The Urizen Books (The Illuminated Books of William Blake, Volume 6)

Book Description

The last volumes in the series of William Blake's Illuminated Books reveal the writer and artist as a prophet driven by a sense of apocalyptic urgency. Blake conceived and executed The Continental Prophecies and The Urizen Books in the early 1790s, capturing the intellectual and spiritual turmoil of the American and French revolutions. Here, for the first time, the general reader will encounter Blake's most intense vision in reproductions that do justice to the originals, accompanied by texts, comprehensive notes and commentaries, and detailed interpretations of the designs.

The Urizen Books, made up of "Urizen," "The Book of Los," and "Ahania," describes the dissemination of the autocratic mythology of Urizen, Blake's inflexibly rationalist and myopic law-giver. These books stand as the author's sensible and considered response to the events of his time. The illuminated text of "Urizen" and the ten full-page illustrations from copy D in the British Museum, never before reproduced, represent a tour de force in Blake's specialist process of color printing.

These volumes complete the six-part series of William Blake's Illuminated Books, including Jerusalem, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, The Early Illuminated Books, and Milton, A Poem, all published by Princeton University Press.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful images, great helps for the general reader.......2004-02-02

These three works in some ways develop the characters Blake used in the three Continental Prophecies. But don't expect any kind of coherent development or to be able to fathom out any kind of understandable timeline. This is Blake after all. Most of this book is helpful introduction, commentary, notes, and supplementary materials.

"The First Book of Urizen" is the longest of the three and the most illustrated. It has images that are absolutely unforgettable. They have a power and emotional impact that holds the viewer. I have met people who find them repulsive. I think the emotional impact makes them uncomfortable so they want to get away from the images and so push them away.

"The Book of Ahania" and "The Book of Los" are much shorter and the illustrations are limited to the title page and the last plate ("The Book of Los" also has an illustration on the opening page of text.). The other pages are done in particularly fine Blake script.

As with the rest of the volumes in this series the quality of reproduction is very high and these images are delightful to study. The scholarship is quite good and the writing is focused on opening these works up to the general reader - at least a general reader who enjoys studying Blake and is willing to put in the time it takes to fathom these rather wonderfully strange works. A treasure for the shelf of any Blake lover.

A must have!.......2000-09-27

I recommend that any fan of William Blake buy this volume and the other 5 in the series. The books are beautiful, large, and handsomely bound. Each book is reproduced in full color, using a six-color printing process rather than the standard four. The pages are heavy, opaque and have a gorgous lustre indicating very high quality paper. The text of each book accompanies the color reproductions in standard typeface with very competent commentary to boot.

A must have!.......2000-09-27

Illuminated Haggadot from Medieval Spain: Biblical Imagery And the Passover Holiday

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Illuminated Haggadot from Medieval Spain: Biblical Imagery And the Passover Holiday
Katrin Kogman-Appel
Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Medieval | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Religious | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Spain | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Judaism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Haggadah | Judaism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Bible & Other Sacred Texts | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0271027401

Book Description

Emerging in Spain after 1250, Jewish narrative figurative painting became a central feature in a group of illuminated Passover Haggadot in the early decades of the fourteenth century. Illuminated Haggadot from Medieval Spain describes how the Sephardic Haggadot reflect different visualizations of scripture under various conditions and aimed at a variety of audiences. Though the specifics of the creation of these works remain a mystery, this book delves into the cultural struggles that existed during this period in history and shows how those conflicts influenced the work.

Customer Reviews:

Very Impressed.......2007-08-02

I am thoroughly impressed with this book. Its scholarship is impressive and helpful in my preparations to study medieval history at Oxford. And the thoughtfully written bibliography and through indexing of the manuscripts illustrated assist further studies. Even though it's not on my official reading list and is certainly not a light nor compact book, I'm packing it and taking it with me.

But, as scholarly as this work is, if one simply wants an attractive coffee table book on the subject, this can certainly be one. If one wants a very readable, engagingly written, well illustrated introduction to illuminated manuscripts, this is for you as well.

There is even some helpful guidance on collecting the more available manuscripts such as Books of Hours. And as the Fellow Librarian of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and with his 25 years experience in evaluating manuscripts for Sotheby's, Dr. De Hamel's knowledge is not just theoretical.

Yet the price is extremely reasonable for a book of this quality.

A Joyous Entry for Anyone's Library.......2007-04-20

Simply a treasure in print, Christopher De Hamel's work on medieval manuscripts is an enjoyable and fact-filled romp through the Middle Ages as if no "darkness" in the period ever existed. Focusing on a descriptive narrative that is as delightful as it is informative, the text leads the reader from one interesting setting to another, belying the breadth and scope of its coverage. One meets the educational reformers in Charlemagne's court, the scribes of the cathedral schools of Laon and Chartres, the workers in English scriptoriums, and many others in this highly researched, but clearly and engagingly written book. The reader feels as if he is simply touring the European countryside from one location to another and watching the patient and unrelenting work of scribes, copyists, and illustrators as they seek to develop the most enduring artifact of the period. Underpinning the entire work is a series - no, a PLETHORA - of beautifully reproduced and highly detailed medieval manuscript reproductions, many of them full-page, to the extent that one finds himself questioning why the text doesn't cost three times the price. A rarity in that it contains both outstanding prose as well as stunningly reproduced photographs, this text should be in every medievalist's (and art lover's) own scriptorium.

Fabulous book and indispensable resource!.......2006-04-26

I loved this book! I used it for a graduate course on Illuminated Manuscripts, and it was one of the main textbooks we used, but I used it often after the course as well. I really enjoyed reading it, and found that it was unlike most of the typical text books I had formerly used. For any art history student, it is an outstanding resource. For anyone who loves illuminated manuscripts, book arts, or the Medieval period in general, this is a wonderful resource. It is a book that I consider an indispensable resource in my personal library. It is very well written and easily accessible for anyone. Although some of the terminology may be unfamiliar, it isn't so esoteric that it is beyond the scope of general understanding. It is clearly one of the best resources on the subject that I have ever come across!

Frrom someone who should know..........2001-03-15

Chris DeHamel works researching books for Sotheby's. That is all he does, and his numerous books on the subject show his mastery and command of the subject. Everyday he goes to work, he is getting time to research, free of teaching committments that fetter the ability of other scholars to pursue their writing. His research and ability shows in this beatiful and well-written book, which is an excellent introduction to the history of the book and to the processes and culture surrounding the book as an object. His book progresses, chapter-by-chapter, through the different groups that books were designed for, describing where and why they were made, and the special challenges of each. Chock-full of photographs of lavish manuscript writing and art, this volume is not only an extremely suitable textbook for art history and history classes dealing with the book or commodity-culture, but also is a great personal or coffeetable volume, and supremely reasonable at the price it is provided at, considering the cost of so many art texts.

Spectacular teaching tool.......2000-12-30

This is the first illumination book I encourage my students to purchase (with Drogin's history of calligraphy). This is an entirely reasonable price with abundant color and b&w pictures.

Unlike many tretises on the topic, this doesn't limit you to post-1200 Anglo-French. This gives you a true oversight of western european illumination of the entire span of the middle ages (spanish, moorish, greek, latin, etc...)

Added to the benefit of examples, de Hamel doesn't subject you to the same pictures you've seen in every other 2-bit book (yes, Victoria, other books existed before 1200 besides the Book of Kells).

The text is thoughtful without being dry and boring. This is written for an audience which is expected to appreciate the subject, without assuming you've devoted your life to it already.

Book Description

Covering the period from 1250 to 1280, this volume examines Early Gothic manuscripts during a time when the remarkable bestiaries of the earlier 13th century were being cast in the role of beasts of the Apocalypse, embodying that rich sense of characterization and grotesquery so important to
English medieval artists. The book contains dozens of outstanding manuscripts as well as medical, genealogical, topographical, historical, and classical works, setting them in their historical and social contexts and providing a full discussion of techniques and methods.

Illuminated Initials in Full Color: 548 Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

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Nicely put together!
Calligraphy book
Unexpected

Illuminated Initials in Full Color: 548 Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Decorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Calligraphy | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Bible of Illuminated Letters: A Treasury of Decorative Calligraphy (Quarto Book)
Illuminated Letter Designs (International Design Library)
1001 Illuminated Initial Letters: 27 Full-Color Plates (Pictorial Archives)
Ready-to-Use Ornate Letters and Initials: 813 Different Copyright-Free Designs Printed One Side
The Art of Illumination

ASIN: 0486285014

Book Description

Practical archive of extraordinarily beautiful and decorative letters of the alphabet splendidly ornamented with geometric and curvilinear motifs interwoven with royal and saintly figures, mythical creatures, knights in battle, exquisite florals, and much more. A wonderful glimpse of the ancient art of manuscript illumination.

Customer Reviews:

Nicely put together!.......2007-09-07

This is especially helpful for letter-illuminating, though you need to know what you're doing because there are no guiding instructions.

Calligraphy book.......2007-09-02

I didn't get as much from this book as I'd hoped. It is beautifully illustrated.

Unexpected.......2007-05-14

This was not what I expected. The letters are back to back so you will need to make a copy of the page you want otherwise you cut into the letters on the back of the page

The Hours of Simon de Varie (Getty Museum Monographs on Illuminated Manuscripts)

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The Hours of Simon de Varie (Getty Museum Monographs on Illuminated Manuscripts)
James H. Marrow , and Francois Avril
Manufacturer: Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Gothic | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Decorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Calligraphy | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Illuminations | Other Media | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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The Gualenghi d'Este Hours: Art and Devotion in Renaissance Ferrara (Getty Museum Monographs on Illuminated Manuscripts)

ASIN: 0892362847

Book Description

Leading French painters in the late medieval period executed miniatures for lavishly illuminated books of hours. In the mid-fifteenth century, Simon de Varie commissioned such a book. Completed in 1455, it included five priceless works by the most eminent French painter of the time, Jean
Fouquet, as well as other striking paintings by two of his contemporaries.

In the seventeenth century, Simon de Varie's book was divided into three sections and sold as separate volumes. Two of these volumes are today in the Royal Library in The Hague. The third volume--thought lost until 1984, when it surfaced in a private collection and was subsequently acquired by
the Getty Museum--contains the first miniatures by Jean Fouquet to have been discovered in eighty years.

This beautiful book will reproduce in color all of the miniatures and historiated initials in the original manuscript, along with selected text pages with secondary decoration. Comparative illustrations also accompany the two essays in the volume. Marrow's text addresses the role of books of
hours in late medieval culture; the contents and form of de Varie's Hours; and the relationship of the miniatures by Fouquet to the rest of the artist's oeuvre. In a related essay, Francois Avril discusses the position of Simon de Varie and his family in mid-fifteenth-century France.

The publication of The Hours of Simon de Varie adds to the Getty's impressive list of publications on illuminated manuscripts begun in 1990 and including the widely acclaimed facsimile Mira calligraphiae monumenta.

Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms (Looking At...)

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Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms
A glorious elucidation of the handwritten book
Outstanding resource for anyone!
A Bible for beginning codicologers
A great little dictionary of illumination.

Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms (Looking At...)
Michelle P. Brown
Manufacturer: Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Decorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Calligraphy | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Illuminations | Other Media | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

A History of Illuminated Manuscript
Medieval Illuminators and Their Methods of Work
The British Library Guide to Manuscript Illumination: History and Techniques (British Library Guides)
The Medieval Book: Illustrated from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (MART: The Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching)
Scribes and Illuminators (Medieval Craftsmen)

ASIN: 0892362170

Book Description

What is a florilegium? What is an incipit? What is batarde script? This book--part of the Museum's popular Looking at series--offers definitions of these and numerous other techniques, processes, and materials used in medieval illuminated manuscripts. Concise and readable explanations of
the technical terms most frequently encountered by the museum-goer are presented in an easily portable format. With numerous illustrations, many of them in color, this volume will be invaluable to all readers wishing to increase their understanding and enjoyment of illuminated manuscripts.

Customer Reviews:

Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms .......2007-09-07

Explains in lay terms the processes used in illuminated medieval manuscripts. Still a bit complicated, but a good resource.

A glorious elucidation of the handwritten book.......2007-01-10

This publication using a lexiconary form lavishly displays an art form too long ignored. Extraordinary effort and expense has created a book that shows and explains the accomplishments of a lost art. Any bibliophile, any artist will devour this book.

Outstanding resource for anyone!.......2006-04-26

I used this book and the Christopher De Hamel book while I was taking a graduate course on Illuminated Manuscripts. The information was indispensable for the entirety of the course, but it also helped me in future courses I took. It is wonderful to find an academic book that is fun to read! I would heartily recommend it to anyone, and especially to students who are studying manuscripts or merely the art history of the period! It is a most worthwhile investment!

A Bible for beginning codicologers.......2001-03-15

This slim volume by Michelle Brown is an excellent resource for anyone who is interested in the study of books and manuscripts (codicology). In a succinct dictionary format, Brown gives definitions of all of the major terms that may give trouble to someone visiting a museum or reading a work by such major writers in the field as Chris DeHamel. Suitable as both a textbook and a companion to books on manuscripts, this book is nearly indispensible to the beginner and the intermediate in allowing some understanding into the complex technical and art-historical vocabulary used in the field.

A great little dictionary of illumination........2000-07-14

This little volume provides brief definitions of all the important phrases and terms used in the study of illuminated manuscripts including forms, techniques, themes, and periods.

Great for understanding the differences between an historiated initial and an inhabited initial - or between an antiphonal and a gradual.

Most of the representative images are in color and are well chosen to illustrate the definitions. Perhaps their only drawback is their small size due to the size limitations of the book itself.

Amazon.com

The most important legacy of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II is the Mira calligraphiae monumenta, a manuscript comprised of illuminated pages of calligraphy. Around 1561 a master calligrapher wrote the text as proof of his preeminence among scribes. After his death, a master illustrator was employed to illuminate his writing, and the outcome is a rare combination of words and images in small-scale drawings--considered one of the wonders of Renaissance Europe. This book culls different plates from the collection that are each unique, consisting of lavishly executed text in Roman and Hebrew letters accompanied by realistic and detailed drawings of plants, animals, and insects.

Book Description

The court of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II produced nothing more amazing than the Mira calligraphiae monumenta, a brilliant demonstration of two arts--calligraphy and miniature painting. The project began when Rudolf's predecessor, Ferdinand I, commissioned master calligrapher Georg Bocskay to
create a model book of calligraphy. A preeminent scribe, Bocskay assembled a vast selection of contemporary and historic scripts.

Years later, at Rudolf's behest, miniaturist Joris Hoefnagel filled the spaces on each manuscript page with insects, fruits, flowers, and other botanical images. The combination of word and illustration is rare and, on its tiny scale, constitutes one of the marvels of the Central European
Renaissance.

Nature Illuminated reproduces forty-one pages from the original codex. Those who love and collect beautiful books will be endlessly fascinated by Hoefnagel's imagery and invention. The accompanying commentary identifies and explains the details of Hoefnagel's exquisitely crafted
illuminations.

Customer Reviews:

Thank you Emperor Rudolf II .......2007-01-15

Years ago, when I was primary school (1960)2nd class student our teacher made us a special note -book: Everybody wrote an alphabet and every friend painted them whith natural ornament. I remember that years. This book is illuminated us with conservative knowledge. It's a pattern for humans and for our child. Ewerything in the world can place in same frame. Thank you Emperor Rudolf II and AMAZON.

A teaser but great none the less........2006-02-23

I have never seen such an amazing compilation of manuscripts and calligraphic examples. I was blown away. The only problem is that the dang pages are so small!! It seems like some detail is lost. This is a big problem for anyone who wants to master some the writing techniques. The Mira calligraphea is the same dang size so no help there either. If anyone knows where I can find larger views please let me know!!!! vinson.gracia@gmail.com

Gorgeous artwork!.......2005-03-04

This is a great book for those who appreciate beauty in nature. I find that just paging through the gorgeous artwork of natural objects and flowing calligraphy is very soothing. The book is smaller than I expected but its content does not disappoint. Makes a wonderful gift for special friends. I bought my copy for myself but I might buy others in future as gifts for friends.

Medieval Butterflies, Sea Shells, Plants = #41 Manuscripts.......2002-05-29

If you want to see colorful manuscipts that show a varity of medieval insects, plants, flowers, fruit, sea shells, initials, designs, and even a few animals, then this is the book for you. There are 41 full color manuscripts to choose from. At the end of the book, are discriptions of each manuscript, listing the medieval name for each. Example: The identifications of specimens proceed from top to bottom and from left to right. Common names have been provided whenever possible. In the case of the insect identifications, British English common names have been used, since most of the specimens represented do not exist in the United States. Where a different American common name is known, it has been included following the British Name, seperated by a slash. The names of higher taxonomic groups (families and orders) have been printed in roman type, while genus and spicies names appear in italics.Folio 1 Rotunda script in "trace letters"Vinca minor L,: Common periwinkleMalus domestica Borkh,:Common appleLacerta(?):LizardFolio 5 Antiqua scriptMatthiola incana (L.) R. Br.: GillyflowerEphemeroptera: MayflyDiptera Cyclorrhapha Heleomyzidae (?):FlyPulmonata Helicidae Cepaea sp.: Garde SnailEnd Example.A great sorce of Medieval Nature.

A beautiful little book.......2002-04-13

"Nature Illuminated" is wonderful collection of illuminated manuscripts from the Getty's extensive holdings. Perusing these pages shows that the chasm between (representative) art and science is really not so great.

The Splendor of the Word: medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts at the New York Public Library

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Nice, but ...

The Splendor of the Word: medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts at the New York Public Library
J. J. G. Alexander
Manufacturer: Harvey Miller
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Medieval | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Renaissance | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Romanesque | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Illuminations | Other Media | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Publishing & Books | Reference | Subjects | Books

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Saints in Medieval Manuscripts

ASIN: 190537500X

Product Description

The New York Public Librarys collection of nearly three hundred Western European illuminated manuscripts is one of the largest in America but also one that is very little known. Dating from the turn of the tenth century unto well into the period of the Renaissance, these works give vivid testimony to the creative impulses of the often nameless craftsmen who discovered ever-new ways of animating the contents of hand-produced books through inventive and sometimes exuberant manipulations of all the elements of the book: form and format, layout, script, decoration, illustration, and binding. To introduce this magnificent collection and many of its most important works to scholars and the wider audience, The Splendor of the Word presents one hundred manuscripts of particular cultural, historical, and artistic significance, selected from the Librarys collection by three of the most distinguished scholars in the field Jonathan J. G. Alexander, Professor of Fine Arts at! the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, a specialist in early medieval, Romanesque, and Italian illuminated manuscripts; James H. Marrow, Professor Emeritus of Art History at Princeton University, a specialist in late medieval illuminated manuscripts; and Lucy Freeman Sandler, Professor of Art History Emerita at New York University, a specialist in Gothic illuminated manuscripts. The makers of medieval illuminated manuscripts invested their books with sparkle and visual energy. They did so to stimulate delight, imagination, and memoryto make of them objects that fascinate and charm as well as instruct. One need have no knowledge of medieval languages or habits of thought to appreciate the high quality and the aesthetic ebullience of the finely crafted manuscripts shown here, for the very first time, to anyone interested in the ways that books help to define the social, intellectual, and imaginative horizons of their users.

Customer Reviews:

Nice, but ..........2007-02-18

While this is a very good document, it isn't the ART book I had hoped it would be. As an artist, I learn far more visually than I do from all the talking. I wanted a book of plates with some discription. I got a lot of expensive discription and not very many illustrations and even fewer close-ups and details. If you are an illuminator, this may not be the book you want it to be. If you are looking for a history book, I'm sure it will be a nice addition to your library.

The Continental Prophecies (The Illuminated Books of William Blake, Volume 4)

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High quality printing and most helpful commentary
Poetic Genius
Fantastic, beautiful edition!

The Continental Prophecies (The Illuminated Books of William Blake, Volume 4)
William Blake
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Illuminations | Other Media | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Criticism | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

The Early Illuminated Books (The Illuminated Books of William Blake, Volume 3)
Milton, A Poem (The Illuminated Books of William Blake, Volume 5)
The Urizen Books (The Illuminated Books of William Blake, Volume 6)
Jerusalem (The Illuminated Books of William Blake, Volume 1)
Songs of Innocence and of Experience

ASIN: 0691001456

Book Description

The Continental Prophecies, which comprises "America," "Europe," and "The Song of Los," presents Blake's critical reckoning with the history of his own times. Marked by a particularly close integration of word and image, the books form a mythical plot from historical events and criticize the intricate structure of social oppression that the author attributes to organized state religion. Each of the three books attempts to point a way toward the process of millennial liberation.

These volumes complete the six-part series of William Blake's Illuminated Books, including Jerusalem, Songs of Innocence and of Experience (now available in paperback), The Early Illuminated Books, and Milton, A Poem, all published by Princeton University Press.

Customer Reviews:

High quality printing and most helpful commentary.......2004-02-02

This wonderful volume contains what are referred to as Blake's Continental Prophecies. They are: "America", "Europe", and "The Song of Los". The last has two sections called "Africa" and "Asia" and is by far the shortest.

They are all beautifully illustrated and the first plate in "Europe" is probably the most famous image from Blake's illuminated works - the bearded white man kneeling and reaching down out of the sun with the measuring compass. "The Song of Los" is also full of beautifully colored images. The "America" plates are monochrome although a couple of colored plates are shown in the supplementary plates.

Since "America" has 18 plates and "Europe" 17 and "Los" 8, it follows that most of the volume's 367 pages are filled with commentary, notes, and supplementary material. This helps a lot because these prophecies are part of Blake's rather opaque personal mythology. Scholars have filled shelves with conjecture about what it all means and they do have some good notions, but it is tough sledding without the background material to ease the way. This is a great edition and will be a treasure on the bookshelf of all who love the works of William Blake.

Poetic Genius.......2001-04-12

Blake's work must be read in reproduction. An engraver by trade, Blake revolutionized book production with his "infernal method" of engraved illumination, hand-crafting each book. In the Continental Prophesies, Blake revolutionizes historiography; _America_'s retelling of the American Revolution, for instance, juxtaposes Washington and Paine with Orc and Urizen, fact with myth, to produce something that powerfully transcends the dull round of history. The accompanying illuminations cannot be omitted-- they do not simply illustrate the text, but ILLUMINATE it, supplementing and counter-pointing. And Blake's art is awesome. The Blake Trust's series is superb, conveniently transcribing the handwritten text of the engraved text on the adjacent page, offering important visual variations between versions of the book, and amply providing comprehensive glosses (in seperate sections, both interpretative and contextual) on each plate/page visually and textually. It is expensive to buy the entire series, but one MUST have Blake's illuminations, and Blake is an author for whom one needs all the notes one can get (Blake's allusions are extremely complex, so one must at least recognize them on the most basic level). One cannot say enough about the the visions of Blake presented in these books, but this is too much; you must SEE.

Fantastic, beautiful edition!.......2000-05-07

A must have!

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