Blake seeks to provide the Golden String which can lead us through the labyrinth of our experience or his own poetry.

Saturday, May 30, 2020

ELLIS & YEATS

Ellis Facsimile of the Echoing Green
Songs of Innocence
Plate 7

Facsimile of Original Outlines before Coloring of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Edwin Ellis
1889

Wikisource

"THE ILLUSTRATIONS.

Blake never intended the rough outlines which he prepared as anything but guides to his own hand in colouring the plates. He did not invariably follow them even as guides, but would vary the size of the plate at the edges and alter the less important details to please his own mood. In the great majority of these plates the facsimile here given is from the actual outline as used by Blake. He drew in stopping-out varnish on plain copper or zinc, and then dissolved away with acid all the rest of the surface, so that the outlines stood up, and could be printed from like types. Those pages where a little shading of a mossy kind is to be seen are photographed from copies already coloured by Blake, and the result printed in monochrome. In these cases no uncoloured original was accessible for re-production. The shading is due to the fact that a little of the colour-effect always united itself to the outline."

The three volume work on which Ellis and Yeats collaborated, included Blake's biography, the poetry including the Four Zoas, and numerous facsimiles from the Illuminated Books. It was published in 1893. 

The Works of William Blake
Poetic, Symbolic, and Critical 
Edwin Ellis
W . B. Yeats


The book can be downloaded from Clemson University.

Facsimile from Ellis and Yeats 
Marriage of Heaven and Hell 
Plate 16
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Friday, May 29, 2020

BOOKS


Gutenberg Press
Frontispiece of Swinburne's William Blake, A Critical Essay

  Image from Jerusalem
Plate 70
After the death of William Blake in 1827 accounts of his life and work began to appear in books. This list of published accounts of Blake came from the last book on the list which appeared in the early twentieth century.

1828 John Thomas Smith, Keeper of the Prints and Drawings in the British Museum, published his Nollekins and his Times.

         Smith's acquaintance with Blake dates from his early days at the Mathews' to the close of the poet's life.


1830 Allan Cunningham published his Lives of The Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, among which is a biography of Blake.


1863 Alexander and Anne Gilchrist, Life of Blake, Pictor Ignotuts

         https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/may/29/classics.williamblake



1868 Algernon Charles Swinburne, William Blake, A Critical Essay




1893 Edwin Ellis and W.B. Yeats' Memoir, prefixed to their large edition of the Works, is especially intended, as the editors state, to supply new facts, or to discuss in greater detail aspects of Blake's life which they consider unsatisfactorily dealt with by Gilchrist.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Facsimile_of_the_original_outlines_before_colouring_of_the_Songs_of_Innocence_and_of_Experience/The_illustrations

1893 Edwin Ellis and W.B. Yeats, publication of their The Works of William Blake Poetic, Symbolic, and Critical.

https://archive.org/details/worksofwilliambl03blakuoft/page/n171/mode/2up


1895 Alfred T. Storey, William Blake, his Life, Character and Genius 


1905 John Sampson, The poetical works of William Blake 

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_poetical_works_of_William_Blake;_a_new_and_verbatim_text_from_the_manuscript_engraved_and_letterpress_originals




Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Plate 15, (E 40) 
"In the fifth chamber were Unnam'd forms, which cast the metals 
into the expanse.
   There they were reciev'd by Men who occupied the sixth
chamber,  and took the forms of books & were arranged in
libraries."

Book of Urizen, Plate 4, (E 72)
6. Here alone I in books formd of metals
Have written the secrets of wisdom                            
The secrets of dark contemplation
By fightings and conflicts dire,
With terrible monsters Sin-bred:
Which the bosoms of all inhabit;
Seven deadly Sins of the soul.                      

7. Lo! I unfold my darkness: and on
This rock, place with strong hand the Book
Of eternal brass, written in my solitude.

8. Laws of peace, of love, of unity:
Of pity, compassion, forgiveness.                                
Let each chuse one habitation:
His ancient infinite mansion:
One command, one joy, one desire,
One curse, one weight, one measure
One King, one God, one Law." 

Jerusalem, Plate 3, (E 145)
"Reader! of books! of heaven,
    And of that God from whom all books are given,
    Who in mysterious Sinais awful cave
    To Man the wond'rous art of writing gave,
    Again he speaks in thunder and in fire!                
    Thunder of Thought, & flames of fierce desire:
    Even from the depths of Hell his voice I hear,
    Within the unfathomd caverns of my Ear.
    Therefore I print; nor vain my types shall be:
    Heaven, Earth & Hell, henceforth shall live in harmony 

            Of the Measure, in which
              the following Poem is written" 
 
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Thursday, May 28, 2020

I LABOUR ON

Princeton University Library Book of Urizen
Plate 4
At the request of his friend Osias Humphry, William Blake printed the images, without the text, from several of his books he had already printed. This group of images became known as the Small Book of Designs. The above picture was extracted from the Book of Urizen and printed with the group.
 
The above image is a digital reproduction of the original in the Princeton University Library. Another reproduction of the same picture from the same source is seen below.
 
The handwritten legend below the picture states "Eternally I labour on." I find this an appropriate statement for the long string of attempts that have been made to make Blake's poetry and images accessible to the public. As technologies come and go Blake enthusiasts apply the new tools as they seek to reveal what is hidden in words and pictures.


The posts on this blog which show the series of images in the Small Book of Designs can be viewed by clicking on the Label - Small Book of Designs - in the panel on the right.


Letters, (E 771)
"To Dawson Turner Esqre, Yarmouth, Norfolk
9 June 1818 
...Those I Printed for Mr Humphry are a selection from the
different Books of such as could be Printed without the Writing
tho to the Loss of some of the best things  For they when Printed
perfect accompany Poetical Personifications & Acts without which
Poems they never could have been Executed"


.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

BLAKE TRUST 4

Exhibition at National Gallery of Canada
Facsimile by Trianon Press
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Copy Z, Rosenwald Collection
"The Lamb"
No process is stronger than the weakest link in the process, especially not one that involves many people, many decisions and many skills. As it turned out there was at least one weak link in the chain of production of the Trianon Press creation of the facsimile of the color copy of Blake's Jerusalem sponsored by the Blake Trust. The meticulous effort which went into completing the project broke down at one of the later stages. The paper purchased for the printing of the books did not meet the specifications which had been original laid out. The project went on to a successful completion but years later it was noticed the books were becoming discolored and need extensive restorative measures to maintain their integrity because of the acidity of the paper. Books which were meant to last for generations were becoming old after forty years.

In an article in Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly by Dena Bain Taylor, the problems with the facsimile of Jerusalem are explored. She tells us that:

"The archives of the Trianon Press provide a fascinating picture of the struggles—artistic, financial, and political—that went on during the whole period of production. In particular, the correspondence between Arnold Fawcus of the Trianon Press in France and his partner in England, Patrick Macleod, sheds light on the difficulties that had to be overcome. Unfortunately, there are no final answers, since neither man anticipated the problems of deterioration forty years later, but there are many clues."

When we look at Blake's own life experience we recognize that he saw life in terms of contraries which were always struggling for resolution, or were defying the validity of the contrary position. He, like the Blake Trust, made some poor choices regarding alternative ways of expressing his art, or of building relationships with people to negotiate solutions. But in spite of failures, progress is made: goals can be reached if failures are accepted as the price of continuing to make the attempt.

The Blake Trust did not quit after the publication of Jerusalem. Perhaps they were able to have a smoother process in the publication of their subsequent facsimiles of Blake's books because of the learning process they experienced in publishing Jerusalem. There is little doubt that Blake gradually found the right materials and methods as he invented his unique process of creating illumiated books. When he wrote of 'invention' and 'execution' he was thinking of his own art requiring both the concept and the implementation - two contaries which he became the vehicle for resolving.
 

Public Address, (E 576)
"No Man Can
Improve An Original Invention. Nor can an Original
Invention Exist without Execution Organized & minutely Delineated
& Articulated Either by God or Man. I do not mean smoothd up &
Niggled & Poco Piud but Drawn with a firm hand 
at once with all its Spots & Blemishes which are beauties & not faults 
like Fuseli & Michael Angelo Shakespeare & Milton
...
  I have heard many People say Give me the Ideas.  It is no
matter what Words you put them into & others say Give me the
Design it is no matter for the Execution.  These People know
Nothing Of Art.  Ideas cannot be Given
but in their minutely Appropriate Words nor Can a Design be made
without its minutely Appropriate Execution. The unorganized
Blots & Blurs of Rubens & Titian are not Art nor can their Method
ever express Ideas or Imaginations any more than Popes
Metaphysical jargon of Rhyming.  Unappropriate Execution is the
Most nauseous affectation & foppery He who copies does
not Execute he only Imitates what is already Executed Execution
is only the result of Invention"
 
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Friday, May 22, 2020

BLAKE TRUST 3

Geoffrey Keynes in 1949 got the idea of making facsimiles of Blake's water colored books after observing the work of Arnold Fawcus' workshop in Paris. The process of using mechanical photographic techniques to produce an accurate print of an original, which could be hand colored using stencils cut from the print, had been perfected in Fawcus' studio.
 
Keynes convinced the owner (William Stirling) of the only complete color copy of Jerusalem to allow it to be reproduced for the Blake Trust by Fawcus' Trianon Press.

The two major processes through which the Blake facsimiles were produced were collotype, a complex process through which the image was directly transferred to the plate to be printed, and pochoir which reproduced the coloring of the original. The fine detail of the print was produced by microscopical reticulations on the prepared surface of the plate which were sensitive to light which passed through the negative.
 
In order to color the prints so that they matched those colored by Blake a demanding process named pochoir was used. The printer used by Fawcus' Trianon Press was Daniel Jacomet who was a master of pochoir. He employed a contingent of artisans who skillfully cut the extremely fine metal stencils, and applied the multiple layers of color to simulate Blake's water color. Infinite care was required every step along the way from disassembling the pages of the original book, through discerning and replicating the colors used by Blake, to applying the correct pressure for the print.
 
Blake, the craftsman, would have appreciated the skills used in making the Blake Trust facsimiles. To Blake the imaginative work of the artist and the craft of making it visible in poems and pictures were activities which complemented and enhanced each the other.
 
Public Address, (E 574)
"PAGE 57 I do not pretend to Paint better than Rafael or Mch Anglo
or Julio Romano or Alb Durer but I do Pretend to Paint finer
than Rubens or Rembt or Correggio or Titian. I do not Pretend to 
Engrave finer than Alb Durer Goltzius Sadeler or Edelinck but I 
do pretend to Engrave finer than Strange Woolett Hall or
Bartolozzi because I understand Drawing which they
understand not
PAGE 58
     In this manner the English Public have been imposed upon for
many Years under the impression that Engraving & Painting are
somewhat Else besides Drawing. Painting is Drawing on Canvas &
Engraving is Drawing on Copper & Nothing Else & he who pretends
to be either Painter or Engraver without being a Master of
Drawing is an Impostor." 
Vision of Last Judgment, (E 560)
"General
Knowledge is Remote Knowledge it is in Particulars that Wisdom
consists & Happiness too.  Both in Art & in Life General Masses
are as Much Art as a Pasteboard Man is Human Every Man has Eyes
Nose & Mouth this Every Idiot knows but he who enters into &
discriminates most minutely the Manners & Intentions  the
Characters in all their branches is the
alone Wise or Sensible Man & on this discrimination All Art is
founded.  I intreat then that the Spectator will attend to the
Hands & Feet to the Lineaments of the Countenances they are all
descriptive of Character & not a line is drawn without intention
& that most discriminate & particular as Poetry admits not a
Letter that is Insignificant so Painting admits not a Grain of
Sand or a Blade of Grass Insignificant much less an
Insignificant Blur or Mark"  
William Blake Poet . Printer . Prophet 
from facsimile by Trianon Press 
Jerusalem,
Plate 99
Jerusalem, Plate 99, (E 258)
"All Human Forms identified even Tree Metal Earth & Stone. all
Human Forms identified, living going forth & returning wearied
Into the Planetary lives of Years Months Days & Hours reposing
And then Awaking into his Bosom in the Life of Immortality.

And I heard the Name of their Emanations they are named Jerusalem

                  The End of The Song
                     of Jerusalem"
 
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Saturday, May 16, 2020

BLAKE TRUST 2

The collaboration  between The Blake Trust and Trianon Press began with they undertook to produce a facsimile of the color copy of Jerusalem then owned by Col. William Stirling and now in the collection of the Yale center for British Art.  The project expanded to include creating facsimiles of each of the illuminated books which Blake had water colored by hand. Excluded were the color-printed books: The Song of Los, The Book of Ahania and The Book of Los. Before the project was complete additional facsimiles were made of other Blake works including uncolored images and water color images.

The following list was taken from the catalog of facsimiles of Blake works in the Special Collection of University of Kent library. Absent from the list is the Book of Urizen which was among the original ten books printed by Trianon for the Blake Trust using the method of collotype for printing and for coloring using hand-stenciling.
***
There is no natural religion
 Reproductions of Series a (the small vol.) made from copies C and F in the Keynes-Wolf Census, now in the Rosenwald Collection, Library of Congress and from copy G in the Pierpont Morgan Library; reproductions of Series b (the larger vol.) taken from copy L in the Census, now in the Pierpont Morgan Library

Songs of innocence and of experience: shewing the two contrary states of the human soul / the author & printer W. Blake
Facsim. of copy Z, Rosenwald Collection, Library of Congress

The song of Los; Lambeth, printed by W. Blake, 1795
Facsimile of Blake's original, dated 1795, taken from copy B in the Keynes-Wolf Census and now in the Rosenwald Collection, Library of Congress

Jerusalem: the emanation of the giant Albion / printed by W. Blake
Facsimile reprint of the Cunliffe copy of the first 25 plates of Jerusalem and 4 colour proofs in the Kerrison Preston Collection Edition of 558 copies, of which this is no.300

Milton: a poem in 2 books / the author & printer W. Blake
Facsimile of Blake's original, thought to have been printed ca 1815 and now in the Rosenwald Collection of the Library of Congress

William Blake's Laocoon: a last testament: with related works: On Homer's poetry and On Virgil, the ghost of Abel / by Keynes, Geoffrey, 1887-1982

Jerusalem: a facsimile of the illuminated book
Facsimile of the Stirling copy, ca 1820
Preludium by Joseph Wicksteed; Bibliographical statement by Geoffrey Keynes

The gates of Paradise: for children, for the sexes [with] introductory volume by Geoffrey Keynes with Blake's preliminary sketches
Vols. 2-3 are facsims of copies printed ca 1818 & now in the Rosenwald Collection (vol.2) & the Huntington Library (vol.3)

Europe: a prophecy; Lambeth, printed by Will: Blake, 1794
Facsimile made by selecting plates from 2 copies of the original

The book of Los; printed by W. Blake, 1795
Facsimile of the unique copy in the British Museum

All religions are one
Facsimile of Blake's original prints ca 1794, from the Huntington Library

America: [a] prophecy; Lambeth, printed by William Blake in the year 1793
Facsimile of the copy in the collection of Paul Mellon

The book of Ahania; Lambeth, W. Blake, 1795
Facsimile, from the copy in the Rosenwald Collection

llustrations of the Book of Job, in twenty-one plates / invented and engraved by William Blake
Facsimile of plates originally published in 1826

Ilustrations of the Book of Job / invented & engraved by William Blake
A set of the Collins coloured plates acquired from the Trianon press prior to publication.

William Blake's water-colour designs for the Poems of Thomas Gray; introduction and commentary by Geoffrey Keynes
Facsimile of Blake's original designs, thought to have been completed in 1798 and now in the collection of Paul Mellon

The marriage of heaven and hell
Facsimile of a copy in the Rosenwald Collection, being one of 6 copies originally made ca 1794

Visions of the daughters of Albion / printed by Willm Blake, 179311] col. plates, [7]p, facsims. In slipcase
Facsimile of Blake's original, dated 1793, reproduced from copy C in Keynes-Wolf Census and now owned by Lord Cunliffe

The book of Thel; the author & printer Willm Blake, 1789
Facsimile of the copy in the Rosenwald Collection

William Blake's illustrations to the Bible: a catalogue; compiled by Geoffrey Keynes
Clairvaux, Jura, France: Trianon Press for William Blake Trust, 1957
xii, 53p, [8] leaves of col. plates: chiefly ill.; 57cm.

Blake's illustrations of Dante: seven plates, designed and engraved by W. Blake
Facsimile made from the proof set in the collection of Sir Geoffrey Keynes

***
The complexity involved in creating books as near as possible to the originals made by Blake a century and a half previously made the task daunting. However, the time, effort and expense has made it possible for some institutions to provide individuals the opportunity to enjoy holding in their hands, feeling the texture, and seeing the color in books like those Blake made. On this website of the Schaffer Library of Union College in Schenectady, New York, we get an appreciation of the value of having access to facsimiles to books that are too rare to be made available to the public.
     
Schaffer Library Collection

The image here depicts a huddled figure next to a scroll which reads, in reverse, "Each Man is in / his Spectre's power / Untill the arrival / of that hour, / When his Humanity / awake / And cast his Spectre / into the Lake"

Original Date: 1804-1820
Facsimile Date: 1974
Publisher: Trianon Press 
 
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Wednesday, May 13, 2020

BLAKE TRUST

Image from William Blake: Poet . Printer . Prophet 
Milton

Milton, Plate 31 [34], (E 130)
"Thou hearest the Nightingale begin the Song of Spring;
The Lark sitting upon his earthy bed: just as the morn
Appears; listens silent; then springing from the waving Corn-field! loud
He leads the Choir of Day! trill, trill, trill, trill,
Mounting upon the wings of light into the Great Expanse:
Reecchoing against the lovely blue & shining heavenly Shell:
His little throat labours with inspiration; every feather
On throat & breast & wings vibrates with the effluence Divine    
All Nature listens silent to him & the awful Sun
Stands still upon the Mountain looking on this little Bird
With eyes of soft humility, & wonder love & awe.
Then loud from their green covert all the Birds begin their Song
The Thrush, the Linnet & the Goldfinch, Robin & the Wren         
Awake the Sun from his sweet reverie upon the Mountain:
The Nightingale again assays his song, & thro the day,
And thro the night warbles luxuriant; every Bird of Song
Attending his loud harmony with admiration & love.
This is a Vision of the lamentation of Beulah over Ololon!       

Thou percievest the Flowers put forth their precious Odours!
And none can tell how from so small a center comes such sweets
Forgetting that within that Center Eternity expands"

I recently ordered William Blake: Poet . Printer . Prophet, another inexpensive used Blake book from Better World Books, without knowing exactly what to expect. I am please that I received a thin volume produced for the exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution in 1964 of 'faithful facsimilie[s]" created for the Blake Trust. Although the Trianon Press project specialized in expensive, high quality prints in limited numbers for museums, libraries and collectors, there are reproductions in this volume which seem to be closer to Blake's intent than can be observed in other media.

Besides the plates from The Book of Urizen, Song of Innocence and of Experience, Visions of the Daughters of Albion, Thel, America, Milton and Jerusalem, there is text by Geoffrey Keynes outlining the life and work of Blake in clear, factual prose. Lessing Rosenwald provided an Introduction which focused of the work of the Blake Trust and the Trianon Press in making Blake art more accessible to the public in copies which authentically approximate the originals. 

William Blake: Poet . Printer . Prophet 
Arranged by The William Blake Trust
with a study of Geoffrey Keynes

From the Introduction:
"In order that the public may have a 'report of their stewardship', the Trustees of the Blake Trust have organized this exhibition." 

From the London Bookseller Peter Harrington:
"In one of the most remarkable literary projects of the 20th century, the William Blake Trust established the Trianon Press with the intention of creating faithful reproductions Blake’s works, in order that the consumer might experience them as their maker had originally intended. These exceptional facsimiles were issued throughout the 1950s and 60s  by the Trianon Press. Sir Geoffrey Keynes, one of the trustees, had seen at an exhibition in Boston some extraordinary facsimiles of Cezanne’s watercolours, and the idea to reproduce Blake’s works as closely as possible in quality and form to the originals was born between himself and Arnold Fawcus, the Press’ founder. Hand-stencilled and hand-coloured, the books were produced at great expense and with great attention to detail, and printed on Arches pure rag paper, made especially to match that used by Blake."
 
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Monday, May 11, 2020

BLAKE'S FINGERPRINT

Image in the article in the Blake Quarterly
Blake's Watercolors for the Poems of Thomas Gray   Final Image
To see an enlarged view, Rt click on the picture and select open in a new window, click on picture to further enlarge. Close the window to return to post.
 
On the final picture of Blake's Watercolours for the Poems of Thomas Gray scholars have observed fingerprints which are not visible in the reproduction above but were photographed for an article in the Blake Quarterly.

Shades of GrayReviewed by G. E. Bentley, Jr. "3. Four fingerprints vertically across “William Blake” on Blake’s poem to Nancy Flaxman, p. [158] (5.1 x 12.7 cm.). They are clearly on top of the writing. Probably they are those of the poet. No other example of his fingerprint is known outside the Gray designs.   Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
....
The color of the fingerprints seems to derive from animal glue. If so, they almost certainly were added in the process of gluing the printed leaves of Gray (1790) to the large leaves for Blake’s watercolors. Since the fingerprints are on top of Blake’s poem, this suggests that the printed leaves were glued to the design leaves after the watercolors were finished. It is very probable that the fingerprints belong to William Blake, but Catherine is also a possibility. They make one feel very close to the artist. Morton Paley points out to me that even more interesting than the presence of these fingerprints may be their absence elsewhere. Both painters and printers handle ink, and they frequently have inky fingers. Why aren’t there more fingerprints on Blake’s works? I guess that master engravers and painters were pretty severe with apprentices who left fingerprints."



[With Blake's Illustrations to Gray's Poems
Songs and Ballads, (E 482)  
"Around the Springs of Gray my wild root weaves
Traveller repose & Dream among my leaves,

                              --WILL. BLAKE"
 
[With Blake's Illustrations to Gray's Poems
Songs and Ballads, (E 482) 
"To Mrs Ann Flaxman         
A little Flower grew in a lonely Vale
Its form was lovely but its colours. pale
One standing in the Porches of the Sun
When his Meridian Glories were begun
Leapd from the steps of fire & on the grass      
Alighted where this little flower was
With hands divine he movd the gentle Sod
And took the Flower up in its native Clod
Then planting it upon a Mountains brow
'Tis your own fault if you dont flourish now     

                           WILLIAM BLAKE
  
. 

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

BLAKE IN 1820

Wikipedia Commons Mrs Q 1820

Description from British Museum:

"Mrs.Q is probably the best known decorative print executed by William Blake, primarily due to the large number of facsimile reproduction impressions which were printed of this image in 1806. William Blake’s engraving is based upon a portrait by Francois Huet Villiers. The subject of Mrs.Q is Harriet Quentin, the wife of colonel Quentin and mistress to George IV when Prince Regent. The view in the background is thought to be the Thames at Eton, with the college chapel beyond. The miniature portraitist Villiers had died in 1813, thus this portrait must have had been drawn or painted at least seven years prior to the publication of this plate."

Blake was dependent on commercial engraving for earning a living. There was too little market for his output of creative books to sustain him economically. In 1821 he and Catherine moved to smaller and cheaper flat and he was forced to sell his collection of prints which he had been accumulating since his childhood.

A welcome source of income was the commission in 1820 to engrave a painting which had been created by a popular court painter Francois Villers-Huet. The subject of the portrait was Mrs Q, Harriet Quentin, who had been mistress of George IV when he was Prince Regent. The painter had died seven years previously and George IV had ascended to the throne in 1820 on his father's death.

The publication and circulation of this print was part of the campaign of radical dissent focused on the new king because of his reputation for extravagance and dissolution.

From The Stranger from Paradise: A biography of William Blake By G. E. Bentley Jr:
"One of the ways to plague the Prince Regent was to publicize his infidelities. Another of his mistresses was Mrs Harriet Quentin, often referred to as 'Mrs Q'. The radical print-seller Isaac Barrow commissioned Blake to engrave a portrait by H Villiers of the pretty Mrs Q, and his print was published on 1 June 1820 at the height of the agitation concerning Caroline' attempts (vain, as it turned out) to attend the coronation and assume her title as Queen. Blake was on the fringe of the sensational event and acting as the agent of a notoriously radical print-seller." (Page 365)

In Blake, Politics, and History, edited by Jackie DiSalvo, G. A. Rosso, Christopher Z. Hobson we read:
"While Blake has often been pictured as mellowing as he grew older, the context of his Mrs Q plate suggests that the sixty-two year old artist was caught up, willy-nilly, in the latest phase of English radical activism." 

Jerusalem, Plate 9, (E 152) 
"His hammer of gold he siezd; and his anvil of adamant.
He siez'd the bars of condens'd thoughts, to forge them:
Into the sword of war: into the bow and arrow:                   
Into the thundering cannon and into the murdering gun
I saw the limbs form'd for exercise, contemn'd: & the beauty of
Eternity, look'd upon as deformity & loveliness as a dry tree:
I saw disease forming a Body of Death around the Lamb
Of God, to destroy Jerusalem, & to devour the body of Albion     
By war and stratagem to win the labour of the husbandman:
Awkwardness arm'd in steel: folly in a helmet of gold:
Weakness with horns & talons: ignorance with a rav'ning beak!
Every Emanative joy forbidden as a Crime:
And the Emanations buried alive in the earth with pomp of religion:          
Inspiration deny'd; Genius forbidden by laws of punishment:
I saw terrified; I took the sighs & tears, & bitter groans:
I lifted them into my Furnaces; to form the spiritual sword.
That lays open the hidden heart: I drew forth the pang
Of sorrow red hot: I workd it on my resolute anvil:              
I heated it in the flames of Hand, & Hyle, & Coban
Nine times; Gwendolen & Cambel & Gwineverra
Are melted into the gold, the silver, the liquid ruby,
The crysolite, the topaz, the jacinth, & every precious stone,
Loud roar my Furnaces and loud my hammer is heard:               
I labour day and night, I behold the soft affections
Condense beneath my hammer into forms of cruelty
But still I labour in hope, tho' still my tears flow down.
That he who will not defend Truth, may be compelld to defend
A Lie: that he may be snared and caught and snared and taken     
That Enthusiasm and Life may not cease: arise Spectre arise!"