Two volumes. 8vo
1821 · London
by [BLAKE, William (1757-1827, illustrator), VIRGIL (author)] Robert John THORNTON (1768-1837, translator)
London: J. McGowan for F.C. Rivington and others, 1821. Two volumes. 8vo. (6 7/8 x 4 1/8 inches). xii (-vii/viii), 12, xxiv (-i/iv), 214; [I], [215]-592 pp. With an engraved frontispiece in each volume and 230 illustrations. Printed with up to five plates to a page, some leaves printed recto and verso, 27 (on thirteen leaves) by or after William Blake, 3 engraved maps, 2 folding. Armorial book-plate on front paste-down of each volume. Original full sheep decorated in blind and in gilt, rebacked with original spines laid down; blue speckled edges
A lovely set of Robert John Thornton's translation of Virgil, the first edition with illustrations by William Blake, and Blake's first foray into the medium of wood-engraving.
Thornton's ambitious project paired Virgils Latin text with English translations and notes, aiming to bring the classical poets work to a broader audience and provide an educational textbook intended to introduce young readers to Virgil's poetry. Although Thornton was critical of Blake's work, deemed by him to be unconventional, he nonetheless included them at the behest of John Linnell, Blake's patron, as well as Sir Thomas Lawrence, and others. Beneath the frontispiece for the "Imitation of Eclogue I" (facing p. 13), Thornton has written, "The illustrations of this English Pastoral are by the famous Blake, the illustrator of Young's Night Thoughts and Blair's Grave; who designed and engraved them himself. This is mentioned, as they display less of art than genius, and are much admired by some eminent painters." Blake's wood-engravings proved to be some of his most influential work, inspiring the likes of George Richmond, Edward Calvert, and Samuel Palmer, the latter who called them, "visions of little dells, and nooks, and corners of Paradise." The woodblocks were retained after the printing of this work. They are now part of the British Museum's collection where they became an important part of the museum's Blake holdings and serve as a tangible connection to the creative process and precise techniques of the remarkble artist and poet.
Bentley & Nurmi 411; Keynes 77; Easson and Essik I, X; Bentley, 'Blake Books,' 504; Essick, 'A Troubled Paradise' (1999); Bindman 602-18. (Inventory #: 41951)
A lovely set of Robert John Thornton's translation of Virgil, the first edition with illustrations by William Blake, and Blake's first foray into the medium of wood-engraving.
Thornton's ambitious project paired Virgils Latin text with English translations and notes, aiming to bring the classical poets work to a broader audience and provide an educational textbook intended to introduce young readers to Virgil's poetry. Although Thornton was critical of Blake's work, deemed by him to be unconventional, he nonetheless included them at the behest of John Linnell, Blake's patron, as well as Sir Thomas Lawrence, and others. Beneath the frontispiece for the "Imitation of Eclogue I" (facing p. 13), Thornton has written, "The illustrations of this English Pastoral are by the famous Blake, the illustrator of Young's Night Thoughts and Blair's Grave; who designed and engraved them himself. This is mentioned, as they display less of art than genius, and are much admired by some eminent painters." Blake's wood-engravings proved to be some of his most influential work, inspiring the likes of George Richmond, Edward Calvert, and Samuel Palmer, the latter who called them, "visions of little dells, and nooks, and corners of Paradise." The woodblocks were retained after the printing of this work. They are now part of the British Museum's collection where they became an important part of the museum's Blake holdings and serve as a tangible connection to the creative process and precise techniques of the remarkble artist and poet.
Bentley & Nurmi 411; Keynes 77; Easson and Essik I, X; Bentley, 'Blake Books,' 504; Essick, 'A Troubled Paradise' (1999); Bindman 602-18. (Inventory #: 41951)
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