William Blake at the Huntington

by Robert N. Essick

This book celebrates the art as well as the poetry of the great English poet William Blake. The Huntington Library has the most extensive collection of Blake's artwork in the world.

Genres: Art, Romanticism

Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Sherrill Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of the pictures of William Blake (1757-1827) collection at the Henry E. Huntington library in San Marino, California.

This book is of approximately 70 illustrations that Mr. Blake made over his lifetime, a goodly representation, collected by Mr. Huntington. Sometimes confusing and even muddy, nevertheless worth seeing, though not worth traveling to the Huntington for. VERY thoroughly discussed. A couple of the poems which he illustrated:

"Now comes the night of Enitharmnos joy! . . .
Go! tell the human race that Womans love is Sin!
That an Eternal life awaits the worms of sixty winters
In an allegorical abode where existence hath never come
Forbid all joy & from her childhood shall the little female
Spread nets in every secret path
My weary eyelids draw towards the evening, my bliss is yet but new."

and another one:

"Albion lays cold upon his rock
. . . roaring seas dash furious against him
. . . England a female shadow . . .
. . . lays upon his bosom heavy . . .
Over them the famished Eagle screams on boney wings."

Ugh. To my mind, Blake was a mystic, almost too obscure to be understandable. His illustration of "Tyger . . " leaves a lot to be desired.

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

64 full page images on nice heavy paper. Each image is accompanied by one page of text, usually quite enlightening. Definitely one of the better Blake purchases I have made.

A personal complaint: Although I love all of Blake's art, I have a particular love for his illuminated books. This "Introduction" to the artist's Huntington collection contains twelve of the (quite spectacular) illustrations Blake did for "Paradise Lost". I would have rather had a higher page count of his more esoteric work. This choice may have a lot to do with which works are housed at the Huntington, but I still have to complain.

[Leonardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful anthology of the work of the English painter, poet, engraver and mystic William Blake, taken from the Huntington Art Gallery, located in San Marino, California. The illustrations and paintings selected cover most of the wide range of Blake's work, from his own Songs of Innoce and Songs of Experience and his epic-mystic works, to his illustrations to John Milton's Paradise Lost. The book includes a remarkable general introduction and a comment for each work represented, written by Blake scholar Robert N. Essick, who both introduces and clarifies even the most obscure images. On the overall, a great selection of Blake's visual art.

[Patricia J. O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this was a fabulous reminder to me on why I fell in love with William Blake's art and words years ago. Blake was so courageous in his choices, so ahead of his time. The pictures are gorgeous and the text informative and thoughtful in this book I'd purchased at the Huntington and forgot was on my shelf.