The Grave
"These illustrations must always remain among [Blake's] greatest. They are much less illustrations of Blair than expressions of his own moods and visions. We see the body and soul rushing into each other's arms at the last day, the soul hovering over the body and exploring the recesses of the grave, and the good and bad appearing before the judgement seat of God, not as these things appeared to the orthodox eyes of Blair, but as they appeared to the mystical eyes of William Blake." -Tom Paulin
FIRST EDITION WITH WILLIAM BLAKE’S ILLUSTRATIONS, IN ORIGINAL BOARDS. One of only 589 subscriber’s copies.
The first edition of Blair's The Grave appeared in 1743; in 1805, the publisher Robert Cromek commissioned Blake to engrave twenty illustrations for a new edition of Blair's poem based on Blake's own watercolors. "Blake’s most forcible and poetical thinking on the subject of Death is crystallized in the delicately gleaming drawings for Blair’s 'Grave'"(Irene Langbridge). Blake also contributed the dedicatory poem “To the Queen” to the edition.
Note: This is a rare subscribers' copy with "subscribers' copy" printed at base of engraved title page.
London: T. Bensley for Robert Cromek, 1808. Large quarto (approx. 37x30 in), original gray-brown boards with paper label on front, sympathetically rebacked; later endpapers. Housed in custom cloth box. Complete with engraved portrait frontispiece, additional title and 11 plates by Louis Schiavonetti after William Blake and T. Phillips (portrait of Blake). Some scuffing and edgewear to original boards (including chip on outer edge of front cover); scattered foxing. Plates clean with foxing generally contained to extreme outer margins.
A very large, uncut copy of a rare subscribers' issue in original boards.
Check Availability:
P: 212.326.8907
E: info@manhattanrarebooks.com