28 January 2008

The William Blake Archive is pleased to announce the publication of an electronic edition of Blake's illustrations to John Milton's Paradise Lost. This group of twelve water colors was acquired, and probably commissioned, by the Rev. Joseph Thomas in 1807. These designs, not in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, are presented in our Preview mode, one that provides all the features of the Archive except Image Search and Inote (our image annotation program).

Here, as usual in his work as an illustrator of other poets' works, Blake paid close attention to the text, but this disciplined approach did not preclude his own interpretations. For example, Blake's choice of subjects places greater emphasis on Christ's role in Milton's epic than most series of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century illustrations of Paradise Lost.

With this publication, the Archive contains six of Blake's nine series of water colors illustrating Milton's poetry. It is our intention to publish in the near future the remaining three series: the Butts and Linnell sets of illustrations to Paradise Lost and the Butts set of designs for "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity."

As always, the William Blake Archive is a free site, imposing no access restrictions and charging no subscription fees. The site is made possible by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the continuing support of the Library of Congress, and the cooperation of the international array of libraries and museums that have generously given us permission to reproduce works from their collections in the Archive.

Morris Eaves, Robert N. Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, editors
Ashley Reed, project manager, William Shaw, technical editor
The William Blake Archive