Hardcover
1880 · London
by Gilchrist, Alexander
London: Macmillan and Co, 1880. Hardcover. Very good. The first biography of William Blake (1757-1827), here in the preferred second edition. Octavo, two volumes: xxi, 431 p. + ix, 383 p. with 2 mounted frontispiece portraits on India paper and over 70 plates and facsimiles, including 3 original prints from Blake's wood blocks of Virgil's Pastorals printed on India paper and 16 electrotypes made from the original and only existing copper plates of Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794). In the exquisite Victorian green cloth bindings with elaborate gilt stamping. The armorial bookplate of Augustini Lane Poole appears on each front pastedown. The rear hinge of the second volume has been neatly repaired. Most of the hinges and joints are just starting and still quite sound. The spines are a bit toned, with some mild rubbing to the gilt; otherwise very good. Blake Books 1680B. (Inventory #: 77199)