24 July 2008

The William Blake Archive is pleased to announce
 the publication of electronic editions of Blake’s illustrations to John Milton’s “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” and Paradise Lost. The six “Nativity Ode” water colors were acquired, and probably commissioned, by Thomas Butts in about 1815. This series is now in the Huntington Library and Art Gallery. The group of three Paradise Lost water colors was acquired, and almost certainly commissioned, by John Linnell in 1822. The first two designs are now in the National Gallery of Victoria; the third is in the Fitzwilliam Museum. Both sets are presented in our Preview mode, one that provides all the features of the Archive except Image Search and Inote (our image annotation program). With this publication, the Archive now contains all nine of Blake’s series of water colors illustrating Milton’s poetry.

Blake had created six “Nativity Ode” illustrations for the Rev. Joseph Thomas in 1809. Blake repeated the same basic designs, with many minor but intriguing variations, in the Butts set presented here. When sold at auction in 1852, the water colors were accompanied by the poem, or possibly only the passages illustrated, in manuscript. This text, possibly in Blake’s hand, is now untraced. In comparison to the earlier series, the Butts water colors are more highly finished and show careful attention to interior modeling and detailed coloring.

Blake produced twelve Paradise Lost water colors for Thomas in 1807 and a similar set of twelve for Butts in 1808. It may have been Blake’s intention to execute another set of twelve illustrations for Linnell, but only the three extant designs are known. They are based on the fourth, eighth, and eleventh illustrations in the Butts series. In comparison to these models, the Linnell water colors show an increased emphasis on dramatic lighting, particularly evident in the radiance surrounding Christ in the third design, “Michael Foretells the Crucifixion.” The Job engravings, commissioned by Linnell in 1823, show a similarly masterful use of intense illumination.

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, 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