by William Blake
William Blake is celebrated today as a powerfully imaginative and original poet, painter, engraver, and visionary mystic, but his work, especially his poetry, was largely ignored during his own life-time.This small notebook, which came into Blake’s possession in 1787 following his brother’s death, was used by Blake for over thirty years to record sketches and to work on drafts of his poems. The dense, closely-filled pages provide a fascinating insight into Blake’s compositional process, and allow us to follow, line by line, correction by correction, the genesis of some of his best-known work, including poems such as ‘London’ and ‘The Tyger’.
It also vividly demonstrates Blake’s skill as an artist, with breathtaking pencil sketches throughout the manuscript.
This eBookTreasures version contains the complete manuscript along with commentary on selected pages.
Click on the thumbnails below to see more.
