Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion

Blake's final and longest epic in illuminated printing constitutes a recapitulation and summation of his multiple interests, ranging from his own mythology to biblical history, from sexuality to epistemology, and from the Druids to Newton. The cast of characters is vast, but Los (the artist's imagination at work in the material world), Jerusalem and Albion (the female and male portions of divided humanity who must be reunited), the nature goddess Vala, and Jesus play major roles. The poem is divided into four chapters, each addressed to a different audience: the Public, the Jews, the Deists, and the Christians. Jerusalem concludes with a vision of human consciousness in a post-apocalyptic universe. Portions of The Four Zoas, Blake's long manuscript poem, are repeated (often with little revision) in Jerusalem.

The one-hundred plates of Jerusalem were etched in relief, with many designs in white-line etching, between c. 1804 (the date on the title page) and 1820. Sixty plates may have been completed by 1807; a few examples were exhibited in 1812. The printing of 1820 produced copies A, C, and D. In the next year, Blake printed copies B (chapter 1 only, plates 1-25) and E. Copy F was printed, but left uncollated by Blake, in 1827. Copies H-J are posthumous. There are two arrangements of the plates in chapter 2, early (copies A and C) and late (copies D and E). Copy F was collated by John Linnell, using copy C as a model. Most lifetime copies have hand tinting in gray or black, but only copies B and E are colored.