c. THE ENTOMBMENT. Water-colour. i6| x 12 in. Signed, W. B. inv., n.d. G. 24.1, 84. ; B.F.A,, 166 ; Carfax (1904.), 12 : (1906), 65. Lent by \V. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The body of Our Lord, wrapped in white grave clothes, with the face alone uncovered, lies upon a bier within the tomb. By the head (r.) is Our Lady, robed in black, her head bowed, and beyond her St. John, a young and somewhat feminine ligure, with bended head. Joseph of x4rimathea, an ancient figure with a flowing white beard, bends down at the feet. The aged Nicodemus appears also among the company of mourners grouped around the body. Beyond, under the high arched doorway of the tomb, are the three Marys robed in black, wath vases of spice upon a step at their feet. The central one (probably St. Mary Magdalene) with long yellow hair and with her face hidden in a fold of her robe, holds a tall candle before her, to gi\e light within. Through the doorway is seen a background of dark trees, with dark grey clouds above. 31. THE SEALING OF THE SEPULCHRE. Water-colour. 16 x 13 in. Signed, TF, B. inv., n.d. (On paper watermarked 1 794-) G, 241, 185 ; B.F.A., 93 ; Carfax (1904), 13 : (1906), 67. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. A mason upon a ladder, with trowel and mortar, seals up the doorway of the tomb, into which the stone has been set. He has curly hair, red cheeks and curiously reddened shoulders with blue shadows ; and wears pale brick-red breeches. Below (l,)'are two Pharisees ; one of them, in a yellow robe and with a Hebrew inscription upon his head-dress, has a horriiiecl expression ; the other, in a dark grey robe bordered with a phylactery, points to-the tomb and commands the mail-clad captain of the watch to keep it safe. The latter has two soldiers at his side, armed with pikes and wearing plumed helmets. To r. is another Jew and two more soldieis. Interesting for the treatment of the subject. 32. THE ANGEL APPEARING TO THE THREE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. Water-colour, 14^ x 15 in. Signed and dated, W. B. inv., 1803. G. 213, 45 ; B.F.A," 109 ; Carfax (1904), 3 : (1906), 66. Butts (see Tlic Lelicrs of Williaui Blake, 1906, p, 119). Lent by W. Graham Robertson. Esq, by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. 32. The Ang-el Appearing* to the Three Marys at the Sepulchre— continued. The Angel, who has a young and radiant face of somewhat Christ-like type and yellow hair encircled by a faint halo, clothed in shining white raiment, floats on shadowy wings from the round archway of the white stone tomb (1.), his left arm uplifted, pointing upwards. The three women, clothed in dark grey^blue robes and mantles of the same, stand in a row (r.), clinging together with expressions of bewilderment and fear. Each of them has a vase of spices. Beyond, a dark grey hill and a building ; pale grey and blue sky above. 33- THE ASCENSION. Water-colour. i6| x i2\ in. Signed, W.B. inv., n.d. G. 242, 190 ; B.F.A., 63 ; Carfax (1904), 14 : (1906), 44. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The ascending Christ, clothed in white, is seen from behind floating majestically upwards with outspread arms, in the midst a bright light falling from above. On either side is an angel flying headlong and pointing heavenwards. The eleven are below, gazing upwards with wondering faces, — St. John near the centre to the right of Our Lord's feet ; all clothed in brightly coloured robes, yellow, green, red, blue, &c. The upward motion of the figure of Our Lord is admirably expressed. The group of apostles, though somewhat grotesque in expression, is full of feeling. A pencil study of a somewhat similar design for the Ascension may be. seen (on the reverse of a sketch for " The Strong, Wicked Man " in Blaij's Grave) in the Print Room of the Victoria and Albert Museum. 34. THE FOUR AND TWENTY ELDERS CASTING THEIR CROWNS BEFORE THE THRONE. Revelation, iv. Water-colour. 14 x ii^ in. Signed, W. B. inv., n.d. (1805). G. 216, 69 ; B.F.A., 210 ; Carfax (1904), 19 : (1906), 47. Purchased by Butts from Blake, 12 May 1805, for £1 is. od. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The vision of The Revelation is literally presented. Li the midst upon a golden throne, from which lightnings issue, sits the Father, an ancient figure with a long white beard, bathed in rosy light ('* like a jasper and a sardine stone ") and surrounded by rays {;f many coloured light, holding a scroll with seven seals in his right hand. At his feet is the Lamb, encircled by a rayed glory like the sun ; 24 34- The Four and Twenty Elders Casting* Their Crowns Before the Throne — conlinued. and before him on the brink of the crystal sea are the seven lamps which are the seven Spirits of God, represented by seven angelic heads, with flames resting upon them. The four and twenty elders, robed in white, on either side of the throne, cast down their golden crowns. Above these, about the throne, behind and at each side, are the four Beasts full of eyes and with many-eyed wings. On high, a brilliant rainbow (" in sight like unto an emerald ") overarches the composition. A rough pencil sketch for the above was in the possession of the late Dr. Richard Sisley. 35. DEATH ON THE PALE HORSE. Revelation vi, 8. Water-colour. 16^ x 13 in. Signed, W. B. inv.,n.d. G. 242, 200 ; B.F.A., 96 ; Grolier Club, New York (1905), 90, a. ; Butts sale, Foster's, 29 June 1853, ^i 17s. 6d. ; Aspland sale Sotheby's 1885, ^5 los. od. ; Frederick HoUyer, Esq. ; Sotheby's 24 June 1903. £(iO. Lent by W. A. White, Esq., of New York. The rider on tlie pale horse is a noble, ancient iigure (resembling Michael Angelo's Moses), with a crown upon his head, and a sword uplifted behind him in his right hand, and pointing forward with his left, as he fiercely urg2s his galloping horse. Hell, on a dark horse, beneath him. is a dusky iigure in scaly armour, with wild eyes and streaming hair, riding amid murky flames. An angel, above unrolls the scroll with the seven seals, of which three remain unopened. A majestic design ; the sculpturesque horse upon which Death rides is grandly conceived ; the angel with the scroll is also line ; the Death, too, is impressive, — in spite of a more than dubious anatomy. 36. THE RIVER OF LIFE. Revelation xxii., i and 2. Water-colour. 12 x 14^ in. .Signed, IF. B. iiiv., n.d. G. 251, 254 ; B.F.A., 94 ; Carfax (1904) 21 : (1906), 48. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The lovely clear blue ]-iver of water of life flows by a winding course, proceeding out of the throne of God which is represented by a vast yellow sun encircled by a glory of angelic figures. Upon its banks are the tree of life " with its twelve manner of fruits,'' and the many "tents and pavilions, gardens and groves " of Paradise, " with its iuiiabitants v.alking up and down, in conversation concerning mental delights." Over the midst of the stream is a male figure Hying 36. The River of Life — continued. downwards towards his wife, who, with her two infants, stems the ciuTent towards the sources of hght. To the right of these, a woman in a pale yellow dress, floating above the river, turns backwards and bends down with a shell (?) to partake of the water. On either side of these central hgures is a woman (one in salmon pink), piping to them. Executed with washes of clear, bright colour. One of the loveliest of Blake's water-colours. 37. THE DEATH OF OUR LADY. Water-colour. i4§ x 14^ in. Signed and dated, W. B. inv., 1803. G. 213, 46 ; B.F.A., 216 ; Carfax (1906), 46. Butts (see The Letters of WilUdni Blake, 1906, p. 119). Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it w"as acquired from the Butts collection. Our Lady, clothed in white, with a nimbus above her head and rays of light emanating from her, lies calm and beautiful in death, upon a dais, which is raised by a step from the ground and is covered by a green carpet barred with red. Two white robed angels kneel at her head (r.) and two at her feet. The youthful St. John, also clothed in white, stands over her, on the farther side of the bed, with clasped hands. Above is a vivid rainbow, in which a number of angelic heads appear. There is a strong ground of pencil beneath the colour. A lovely drawing, childlike in the simplicity of its design and colour. The following No. 38 is its companion. 38. THE DEATH OF ST. JOSEPH. Water-colour. 14I x 13^ in. Signed and dated, W. B. iiiv., iSoj. G. 213, 47 ; B.F.A. 218 ; Carfax (1906), 45. Butts (see The Letters of William Blake, 1906, p. 119). Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. Companion of the preceding and corresponding with it in design. Joseph, on the point of death, lies clothed in white, with clasped hands, his head resting upon the knee of Our Lady who kneels beside him. The bed is covered with a purple coverlet. Beyond, the ligurc of Christ, robed in white, bends anxiously over him. There is a rainbow above. Inscribed, " Into thine hand I commend my spirit : Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of Truth." 26 39. CHRIST PLEADING BEFORE THE FATHER FOR ST. MARY MAGDALENE. Tempera, on canvas. log x 14^ in. N.s. or d. G. 245, 22s. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq. Christ (a yonthful hgm-e), stands in the midst, clothed in white, with his arms extended, the right towards St. Mary Magdalene, the left towards the Father, with whom he intercedes. The Father, an ancient white-robed figure with white hair and beard, holding a golden sceptre, is enthroned (r.) amid crimson and blue flames, which leap forth above Christ's head. A white-robed, white-winged angel kneels by his side in front with bowed head and folded hands. St. Mary Magdalene (1.) has long yellow hair and is clothed in white ; her head is bowed and her hands are folded. She is surrounded by six blue-winged angels. Full of a mysterious beauty. The group composed of the Magdalen surrounded by six angels recurs in a different treatment in a scarce print entitled " the Ecstasy of St. Mary Magdalene " (No. 16 in the present writer's Engravings of William Blake). 40. A VISION OF THE LAST JUDGMENT. Water-colour. 19 x 15 in. Signed and dated, W. Blake inv., 1806. G. 218, 84 (and 267, 113); B.F.A., 70; Glasgow Exhibition (1902) ; Carfax (1906), Butts sale, Foster's, 29 June 1853, £6 165. 6d. Lent by Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Bart., M.P. Jesus is enthroned on high, with the Word Divine of Revelation upon his knee, between the four-and-twenty Elders who are sitting in judgment. Around him the heavens, in clouds, are rolling like a scroll, ready to be consumed. Descending from a sea of fire before the throne is a hery cataract, wherein three angels are falling headlong, w-ith trumpets to awake the dead. Adam and Eve, as representatives of the whole human race, appear first before the judgment seat, kneeling in contrition. On the right hand, the just, in humility and exultation, are rising in groups through the air, with their children and families. The Patriarchs are among their number. A woman crowned with stars and the moon beneath her feet, surrounded by infants, represents the Christian Church. A group of infants, encircled by a rainbow, who are mounting upwards on an angel's wing, may be supposed to be the souls of the Innocents. An angel with a writing tablet is taking account of the numbers who arise. Below, the graves of the blessed are bursting : parents and children, wives and husbands, embrace and arise upon the air rejoicing. 27 40. A Vision of the Last JvLdgment—coutinneii. On the left hand of the throne, from the cloud on which Eve kneels, Satan, wound round by the Serpent, is falling headlong, pursued by lightnings. Many figures, among them Sin and Death, and Time, some chained and bound together, others scourged by a Spirit with iiames of tire (typifying cruel laws), all in various attitudes of despair and horror, are falling into the abyss of Hell which opens beneath ready to consume them, and where others are howling and descending into the Hames, and in the act of dragging each other down, and of contending and lighting with each other on the brink of perdition. An angel with a writing tablet is seen, numbering, on this side also. On clouds above are opened, each by two angels, the books of remembrance of Life and of Death ; before that of Life, on the right, some figures bow in lamentation : before that of Death, on the left, from which lightnings issue, the Pharisees are pleading their own righteousness. On either side of the angels with the trumpets, hovers an angel, one holding scales and the other sheathing his sword, emblematic of justice and mercy. Below them, between the darkened sun and the moon eclipsed, h the Seven-headed Beast, kneeling upon a rock, and at the bottom, amid the ruins of her palaces, the Harlot is seated, with her red cloak behind her, and the Dragon at her side. All around the earth is convulsed with the labours of resurrection. The whole upper part of the design is a view of Heaven opened, around the throne of Christ, His head is surrounded by a glorious light, in which are seen infants emanating from him, representing the eternal births of intellect from the Divine Humanity. Above him hovers the Holy Spirit like a dove between Cherubim with harps and with the Cross above it ; for the Ark of the Covenant is a dove of peace. The curtains are drawn apart, Christ having rent the veil ; the seven-branched candlestick and the table of shew-bread appear on each side. On the right hand of the Saviour is Baptism, on his left the Lord's Supper — the two introducers into Eternal Life. A second design of "The Last Judgment " belonging to about the same date as the above and of a similar character to it, only differing in a number of its details, is to be found among Blake's illustrations of The Grave, and is described in his own words among the notes, appended to the volume. Another and far more elaborate rendering of the subject (also in water-colours) was completed in 1808 tor the Countess of Egremont and is still at Petworth ; a reproduction of it may be seen facing p. 199 of the present writer's Letters of WilUain Blake (1906), together with a full analysis of its treatment, in a letter from Blake to Ozias Humphrey which is also there printed (pp. 198-20). On a much larger scale is the version in tempera, containing about a thousand figures and measuring about 7 feet by 5 feet, which was linished by Blake in the last years of his hfe ; this picture, which has now disappeared, is probably the one described in the "Vision of the Last Judgment,'" printed in Gilchrist's 'Life (ed. 1880), vol. ii, pp. i85--'oo. A good many slight sketches in pencil, etc., for the subject are also in existence. 28 B.-HXUSTRATIONS OF THE POETS ETC. 41. NINETEEN DESIGNS FOR DANTE, Watercolour (unless otherwise stated). Measuring approximately 14^ x 2oi, Each marked with the Canto to which it refers. G. 227-234, 123. Lent by the Liunell Trustees. i. "TU DUCA, TU SIGNORE, E TU MAESTRO." Inferno, Canto II. Dante (r.) with a gesture resigns himself to the Ccwe of his guide (1.), and the two pass together (away from the spectator) under a natural archway of over- arching trees, into the forest, which is dimly seen in front of them. Dante is attired in pink and Virgil in blue. ii. THE INSCRIPTION OVER HELL-GATE. Inf. c. III. Signed, W. B. The two pass together the lintel of the gate. Dante gazes fearfully at the inscription above, while his guide beckons him on. Through the rough hewn door-way, at either side of which their arises a massive tree trunk thickly over- grown with dark foliage of a giant-leaved creeper, Acheron appears, and upon its farther shore pinnacles of red, blue and many-coloured flame are seen mounting in lines between the intersecting ridges of Hell. iii. HOMER AND THE ANCIENT POETS. Inf. c. IV. The two stand together (r.) upon the brink of a steep cliff, and look down uj)on the grove (1.) where the ancient poets are gathered. Homer is distinguish- able by his sword among a group of wreathed figures who stand at the edge of the grove. High up to 1. above the trees (whose foliage is of a beautiful con- ventional form), a priest-like hgure is seen, burning incense before a fiaming altar. Upon a slope beneath the cliff upon which Dante and Virgil stand, is an oak-wood, at the edge of which are other figures engaged in the delights of poetry. A broad band of deep blue cloud passes high up across the design. Beneath it in the midst, against a dark misty background, a number of figures of little children and spirits leading them are seen floating in the air. iv. THE WHIRLWIND OF LOVERS. Inf. c. V. Dante, swooning with pity at Francesca's story and Paolo's tears, hes prostrate (r.) upon a dark, grass-grown rock. Virgil bends sorrowfully over him. The two lovers are being caught back in a tongue of flame into the whirlwind, 29 4i-iv. The Whirlwind of Jjovevs—coniimied. which arises in a vortex, half-wave, half-lire, from a storni-vexed lake and passes out of the picture high up on the left, hearing with it a multitude of sufferers. Over Virgil's head is a vision of the kiss within a bright disk of light. The principal tints of the whirlwind are pale blue and yellow ; the figures within it are stained with the crimson of the lake from which they arise ; the background is a deep purple. , The highly finished, rather darkly tinted drawing is a remarkable example of the rhythmical manner of designing so often used by Blake (c. p. No. 46 - below, etc., etc.). It was one of the seven subjects engraved by him from the Dante ; and, but for a growth of cactus-like plants ^diich there spreads over the rock upon which Dante lies and for the greater radiation of light emanating from the globe in which the vision of the kiss is seen, the print is in close CQi're- spondence with the original. v. DANTE AND VIRGIL ABOUT TO PASS THE STYGIAN LAKE. Inf. c, VII., 130. India ink. A high tower rises (r.) at the edge of a vast expanse of dim grey water, with low hills upon the farther side. A double crescent-shaped flame-signal shines at the top of the tower, and is answered by one faintly seen upon the distant shore. The poets stand together, in front, awaiting the little bark of Phlegyas which sails towards them. vi. THE ANGEL AT THE GATE OF DIS. Inf. c. IX. In the midst, the figure of the Angel (turned away from the spectator) strides, staff in hand and with outspread wings, right up to the gate of Lucifer's city. Three serpent-girt Furies scream threats and brandish torches from above. Through the bars of the lowered portcullis, the yellow glow of the flaming tombs beyond it is seen. The bastion of the crenellated wall in which the gate is situate is tinted blue above and pink below, and under it are clusters of cactus-like plants. To 1. X'irgil shields Dante's averted face from the Medusa's head v\'ith which they are threatened by the Furies. vii. THE HARPIES AND THE HELL-HOUNDS. Inf. c. XIII. Principally landscape, with overarching trees in front and a yellow meadow at the edge of a dark forest beyond. A pair of Harpies, headed like macaws, are perched one at either side in the branches of the trees in front, and below Lano and Jacomo da Sant'Andrea are assailed by the hell-hounds. 30 4i-viii. BRIDGES AND LAKES IN THE EIGHTH CIRCLE. Inf. c. XVIII. In front is the lofty arch of one of the bridges, built of giant contorted human forms, through which a dark lake is seen, crossed in the middle distance to r. by another bridge. Upon the bank, in front, a devil hooks up one of the sufferers out of the lake; a group of other devils is also gathered to r. Upon the farther bridge is a company of sinners being chased over it by flying devils. ix. THE DEVILS, WITH DANTE AND VIRGIL, BY THE SIDE OF THE POOL. Inf. c. XXII. The design is composed of the intersecting lines of four of the bridges by which the pool is traversed. Dante and Virgil stand together (1.) in front surrounded by a group of threatening demons upon the green margin cf the pool, in which several of the sufferers are dimly indicated wallowing (to r.). The sky is lit red by distant cones of flames mounting in the background (to 1.). X. THE HYPOCRITES, WITH CAIAPHAS. Inf. c. XXIII. Dante and Virgil stand together (r.) and watch the winding procession of bowed figures in their white cloaks and deep hoods (falling over their heads) of shining lead. Close in front of the poets the crucified Caiaphas is stretched upon the ground, and one of the cowled figures, as the processions winds past him, sets his foot upon him. There is an arch beyond, and a pale green ridge of downland rises in the background. In the air to 1. is a group of demons fighting together with hooks. xi. BUOSO DONATI ATTACKED BY THE SERPENT. Inf. c. XXV. Buoso (r.), with upraised hands, shrinks from the serpent (Francesco), who flies at him, breathing out smoke. Puccio Sciancato stands to 1. ; and from the extreme 1. Dante and Virgil look on. There is a shimmering background of iiames of shifting tints, from green and blue (1.) to pale yellow and red (r.), mounting in pinnacles into a cloud of blue and crimson vapour ; the whole fore- ground is aglow with their lurid light. The design is one of the seven which were engraved by Blake from the Dante. xii. THE PRIMEVAL GIANTS SUNK IN THE SOIL. Inf. c. XXXI. The figures of the two poets are faintly drawn in pencil between two rocks in front. Beyond them, a dark cloud, fringed with jagged lightning, lifts and reveals to them a portion of the great Circle of the Giants, with their bodies half buried in the earth. Streaks of rain drive slant-wise across the design. A white, speckled background. 31 4i-xiii. ANTAEUS SETTING DOWN DANTE AND VIRGIL IN THE LAST CIRCLE. Inf. c. XXXI. Antaeus, clinging to a rock with his left hand, bends backwards over a precipice and sets the two poets down together upon a rocky platform below. Dark clouds above, wdth torrents of hail and sleet. Highly finished. The giant is a fine nude figure, black and blue, and raw in the flesh tints ; his body where it leaves the cliff is grandly outlined against a deep blue sky. xiv. COUNT UGOLINO IN THE TOWER OF FAMINE. Inf. c. XXXIII. Pencil. Ugolino sits, naked, upon the ground at the back of the dungeon. His hair stands up, and there is a wild stare in his eyes. His two grandsons are crouched by him and press close to him on either side. His two sons sit, in mute despair, propped against the bare walls (r. and 1.) in front. A pair of sorrowing angels hovers above Ugolino's head. The subject is one that was several times treated by Blake. A tempera picture corresponding in design with the present sketch is in the possession of Mrs. Graham Smith. See also The Gates of Paradise (No. 94 below) pi. 11 for a similar design (with the angels absent). There is a pencil sketch of Ugolino in the Print Room of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a drawing in India ink is also known to the wa-iter. XV. DANTE AND VIRGIL RE-BEHOLDING THE SUN AS THEY ISSUE FROM HELL. Purg. c. I. Dante kneels in front, with Virgil, who also kneels, bending over him. Both the figures are only sketched in in pencil. Beyond, the sun lises out of a green sea into a blue sky, with dark clouds, tinted blue and red, dispersing before its rays. A beautiful effect of sun-rise, in illustration of the lines : — " Dolce color d'oriental zaffiro, che s'accoglieva nel sereno aspetto del' aer puro infino al primo giro." Purg. c. I., 13-15. xvi. THE ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN OF PURGATORY. Purg. c. IV. Virgil rests awdiile, high up on the rocks to 1., to w^ait for Dante who climbs below. A dark cloud passes in a circle across the sun (r.), above a dark sea, lit with yellow at the back. 32 4T-xvii. THE ANGEL DESCENDING INTO THE CIRCLE OF THE PROUD. Piu-o-. c. XII. The two poets are i)assing tot^ether along the terrace of the proud whose figures are seen sculptured in the rock under their feet, when a dowairushing angel with outspread arms and wings alights upon the rock in front of them. The cliff, in which the terrace is cut, rises steeply above them, and descends below in a precipice to a deep green sea. A rainbow-tinted sky. xviii. DANTE AND STATIUS SLEEPING, VIRGIL WATCHING. Purg.c. XXVII. The three rest upon a winding ^stairway which mounts towards the left. Plants of beautiful forms grow at the edges of the steps. Dante's vision of Rachel and Leah in the moon is seen in a blue starry sky above. xix. BEATRICE ON THE CAR, MATILDA AND DANTE. Purg. c. XXIX. Dante and Matilda face one another on the opposite banks of a meandering stream of clear blue water. Behind Matilda, on the farther bank, the procession, with Beatrice in her Griflin car and the flaming branched candlestick in front, halts at the river's edge. Vii-gil and Statins stand together (r. in front) looking on. The stream is overarched by trees with conventional myrtle or ba5Mike foliage, and the meads upon its banks are gaily carpetted with brightest flowers, as in an Alpine valley. The sky is streaked with rainbow tints. 42. UNIDENTIFIED SUBJECT OF DANTESQUE CHARACTER. Watercolour. 14! x 20§ in. N.s. or d. Lent by The Linnell Trustees. A group of seven nude figures of giant w^omen (their bodies tinted in a greenish hue) is assailed by many-coloured serpents upon the banks of a stream. The stream is bridged in two places by the bended bodies of two pairs of the women meeting across it. Two others crouch down with agonized expressions upon the near bank to 1., the foremost of them being threatened by one of the serpents. Another is stretched at full length in front to r., with a serpent advancing over her body towards her head. The above splendid design corresponds in size and character with the Dante series above and was found in company with them. It is, also, inscribed " Hell" in pencil underneath the colour at the r. hand upper corner. There does not however appear to be any incident in the Inferno for which it could well be intended for an illustration. I o 43- SIR JEFFERY CHAUCER AND THE NINE AND TWENTY PILGRIMS ON THEIR JOURNEY TO CANTERBURY. Tempera, on canvas. i8| x 53I in. Signed, W. Blake, 1808. G. 220, 93 ; Blake's Descriptive Catalogue (1809), III ; International Exhibition (1862) ; B.F.A.. 18 ; Carfax (1906), 6. Butts sale, Foster's, 29 June 1853, £^o ids. ; Sir William Stirling Maxwell. Lent by Sir John Stirling Maxwell. Bart. The characters are illustrated from the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. The Descriptive Catalogue contains a full analysis of the picture, which is one of the artist's masterpieces. The stately movement of the cavalcade, forming a superbly decorative pattern coloured in rich and mellow hues, together with the architec- tural accessories of Gothic form and the sweeping lines of the landscape produce a noble impression. The design was engraved by Blake and published by him, 8 October 1810 ; the result, however, being inferior to the original picture and marred by the introduction of a certain element of grotesqueness (see No. 75 below). Its companion " The characters of Spenser's Faery Oueeii,'^ in the possession of Lord Leconfield, is a far less fortunate achievement. 44. HAMLET AND THE GHOST. Hamlet. Act I., Sc. i. Watercolour. 8^ x 6^ in. Signed, W. B. inv., 1806. G. 217, 78 ; Carfax (1906), 78." Rev. Joseph Thomas ; Rev. D. P. Chase ; Alexander Macmillan. Lent by George A. Macmillan, Esq. Hamlet kneels (r.) as the ghost (1.) casts towards him a last unforgettable look. The moon, above, is partly hidden by clouds. Darkly tinted, with a little blue where the moon is, and a bluish light at the ghost's feet. Reproduced in a woodcut in Gilchrist's Life (ed. 1880), Vol. I., facing p. 272. The drawing, together with five more by Blake, and some others from contemporary hands, are bound up in a copy of the Second Folio of Shakspere's Plays, having been executed for the volume when it was in the possession of the Rev. Joseph Thomas, at Epsom. The book was purchased in 1880 from the grandson of its original owner, the Rev. D. P. Chase, Principal of St. Mary Hall, Oxford, by the late Alexander Macmillan, the father of the present owner. The titles of the remaining drawings by Blake are as follows : — i. Jaques and the Wounded Stag. As you like it, Act II., Sc. i. Signed, W. B. inv., 1806. ii. "As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds. To turn and wind a liery Pegasus." /. Hcury IV., Act IV., Sc. i., 108-9. Signed, W. Blake, 1801). iii.' Richard III. and the Ghosts. King Rieliani the Third, Act V., Sc. iii. Signed, W. B. inv., n.d. iv. Queen Kathcrine's Dream. Henry Mil., Act IV., Sc. ii. Signed, W. Blake, i8oy. v. Brutus and Caesar's Cihost. Julius Casar, Act V., Sc. i. Signed, W. B. inv., 1806, 32145 C 34 45- OBERON, TITANIA AND PUCK, WITH FAERIES DANCING. A Midsuinmcr Night's Dream. Water-colour. 1 8^ x 26.^ in. N.s. or d. G. 251, 24.0 ; Carfax (1904), 34. Acquired by Gary (the translator of Dante) from Mrs. Blake ; A. A. de Pass, Esq., by whom it was presented to the National Gallery, British Art. Oberon is a kingly, crowned figure. Titania stands by his side (1.), and Pack close by them, in front. The faeries with joined hands, dance in a ring (r.) before them. Rather muddy in colour, lint fine in movement. The action of the dancing figures recalls a similar design by Flaxman in the Print Room of the British Museum. 46. QUEEN KATHERINE'S DREAM. Henry VIII., Act. IV., Sc. ii. Water-colour. 15I x i2f in. Signed and dated, W. B. iiiv., 180/. G. 216, 86 ; B.F.A., 81 ; Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition (1857), 130 a. Butts sale, Sotheby's, 26 March 1852, ;^'9 ; Sir Charles Oilke ; recently purchased by " The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum " at the Dilke sale at Christie's and presented by them to the Museum. Lent by the Trustees of the Fitzwilliam Museum. Queen Katherine, reclining upon a sofa, makes " in her sleep signs of rejoicing, and holdeth up her hands to heaven.'' Angels, with garlands and music, circle above her in an intricate airy dance, two of them as they |)ass holding a coronal of leaves over her head. At her side, the aged Griffith (1.) and the young Patience (r.) are asleep in their chairs. The composition is framed by a lofty gothic arch. Tinted in very pale colours. A replica of the design, highly finished in colours, and commissioned from Blake by Sir Thomas Lawrence (c.p. No. 25 above), was in the possession of the late Professor Tylor. A similar design is also contained in the Shakspere Volume lent to the exhibition by Mr. Macmillan (No. 44 above). A different design of the same subject will be seen in No. 47. 47. QUEEN KATHERINE'S DREAM. Henry VIII., Act IV., Sc. ii. Water-colour. 8 x 6f in. Signed, W. B., n.d. G. 254, 265 (and probably also 253, 256) ; B.F.A., 29. Lent by the Rev. Stopford A. Brooke. The young Queen lies dreaming (in front) on a white couch with dark red hangings loelov%'. Above her, and beneath a blue sky into which a large yellow sun is ascending, the happy faery-like forms of her dream hover amid mists Hooded with yellow light. One of these, with a bow and arrows upon his back, casts a ciown of ilowers over her head ; another, clothetl in blue rides upon horseback ; at each side, above, two lovely forms, one in yellow and the other in blue, bring 85 47- Queen Katherine's Bresim.— coni in luvi. down baskets of flowers ; others with music and garlands accompany them, and crowning ah is one with outspread arms and streaming flame-hke hair. The subject, though differently treated, is evidently the same as that of the preceding number ; a very dream-iike picture with lovelv delicate colour, marred however by the too prominent tint of the bed-hangings. 48. PITY. MACBETH. Act. i, Sc. vii., 21-25. " And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, hors'd Upon the sightless couriers of the air. Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, That tears shall drown the wind." Printed-dravving. i6| x 2i| in. Signed, Blake, n.d. G. 252, 248 ; Carfax (1906), 28. Lent by \\'. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The mother lies swooning upon the dark green earth, w'ith her hands clasped upon her bosom and her body closely wrapped from the breasts downwards in a white sheet-like gnrment ; while her new-born babe is caught up from her by a wild w'oman with streammg hair who is borne swiftly along the wind (towards r.) upon a shining grey horse with blind eyes. A second woman rides at her side, beyond, turned away from the spectator, with her arms outspread from her horse's head to its tail. Large drops of rain fall from a dense storm cloud behind. Dark hills in the background. The blind speed of the horses is grandly depicted. Ruskin had an example of the print, which I have been unable to trace. No others are known to exist. An uncompleted example of a much smaller version of the same subject, treated also in a " printed-drawing'" is, however, to be seen in the Print Room of the British Museum, where a study for the design is also to be found. 49. TWO DESIGNS FOR " THE HYMN FOR THE NATIVITY." Watercolour. Both signed, W. Blake, 180Q. Butts sale, Sotheby's, 26 March, 1852 ; Mrs. de Putron ; presented by J. E. Taylor to the Whitworth Institute, Manchester, Lent by the Trustees of the Whitworth Institute. i. THE ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPHERDS. ID X 7g in. G. 222, 105 (a) ; B.F.A., 86 ; Glasgow Exhibition (1902). '' The helmed Cherubim and sworded Seraphim," with uplifted arms which cross one another (cp. plate 14 of The Book of Job and the 12th verse of the 3214:. .02 3G 49-i- The A.nnunciation to the Shepherds— con/Z/n/^rf. Hymn), surrounded by angels with harps, form "a Globe of circular light," emitting long, many coloured beams on every side. The Shepherds, seated in a row by'their tlocks upon the ground, gaze upwards with amazement. A vision of the Nativity appears in the background. A beautiful design, with pale, lovely colour. ii. THE NATIVITY. 10 X 7f in. G. 222, 105 (b.) ; B.F.A., 106. Our Lady, with her new-born Baby in her arms, sits upon a heap of straw within a shed with a pointed entrance. St. Joseph, in a pale blue cloak, stands behind her. A pair of oxen (1.) feed at the manger. Above the shed, falling headlong, with her outspread wings overarching it, is the angel of peace, crowned with an olive garland and with a myrtle w^and outstretched in her right hand. Clouds part on either side of her ; and beyond her, on high, is a triple ring of pale colour, yellow, red and blue. Snow falls about the shed ; and upon the snowy earth in front of it lies a lovely female figure, representing Nature, girt about with a girdle of snow, and with clasped hands gazing reverently within. The two exhibited are from a set of six designs for Milton's Hymn for the Nativity, all belonging to the Whitworth Institute. Originally in the Butts collec- tion, they were sold at Sotheby's, 26 March, 1852, together with the poem in ms., for £6 125. 6d. ; and were subsequently in the collections of Mrs. de Putron and J. E. Taylor. SO. EIGHT DESIGNS FOR " COMUS." Watercolour All signed, W. B. inv., n.d. G. 246, 230 (2) ; B.F.A,, 10, 12-17, 22. Aspland sale, Sotheby's, 27 January 1885, Lent by Mr. Sabin. i. COMUS AND HIS REVEL ROUT SURPRISE THE LADY. 8^ X 7^ in. Aspland sale, £^ los. (Colnaghi). " Comus enters ivitli a CJiarming Rod in one hand, his Glass in the other, ivitli him a ront of Monsters headed tilie sundry sorts of nutde Beasts, lint othenvise like Men and Women, their Apparel glistring, they com in making a riotous and unruly noise, 7i'ith Torches in their hands.'' (Counis). The Lady, dressed in faintly pinkish white, is seated with clasped hands upon a grassy bank (r.). Comus and his rout enter behind her, and descend towards the left. The young enchanter himself passes naked in front. His companions, with the heads of a wild boar, a dog and a cat, run in line beyond him, making with their crossed uplifted arms a pattern similar to that of the Sons of God in pi. 14 of The Book of fol). The foremost of them holds up the glass. A wood in the background, and, above, a blue starry sky, with the attendant spirit hovering to 1, '67 5o-ii. COMUS, DISGUISED AS A VILLAGER, ADDRESSES THE LADY. Syg X 7fV ii^- AsplancI sale, ^^4 8.s. (Colnaghi). The Lady stands in the middle holding up her hand in a despairing gesture. Comus as an old man in a long grey cloak, apj^roaches with a salute (1.). The attendant spirit, in a blue robe, holding a star above her head, hovers near at hand, behind to r. Background of the wood, with two trees in front overarching the figures of Comus and the Lady with their boughs. iii. THE BROTHERS SEEN BY COMUS PLUCKING GRAPES. 8^ X 7 in. Aspland sale, £^ Hs. (Colnaghi). The brothers, clad in greenish blue garments, are plucking grapes upon the hill-side (r.) Comus (1.), in a long, faintly yellowish, white cloak, hat in hand, gazes suspiciously upon them. The swords of the two brothers lie upon the ground by the vine root, in front. A rustic, with a pair of oxen, passes beyond. The wood appears in the background, with the Lady seated beneath a tree. The guardian spirit hovers in the blue sky above her, iv. THE BROTHERS, PASSING THE NIGHT IN THE WOOD MET BY THE ATTENDANT SPIRIT. ^f ^ 7i'(i i'^^- Aspland sale, ^5, (Colnaghi). The brothers stand, each with his sword drawn, imdcr a nalural archway formed by a pair of overarching trees. The attendant s}Mrit, habited like a shepherd and wearing a pale yellow garment, stands between them holding up a star in his left hand. Above is the spirit of the Moon in her car drawn by a paii- of brightly coloured (blue and red) dragons. Background of the wood. V. COMUS, WITH THE LADY SPELLBOUND IN THE CHAIR. 8| X 7 in. Aspland salc; ^5 ijs. Gd. (Kigali), ^^ A stately Palace, set out ivitli all uianiiei of del icioiisiicss ; . . . Tables spied with all dainties. Comus appears ivith his rabble, and the Lady set in an enchanted chair, to whom he offers his Glass.'^ (Conuis) Comus (r.), with his wand out- stretched over the Lady's head, holds up the cup in his left hand. Several of his beast-headed companions are at table beyond. A row of three lamps hangs from the roof, brightly lighting the pillars and arches of the hall, in the background. 38 5o-vi. THE BROTHERS RUSH IN* TO SAVE THEIR SISTER. COMUS FLIES. 8f X 7 ill. Aspland sale, ^3 35. (Colnaglii). "• TJic Brollici's rash in ivith Sivords drawn, zurcst his glass out of his hand^ (Com us). Hall and banquet have vanished, and Conuis (naked) departs (i.) before the advancing brothers. The Lady is seated, still spell-bound, in a chair (to r.). Behind, there arises a thick cloud of smoke, in which four of the demon revellers are seen vanishing, high up to 1. The trunks of the trees in the wood begin to aj^pear, beneath a starry sky, above the smoke, to r. . vii. SABRINA DISENCHANTS THE LADY. 8| X 7yV hi. Aspland sale, £^ (Colnaghi). Sabrina, attended by a troup of water-nymphs, all clad in clinging garments of bluish watery tint, arises from the river (r.) and puts forth her hand over the head of the Lady who sits in the midst making a gesture of amazement. Her brothers bend over her (1.), and behind them the attendant spirit (in pale yellow) points heavenwards. Beyond are some massive tree trunks, and in the distance a deep green hill, with the rays of the rising sun mounting behind it into a starry sky. viii. THE LADY RESTORED TO HER PARENTS. 8| X 7 in. Aspland sale, £^ 5s. (Colnaghi). The lady is met by her aged parents (r.) at the door of her home. Her brothers, behind her, watch the spirit Hying away. The sun rises over a hill in the background. A charming series, delicately tinted in pale colours, which are unhappily somewhat faded. It has been reproduced by the Autotype Company. A duplicate set, differing in some details of the treatment, is in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, U.S.A. ; a set of facsimiles (in colour) of this set, by William Griggs, was published in 1890 by Quaritch. 51. THE CREATION OF EVE. Watercolour. 19I x 16 in. N.s. or tl. (1822). G. 223, III ; B.F.A., 214. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Adam lies at full length, asleep ; while Eve, at God's bidding, floats up with folded hands from his side. High up in a deep blue sky is a silvery crescent moon, A forest background. God is represented in a Christ-like iigure. Several other versions of this design by Blake exist. 39 SiA. THE HOUSE OF DEATH, OR THE LAZAR HOUSE. (See Paradise Lost xi., 477-490.) Printed- drawing. i8| x 23^ in. Signed, W. Blake, I'/tj^. G. 209, 19, Purchased i)y Butts from Blalce, 5 July, 1805, for £1 is. od. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom Tt was acquired from the Butts collection. Three naked figures, their hectic bodies convulsed with disease and their faces hideous with pain, are stretched in front upon a mattress of straw. Above them, enveloped in a dense cloud {disease, see Blake's Ahania, ch. IV., 4), is the visage of Death (Blake's Jehovah — Urizen, seen in this aspect), represented as an ancient man with closed eyes and an immense streaming grey beard. Before him a huge bow-shaped scroll (the " scroll of moral laws and cruel punishments," see Blake's Milton, p. 7, lines 21-29) '^ outspread, from which shoot the deadly arrows of pestilence {Ahania, ch. IV., i). At the feet of the diseased (r.) gazing relentlessly upon them with bowed head, stands the naked leprous Demon of Despair, with flesh of horrible greenish hue and with a heavy bolt in his left hand. Beyond the mattress two other hgures are partially visible ; one (1.) in the act of rising up and staring with imploring eyes ujwn the blind God above ; the other (r.), his face hidden in utter despair, gripping his head with his hands. Two other examples of this grand and awe-inspiring print are known ; one of these (of inferior quahty to the one exhibited) was formerly in the Bell Scott collection and is now in the Print Room of the British Museum ; the other (B.F.A., 19) is in the Linnell collection. The same subject was treated by Blake's friend Fuseli for his "Milton Gallery'' (opened 20th May, 1799), in a picture II ft. X 10. It was No. xxiv. in the catalogue of the gallery, to which it was lent by the Countess of Guildford. The following account of Fuseli's version, called ''The Vision of the Lazar-house," is given in Knowles' Life of the artist (1831, vol. i) : "The Vision of the Lazar-house was justly considered by the best judges in the art, to be the chef-d'oeuvre of the Gallery. It is a composition of seventeen figures, and parts of figures, in which the painter creates both terrur andpity in the spectator, by judiciously excluding most of those objects represented by the poet as suffering under bodily diseases calculated to create disgust, and confining himself chielly to the representation of the maladies of the mind, which are so forcibly described by the passage, " ' Demoniac Phrensy, moping Melancholy, " ' And moon-struck Madness — ' ". 52. FOUR DESIGNS FROM " PARADISE REGAINED. Watercolour. All signed, W. Blake, inv., u.d. (1825). Lent by the Linnell Trustees. 40 I. '' BUT IF THOU BE THE SON OF GOD, COMMAND THAT OUT OF THESE HARD STONES BE MADE . THEE BREAD." Bk. I., 342-3. 6^ X si i»- G. 226, 122 (d.) ; B.F.A., 197. Satan (r.) in the disguise of " an aged man in Rural weeds/' points to a stone upon the ground, and is" rebuked by Christ who stands beside him (1.) and points with his left hand to heaven. The former is clad in a blue garment with red sleeves ; the latter is a white robed iignre, with a pinkish glory. There is a wood beyond, and a bright blue sky above. Reproduced in photogravure in the large paper copies of Alfred Story's William Blake (1893), facing p. 109. ii. SATAN DISPLAYING THE KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH. 6| X si in- G. 226, 122 (g.) ; B.F.A., 200. Christ, clothed in a long white clinging robe and with a pinkish halo about his head stands upon a mountain's edge, with his right hand pointing heaven- wards and with his left to the kingdoms of the earth which appear, one above the other (each symbolised by the figure of an enthroned king with incense burning before him and surrounded by bowed figures), in a llaming glory beneath him (1.). Satan in the form of an ancient bearded man, with a black, barred nimbus and naked save for a green cloth about his loins, hovers in the air close by him (1.) and bids him enter upon his inheritance. Reproduced in photogravure in the hu-ge paper copies of Alfred Story's William Blake (1893), facing p. 130. ni. CHRIST'S TROUBLED DREAM. 6| X 5^ in. G. 226, 122 (h.) ; B.F.A., 193. Christ lies asleep against a rock. His dreams are haunted by serpents and a lion ; and Satan (Jehovah-like) appearing in a dark sky above, with outspread arms, pours down lightning and hery serpents upon the sleeper. Compare with the admirable copy by J. T. Linnell (No. 53 below) which hangs by its side. iv. MORNING CHASING AWAY THE PHANTOMS. 6^ X 5^ in. G. 226, 122 (i.) ; B.F.A., 199. The Morning, a maiden with rosy hair and blue robe and nimbus, and with a staff in her hand, bends over the awakening iigure of Christ who reclines (1.) 41 iv. Morning" chasing- away the Thantoms— continued. upon a grassy bank, with the rising sun as a glory behind his head. A tronp of phantoms takes flight into the air behind him, and others sink into the ground around him. The blue sky is flushed with the pink of dawn. The above are Nos. 2, 7, 8 and 9 from a series of twelve designs in all. All are carefully and delicately executed in rather pale tints, " the iinishing," as Gilchrist remarks, " being carried to the point of stippling.'' 53 COPY BY J. T. LINNELL OF No. 52, iii. ABOVE. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. One of a complete set of copies done by J. T, Linnell from Blake's designs for Paradise Re^ai)ied. The copies are executed with such hdelity as to be easily deceptive apart from the originals. 54- THE BARD (from Gray). Tempera on canvas. 23-^ x lyh in. Signed and dated, W. Blake, iSog. G. 221, 100 ; Blake's Descriptive Catalogue (1809), IV. ; B.F.A., 45 ; Carfax (1904), 35 : (1906), 23. George Richmond, R.A. Lent by Sir William Blake Richmond, K.G.B., R.A. "Weaving the winding sheet of Edward's race by means of sounds of sjiiiitual music." The spirit of the ancient bard, with long hoary beard and hair streaming, like a meteor, in the wind, stands high up on the left upon the brow of a precipitous rock on Snowdon, weaving blood-red curses from his harp, to descend upon the King and Queen below. The spirits of three other slain bards, floating in the air to right, are striving to touch the harp and to embody their curses upon it. They are enveloped in a bright golden light. King Edward and yueeu Eleanor are prostrated, with their horses, at the foot of the rock ; the former, in a helmet and full armour and with a mace in his right hand ; tlie latter, having long flaxen hair, and clothed in white. Beneath them flows the River Conway, bearing upon its waves the corse of a slaughtered Ixuxl. The armies of Edward are seen winding among the mountains. Mortimer and (Gloucester lie spell-boiuid behind their King. A fine scheme of rich brown and silvery grey, veined with gold ; unfortunately now become very dark. A water-colour version of the same subject was exhibited by Blake at the Royal Academy in 1785 ; it is now lost. 55. WINTER. Tempera, on panel. 31^ x 11 in. N.s. or d. Rev. John Johnson. Lent by Bertram Vaughan Johnson, Esq. r>:i' 42 Winter— co////////(.-(/. Winter is ptisoniiicd in an ancienl man, with a long ilowing white beard, clotlied in white and with a soft white shroud passed over his head and beneath his feet. He holds a leafless branch in his left hand. A vague atmosphere, suggestive of sleet and snow, surrounds him. "Winter " and its companion *' Evening'" (No. 56 below), were painted by Blake for the I^ev. John Johnson, rector of Yaxham, Norfolk, and cousin of Cowper the poet, for liis rectory. They are illustrations to lines m the fourth book of Cowper's Task and were intended for the jambs of a mantelpiece, although they were never used for this purpose. The frieze, which was also painted by Blake, represented Olney Bridge, but was damaged and thrown away. Both panels are very pale in colour, soft greys and pinks and blues with some gold heightening, on a white ground. " Winter " is for the lines in The Task — " Oh ! Winter, ruler of the inverted year, " Thy scattered hair with sleet like ashes hlled." 56. EVENING. Tempera, on panel. 31!, x 11 in. N.s. or d. Rev. John Johnson. Lent by Bertram Vaughan Johnson, Esq, Evening is depicted in a }xde and graceful girl in a flowing white robe and with a white mantle passed over her head. Her upraised left hand holds a soft light cloak which floats behind her, and her right a wand with three poppy seeds at the end of it. Between her breast is a crescent moon of gold, and around hei are many golden stars. To the lines (from Book lY. of Cowper's Task) :— " Come Ev'ning, once again, season of peace : " l^eturn sweet ev'ning and continue long." See note on the preceding No. 55. 57- THE COUNSELLER, KING, WARRIOR, MOTHER & CHILD, IN THE TOMB. India iidv, pen and wash. 7), x 1 1^ in. N.s. or d. Lent by Mrs. John Richmond. Sketch for pi. iv. in Blair's Gra^r (1808), A cloud of darkness partly hides the hgures, who lie side by side in the tomb as in the engraving. The following reference to the design occurs in the notes to The Grave :— " All are equal in the Grave. Wisdom, Power, Valour, Beauty, and Innocence, at the hour of Death, alike are impotent and unavailing.'' For a full account of the volume, see The Engravings 0/ William Blake, by A. G. B. Russell, No. 40 (pp. 124-130). 43 58. EPITOME OF JAMES HERVEY'S "MEITATIONS AMONG THE TOMBS." Water-colour. i6^ x ii^in. Signed, W. Blake invt., uA. G. 245, 229 ; B.F.A., 69. Butts sale, Foster's, 29th June, 1853, £^ ^^s. ; G. T. S:iul ; presented to the National Gallerv. Hervey stands in the country church before the altar (with the bread and wine upon it) deep in meditation, while the creatures of his fancy are pictured before his eyes within and about the pointed east window, of which the net work of diamond panes is visible here and there throughout the design. On either side of him hovers an angel (one marked "Angel of Providence," the other " Guardian Angel "), who display the visionary scenes. Rising from the ground at his right side and circling upwards within the window until it reaches a fiery globe, like the sun, wherein is enthroned the Almighty, with an open book upon his knees, is a spiral stairway upon which the various personages and scenes from the Bible are set. Above the throne are written the words " God out of Christ is a consuming Fire," and on either side of it angels are mounted upon flaming horses. Wrath and Mercy are personified to the r. and 1. aliove ; the former an avenging spirit pursuing a terrilied figure amid red llames : the latter, a female surrounded by angels. The Biblical subjects are as follows, beginning from the top : — i. Eve prostrate upon the knees of Adam. 2, The infant forms of Cain and Abel, beset by the Serpent who tempted Eve. 3. Enoch, holding a scroll. 4. The Spirit of Noah with outspread arms, hovering over the waters of the flood ; the Ark over-arched by a rainbow behind him. 5. The Mother of Leah and Rachel, and the Mother of Rebecca. 6. The Sacrifice of Isaac, marked, "Abraham believed God," Raines ir, 23. 7. Aaron swinging a censer and surrounded by an almond shape glory of angels. 8. David with his harp, and Solomon. 9. The Transfiguration. On each side of the central subjects is depicted the resurrection of the just, with the joyful meetings which ensue. Many of the dead arise from the tombs within the church to meet their loved ones in the air. The names of the various persons and groups are Vv^ritten by Blake over each: — "Vn-gin," "Mother," " Orphans," " Old Age," "Where is your Father?" "The Lost Child," "She died on her Wedding Day," " Sophronia died in Childbed," &c. There are some angels, too, each with their names : — " An Angel of Death," " A Protecting Angel," "Ministering" and "Recording Angels." The Word of God is present in niches at either side of the altar, and Baptism to the 1. (represented by a font with infants) together with the Holy Eucharest, called by Blake "the two introducers into Eternal Life." 59. ILLUSTRATION OF A NOVEL. India ink. 6f, x 4 in. N.s. or cl. Presumably the same as a design, apparently intended in illustration of a tale, highly finished in india ink, sold by Thomas Butts at Sotheby's, 29 April 1862, for £2 125. Lent by W. Bateson, Esq. 44 59- Illustration of a "Novel— coiiiimicJ. The subject evidently is a wedding party letnrning from the village church and confronted by a faithful lover who has arrived too late upon the scene. A pretty, carefully finished drawing" in the conventional manner of con- temporarv book-illustration. It has been suggested that the subject is derived from Tlic Vicar of Wakefield, but the present writer is unaware of the existence of any incident in that story to which it could possibly refer. 60. HAR AND HEVA BATHING : MNETHA LOOKING ON. 17^ X io| in. G. 273, 185 (d) ; Carfax (1Q04), 28. Bicknell sale, 9s. ; H. P. Home, Esq. Lent by Edward Marsh, Esq. The aged Har who has long white hair and flowing beard, converses with the white-haired Heva, as they bathe together at the edge of a forest. Mnetha, reclining upon the bank behind, watches them. The forest fills the background, with ' the tent of Har ' to the right. The tinest of a series of twelve designs in illustration of Blake's poem of T/r/t7, an early work of an Ossianic character (probably written c. 1788-1789) ; the subjects of the drawing do not, however, in every case correspond literally with the existing text of the poem. The series first appears in the sale-room of Messrs. Southgate and Barrett, 7 June 1854, when it realised £2^ passing into the possession of Elhanan Bicknell, with the rest of whose collection it v;as after- wards sold at Christie's, i May 1863 ; it is now broken up and scattered, one of the drawings being in the Print Room of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Ci. HEADS OF THE POETS— SHAKSPERE, MILTON AND BLAIR. Lent by the Committee of the Manchester Art Gallery, Blake's series of Heads of the Poets was commissicjned from him by Hayley as a frieze for his new library at Felpham, and was begun soon after his arrival there (in Sept., 1800). In a letter (dated 26 November, 1800) to his patron, he speaks of himself as "absorbed by" the poets Milton, Homer, Camoens, Ercilla, Aristo, and Spencer, whose physiognomies have been my delightful study " ; and on the nth Sept., 1801 he writes to Butts "Mr. Hayley's library .... is still unfinished but is in a finishing way and looks well " ; so that the frieze is Hkely to have been completed towards the end of the same year. Within twenty years of Hayley's death, the villa was sold and the heads were taken down and dispersed. Eighteen of them came subsequently into the possession of William Russell, who lent four of them to the Buriington Fine Arts Club Ex-hibition (1876). A number of them are now in the Manchester Art Gallery. The figures are neariy Hfe-size and almost colourless, resembling sculptural "busts ; each is accompanied by illustrative accessories in colour. When Gilchrist wrote, they were in a cracked and blistered condition, and injured by exposure to dust and gas ; and the three now exhibited show evidences of considerable restoration. 45 i. HEAD OF SHAKSPERE. Tempera. i6 x 3o| in. N.s. or d, G. 212, 38 (h) ; B.F.A., 52. The likeness is based upon the Droeshout portrait which was considered by Blake to be an excellent one. The head is encircled by a wreath of green vine leaves and grapes, A golden background, with Hamlet and the Ghost (1.) and Macbeth and the Witches (r.), as the accessories. ii. HEAD OF MILTON. Tempera. 15^ x 35 in, N.s. or d. G. 212, 38(k;; B.F.A., 35. The likeness is based upon the Faithorne print. The head is encircled by a wreath of bay and oak and fig intertwined. A dark blue background, with the Serpent crawling below and a palm tree on either side with a pan-pipe and a harp hanging upon them, as the accessories. The finest of the three exhibited. iii. HEAD OF BLAIR. Tempera. 16 x by 30^ in. N.s. or d. G. 212, 38 (o). The head is encircled by a green wreath of palm. A golden background with a youthful figure of a woman with a distressed expression kneeling (r.), and thonis trailing upon the ground (1.), as the accessories. C.-HTSTORrCAL, MYTHOLOGICAL, ETC. 62. THE PENANCE OF JANE SHORE IN ST. PAUL'S CHURCH. Watercolour (varnished). 9 x 11 in, N.s, or d. (c. 1778). G. 207, I ; Blake's Descriptive CalaJogiie (1809), XVI. Sotheby's, 29 .T]-)ril 1862 (together with Queen Emma), £1 ys. od. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq. Jane Shore, a youthful figure with flaxen hair falling in curls over her shoulders, enveloped in a sheet and carrying a candle in her left hand, is the central ligure. She is surrounded by guards, in coloured robes and armed with pikes and partizans. A group of three spectators stands to r. A classical column rises on either side of the background. A brightly coloured and highly finished drawing. " This drawing was done above thirty years ago" — Descriplivc CalaJoi^ite (1809). A smaller (4J x 7 in.) watercolour sketch for the picture is in the possession of Sir Edmund Verncy. "^i'here exists also an outline drawing in pencil (12^ x 9 in,) of a similar composi- tion, which was formerly in the collection of Mrs. Ciilclu-ist, and afterwards owned by Mr. Tregaskis. 46 6;,. NEWTON. Printed-drawing. i8| x 2t,^ in. Signed and dated, 179S, W. B. inv. G. 210, 24 ; B.F.A., 172 ; Carfax (1906), 29. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. Newton, a naked youthful figure, is seated (1.) on a ledge projecting from a huge boulder, overgrown with many-coloured lichens. He bends down and draws a geometrical i'lgure with compasses upon a scroll, which lies partially unrolled upon the ground. Dark green grass, with some thistles under the rock. Dark sky above, with heavy blue-black clouds. The eifect of the stamped colour upon the rock and the plants around it is an excellent instance of the accidental beauties obtainable by Blake's process. Newton, overshadowed by darkness and working upon the ground, is intended by Blake for the type of rational philosophy and empirical science, both held by him to be enemies of Imagination. 64. SPIRITUAL FORM OF PITT GUIDING BEHEMOTH. Tempera, on canvas. 29]- x 245 in. Signed and dated, W. Blake, 1806. G. 221, 95 ; Blake's Descriptive Catalogue (1809), III ; B.F.A., 201. Purchased in 1882 for the National Gallery from the executors of Samuel Palmer, the landscape painter. In the midst, "riding upon the whirlwind," is the young angelic form of Pitt,* calm and inexorable, clothed in a robe of greenish grey heightened with gold, holding in his right hand a crimson thong for the guiding of Behemoth's neck, and with his left " directing the storm of war " ; about his head is a triple fiery aureole : within the outer circle of which there revolve a company of the ancient spirits of the wisdom from on high, and in its centre, a ring of angels, the inner- most circle being one of pure light. Arising from the earth and crouching upon the ground beneath his feet is Behemoth or " the War by Land " (cp. Jenisalon 91, 39), a vast and darkly transparent greenish shape, with many hued shaggy head, and long pointed snout, upturned and curling backw^ards, and armed with terrible tusks. His jaws are open, disclosing a blood red tongue, to devour the crop of human bodies (some living and transfixing others with spears as they fall) which are being dropped into them by the Reaper, who is seen in the half-naked giant figure kneeling at Pitt's right hand, upon a mountain above, with his sickle uplifted, for the reaping of the vine of the earth. By the beast's fore-paws and at his flanks, upon the ground, are others of his victims, in agony and * Sec Addison, Tlic Canipdii^n. " So when an angel by divine command " Willi rising tempests shakes a guilty land, " Such as of late o'er pale Britannia past, " Calm and serene he drives the furious blast : " And, pleased th' Almiglity's orders to perform, " I-Jides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm.' 47 64. Spiritual form of Pitt g-uiding* Behemoth—continnect' supplication awaiting theii* end ; and tlirough his transparent hide can be seen four monstrous heads, two of them encircled with crowns and a third thrown back with gaping mouth and protruding tongue. To the right of Pitt, corresponding to the Reaper, is the Plowman, with one foot upon a mountain and the other upon the plain below, dealing destruction with a vast plowshare ("the plow to go over the nations." Jcnisalciu 34, 13), wreathed about with black liames leaping from the gulf beneath. A group of three figures will be seen, fleeing in terror before it. In the foreground to the right beneath the point of the share a woman is driving a poniard into an aged man from behind, — an act of mercy, it may be. In the background at the foot of the mountain is a huge domed building behind which a conflagration arises ; and in the plain before it are two belching guns. In the heaven above are six planetary globes (the reddish one to r. being probably Mars), in each of which is a spiritual body of human form, since each, according to Blake, has its human and personal existence ; and in the interstices, the stars and (1.) a brilliant rushing comet ; all these, together with the earth below, representing the Universe, throughout the whole of which the operation of war extends (cp. VaJa, ix, 307-311 and 574-579). The colour of this splendid work has considerably darkened, rendering the details somewhat obscure ; a fact which may excuse the above somewhat elaborate analysis of its subject. The effect is heightened with gold, which is here and there mingled with crimson. "The Spiritual Form of Nelson guiding Leviathan" {see the following number), and " The Spiritual Form of Napoleon " are companion pictures ; the latter having, together with the Pitt, been formerly also in the possession of Samuel Palmer. 65. THE SPIRITUAL FORM OF NELSON GUIDING LEVIATHA.N. Tempera, on canvas. 29! x 24I in. N.s. or d. G. 221, 94 ; Blake 9i Descriplire Catnloi^iic {iSoc)), I, ; B.F.A., 126 ; Carfax (1906), 24. Butts sale, Foster's, 1853, £\ 2s. Lent by T. W. Jackson, Esq. The form of Nelson, a splendid golden-toned midc figure, stands against a deep green background, upon a coil of the serpent. The arms are extended, the right hand grasping a scourge-like flame, the left guiding Leviathan or " the War by Sea " (cp. JcnisaJein 91, 39) : the line aureoled Iiead, slightly upturned, leans a little to the left shoulder. All around him are radiating tongues of yellow aud red lire. The folds of Leviathan, covered with large green and golden scales, coil among the flames round the whole picture, embracing the naked bodies of many contorted men and women : his rainbow-crested, flaming head is curled beneath Nelson's hand in the act of devouring an aged man. Beneath Nelson's feet is a black, crouching figure with manacled wrists. In the foreground, dark seething waves. The colour having in some parts come away (showing streaks of white gesso on one side), and having also suffered throiigli the surface having at one time been tamperecl with, the picture was much in need of liic restoration which 48 65. The Spiritual form of Nelson guiding Leviathan— co///m»c^. several years ago was skilfully carried out, so that the richness and beauty of the original effect may now be seen with but trifling blemishes. The *' Spiritual Form of Pitt " (No, 6-1- above) and the " Spiritual Form of Napoleon," of which the present whereabouts is unknown, are its companions, The Print Room has a pencil sketch for the design. 66. FIRE. Water-colour. 12^ x 16^ in. Signed, W.B., n.d. G. 215, 60 ; B.F.A., 202 ; Carfax (1904), 5 ; Carfax (1906), 55. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. A city is in llames. In the background a vast Gothic cathedral (probably meant for Old St. Paul's and the hre, for the great Fire of London) is being consumed. " Pointing spires of flame " leap amid pinnacles and columns, and shoot upwards into the night. Some of the fugitives are gathered in front. On the right hand is a group of pale terror-stricken women and children ; on the left two young men are rescuing upon their bowed shoulders, one a barrel, the other a chest of treasure, for an old man who awaits them with extended arms. All are grimly silhouetted against the glow of the conflagration. The painting of the flames is especially beautiful. 67. HECATE. Printed drawing, 17^ x 23 in, Signed, Blake, n.d. (Paper water- marked, 7794.) G. 253, 257 ; B.F,A., 204 ; Carfax (1904), 22 : (1906), 31. Lent by W, Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The triple goddess is cr'ouched upon the ground in the midst. She has three bodies and her faces turn three ways. The ligure facing the spectator, clothed below the waist in a dark robe, shows a colossal woman of heavy sensual type, with a calm, awe-inspiring face and a mass of long black hair. The two others have tawny hair. By her left hand the book of her incantations is spread upon the ground and she points to it with her forefinger. Above her a human- headed vampire hovers on dark blue wings, and other dark bat-like creatures Hit about her. An ass, with long ears and wavy mane, chewing thistles, is half seen to the 1. of the picture. Upon a lichen-covered rock above its head is perched a brown owl with huge blood-shot eyes. Beyond a crocodilean head with red eyes emerges from a hole. Darkness of night above. "The Triple Hecate," MicJsiiiiniicr XigliTs Dim in, Act V, sc. 2. The ass is doubtless taken from Apuleius, Ruskin had an example of the print, with which he parted to Messrs. Colnaghi, about 1859 ; this may possibly be the same as the one now belonging to the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (presented by T. Scott, in 1862). There exists a pencil sketch (in reverse) for the composition. 49 68. GOOD AND EVIL ANGEL. Printed-diawing. \-]\ x 23 in. Signed and dated, W. B, iin> 170^. G, 209, 22 ; B.F.A., 202 ; Carfax (1906), 32. Purchased by Butts from Blake, 5 July, 1805, for £1 is. od. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq., by whom it was acquired from the Butts collection. The Good Angel (r.), a nude figure with streaming hair and a wild expression lloatmg through the an- and leaving the dark green waves of the sea behind, clasps m his arms a terrified naked infant whom he rescues from the Evil Angel. The latter is a nude male figure, with sightless balls for eyes, chained by the' left foot and vainly reaching out towards the child from the midst of the flames (yellow| red and black) which furiously rage about him. The orange ball of the sun sinks upon the water in the background. The Demon amid the flames may perhaps be Blind Desire. The same design reversed appears at the bottom of p. 4 of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Another example of the print was sold at Sotheby's, 29 April, 1862, £1 i6s. od., purchased by Mr. Toovey. 69. THE GHOST OF A FLEA. Tempera, on panel. 8^ x 6\ in. Signed, W. Blake fecit, n.d. (about 1820). G. 222, 109 (see also 262, 65 ; 263, 82 ; and Vol. I., p. 303) ; Carfax (1906), 22. J. Varley ; William Bell Scott. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq. The Ghost is a giant nude, of semi-human form, with a massive body, short neck and dark scaly skin of green and gold ; he is seen in profile striding towards 1., with protruding tongue, holding before him in his left hand a cup of I)lood and in his right, behind, a long thorn. The Ilea itself is visible upon the floor. Beyond, dark curtains, patterned with gold, which part and show a night slc}^, with a comet leaving a long trail of dim greenish light behind it. A carefully finished picture of a rich golden-brown colour, heightened with gold. At the back is an inscription by Yarley : " 'i'he vision of the spirit that inhabits the body of a flea and which appeared to the late Mr. Blake, the designer of the vignettes for Blair's Grave and the Book of Job. The vision first appeared to him in my presence and afterwards till he had finished the picture. "The (lea drew blood in this .... (remainder illegible). J. Varley." To this is added by W. Bell Scott : "Bought Feb. 1878 from Mr. Varley, Oakley Street, Chelsea, son of John Varley. It had never been out of the family." Reproduced by lithography, in Vol. III. of Ellis and Yeat's Blake. 32145 [' 50 69A. THE GHOST OF A FLEA. Pencil 7^ X 6 in. Inscribed, Original W. Blake. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. The head and shoulders of a grotesque figure resembling that delineated in the tempera picture of " The Ghost of a Flea " (No. 69 above), for which it is presumably a study. The " Ghost " is seen in profile to 1., with his tongue protruding from his shut mouth. Under the chin, is an enlarged study of the open mouth, showing the pointed tongue between sharp teeth. The study differs from the finished picture in the presence of an armour-plated collar around the neck, in the absence of the pig-tail and of the long horny ears of the picture, in the mouth being represented closed, as well as in the general expression which is less violent and intense. Upon the reverse, is an outline study of a face in profile to r., with a faint indication of another study, marked, "In velvet. Bk. Eyes Bri." 70. JOSEPH AND MARY AND THE ROOM THEY WERE SEEN IN. Pencil, Lent by the Linnell Trustees, Half-length figures of Joseph (1.) and Mary (r.), the former, a curly haired youth, seen full face, with head slightly upturned to and inclined r. : the latter, seen with her head turned | to 1. and bent forwards, with the eyes cast down, and with her hands folded over her breast. Between the heads of the two figures is the vision of " the room they were seen in," in which the two appear as children together, Joseph, who is being led away by his father, looking back at the figure of the little girl who stands with folded arms, gazing upon him. The title given above is inscribed upon the back. 71. LAIS. Pencil. ii| X 9I in. G. 263, 81. Varley ; Alfred Aspland sale, Sotheby's 2"^ January, 1885 (with one other), los. : G. Arkwright, Esq. ; Mr. Robson. Lent by W. Graham Robertson, Esq. Lais of Corinth, mistress of Apelles. A smiling lady, with an egg-shaped face of an extremely low type ; the outline set off by curling hair ; full face. One of the best of the series of " Visionary Heads." Alluded to by Allan Cunningham in his life of Blake, where Varley's words are quoted : — " That lady is Lais, the courtesan — with the impudence which is part of her profession, — she stepped in between Blake and Corinna, and he was obliged to paint her to get her away." The drawing appears to be a duplicate taken by means of blackened paper with a hard pencil from the original sketch, and afterwards touched up with pencil (c.p. the King John, No. 72 below). 51 72. VISIONARY HEAD OF KING JOHN. An impression taken by means of blackened paper from the original drawing (c.p. No. 71 above). 10 x 7f in. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Seen | face, looking to r. ; a crowned head, with hair falling in waves down to the neck, large eyes, moustache and short beard ; — a noble visage, if a little grim : the head narrowing curiously over the eyes. The original pencil drawing (also in the Linnell collection) from which the impression was taken, has suffered somewhat in the process. A liner replica, done for Varley and later in the Alfred Aspland collection, is now in the possession of Dr. Stefan Zweig of Vienna. D.-PRINTS, ETC. 72>- THE COMPLAINT AND THE CONSOLATION ; OR, NIGHT THOUGHTS, BY EDWARD YOUNG, LL.D. London : printed by R. Noble, for R. Edwards, No. 142, Bond Street. MDCCXCVII. Folio i red mor. Lent by A. M. S. Methuen, Esq. Contains 43 marginal illustrations engraved in line by Blake from his own designs. The present example (from the Crewe collection) has the designs tinted by the artist in watercolours. For full particulars of the volume, see The pngrai'in^s of Williaiii Blake, by A. G. B. Russell, No. 17 (pp. 73-82). 74. DESIGNS TO A SERIES OF BALLADS, WRITTEN BY WILLIAM HAYLEY, ESQ., AND FOUNDED ON ANECDOTES RELATING TO ANIMALS, DRAWN, ENGRAVED, AND PUBLISHED, BY WILLIAM BLAKE. WITH THE BALLADS ANNEXED, BY THE AUTHOR'S PERMISSION. Chichester, 1802. 4to. The four parts as issued, in their original blue paper wrappers. Lent by B. B. Macgeorge, Esq. Four numbers of the Ballads arc all that were issued, out of a projected fifteen. The fourth part is especially scarce. For full particulars of the Ballads, see The Engravings of William Blake, by A. G. B. Russell, No. 19 (pp. 83-86). 32146 ' P 2 52 75 CHAUCER'S CANTERBURY PILGRIMS. Piiinted in Fresco by William Blake & by him Engraved & Published October 8, i8io, at No. 2S, Corner of Broad Street, Golden Square. Engraved in hne. ii^ x 37J in. Lent by Miss Richmond, The names of the characters represented in the print are inscribed beneath it. For an account of the print, in Blake's own words, see his three Prospectuses, printed in The Engravings of William Blake, by A. G. B. Russell, pp. 212-215. The original painting (see No. 43 above) is also fully described by him in his Descriptive Catalogue (1809), Number III. (see No. 102 below). The print, according to Gilchrist, was begun by Blake " in September or October, 1809." Early impressions of the print are best, as the plate was later reworked and rendered, as Gilchrist points out, "rather black and heavy in effect" ; these later impressions lack the address, which follows the date in the imprint of the original issue, and have the hne, "We gon to Canterbury God wote you spede," added below. The present is an example of the original issue. Blake's original engraved copper-plate is still in existence, and modern impressions from it are of not infrequent occurrence. Examples tinted by Blake in water-colours are occasionally to be met with. 76. MIRTH AND HER COMPANIONS. Stipple engraving. 6i=V x 4|";| in. (? c. 1810-1813.) Lent by the Linnell Trustees. The subject is taken from Milton's V Allegro. Mirth, in the form of a bright and comely girl, trips gaily forward, in the midst of her companions, over a grassy plain. She is clad diaphanously with a clinging robe. Her hair, bound with a fillet about her head, falls in long spiral tresses to her ankles. A ring of faeries encircles her head, which is surrounded by a radiant glory. Her face is lit with smiles. At each side of her, a pair of her companions follows her, with dancing steps. One of them (1.) " the Mountain Nymph, sweet Liberty," she leads by the hand. A troop of mirthful spirits, among whom are to be seen "Sport that wrinkled Care derides " and " Laughter holding both his Sides," fills the air around her. Beyond, the dawn bursts with an explosion of light into heaven. The present is an example of the first of two existing states of this attractive and exceedingly scarce engraving ; a copy of the second may be seen reproduced in Plate 14 (opposite p. 94, No. 27) of the present writer's Engravings of William Blake, where (in note 2, p. 93) it is erroneously described as representing a state prior to that of the exhibited specimen, whereas, in view both of the radical nature of the reworking of the plate and of the far surer and more experienced hand with which it is carried out, it is in fact likely to have followed it by a consider- able interval. The original issue, which will be seen to be somewhat reminiscent 53 76. Mirth and her Companions— con/mweJ. in style of the facile empty manner of Schiavonetti's renderings of the designs for The Grave, may perhaps be dated c. 1810-1813, while the second should probably be placed as late as or even later than 1820, at the time of Blake's maturest expression as an engraver. The modifications effected in the process of reworking the plate, which was executed in line and so thoroughly as practically to obliterate the original basis of stippling, undoubtedly tend as a whole in the direction of a more forcible design, a greater liveliness of action and a richer and more beautiful effect of light. The principal of them may be noted as follows : — i. The remodelling of the features of the central figure of Mirth, by which a higher degree of gaiety and life is imposed upon their somewhat insipid original character. 2. The recasting of the folds of her robe, so as to fall more freely and cling less closely to the bod)-. 3. The attitude of the uplifted left arm, which is there straightened out so as to form a continuous diagonal line with the extended right, with the result that a diminutive floating figure which appears on the right side of the hand in the first issue, where the arm is bended, is now to be seen on the left. 4. A blemish visible upon the plate thx-ough the alteration of Mirth's right foot. 5. The intensified radiance of the halo surrounding her head and of the effulgence of the breaking dawn. 6. The addition of the two following verses from the poem, "Sport that wrinkled Care derides," and, '* Laughter holding both his sides," which are inscribed upon the print close to the figures to which they refer. 7. The addition of the following sentence (the last part illegible) which is faintly engraved by way of title below : — " Solomon says, Vanity of Vanities, all is Vanity and What can be (? Foolisher) than (? this)." Blake's original drawing of the " Mirth and her companions " is the first of a very beautiful series of twelve small designs in water-colour made by him for V Allegro and // Peiiseroso. This set of drawings appeared in the Crewe sale and is now the property of Mr. Alfred White of New York. Each of them is accom- panied by a slip of Blake's handwriting, giving the extract from the poem and an explanatory note on the design. That attached to the present subject reads as follows : — " I, Mirth, Allegro, " Heart-easing Mirth, Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee • • • • • The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty." " These personifications are all brought together in the First Design, surrounding the Principal Figure which is Mirth herself." Mr. Graham Robertson has a pencil sketch of a female figure floating among clouds, inscribed " Mirth " in Blake's writing, which may perhaps be connected with the design. 54 77. ?THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST UPON ONE OF THE EVANGELISTS ? Wood-block, with a design traced upon it ready for cutting, in india ink over a pencil ground. 4}-;": x 3I in. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. A figure of a man, apparently intended for that of an evangelist (perhaps for St. John in Patnios), kneels in front, with his r. hand uplifted and pointing with his 1. to a scroll by his side (r.). Above, the Holy Ghost, descending upon him in in the form of a dove, is indistinctly indicated. In the background is the crenellated wall of a city or a castle in flames, with a group of horsemen and soldiers with pikes to 1. and another group of panic-stricken figures waving their arms in terror to r. Inscribed on the back, " A Drawing on Wood by Wm. Blake, for J. Linnell." The original drawing (in pencil, 5-^ x 3^) for the wood-block, formerly in the possession of Samuel Parker, was sold at Christie's, 5th February, 1912 (lot 122). With the exception of the background, which there consists of visionary represen- tations of the Crucifixion (1.) and the Ascension (r.) it is in close correspondence with the present design ; a tracing of the composition appears on the reverse. The drawing was accompanied by a letter from Samuel Palmer to a fiiend to whom he had presented it, in which it is suggested that the subject might be one from Pilgri Ill's Pivi^rcss; this does not, however, appear to be the case, nor can it be, as might at first sight seem likely, the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon Our Lord ;ifter his baptism, as the central figure is quite unlike Blake's type of Christ and the presence of the scroll would also, in that case, be unmeaning. 78. WOODCUTS FOR THORNTON'S VIRGIL. Pl'OOfs. Lent by Herbert Linnell, Esq. (and others by the Linnell Trustees). The woodcuts, issued in 1:821, were the only ones that were ever cut by Blake. They are perhaps the loveliest of all his prints — so childlike are they in their transparency of vision, and yet so deeply touched in every stroke with the grandest spirit of poetry ; they must also be counted among the world's master- pieces of wood-engraving. For full particulars of the woodcuts and of the volume to which they belong, see The Engravings of William Blake, by A. G. B. Russell, No. 30 (pp. 97-101). 79. THE ORIGINAL DRAWINGS FOR THE WOODCUTS FOR THORNTON'S VIRGIL. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. The drawings, which are outlined with extreme delicacy and beauty with a fins brush point in India ink, are mounted together in an oblong volume (measur- ing, 4y^- X 8^ in.), covered in olive green cloth, inscribed at the beginning : — ■ " Twenty Oriqinal Drawings by Wm. Blake, made to illustrate a poem by Phillips 55 79- The Original Drawings for the Woodcuts for Thornton's Virgil— continued. inserted in Dr. Thornton's Pastoral of Virgil, 2 vols. 8vo. The wood-blocks frdni these drawings were cut by Blake and are in my possession being the only wood- blocks he ever engraved or cut, 17 in number, — the other 3 were cut by someone else. (Signed), John Linnell, Bayswater. 1839-" One drawing that was never engraved is included in set ; the subject is as follows : — Thenot and Colinet stand together in front with their shepherd's crooks, and with their sheep behind them, to r. is a gate with a tree beside it, and hills in the background. The measure- ments of the drawings vary from i-^ (to i|) x 3^ (to 3I) in. No drawing for the larger block engraved by Blake as frontispiece to the Eclogue is now in existence. 80. THE MAN SWEEPING THE INTERPRETER'S PARLOUR. ? "Woodcut on pewter." 3^ x 6/^ in. Signed, TT". B. inv. (? c. 1822), Lent by Greville Macdonald, Esq. An ancient, demon-like figure (r.), with dishevelled hair and beard, and dragon's wings, sweeps vehemently into the air a thick cloud of dust, peopled by evil spirits of diminutive form. A winged damsel descends some steps (1.) and lays the dust with water sprinkled from a bowl. A flood of light enters the room behind her, and illumines both the figures. A scarce and beautiful print, probably an example of the process of " wood- cutting upon pewter," of whicli the method is thus described by Bkike in a memomnduui occurring in the " Rossetti MS.": — ** To woodcut on pewter : Lay a ground on the plate, and smoke it as for etching. Then trace your outlines, and, beginning with the spots of light on each object, with an oval-pointed needle, scrape off the ground, as a direction for your graver. Then proceed to graving, with the ground on the plate ; being as careful as possible not to hurt the ground, because, it being black, will show perfectly what is wanted." An example of the print was prefixed as frontispiece to the Crewe copy of The Ghost of i^bel" (dated 1822) ; and it is likely to have been produced about the same time. It is issued without title, but a specimen contained in the Lmnell collection (prefixed to a copy of ''Poetical Sketches" presented to Linnell by Cumberland) is characteristically inscribed in Blake's hand : "The parable of the relapsed sinner & her seven Devils." It is interesting to remember in connection with the print that Blake's young disciples at the end of his life were wont to speak of his home as "The House of the Interpreter." 56 Si. early states OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOOK OF JOB. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Early states of the plates from Tlic Book of Job (generally admitted to be Blake's highest achievement as an engraver) are of considerable rarity. The following series, therefore, lent from the Linnell collection, which in this respect as in so many others is unrivalled, will be of especial interest both as affording an excellent example of Blake's manner of handling the graver and at the same time as exhibituig several of the plates in a condition of brilliancy and beauty far surpassing that of the published issue. Conditions of space have necessarily precluded any attempt at a full representation of each of the prints in every avail- able variety of state. It has, therefore, been deemed advisable to exhibit a single one of them, that which is perhaps the noblest of them all, plate 14 (" When the Morning Stars sang together ''), in a series as complete as it has been possible to U'ake it (see also the following No. 82, i.), and to give only a few specially selected specimens from the remainder. i. "AND SMOTE JOB WITH SORE BOILS FROM THE SOLE OF HIS FOOT TO THE CROWN OF HIS HEAD." Job ii., 7. (Plate 6.) Unlinished trial proof on India paper, before the margin or any letters, and showing the design itself in a very early unlinished state. ii. *'THEN THE LORD ANSWERED JOB OUT OF THE WHIRL- WIND." Job xxxviii., i. (Plate 13.) Unfinished trial proof on India paper, before the margin and all letters, and before the experiment in the alteration of the design shov/n in the following No. iii. iii. ANOTHER STATE OF THE SAME. Unfinished trial proof on thick jiaper, before the imprint, &c., and showing the design itself in a very early state and considerably differing from the iinal version ; — the shining vortex of wind and cloud being carried beyond the limits of the rectangle and meeting the line of revolving storm spirits in the margin above. iv. " WHEN THE MORNING STARS SANG TOGETHER, «& ALL THE SONS OF GOD SHOUTED FOR JOY." Job xxxviii, 7. (Plate 14). Early state on thick paper, before the margins. 57 V. ANOTHER STATE OF THE SAME. Early state on cream coloured paper, before the margins which are hghtly drawn in pencil and show a different treatment to that adopted in the book, with the sun at the summit and with a different inscription at the foot — " When I laid the Foundations of the Earth — and all the morning stars sang together for joy," vi. FINISHED STATE OF THE SAME. India proof. vii. " THOU HAST FULFILLED THE JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED." Job xxxvi., 17. (Plate 16). Unfinished trial proof, before the imprint, etc., and with the vesica-shaped glory surrounding the Almighty carried beyond the limits of the rectangle into the margin. viii. « I HAVE HEARD THEE WITH THE HEARING OF THE EAR, BUT NOW MY EYE SEETH THEE." Job xlii., 5. (Plate 17). Unhnished trial proof, before the margins and all letters. 82. PROOFS OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOOK OF JOB. Lent by John Richmond, Esq. i. " WITH DREAMS UPON MY BED THOU SOAREST ME & AFFRIGHTEST ME WITH VISIONS." Job vii., 14. (Plate 11.) Finished proof. ii. " WHEN THE MORNING STARS SANG TOGETHER, Sc ALL THE SONS OF GOD SHOUTED FOR JOY." Job xxxvii., 7. (Plate 14.) Finished proof. 58 83- BLAKE'S ORIGINAL REDUCED DRAWINGS FOR THE JOB ENGRAVINGS. Lent by the Linuell Trustees. His original series of twenty-one watercolour designs for Tlic Book of Job was executed by Blake, in c. 1820, for his old patron, Thomas Butts. The duplicate set, from which the engravings were done, was commissioned from him, in 1823, by John Linnell, the unfailing friend of his last years. The set of drawings here exhibited were taken by Blake from the latter of these versions, being reduced to the scale adopted in the prints, for the purposes of engraving. They are drawn in india ink upon a pencil ground, being often afterwards corrected or reinforced with pencil and a number of them lightly touched with colour. The complete set of twenty-one designs is represented in the sketches, together with an additional subject, which was not engraved, and in which the Almighty is seen appearing, with outstretched arms and surrounded by small figures of cherubim, in a whirlwind, while on either side of him an angel, descending headlong, holds a crown over the heads of Job and his wife who are seated below between groups of ministering angels. The wrapper is inscribed : — " These are Mr. Blake's reduced Drawings and Studies for the Engravings of the Book of Job done for me. John Linnell." 84. DANTE STRIKING BOCCA DEGLI ABBATI'S HEAD WITH HIS FOOT. Inferno, Canto xxxii. (Untinished proof.) Line engraving. 9^ x 13I in. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. The two poets are passing the sea of ice, into which the treacherous are frozen up to their necks. Bocca, in front, starts in terror at the stroke of Dante's foot. A cliff of ice, with other sinners imprisoned in it, rises to r. The last in order of the seven designs that were engraved by Blake from his Dante series (see No. 41 above). The proof exhibited is an unfinished one, differing principally from the finished state in the absence of much of the shading upon the raiment of Dante and Virgil. For a full account of the whole series of prints, see The Engravings of William Blake, by A. G. B. Russell, No. 34 (pp. 115-118). 85. GEORGE CUMBERLAND'S MESSAGE CARD. Line engraving, if x 3^'^. Signed, W. Blake inv. & sc. A:^£. yo, 1827. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Proof, with Cumberland's name blocked out with chinese w^hite. Cumberland was for more than thirty years a true and generous friend to Blake, and was the \ 59 85. George Cumberland's Message Caird—coiiiiiiiicd. means of introducing him to several of his best patrons, particularly John Linnell. The Message Card was Blake's last work of engraving ; for further particulars regarding it, see The Engravings of Wiltiain Blake, by A. G. B. Russell, No. 36 (pp. 118-119). E.-B001v8 AND PIUNTS, CHIEFLY IN ILLUMINATED PRINTING. 86. POETICAL SKETCHES, By W. B. London. Printed in the year AIDCCLXXXIII. Demy Svo. Copy measuring, 8} ;| x 5t} in. 38 leaves, pp. [i-iv] and 1-70, with blank leaf at end. Green mor. git. From the Gaisford library. Lent by B. B. Macgeorge, Esq. 87. SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE. 1789 and 1793. Copy measuring, 13 x lO:^ in. 54 numbered leaves, printed on one side only, + blank leaf at beginning and end ; Whatman paper with the year 1818 in the watermark. -^ calf. Lord Houghton ; The Rt. Honble. the Earl of Crewe. Lent by A. M. S. Mcthuen, Esq. Printed in golden brown and illuminated with transparent washes of water- colour. THE BOOK OF THEL. The Author and Printer, Willm. Blake. 1789. Copy measuring, 14I x io| in. 8 leaves, printed on one side only, on paper made by L Taylor, with the year 1794 in the watermark ; ^ red mor. From the Beaconsheld Library. Lent by B. B. Macgeorge, Esq. Printed in golden brown and illuminated in water-colours. The above copy together with the remainder of the scries of Blake's works which were formerly in the Beaconslield Library (including Nos. 91 and 99 below), were originally 60 88. The Book of Thel— con tinueiL purchased from Blake by Isaac D' Israeli, the distinguished father of the more celebrated Earl of Beaconslield (Benjamin Disraeli). It will, therefore, be of interest in the present connection to append a copy of a remarkable letter addressed by him to Dr. Dibdin, the well-known author of Reminiscences of a Literary Life (1836). It appeal's that it was Dibdin's original intention in the above- mentioned work '' to have devoted an entire chapter to the Fine Arts, and therein to have given Blake not more than his due," and with this end in view he wrote to D'Israeli requesting him " to furnish him with the loan of such materials of this master as he knew him to be in the possession of," and received from him the following reply : — " Bradenham House, Wycombe, 24 July, 1835. " My dear friend, " It is quite impossible to transmit to you the one hundred and sixty designs I possess of Blake's ; and as impossible, if you had them, to convey every precise idea of such an infinite variety of these wonderous deliriums of his fine and wild creative imagination. Heaven, hell, and earth, and the depths below, are some of the scenes he seems alike to have tenanted ; but the invisible world also busies his fancy ; aerial beings which could only float in his visions, and unimaginable chimeras, such as you have never viewed, lie by the side of his sunshiny people. You see some innocent souls winding about blossoms — for others the massive sepulchre has opened, and the w^aters beneath give up their secrets. The finish, the extreme delicacy of his pencil, in his light gracile forms, marvellously contrast with the ideal figures of his mystic allegories ; sometimes playful, as the loveliness of the arabesques of Raffaelle. Blake often breaks into the " tcrribil via " of Michael Angelo, and we start amid a world too horrified to dwell in. Not the least extra- ordinary fact of these designs is, their colouring, done by the artist's own hand, worked to his fancy ; and the verses, which are often remarkable for their sweetness and their depth of feeling. I feel the imperfection of my general description. Such singular productions require a commentary. Believe me, with regard. Your sincere well wisher, I, D'Israeli. 89. THE BOOK OF THEL. The Author and Printer, Willm. Blake. 1789. Copy measuring, ii| x 9 in. Eight leaves printed on one side only. Olive mor. git. and inlaid. Lord Houghton ; the Rt. Honble, the Earl of Crewe. Lent by A. M. S. Methuen, Esq. Printed in golden brown and illuminated with transparent washes of water- colour. 61 9o. THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL. (1790.) Copy n>easuriag, 8x5! in. 15 leaves, printed on both sides with the exception of the first two and the last, which are printed on one side only. White vellum git. Lent by the Linnell Trustees, Printed in various tints, golden brown and green predominating, and illuminated in watercolour, with gold heightening ; the lines of the text being worked over in body colour in a variety of tints. An early copy of a peculiar beauty. 91. VISIONS OF THE DAUGHTERS OF ALBION. Printed by Willm. Blake : 1793. Copy measuring, 15^- x 1 1 in. 11 leaves, printed on one side only; Whatman paper, with the year 1794 in the watermark. ^ red mor. From the Beaconsfield library. (See No. 88 above). Lent by B. B. Macgeorge, Esq. Printed in golden brown and illuminated in stamped colour, with some water- colour washes. The frontispiece of this copy, which had been lost since 1856 or earlier, came up for sale in Messrs. Hodgson's rooms in January, 1904, with margins cut down to i2| x 9^ in. ; it was purchased by Mr. Macgeorge, and has now been inlaid by Rivi^e and replaced in the book. Inserted in the same volume as the above are two leaves from another copy of the book, viz. : — Frontisp. (one leaf) and Title and Argument (printed on either side of the 2nd leaf) ; both are printed n green and illuminated with transparent washes of watercolour. 92. VISIONS OF THE DAUGHTERS OF ALBION. Printed by Willm : Blake : 1793. Copy measuring, 14I x io| in. 6 leaves, printed on both sides, with the exception of the frontispiece which is on a leaf by itself. Olive mor. git. and inlaid. Lent by A. M. S. Methuen, Esq. Printed in green and illuminated with transparent washes of watercolour. 93. VISIONS OF THE DAUGHTERS OF ALBION. Frontispiece. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Illuminated with stamped colour, touched up with pen and wi^tercolour. 62 94- FOR CHILDREN. THE GATES OF PARADISE. (1793.) Copy measuring, 5/^ x 3}^ in. 18 leaves, printed on one side only. J^ed mor. From the Beckforcl Library. Lent by B. B. Macgeorge, Esq. An early example of the original issue (see The Engravings of William Blake, by A. G. B. Russell, No. 8), before the publisher's imprint on the plates ; and lacking also the imprint and date upon the title, from which, however, there are signs of their having been erased. 95- AMERICA. A PROPHECY. Lambeth. Printed by William Blake in the year 1793. Copy measuring, 14^ x Jo| in. 18 leaves, printed on one side only ; Whatman paper, with the year 1794 in the watermark. Yellow mor. git. and inlaid. From the Gaisford library. Lent by B. B. Macgeorge, Esq. Piinted in black, without illumination. Inscribed in Blake's hand in ink on the reverse of the frontispiece : — " From the Author to C. H. Tatham, Oct. 7, 1799." 96. EUROPE. A PROPHECY. Lambeth, Printed by Will : Blake, 1 794, (and) AMERICA. A PROPHECY. Lambeth. Printed by William Blake, in the year 1793. Copies of the above bound together in one volume. White vellum Lent by the Linnell Trustees. (i.) Europe. Copy measuring, 12 x 91% in. 18 numbered leaves, printed on one side only ; Whatman paper with the years 1818, 18 19 and 1820 in the watermarks. Printed in orange and highly finished in watercolours, gold being also used upon the serpent on the title-page and elsewhere. The print of ' The Ancient of Days striking the first Circle of the Earth " (see No. 98 below) forms the frontispiece. (2.) America. Copy measuring, 12 x (){\. in. 18 numbered leaves, printed on one side only ; Whatman paper, with the years 1818 and 1820 in the watermarks. Printed in orange and highly finished in watergolotus, gold being also used. 97. EUROPE, A PROPHECY. PI. 7 of the above. Lent by Greville Macdonald, Esq. Printed in green and illuminated in watercolours. 98. THE ANCIENT OF DAYS STRIKING THE FIRST CIRCLE OF THE EARTH. Signed, Blake inv., Lent by the Trustees of the Whitworth Institute, Manchester. Printed in yellow, and illuminated in watercolours, gold being also used. The subject is taken from Milton's Paradise Lost, Bk. YII, lines 225-231. '' He took the golden Compasses, prepar'd In God's Eternal store, to circumscribe This Universe, and all created things : One foot he center'd, and the other turn'd Round through the vast profunditie obscure, And said, thus farr extend, thus farr thy bounds. This be thy just Circumference, O World." cp. also, Proverbs viii, 27 : — "When he prepared the heavens, I was there : when he set a compass upon the face of the depth.'' The print was originally designed by Blake for the frontispiece of his Europe (1794, see No. 96 above), but was often issued by him separately. The present example is that upon which he was working upon his death-bed for the young Tatham (see The Letters of William Blake, by A. G. B. Russell, pp. 34-35), ard, it is related by Tatham, was considered by him the best he had ever hnished, 99. THE BOOK OF URIZEN. Lambeth. Printed by Will. Blake, 1794. Copy measuring, 15^ X lof in. 28 numbered leaves, printed on one side only; on paper mostly made by I. Taylor, with some leaves of Wh.atman paper, two of the later having the date 1794 in the watermark. From the Beaconsfield library (see No. 88 above). Lent by B. B. Macgeorge, Esq. Printed in grey, and illuminated with watercolour, and some pages, with stamped colour. The pagination, which is Blake's own, differs from that of the copy reproduced in facsimile in The Works of Williatn Blake, by Ellis and Yeats (1893) and the copy also contains an extra page (p. 4), which is absent from the other, headed, / Urisen : c. //, and beginning with the line, " Muster around the 64 99- The Book of XJrizen— continued. bleak desarts," and ending with the Hnc, " All the seven deadly sins of the soul," and illustrated at the bottom with the crouching figure of a naked man, tearing his hair, in a deluge of rain or mud. The following is the order of the pages as compared with that in E. and Y., the page numbers as given by the latter being inserted in brackets after the number of the corresponding page in the present example :— i (i), 2 (2). 3 (3), 4 (absent), 5 (13), 6 (4), 7 (5), 8 (6), 9 (9), 10 (11). II (7), 12(10), 13 (20), 14(1^). 15 (8), 16 (14), 17 (14a), 18(16), 19 (15), 20 (17), 21 {22), 22 (18), 2:^ (19), 24 (21), 25 (23), 26 (24), 27 (25), 28 (26). 100. URIZEN. Plate 23, accordingly to the numbering of the Linnell copy No. 99 above ; Plate 19, according to that ot the copy given in facsimile by Ellis and Yeats ; on Whatman paper, with the year 1794 in the watermark. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Illuminated with stamped colour, worked up with pen and water-colour. The subject is, Los standing by his anvil, with Enitharmon, his wife, by his side, and their son Ore embracing her. loi. JERUSALEM. Plate 51 ; on Whatman paper, with the year 1820 in the watermark. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Printed in orange, and illuminated in watercolours, the effect being heightened with gold, X02. A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF PICTURES, POETICAL AND HISTORICAL INVENTIONS, PAINTED BY WILLIAM BLAKE, IN WATER-COLOURS, BEING THE ANCIENT METHOD OF FRESCO PAINTING RESTORED: AND DRAWINGS, For Public Inspection, and for Sale by Private Contract (added in MS. "At N. 28, Corner of Broad Street, Golden Square), London : Printed by D. N. Shury 7, Berwick Street, Soho, for J. Blake, 28, Broad Street, Golden Square. 1809. Copy measuring, ^-^^ x 4I in. 36 leaves, pp. [i-vi] and 1-66, printed on both sides ; in original blue paper wrappers. Dark blue mor. git. From the library of C. Fairfax Murray, Esq., by whom it was presented to the Fitzwilliam Museum. Lent by the Trustees of the Fitzwilliarn Museurn, 65 103. THE GHOST OF ABEL, 1822. The 2nd of the 2 leaves of which the poem consists. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Printed in black, without illumination. In the illustration at the foot of the page, the Ghost of Abel (inscribed, " The Voice of Abel's Blood ") is depicted hovering over his prostrate body. Beneath is the inscription, " 1822. W. Blake's Original Stereotype was 1788," in reference to the earliest work engraved by him in his special process of " relief etching " ; the work in question being probably the first of the two series of Aphorisms, entitled There is 110 Xnliiral Rcliifioii, — see The Engravings of William Blake, by A. G. B. Russell, p. 205. F.-PORTRAJTS. There are few eminent painters of whom there exists such an interesting series of likenesses done from the life as in Blake's case. In addition to the very remarkable selection here exhibited, the following may also be mentioned as being especially worthy of note : — i. By Blake himself ; a pair of studies of the artist and his wife (that of the former being in profile, looking to 1.) sketched in pencil outline in the " Rossetti MS." ; reproduced in Gilchrist's Life (cd. 1880), Vol. I., facing p. 374. ii. By Thomas Phillips, R.A. ; in oils (35^ x 27^^ in.), painted in 1807 ; half length seated figure, three-quarters face to r., in attitude of " inspiration" ; engraved by Schiavonetti as the frontispiece to Blair's Grave, 1808, and also reproduced in Cunningham's Lives of British Painters (1830, Vol. II., facing p. 142), and in Gilchrist's Lz/e (ed. 1880, Vol. II., frontispiece), iii. By Thomas Phillips, R.A. ; a study for the preceding No., drawn in pencil and touched up with ink (4x4 in.) ; exhibited in 1905 at the Grolier Club, New York (No. 148 in the Catalogue), iv. By John Flaxman, R.A. ; a pencil study (bust) existing in a small sketch-book, containing a number of portrait studies of contemporary persons by Flaxman, which appeared for sale in the rooms of . Messrs. Hodgson of Chancery Lane, 25 January, 1905 (Lot 372), and was there purchased by the late Mr. Quaritch ; done at about the same date as the Phillips and Deville portraits, v. By J. JaCkson, R.A., engraved by Schiavonetti. vi. By Frederick Tatham ; a pencilsketch contained in the Tatham MS., drawn from life at the age of 69 (in profile looking to r.) side by side with a study of his wife, the latter derived from No. 104 in the present exhibition ; reproduced in The Works of William Blake, by Ellis and Yeats, 1893, Vol. I., frontispiece, vii. By John Linnell ; a sketch in pen and ink, signed^y''- Linnell fe. (6/,^ x 4^ in.) for the miniature. No. iii in the present exhibition ; exhibited in 1905 at the Grolier Club, New York (No. 141 in the Catalogue), viii. By " A. L.," engraved in line by Dick, 66 I0+. BLA.KE AT THE AGE OF 28. Pencil sketch by his wife, Catherine. 6| x 4^ in. Sold about 1886 by Mr. Daniels (printseller, Mortimer Street), who appears to have obtained it from an old lady to whom it had been given by Mrs. Blake ; Herbert P. Home, Esq. Lent by Edward Marsh, Esq. Profile looking to r. Reproduced, in facsimile, in The Works of Williaiii Blake, by Ellis and Yeats. 1893, Vol. HI, frontispiece. 105. OAST OF BLAKE'S HEAD, DONE AT THE AGE OF 50. Plaster, iif in. high. Lent by Sir William Blake Richmond, K.C.B., R.A. The cast was taken by Deville, the phrenologist. A replica of it is owned by the Linnell family. Reproduced, i. as the frontispiece to Vol. II. of TJic Works of William Blake, by Ellis and Yeats, 1893. "• as the frontispiece to The Letters of William Blake, edited by A. G. B. Russell, 1906. 106. BLAKE AT THE AGE OF 63. Pencil sketch by John Linnell, 7| x 6i\y in. Signed J. L. feet, and dated, 1820. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Head and shoulders, | face to r., looking downwards, with closed eyes. 107. STUDIES OF BLAKE'S HEAD AT ABOUT 60 YEARS OF AGE. A pair, in pencil, by John Linnell, mounted on a single sheet. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. i- 00 4x1 X 3I in. Initialed, J. L. and marked, Mr. Blake (c. 1820). A slight study of Blake's head, seen in profile to r. ii. (r.) 4}t X 3| in. Initialed J. L., and marked, Mr. Blake (c. 1820) Two studies of Blake's head, one above the other, seen in profile to r. ; also, a slight study of his r. eye and eye-brow. 108. BL.JiKE AT THE AGE OF 64. Pencil sketch by John Linnell. 3f x 4}! in. Dated; and signed, Sept. 12, 1821, J. L.fect^ and marked, Mr. Blake. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Half length, seated with folded arms, behind a table, facing the spectator. 6f 109. VARLEY DISPUTING WITH BLAKE. Pencil sketch by John Linnell. 4^' x 7 in. Signed, J. L., and dated, 1821. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Half length figures, seated at a table ; Varley* cairies on the dispute with animated gestures (r.) ; while Blake (seen in profile, to r.) attentively listens (1.). Marked, Cirencestet Place (i.e., Linnell's house) in 1. corner, and the figures respectively, Mr. Blake and Mr. Varley. On the reverse is a slight indication (also in pencil) of a first idea for the drawing, differing in some details of the treatment. The paper bears the watermarked date, [i8]20. no. WM. BLAKE AT HAMPSTEAD, (c 1825). Pencil sketch by John Linnell. 7 x 4^ in. Signed, ^. L, fecit. Inscribed on the back in pencil by Linnell, " Mr. Blake. On the Hill before our cottage at Hampstead, c. 1825, I guess.'''' Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Half length figure of Blake, seen \ face to r., with his arms folded in front, wearing a tall broad-brimmed hat ; with a background of the Heath. ni. BLAKE AT THE AGE OF m Miniature on ivory, by John Linnell, 5x4 in. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. Head and shoulders, seen in profile to n A highly finished and admirable likeness, taken in 1827, the year of Blake's death. Engi-aved by C. H. Jeens for the frontispiece to Gilchrist's Life, and reproduced in photogravure for the frontispiece to Mr. Story's Blake. 112. CATHERINE BLAKE. Pencil sketch by William Blake. 10x8 in. Inscribed, Mrs. Blake, Dratiui by Blake, and in the r. hand lower corner in Blake's hand, Calherine. N.S. or d. Lent by Miss Carthew. Half length, seated, wearing a cap, with folded arms and looking down. Finely sketched, on the back of a leaf from the 4to edition of Haylcy's Ballads, with some slight scribbles in pen, apparently by another hand, on the back. * John Varley. watercoloiir painter and astrologer, 1778-1842. Linnell, who had been formerly his pupil in drawing, was the means ol introducing him in about 1818 to Blake. A considerable intimacy arose between the two, and it was at Valley's ins-tigalion that Blake embarked upon the remarkable series of Visionary Portraits of historical peisonages and others, of which specimens may be seen in Nos. 70-72 above. 6^ ii3- ]■ THE NORTH FRONT OF THE MONUMENT OF KING SEBERT, ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE ALTAR IN WESTMINSTER. Vide Vetust. Mon. Vol. II., plate xxxii. Finished watercolour drawing, heightened with gold. Signed, Basire, del ijyS- Lent by the Society of Antiquaries. ii. HEADS & ORNAMENTS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE MONUMENT OF KING SEBERT, IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. Vide Vetust. Mon. Vol. II. plate 34. Sheet of finished watercolour studies, some heightened with gold. Lent by the Society of Antiquaries. It is well known how Blake in the days of his apprenticeship to Basire was sent by his master to make drawings from the monuments in Westminster Abbey. It has been suggested that the above may actually be of the number of the drawings which were made by Blake at that time. The present writer is of the opinion, however, that this is not the case, since Blake's drawings even at that early period have unmistakable individual characteristics which are here absent. But it is anyhow likely that they are the finished drawings executed by Basire or one of his assistants from Blake's sketches. CONTEMPORARIES AND PUPILS. BLAKE (ROBERT), 1762 (?)-i787. Robert was Blake's favourite brother, and learned from him both to draw and engrave. Little is known of his life, except that during the last three years of it he was living with William and Catherine at 27, Broad Street, and helping in the print shop of " Parker and Blake." His death, in February 1787, made a deep impression upon William, who had nursed him without taking rest by day or night until, at the end, he saw his brother's soul rise through the ceiling " clapping its hands for joy." Death itself, however, was unable to part the close bond of sympathy existing between the two brothers, and many years later Blake speaks of his conversing still in the spirit " daily and hourly " with the spirit of his brother. It was in one of these spiritual communings shortly after Robert's death that Blake subsequently claimed to have received the inspiration in the light of which the original process by which his Prophetical Books were engraved and illuminated, was evolved in his mind. The present is one of the very small number of drawings that can with certainty be identified as being from Robert's hand. He is also the author of a remarkable design, engraved by William, of " An Awe-struck Group standing on a Rock bv the Sea"; his original drawing, together with an impression of his brother's print from it (reproduced in The Engravings of William Blake by A. G. B. Russell, facing p. 151), maybe seen in the Print Room of the British Museum. 69 114. THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, : India ink, pen and wash. 15^ x 11^ in. From the collection of Alexander Gilchrist. Lent by Edward Marsh, Esq. ROMNEY (GEORGE), 1734-1802. 115. The Fall of the Rebel Angels. Sketch in India ink. i6| x I2f in. (With forged signature of Blake). Lent by J. A. FuUer-Maitland, Esq. The above sketch, which was shown some years ago to the present writer as a drawing by Blake, was identified by him as being in reality the work of Romney — an opinion which was subsequently confirmed by his discovery in the Fitzwilliam Museum of a sketch by Romney of the identical composition in a further stage of development, among the collection of Romney drawings presented to the Museum by the son of the artist. It is well known how Romney in his later years became inspired with an ambition to execute works in the grand style. It is more than likely to have been under Blake's influence that this impulse was developed. It is anyhow certain that Blake's work was held by him in the highest esteem : — see a letter from Flaxman to Hayley (written (c. 1783-1784), in which the following passage occurs : — " I have before mentioned that Mr. Romney thinks his (Blake's) historical drawings rank with those of Michael Angelo " (see The Letters of William Blake, by A. G. B. Russell, p. 52.). Several large cartoons of historical subjects (done c. 1780), existing in the Roscoe collection in the Liverpool Museum, are interesting examples of Romney's endeavours in this direction. In one of these, representing the " Raising of the Ghost of Darius,'' the influence of Blake is especially noticeable in the group of three bowed and kneeling figures in front. That the debt was reciprocal may also be seen in Blake's drawing of *' Har and Heva '" (No. 60 above) where a Romney iniluence is clearly distinguishable in the curves of the iigures, in the breadth of the light effects, and in the character of the forest background. FUSELI (HENRY), R.A. 1741-1825. Born at Zurich, he came to England as a young man, and, with the exception of ten years spent in Italy, remained there ior the rest of his life. In 1799 he succeeded Barry as Professor of Painting to the Royal Ac;idcmy, in which capacity he delivered a remarkable series of lectures on painting. Though a great deal of his work is mannered and unpleasant, he was nevertheless a powerful and imaginative draughtsman. The beautiful " Titauia and Bottom," in the National Gallery, British Art, is one of the linest of his oil paintings. It is, however, in some of his small sketches and studies, many of them in water-colours, that his ability really asserts itself. He is likely to have made Blake's acquaintance in 1780, when he returned from Italy and settled down in Broad Street, Carnaby Market, close to Blake's own 70 Fuseli CHenry^—contiiiueiL home. It was under Blake's iiiHuence that his imaginative quahty tirst began to develop itself, and that his style underwent a change in the direction of restraint and rehnement. He remained Blake's constant friend and admirer. He is said to have been the author of the Advcrtisctiienl of the designs to Young's Night Thoughts, and he afterwards composed the prospectus of the illustrations of Blair's Grave. Several of his designs were engraved by Blake's hand. ii6. Symbolic Design. Pencil and water-colour. I2| x 15 in. Margin of drawing inscribed " Putney Hill, 28th April, 182 1." The female figure is imitated from one of Blake's illustrations to " Europe." From the collection of Prince Hoare. Lent by Edward Marsh, Esq. 117. The Toilet. Wash drawing. 17^ x 11^ in. From the collection of Dr. John Percy with his mark on the back. Lent by Edward Marsh, Esq. 118. The Balloox Skirt. Wash drawing. 17^ x io| in. There is a small study for this at South Kensington. Lent by Edward Marsh, Esq. 119. The First Born. Wash drawing. India ink, tinted in places. i6^ x lof in. Lent by Carfax and Co., Limited. FLAXMAN (JOHN), R.A. 1755-1826. Born at York, the son of a London maker of casts ; delicate as a boy, he was kept at home and copied his father's casts, attracting Romney's attention and rapidly winning prizes, and a position as a designer to Wedgwood. In 1787 he W'Cnt to Rome, returning in 1794 to an established position as an artist in London, being elected A. R.A. in 1797 and R.A. in 1800. Flaxman met Blake through Stothard, when all were young students. After his marriage in J 781 he settled near Blake at 27 Wardour Street. A mutually helpful friendship continued all their lives, Blake contributing original ideas, while Flaxman obtained work for Blake as an engraver and illustrator of books, from the " Odyssey " of 1793 to the "Works and Days of Hesiod" in 1817, and introduced him to his patron Hayley. Flaxman generously admitted Blake's genius, declaring to scoffers that " the time would come when the finest would be as much sought after and treasured as those of Michael Angelo now, and that his poems were as grand as his pictures." n 120. Christian with the three Shinimg Oses before the Cross. Pen and wash drawing in india ink. i8| x 13^ in, Lent by A. G. B. Russell, Esq, 121. Thirteen Drawings, Lent by The Provost, University College. 122. Nine Drawings. Lent by The Provost, University College. STOTHARD (THOMAS), R.A. 1755-1834. Born in London and apprenticed to a draftsmen for silk patterns, he took up book illustration. He became a student at the Royal Academy in 1777 and in 1778 he exhibited his first picture, " Ajax defending the dead body of Patroclus."' He was elected A. R.A, in 1791 and R.A. in 1794. He designed many thousand illustrations for books, of which some 3,000 were engraved, Stothard was intioduced to Blake by a fellow engraver named Trotter and the young artjsts became friends, but their friendship was broken later through the unfortunate misunderstanding over their versions of the '' Canterbury Pilgrims." Cromek, who had already by sharp practice obtained designs for Blair's "Grave" from Blake and then handed over the engraving of these to Schiavonetli. contrary to his promise to Blake, saw in Blake's studio a design for the " Canterbury Pilgrims" and wished to act again as in the case of "The Grave," gettmga design from Blake which could then be engraved by some one else with a more popular style. Blake, however, refused to be taken in again, but understood Cromek nevertheless to give him the double commission. Cromek at once went to Stothard and commissioned an oil picture for sixty guineas, suggesting Blake's, at that time, novel subject " The Canterbury Pilgrims." In 1806 Blake called on Stothard, while the latter was painting his " Canterbury Pilgrims ", and praised it, quite ignorant that it was to replace his own with Cromek. In 1807 Stothard's version was exhibited and excited great admiration, but Blake could never excuse Stothard for what was probably not a wilful injiuy. 123. The Pilgrimage to Canterbury. Panel. 12^ x 36^ in. Lent by The Trustees and Director of the National Gallery. 124. Tam O'Shanter. Oil. I3f X ii| in. Lent by The Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum. 7^ LINNELL (JOHN). 1792-1882. Born in Bloomshury, son of a picture-dealer and wood-carver ; he entered the Academy schools in 1805 by the advice of Benjamin West. He also studied under John Varley, and in 1807 he exhibited two landscapes at the R.A. In the same year he gained a medal for modelling from the life at the R.A. Linnell's name is now chiefly associated with landscape painting ; but besides numerous portraits he painted subjects such as *' Christ's Appearance to the two Disciples journeying to Emmaus." In 181 8, through Mr. George Cumberland of Bristol, he made the acquaintance of William Blake. Blake helped him in engraving, and he introduced Blake to Varley, Mulready and others. His daughter married Samuel Palmer. Although a frequent exhibitor at the R.A, Linnell was never among its members, and late in life is supposed to have refused to allow his name to be put down. 125. Supper at Emmaus. Oil sketch. 8 x ii| in. Lent by the Linnell Trustees. CALVERT (EDWARD). 1799-1883. Born at Appledore, September 20, 1799. Entered the Navy, but left it to study art and worked under A. B. Johns at Plymouth before entering the Academy schools. He became an admirer of Blake, with Samuel Palmer,' the elder Linnell, and George Richmond. His iirst picture sent to the Academy in 1825, "Nymphs," was much admired. He followed it by "A Shepherdess" in 1827. Milton's " Eve," in 1836, was the last picture he exhibited at the Academy. He produced many wood-cuts and plates, but destroyed much of his work as it did not satisfy his fastidious taste. Two of his most remarkable prints are the " Cider Press" and "Christian ploughing the Last Furrow of Life." He died on July 14, 1883, at Hackney. 126, Pastoral. Water-colour, 2| x 4g- in. Lent by Sir Sidney Colvin. See also Engravings in permanent Collection No. 2885 (I — III), Gxallery XIX. PALMER (SAMUEL). 1805-1881. Son of a bookseller, was born at Newington, January 27th, 1805. His father taughi him Greek and Latin, and encouraged in him a love for Biblical and English Literature. Early in his life it was settled that he should become a painter. He received his first lessons from an unknown artist. In 18 19 he exhibited three landscapes in the R.A. About 1821 he met John Linnell, his future father-in-law, who gave him instruction in painting, and also introduced him to Varley and Mulready, and to William Blake in 1824, at the time when Blake was busy with his illustrations to Job. Although he was 67 years old, i O Palmer (SsUXlVLel)— continued. Blake's faculties were unimpaired and his imagination was as vivid as ever. His personality made a profound impression on Palmer. Their intercourse lasted for two years, when Palmer had to leave London for Shoreham, near Sevenoaks in Kent, owing to a breakdown in health. Blake died a year later. At Shoreham Palmer made many sketches from nature and studies in poetical landscape composition. The subjects of the latter were chiefly of a pastoral or scriptural nature, akin to Blake's engravings to Thornton's " Pastorals," In 1837 he married Hannah, eldest daughter of John Linnell and travelled to Italy, where he spent two years. In 1843 he was elected an Associate of the Society of Painters in Water- colour, and in future exhibited only with the Society. From this time his subjects became chiefly English pastoral scenes (with twilight, sunset or moonlight effects) and Romantic, Classic or Ideal compositions. Among the last were his illustrations to "Pilgrim's Progress" and Spenser's poems. In 1855 and 1856 he exhibited drawings from Milton's " The Dell of Comus." A commission for drawings to " L'Allegro " and " II Penseroso " afforded him an opportunity for the exercise of his finest faculties, and the drawings in this series represent the height of his powers of expression. He also practised etching, in which he delighted. He was elected a member of the Etching Society, for which he executed seven plates. For many years he worked on the translation and illustration of his " English Version of the Eclogues of Virgil " which was published in 1883, after his death, which took place on 24th May, 1881, 127. A Study. Oil and tempera. 8x5^ in. (Shoreham Period, 1826-1833.) Lent by Lady Kennedy. 128. An Old Barn. Water-colour. loi x 14^ in. (Shoreham Period, 1826-1833.) Lent by Martin Hardie, Esq. 129. Sunshine and Shadow. Drawing. 3I x 4I in. (End of Shoreham Period, about 1833.) Lent by Martin Hardie, Esq. 130. Landscape. Sepia Drawing. 4:^ x 2| in. Lent by Martin Hardie, Esq. 131. Landscape. Sepia. Drawing. 4^ x 5^ in. (Shoreham Period, 1826-1833) Lent by Martin Hardie, Esq. 318G0 * 74 132. Landscape. Water-colour, yi x lo^ in. (Shoreham Period, 1826-1833.) Lent by Mrs. John Richmond. 133, Coming from the Evening Church. Oil. 11^ X 7i in. (Shoreham Period, 1 826-1833.) Lent by Mrs. John Richmond. 1:54, Evening. A Church among Trees. Sepia Di awing. 6} x yi in. (Shoreham Period, 1826-1833.) Lent by Mrs. Jolni Richmond. 135. The Harvest Moon. Sepia Drawing. 6 x 7J in. (Shoreham Period, 1826- 1833.) Lent by Mrs. John Richmond. 136. Moonlight. Sepia Drawing. 6 x 7} in. (Shoreham Period, 1826-1833.) Lent by Mrs. John Richmond. 137. The Repose of the Holy Family. "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His Head." Oil. i2| X 15I in. (Shoreham Period, 1826-1833.) Lent by John Richmond, Esq. RICHMOND (GEORGE), R.A. 1809-1896. Son of Thomas Richmond, miniature painter, was born at Brompton, aSth March, 1809. At lirst he received instruction from his father, but at the age of iifteen he entered the Royal Academy School, where he came under the influence of Fuseli, then Professor of Painting. Among his fellow students were Samuel Palmer (afterwards a life-long friend) and Edward Calvert. It was at the age of sixteen that Richmond first met William Blake at the house, in Highgate, of John Linnell. On the night of their first meeting he accompanied the poet and painter across the fields to Fountain Court. The impression Blake made on his mind was immediate and vivid : he felt "as though he had been walking with the prophet Isaiah." Henceforth he followed Blake's guidance in matters of art, drawing inspiration from his work, as is evident in such early work as " Christ and the Woman of Samaria " (1825). He was present at Blake's death in 1827, and followed him to the grave in Bunhill Fields. In 1828 he journeyed to Paris, 75 Riclimond (Geovge)— continued. where he studied in the schools and hospitals. On his return to England he adopted the art of portraiture, working in crayons, water-colour and in oils. He painted most of the prominent public characters of his day, and many examples of his work may be seen in the National Portrait Gallery. He was elected A.R.A. in 1857, and R.A. nine years later. He died on March 19th, 1896. 138. Creation of Light. (Rejected by the R.A., 1829.) Tempera. 19 x 16^ in. Lent by Walter Richmond, Esq. 139. Jacob's Dream. Varnished water-colour. 5 x 6| in. Lent by Lady Kennedy. 140. Christ and the Woman of Samaria. Panel. 16^ x 20 in. Lent by National Gallery, Bi-itish Art. 1 4. 1. David and Saul. Pen drawing. 7| x io| in. Lent by Airs. John Richmond. 142. An Ancient Oak in Lullingstone Park. Pencil drawing. io|^ x 8 in. (Shorehani Period, 1826.) Lent by John Richmond, Esq. 143. The Shepherd. (Unfinished. 1828.) Engraving. 6 x 4|- in. Lent by John Richmond, Esq. 144. The Robber. *' It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman," — Macbeth. Engraving. 2 x if in. (Shorehani Period, 1827.) Lent by John Richmond, Esq. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Bkmi FEB '^O 2o m^^ OCT qj§m 9S9 CD \<0 RECT) LD-URD' JUL 91978 ^< S* .wi FormL9-50»i-9,'60(B3610&4)444 ^'^ \i' '"'; TUE UBRAKT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNUi^ LOS ANGEr>EvS PAM PHLET BINDER ^^^ Syracuse, N. Y. -^— Stockton, Calif. V) UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRAR AA 000 286 744 w