In 2004 the Arion Press produced this portfolio of thirteen watercolor drawings by Blake as a companion to its previous, unillustrated edition of Paradise Lost, published two years earlier. The prints by Blake were the first facsimiles printed at full scale and in full color from the original paintings held at the Huntington Library, which are a combination of drawings made for two different patrons in 1807 and 1808. The copy of this portfolio at Union College includes a prospectus for the project. The rare book collection at Union also includes a copy of the unillustrated Paradise Lost, published by Arion in a limited edition in 2002.
This image appears near the beginning of Blake’s illustrations to “The Descent of Odin” in Thomas Gray’s Poems (1972 facsimile). It depicts the Norse god literally riding “down the yawning steep” on a horse, with drawn sword, shield out, and armor covering his body. This poem “from the Norse Tongue” was actually translated by Gray from Latin. It is part of a number of Norse legends dealing with the death of Odin’s son, Balder, and Odin’s effort to determine whether Balder’s death can be averted. Here Blake also shows Odin encountering the hideous “Dog of Darkness.” The adjacent page introducing the poem in Blake’s illustrations is startlingly light and whimsical compared to this dark image
This image is from Blake’s illustrations to “A Long Story,” a comic tale of magic and tangled social relationships in Thomas Gray’s Poems (1972 facsimile). A woman lunges away in fear at the sight of a translucent, ghostly figure on the right who bars the entrance to a chapel door. This alarming “sentry” has flames coming out of his eyes, and is “enough to scare ye,” as the next page of the poem attests.
This image is from Blake’s illustrations to “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” which is included in Thomas Gray’s Poems (1972 facsimile). The woman wearing a crown appears to be the queen of the “painful family of death” in the line marked with Blake’s X. She has snakes wrapped around her legs and torso and flames at her feet. The tortured figures around her represent the loss and dark times that will inevitably have to be faced by the happy youth at the start of the poem.
This image continues Blake’s illustrations to “The Progress of Poesy,” a long Pindaric ode in Thomas Gray’s Poems (1972 facsimile). It has a cold, ice-mountain setting where a figure walks, covered in a wolf skin and playing a trumpet. From the lines Blake marked with an X, it is clear what is going on: “In climes beyond the solar road, / Where shaggy forms o'er ice-built mountains roam, / The Muse has broke the twilight-gloom / To cheer the shiv'ring native's dull abode.”
This image is from Blake’s illustrations to “The Progress of Poesy,” a long Pindaric ode in Thomas Gray’s Poems (1972 facsimile). It depicts Hyperion in a burst of light emerging from the sun. Hyperion holds a bow and arrow at the ready, as he is about to cast war upon the forces of “sickly” Night and various human ills.
This work by the Trianon Press is a facsimile of a unique copy made by Blake between 1797 and 1798. Its reproduction in three volumes was purchased for Union College by the Friends of the Library.
Although Samuel Palmer’s work had no formal relationship to Blake’s, the Trianon Press elected to publish Palmer’s early sketchbook as a representation of the kinds of artists with whom Blake regularly came into contact. Unlike its Blake facsimiles, for which it tried to make exact copies of original works, Trianon called this a “reproduction” rather than a “facsimile,” because a uniform ink color was used to make the presentation of Palmer’s sketches more readable. Union College holds two copies of this work in different bindings, which were purchased separately by the Friends of the Library and through the library’s annual funds. Not available at the William Blake Archive. Consult the book in Schaffer Library for more information.
This 1874 publication was printed after Blake’s death but from his original copper plates – the last time they were used. They are easily mistaken for an original print from 1825, the date on the title page. The 1874 plates were originally bound together in a single volume, but when the Union College copy was recently conserved, the plates were separated and the glue once used for binding the images together was stabilized on the page.
The 1987 facsimile of Blake’s illustrations of the Book of Job followed the Trianon Press facsimiles that had also been done for the William Blake Trust. This two volume edition not only reproduced the 21 plates and title page that Blake had designed for this work between 1823 and 1826 (with a confusing date of 1825 on the title page), but included related material such as essays, a catalog of states and printings, and commentary on the plates and documentary record by David Bindman. The limited edition of this facsimile was purchased for Union College by the Friends of the Library.
The Trianon Press reproduced the seven engravings that Blake completed for Dante’s Divine Comedy, along with preliminary sketches and other background material, as special project in 1978. The library’s acquisition of this copy in 2016 completed its set of all of the Blake facsimiles produced by the Trianon Press between 1951 and 1987. It was gifted to the library anonymously in honor of James McCord, Union College Professor of English Emeritus.
Blake worked on his designs for this book (composed by Young in the 1740s) between 1795 and 1797. This facsimile edition by the Folio Society, based on the unique copy in the British Museum, was produced in 2005 using digital photography. It was issued with a commentary volume by Robin Hamlyn. This work was purchased for Union College by the Friends of the Library.
This compilation of portraits was a departure for the Trianon Press, which had previously focused on facsimiles of Blake’s illuminated books and designs. But with a text by Blake scholar Geoffrey Keynes, who contributed commentary to the other facsimiles, it continued Trianon’s incomparable record of bringing all aspects of Blake’s work and life to light. This book was purchased for the Union College library by the Friends of the Library. Not available at the William Blake Archive. Consult the book in Schaffer Library for more information.
Union College holds two copies of this compilation from the Trianon Press of works from various stages of Blake’s life. One was purchased by the library on its Rice fund; the other was donated by Hans Rozendaal.
Not available in this form at the William Blake Archive. Consult the book in Schaffer Library for more information.
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