BLAKE AN ILLUSTRATED QUARTERLY

Laocoon

r n Bl raphic U f H brew

M 37 R2 A 2003

AN ILLUSTRATED QUARTERLY

LUM 37

Arti 1

n cl pa di Re i tan : Bl k , R an th Laocoon par t Plate By Ro a111u11d . Paic

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www.bl k u rt rly. rg

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UM R 2

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44

2003

T

CONTRIBUTOR

R AMUND A. PAI E le ture in Engli hat the Uni er ity of

m pleted her doctoral tud of Blake'

Laocoon eparat plate in 2002, and i urrentl ' orking on Blake' illu tr tion to ante and the Bible, with the aim

f pr du ing a b k on literary re pon e in Blake' later

work . r parti ular int r t i in th wa m ' hich Blake

r wrote for hi own purpo th hi tory and meaning of

hi own and th r ' r ati n .

H ILA . PE T R, auth r f "Gloriou incomprehensible":

Th D v lopment of Blak 's Kabbalistic Language and '"\, an­

d rs Divin ": Th v lopment of Blak 's Kabbalistic Myth

(b th publi h d by Bu kn 11 Univer ity Pre in 2001 ), i m tr ntly dit r f Briti h Romanticism and the Jews:

History, ultur , Lit rature ( w York: Palgra e Ma millan,

2002).

E D I

EDIT R: M rn

A

T 0 R

n . Pal

a id Worrall

jn @mail.ro h ter.edu

FA)C: 5 5/442-5769

ni er ity of

ni r 1 of

nue, Tor nto,

ni er ity f

Da id Worrall, Faculty of Humanities, Nottingham Trent

Uni er ity, Clifton Lane, Nottingham NG 11 8N

United Kingdom

I FORMATION

BLAKE/AN JLLU TRATED QUARTERLY i publi bed und r th pon­

or hip of the Department of nglish, Univ r ity of Roch­e ter. ub criptions are 60 for in titutions, $30 for indi­

vidual . All ub cripti n are by the volume (1 y ar, 4 i -ue ) and begin with th summer issue. ub ription pay­

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card payment i availabl . Make check payabl to Blake/

An Illu trated Quarterly. ddr all ub cripti n rd r and

fi rmation on is ue and pri , or con ult th ite.

TANDA

Illu trated Quarterly i

r -

d di -

-003 Cop right Morri ave and M rt n . Pal y

er: \ ~ illiam Blake, Lao 0011. L nw Id II -n, Rare B k nd pe ial II f ngre .

A

Ree

mt

i J

i

R T I c E

ncycl pa die R tan

Blak , R Cyclop dia , nd th

Laocoon 1

n-

and P n . 2 , fig. I. The tc ·t t f th Lac>coo11 is tr.rnscribcd in E:rdm.rn\ 0111plete Poetry 1111d Pro e of\'\ 11/111111 ntokc (I r f r t the.: re iscd di ti n of 1988, h ·r after it ·d '" ) 27 75.

2. Fssi k, \V1ll111m Hinke' 01111m•r "'I Hook Jll11. tmtwm (hcrcaf t r 1tc I as R) I.

Bl k I n Illu tratcd uart rl

ti nabl r did pla ' a part

t thi ' a

indl~ r ad

1 all_

1. William Blak , Laocoon parate late. lie ti n of R b rt . E k.

~< 11 2 Blak I n Illu trat d uart rly 5

2. \ illi.1111 l lak , " ), r m R e·' 1dopn·dia (Plat .. ' 1. 4 .

. bi k.

lake/ n Tllustratc 1 uartcrl 11- 3

The seven engravings that Blake produced for the

Cyclopcedia, which app ar din fa cicle benveen July 1816 and September 1819, tell a tory. Of the three that appeared

in eptember 1819, the one entitled "M1 CELLANY. GE En­

graving." wa drawn by John Farey, and engraved b Blake

(fa cicl F);5 th oth r two, a companying the 'Ba o

R Ji vo" and "Armour" articl , are imply igned ' Blake sc." (fa icl F and 78 re pectively). The four plate that

w re produc d t a c mpany the article on" culpture" a p­

p ar d earlier: th fir t ('PLATE III"; fa ci 1 6, Jul 1 16)

i sign d ' Blak del t sc. ," and h w the en us de Medici Apollo Belv dere, and Laocoon culpture ( ee illu . 2)· on

the e ond ("PLAT I"; fa ci le 67, ctober 1 16), third

(" PLAT II "; fa i 1 6 , ctob r 1 16), and fourth

(' LAT I ";fa icl 69, February 1817) plate -whi h

d pi t a variety fan i nt culpture -we read, a on the

R li v "and "Armour" plate , imply Blak sc.,' or

"Blake, s ulp." ( B 109-12). Alth ugh th engra ing di play no unu ual arti ti

merit, th mann r in whi h th w r in orp rated into

th y lopcedia i worthy f om att nti n. A i lear from

it v ntual pla ment in the "Mi ellan " e ti n f the

.y Lopcedia' plate (Plat , vol. 3), th ingle EM Engrav­

ing" pl t w s not for a maj r arti I , and annot be on­

id r d a ignifi ant mmi ion. Moreover, Blake ngra ed

nly half f thi plate, the re t b ing th w rk of \Vil on

L wry, the prin ipal ngraver in thi n yclopaedic pro·e t.

BJ k ' ' rmour" ngraving on titute Plate N and of

th ir ti n; how v r, both "plate "were engra ed nto a

ingl pi of pp r, and were printed onto the ame heet

( lat v I. 1). Th fir t thr plat that illu trate the

''.Arm u r" arti l , all ngrav db T. Milt n ar dated 1 p­t mb r 1 02 (Plate I), 9 January 1 04 (Plate II), and [?} Jun 1 0 (P l t III)-that i about fifte n rear before

Bl k 1 1 plat . Thi , added to the f: t that Plate II ear

la t r dat than Plat III, ugg t that the earlier part

th qu nc wa int nd d fr m the out et and that Blake'

plat wa an ft rth ught. imilarly, there ar four "Ba

R li v " pl t (P lat , v 1. 2), the fir l thr f-.. hi h ar

d t d 2 January 1804 (Pl ate III) and 1 December 1 07 (Plat I and II), with Blak ' plat (Plate I ) again pro­

du din 1 1 , m t n years later. A with the 'Armour'

plat , th arli r dale n the third "Ba R li "plate

l that th Gr t thr w r t lea t in the planning

l th am tim . B th ca indi ate that Blake' a

n id r din th riginal plan fi r th Cyclopcedia n-

Fall 2 0

3. R bert romek," culptur " PLATE 1 (firs t s quence), fr m

Ree ' Cyclopcedia (Plat , vol. 4) . oil ction fRobert N. s i k.

graving ; the date on the th r plate in the s ti ns ug­

ge t that he did not b m inv lv d in the work-cl pite

kn wing of it6-b for arly 1 0 .

The earlier" ulptur " ngraving (Plat , v 1. 4) offer a

lightl different picture. T h mo t ali nt £ atur f thi

parti ular ommi ion i that Blak , r mit evid ntly al­

lm d him t tak over a prin ipal ngrav r: whil t hi ar not the fir t of the ix pl t for thi arti le, they are th

ma· ri and they do tart a n w plat quen e. Plate I and II of the fir t equ nc , which w re engraved by R b ­

ert r mek after drawing by Henry H ward and offi r dif­

ferent view of a marble gr up f upid and Psy h , are

dated 1 ovember 1804. T heir ngraving tyle i quit dif­

fer nt from the one that Blake mploy 6 r th 1 t r plat :

the fir t plate i hat h d (illu . 3), and th nd di play

figur in impl outline. Blak ' later plat al o mpha-

ize outline but in e the line ar tippled th t u h eem

6. The fir t menti n f Blake in nne ti n with the ycloprerlin 1 in a letter of J hn Flaxm n t William Hayley f 2 January 1804, but here Blake i mer ly a ourier for Flaxman' "Bass R lievo" ar­ti le; e Bentley, Blake Record (her after it d as BR) 138.

Bl ke/ n Illu trat d uar terly 47

m re d li at . H r

n f th date f th

p uni r pr f Blak fi r thi

ttempt t r m dy Blak ' t th

J

n Jud' that the arli k ' <ls the result llal rati n: Ha.· m;rn\ 1 e t11rc 011 11fp-

7. 1t1L •this •ss,1 \,ts ubmittcJ I( r pul Ii .Ilion l ale , Ho, h.1s ,, kn ' lcdg J this ,1ll11bul1 n ("ii ' his lw< < ns" _Qln ).

Blak /1 n Illu trated uart rl

l w rk,

i urrenrlr n­rath r th ~t t -

-·I im in­m 'ith pi

hill_

Th other maj r problem with Re ' 1 02 li t of con­tributor i that John Bacon died in Augu t 1799. Hi in­clu ion in the Prefa e's list, however, eem not to ha e been a mi tak : Ba on alone is specified a the author of the " culptur " rti l in th fir t pro pectu e for the Cyclo­pcedia (" r.R ' N w yclopredia" [?l 02] 3). on ould thi have b n impo ible, ince Ba on had alread written the additi n t th " culpture" article of Ephraim Cham­b r ' greatly admir d yclopcedia (1 t ed. 172 ), \ hich ap­p ar din an editi n nlarged by Re in 1781- 6.10 Thi arli r arti 1 n d nly have been lightly adju ted and

added to, for the ne work. Had the alteration not been made by th tim of Bacon' unexp ct d death, the could hav b n p rfi rmed by another hand. ome ource do sp ify Ba n th le author of the arti le in Ree ' Cyclopcedia ( .g., R dgrav 17 and 18; DNB,' Ba on, John, R.A.1740- 1799" 11

); th lat rattribution , howe er prob­ably t m fr m a mi r ading f Allan Cunningham' tate­m nt, in Th Liv , that Bacon wr t a "Di qui ition on the

haracter of Painting and culptur , publi hed in Ree ' diti n f h mb r ' ictionary" (3:230) . n reading the

arti l hamber and Ree encyclopaedia t -g th r, though, what i obvi u i their differen e: not onl i th latt r f; r m r exten iv in it erage, but al o it fo u much m r n th biblical rigin of culpture, gi -ing an alm t myth logi al a pectto the hi tory of that art. Thu Ba n mu t p thumou ly (probabl po t 1 O_), and

qui tly, h v b n u t d from th R pr je t. In fa t, th ttributi n of th ' ulpture" article to Flax­

r , and Ba n," in th Prefa e to th Cy lopcedia, ign l a ignifi ant hang : from ole ntributor, Ba on

i n w third in lin . y th time an adverti em nt appear d fi r th ighth p rt f th Cyclopcedia, Ba n' nam had

di app ar d alt geth r-and with ut planati n-fr m th lit f ntribut r (" r.Re' w ylop dia" [l 04] 2) . Ba n' untim ly death 1 arl on igned him to a pre­vi u g n rati n, and naturally it be am more de irable that an alt rnati e author be fi und fi r the " culpture" ar­ti l fR y lop dia. That Flaxman h uld ha e taken

r th pr j t, h w v r, i a notabl d v I pment.

laxman nd Ba n h d be n near n ighbor ' hen the latt r Ji d in N wman tr t, but it i unlikel that the

w

author f the

~ all 2 0

trast between the latter's "mystical tendencies" and Bacon's e angeli tic Methodism (2 1), but it i probable that the dif­ference between the two men were as much professional a they were religiou . The pair were in competition to e ure commis ion for the national monum nt t om­

memorate naval and military heroe and victori . More­o er, though both were m mber of the Royal Academy, Flaxman wa al o Bacon' replacement there, b ing elected, along" ith Martin Arch r hee, to the Academy's ommit­tee only following the death of Bacon and James Barry. Perhap it wa the Royal Academy promotion that made Flaxman de irable nough t the Cyclopcedia' publi her for them to give him charg of the "Sculpture" article; or perhap outright control became his in 1810, when he was elected a the fir t Royal Academy pro:fi r of culpture.

Hm ever the transition from triple to ingl auth r hip ame about, then, clearly it did o against the ba kground f Flaxman' per onal and arti ti confli t with Ba on. In

light of thi it i qu ti nabl wh th r r not ~lax.man

' ould have agreed to take on unconditi nally what amount to ole author hip by d fault. Yi t, ev n if Flax­man' undertaking of th ta k did not a tually d pend on hi beingallowedgreater inputinth pr ject(andpr um­abl a greater fee), u h thing undoubtedly w uld hav re ulted from hi rai ed authorial tatu . A further sign

that Flaxman wa in favor with the yclopcedia' publi h r i £ und in the pro pectu : fr m th tim that hi name

appear in a ociation with the " ulpture" ay, it i al o n i tently at th head f the (non-alphab ti al) li t f

tho e \ h ha e made drawing £ r th work. In addition, prior to Flaxman' nam app aring in th pr p ctu (?l 02), only tw ar ti t - 'M r . Milt n and wry"­

appear to ha e b en engaged t ngrav th yclopcedia plate . \ ithin the ucc dingy ar , th r wa w rk for u h a beleaguered engrav r a Blak evidently wa at

th time. Blake' commi i n, th n, v lv d ut f ompl n-

terpri e in olving nfli ting per naliti , tyl , and atti­

tude , and wa probably a dir tr ult f th i ue f th arti le' author hip having b en r olved. Ti Blak , th na­

ture f the re oluti n mu t have eemed to h rald th tri ­umph of idea with whi h h had ympathy, Fla man 1

idea - orne of\ hi h featur , in a m difi d ~ rm, in th

r ult f hi painting and engraving, nd h n d ubt fi und Ba n

je ti nable for th m r a n that laxm n and Fu eli did. In th itu ti n i m r

mpli at d.

Blak I An Illu trat d uart rly 4

H ar and Bl ke m ta a re ult [Flaxman r dati n l th fi rm r f Blak ' ngraving kill •~ and th

acteriz H

p p r [The cap r" (line

on H

uite p

12. l lo,1rc emplo ed Bl.1kc's graver n t\ o o asions (BR 136, 'B 90 91, 9'1).

14. J'hc Arti t folded in I 0 , ,11th ugh it ' ,1s reprint d in the form oft\ volumes in 1810.

1 'l. I lo.ire .1g.1in prais d I cync Ids in Epoch · of the \rt~ ... ( iii and i ).

16. The dif~·n.'n cs in artisti opinion h 't\ ccn Blake and l lo.m.• 111.1 .thoh.t Cl mctothcfo1me1\,1ttcntion,1fte11806.F rc ·,1111plc, in his Inq111ry, 11 .ire 1c<lits the cngr.l\cr, J.r.111ccs o B.trtolo71i, I ob crt <;,tr.Ill •e ,rn<l \ ill1.1m \<\: )llcll' 1th h.1 111g"u111vcrs.11l cst.1blishc I the r •put.Hion of h1glish I ngr.wing" (260). B} rntr.l'>t, in 1809 10 Bl.1kc singled out th1.: I.Iller t\ o as the ht ·I rnlpnh f "the 1:-nglish St) le of l·ngr.1 ing," \ hilh L me'> 111 for hc.w u1L1usm 111hisJ11b/rc 1\ddrc~~ ( I 73; C \ I .. ).

5 Blak•/An Jllustr.ll d uartcrl 1

n

a

ngra -

17. e " 1y title .l 1.1] emu ... " ( . l '01-0.: : - : Pulli 1\rlrlrw ( . le 09 10; r 57. ); BR 3. l.

th •s • .lsL's, .ls 111 the I fr,iod en •r,tvin 1 , '

temp r.u "111,1111.1 or the 1 uhli ... f H tipJ I behind Blake\ st ltst1 h liu~.

hill_ o_

Flaxman, then, had triumphed in gaining ole author­ship of the ' culpture" article, whil t Blake had been left to r produce his imag in a graphic style that he di liked. Pr of of Blak 's growing antipathy toward tippled line can be found in hi reworking of the Mirth engra ing.

s ick ha conclud d that the motive behind Blake' ini­tial translation into stipple of his own watercolor (the fir t de ign of Blake' illustration for Milton' ''L'Allegro ' and 'Il P n eroso") ar hard to fathom, unle he had hoped £ r it to appeal to a commercial audience (E ick, William Blak Printmak r 192-93) . The dramati hange that tak pla e b tw n that tippled fir t tate and the econd tate (p t 1816; 19 P fig. 49), how ver, implie Blake' arti tic r jection of tippling a a sub titute for outline at around th tim h wa producing the Cyclopcedia engraving or h rtly aft rward . At 1 a t from the mid-1810 , then tippl d lin w r not Bl ke' own prefer nee for engra -

ing w rk, and thi i evident from th fact that Blake eem t hav b en only too happy to leav thi tyle under the patronag of John Linn 11, whom he met in 1 1 .w More­ov r, th t hnique wa certainly a trange choice for ome

f th y lopcedia plat : a ffr y Keyne note , tip-pling, whi hi "rath r oft and indeterminate, i not a ery uitabl medium £ r r c rding the outline of culptur d

marbl " (21), and a qui k glan at Blak ' eparate plate Lao oon with it ntinu u outlin and bold hat hing p tt rn , upport thi pm1on.

Indeed, although Blak ' th ory and practi are far from n i t nt with a h oth r, b th phy ically and metaphori­

cally th tippl d lin wa diam tri ally opp ed to Blake' n pt f the "di tin t, harp, and wire ... bounding line '

( 550), and hi tat m nt that "a Line i a Line in it Mi­nut t ubdivi i n[ )" ( 7 3). A Morri Ea e \ rite :

N t nly did th d t of tippling give merely the illu ion of lin , in fa tr fu ing firm outlin altogether ( i omi 171) but al thi t hniqu , al ng with th qually pre alent aquatint nd ft-gr und et hing , wa parti ularl r a iat d with th r pr du ti n f oth r art m dia ( i omi

F 11 200

36). Whilst it i true that Blake believed all art to entail copY\ ork of some sort,21 he did distinguish between servile reproduction, or copying nature, and the imaginative use of material found elsewhere, or copywork filtered through Imagination.22 The mimicry, and abstract illusioni m, in-olved in tippling produced what to Blake' mind were fal e

engraving , ince, to him, true engraving con isted of creat­ing Original ,"ju t as" riginal "are created in any other art form. tipple, then, did n t produc either phy ical or "autographic" (Eave , William Blake's Theory 42; CA 228) linearity.

et man of Blake' c mm rcial ngravings entail some le el of unin pired copywork: the Laocoon eparate plate it elf ha the hatching and "dot & lozenges" that are so often featured in imitative work, a fact to which I hall re­turn.D What di tingui hes tippl from linear ngraving is that it require le s skill, and is less time-con urning; as a re ult, journeymen could und rtake this type of engraving ' ork. It i not difficult to p rceive, then, that an engraver engaged on tipple project might well hav had rea on to feel that hi talents were b ing insulted. Moreover, pay­ment for tipple engraving in general was proportional to the le el of kill that wa believed to be required for su h ' ork: a tipple wa believed to be the poor relation of con-

entional line engraving, o it c ntributed to p v rty among t engra er and wa compli it in the commercial­ization of art (CA 153, 223-24).

Flaxman ma imply have been another vi tim of popu­lar ta te , or f the Cyclopcedia' tight pur trings; given parallel between Blake' Hesiod and y lopcedia ngrav­ing though, it i quite p s ible that Blake n w found Flaxman advocating the e for ign, and often comm r ially moti ated predil ction 24-Flaxman, wh m Blake had on e belie ed to b the " culptor f ternity," "a ublim Archangel My Friend & mpanion from t rnity:' hi

Be t Friend."25 The ab n e f stippling in Fla man'

- l. E.g., "To learn the Language of Art py for Ever. i My Rule" (E 636); "The differen e betwe n a bad Arti t & a

Blake/An Illustral d Quart rly 51

... " ( Th

what th

\ ere n t ntir I " ith ul J r

52 Blak I n lllu tratcd uartcrl

r tran -

ent. In parti ul.tr, th fi·.1 -

"dark Satanic Mills" of England ("And did tho e feet," E 95); he believed that art had been yoked by (prie tl ) idola­try; and he frequently linked piritual to arti tic laver . In Blak ' vi w, these fore s turned the arti t into the arti an (CA 117-23) . Th r i , though, a particularly trong con­nection between the " culpture" article, and th u the Cyclopcedia, and th Laocoon parate plate ince in the in cription of that plat Blake ha created echoe of Fla man' entiment : " piritual War," we read, "I rael d liv rd from Egypt i Art deliv rd from ature & Imita­ti n" ( 274). As Morton D. Pal y point out, in hi e a

n Blak and an i nt culptur , thi add ' a further dimen­i n [to Flaxman' original equation of art and freedom ]

by in luding mim sis a a form of b ndage" ( \ onderful riginal '" 183).27 avid Jame , then, i patentl incorre t

in hi in inuation that, in the Laocoon ngra ing, Blake i imply riti izing ' laxman's deeply flawed idea about art"

(230) . Moreov r, a Paley al o point out (' 'Wonderful Origi­

nal '" 183), Flaxman' lectur sand article on culpture men­tion a "th mo t magnificent produ tion of H bre\ art" the Temple of olom n, whi h ontain "the ame cheru-bim that M had

a count in

n, nimated with the h p le agon ' n , i th work of pollodoru ,

27. Pale rei t rate thi p int in "il' & hi two on " 21 -19. 2 . c nls Paley ", ' & hi tw n "218.

Fall 200

Athenodoru , and Agesander of Rhodes. The style of this v ork, a well a the manner in which Pliny introduces it into hi hi tory, gives u reason to believe that it wa not ancient in his time.

Yet Jame i blatantly wrong when he remarks that "In as-erting a Hebraic original for th tatue, Blake argues again t

Flaxman, who, on the evidence of Pliny, thought it not an­cient" (Jame 234n6). 29 What actually distinguishes Blake's idea about thi fa cinating culpture from Flaxman' i hi conception of it in piritual term , as a copy within a mu h grander scheme of eternal forms. A a copy, its own time of reation i immaterial, just as it i in ignificant; but, for all

its fallen ondition, a a copy of a "wonderful original," it till ignifie that original. In turn, Blake' engraving of th

Laocoon ulpture can be een a a "copy of a copy:' or, within the context of the urr unding in cription , "an att mpt to go back to the pre um d archai our e fits ubj t": whil t it i a copy-either of the copy (th Rhodian Laocoon statue) or the Original een in Blake' vi ion- it i also an anti-copy, and ' an original in it own right" (Pal y, "'Wonderful rigi­nal "' 190, 191 ).

The Laocoon engraving derive at lea t part of its power from " ubvert[ing] our pr conception of what the famou

ulpture i " (IB 5:231)-pre onceptions that depend on the iewer' immediat recognition of th work, and knowl­dge of it arti tic tatu .30 Whil t Blake draw on th

Laocoon ulpture' conn ction -som f whi h w r p -ificall rehear ed in the " culpture" articl - h al o evi­

dently reinterpret the link . The central im g may trike u initiall as the Laocoon, but wh n we begin to read around it \ e find that it i n t "Laocoon» at all: it i n ith r th tatue nor the Trojan prie t of Virgil' a unt (Aeneid II:

40-233). Thi rather und rmin the titl that the ngrav­ing ommonly i given, which we can be fairly rtain wa not one onferred by Blake:31 "Lao co .. n," v n a a narn , appear nowhere on the engraving; and t call Lao oon what Blake pecifi ally ha et about r c n 1vmg a not La on ' i to be a lave to tl1e «mi appli ation" f the

inlage to atural Fact"-th corruption fits t rnal ig­nifi an e-that Blake wa opp ing. Blal , th n, t k the documentary- tyle article f th y lopcedia, and play d out the piritual implication f ome of it id a i.n nne -

29. Paley al o note thi point in "il' & hi two ns" 219. 30. Amo ng t the work that had ontributed to the tatue's fame

in Blake' day are numer us engravi ng , u h a those in Jan De

Bi hop' Paradigmata Graph ices Vario rum Artifi i111n ( 1671), and the debate on the nature of the art played ut in J han n J achim \\ inckelma nn' Gedanken iiber die Naclial1111111g der rie his hen \\'ercke in der Ma lzlerey u11d Bilderk1111st ( 1755), and tth Id Ephraim Le · ing' Laokoon: Oder iiber di Gre11ze11 rler Mn/er i 1111rl Po ·ie (1766). n Blake' tran f rmation fr cogn izable tatues,

e Paley, '"\ onderful riginal "' L 7 L- 72.

l. The title may have b en onferred n th parate plat by Linnell, who a quired p (BB 268 ).

Blake/ An Illu trat d u rt rly 53

a

f; rem

r pre

Blak '

ward that w rk

2. r . ' ·• " lsr,lcl lcli crd fr m E 'YPL is Art dcli\'crtl fr 111 atu rc Jm1tati n" ( I:'. 27'1 ); " M nc (the lifcs bl t d f P 1 F,1mili s)" (E

27 ). _. That 81,lkc at h rretl ab trn ·t order•~ p.nti ul,1rl ob i u in

his pc •m, Tiie Frc11 Ii RL'l'c>l11tu>11, 111 \ htlh 1dc 1 bone o tht.: "t •r nhlc tO\ er-." f the B,lstillc; sec 1:1' ( · 286), .mc.J : 8 ".\ (l· .. 87 8 ).

54 Blake/ n Ill u tra t d uart 'rl alL

tor t , the French Revolution (The Encyclopedie [1970] 12). Iti un urprising th n,that,a manywell-to-do,and

loyal, Briti h ubj t ought to di tance them lve from

the r volutionaries, ome of them began to find the on­

t nt f th ir librarie a cure of di omfiture. An entry

under th heading f " ome ti 0 curren e ' in the ntlernan's Magazin f Augu t 179 read , "The Earl of

Exet r ha xpung d from hi large, and well- elected li­

brary, and burnt, th work of Voltaire, Rouss au, Bolin brok , Raynal, and that grand ar enal of impiety, the

Fr n h En y lop di "(718; author' own empha e ).

It i p ibl that Blak managed to find common ground

with th En y lop di t n a cunt of their links '"1th the R v Jution. He had done s with the D i t Thoma Paine in his 1798 ann tation to Richard Wat on' Apology for th Bibi . Yi t, a Paley ha demon trat d, the Blake of 179 b cam th Blak f Th Four Zoas and Milton, ho tile to th i t (Pal y, '"11 fend the Bible ... "37-3 ). The

Blak f 1815 wa much more ut poken, both in hi a er-i n t Rea n and r i tan e to natural philo oph , and in

hi b li fin vi ion. In fa t, apart from th teem in' hi h h h ld "Minute P rti ular " ( ee, fore 'ample, Jerusalem 55: 1- 64, 205), Blak ' view during thi period are al­m t ntir ly at dd with th of the philosophes.34 Even

th Encyclop 'die' attitude tO\ ard tabli hed authoritie

w uld hav b n pr bl mati for him: alth ugh he no

d ubt appr v d f th r n h philosophes' que tioning of

th tat , th ir hall nging of th hur h cannot have ap­

p al d, giv n that it wa D und d n ton a wi h for r form

but n th t tal r j ti n f od.

n had Blak man g d t ympathize ' ith the En ,_

l p di t , h w r, thi w uld hard! have made a Briti h

n y J pa di ft rt app al them r to him. H tility to­

w rd th En yclop 'die' valu didn tpreclud nvy fit

p iti n a th m t holarly work of it kind; and envy

wa n u of th bo m in n y lopaedic a ti ity in late-

igh t nth and arly nin t enth- ntury Britain (\ ell 13).

M r parti ularly, th ncyclopedi ' relation t the R o­

luti n wa fr qu ntly tated a a major imp tu behind the

pr du ti n f th riti h n y l pa dia , ' h e ditor u h d tl1e mpetiti n with their Pren h

ubv r i hi tor of the

aJI 20

'the ceptre of the Briti h Empire may be wayed by your

Maje ty' de cendant to the late t po terity" (both l:v and

vi ) . In the 1801 upplement to the third editi n of the

Britannica, however, the editor of that work, eorge Gleig,

goe much further:

The French Encyclopedie ha been accu d, and justly a -u ed, of having di minated far and wid , th s eds of

Anarchy and thei m. If the Encyclopaedia Britanni a shall, in an degree, counteract the tendency f that pe tiferous ' ork, even the e two Volumes will not be wh lly unwor­thy of your Maje ty' Pa tr nage. (D di ation, vol. 1)

The object appear to be to tre the contra t b tween these

' ork and the anti-authoritarian Encyclopedi , which had contributed to the removal of the Fr nch m narchy.

Ree ' Cyclop~dia i omewhat more moderate than th

Encyclopaedia Britannica in it ppo ition to th French

Encyclop 'die . ertainly the emphasis of it illu trations i

not ah a con i tent with th Pren h work: Blake' own depi tion of culpture , rather than th in trum nt of

their production, are a ca e in p int- alth ugh it hould be empha ized that many of the yclop~dia' plate did£ 1-lov their continental counterpart in d pi ting to 1 and

pro e e . What betrays the Cyclop~dia' anti-Encyclopedie bia mo t, however, i that, whil tit wa int nded t rival

both the French work and the Britannica, R ' Pr fa e

eem more n ern d with di tingui hing hi ompilati n

from the former. Th plan of th y lopredia is t again t

onl the de ign of th Encyclop 'di , with p cifi indi a­

ti n a to where the two diffi r and th rea n why thi

Engli h pr duction alon fi 11 w d the plan "mo t uitable

t the nature and de ign of a ci ntifi icti nary" (1 :vi ).

ntrar to R e ' claim, how v r, th y lopredia and

the Fren h work were £ uncled n v ry imilar tru tural

prin iple , both adhering to an alphabeti al, r th r than

ientifi order," hi h wa at that time by n m an a pr -

reqm it fan ncy I pa dia. Mor ov r, thi h i wa in

both ca e influen ed by hamber ' y lopredia. Th En y­clopedi originated in a pr p al to publi ha Fr n h tran -

lation of Chamber ' two-vol um work; aJth ugh in pa -

f iderot and 'Al mb rt it b came a

unt

Blak I n Illu tr t d uart rly 55

Th in

lin in learning. In mpl , th r al li-

Mathia wr le f the< hi m nt hu:

hi friend v rk! , lik Burk ,)

5. h.1mbers fav red learning .ind h larship. R c. an<l the Pren h En y I pcdi ts empha ized cxperien e, vi ·i ting artist , nd raft men in their w rkpla e · ( f. Encyclop lc/ic J :x.I, Rec I :iii and ii).

arts and s icn cs du ati n."

37. Tn: oux, i.e., l ictio1111nirc 11ivcr cl Fran 01 · ·! Latin, contc1u111t la ignifi ntion ct la dcfi111t1011 Tant de: lot de 1'11nc ·! 1'1111tn• I r111g11e, m·c lC!llrs diffcrcn 11snRcs ( irsl pul. Trev ux, 1704). Ith ugh thi \ rk was mmonl knm n .1s the Di t101111airc de Trcvo11x, .1ft •r its

ngin.11 pl.1 f publication, all editions issued bet' ecn 1732 and tls fin.ti pul li at ion in 177 J \ ere published in eithcr an ( 1 PMis.

8. 1.rn ' orks, from Pliny's at11ral J-J1 tor 'onward ... , h.1 e been n d p.1edi in ov 1.1gc;thd1rslus.1ges fthe\ rd" n lopaclia"

in the titles of I< ks, hm '' ·r, < · urrL•d in the! si l ·•nth L'nlut

(Sha klcton 78 79).

) Blake/An Jllustrat 'd uarterl

hamber abridg'd! in oth 'twa all he r ad Fr m fruitful t unpr u tive Zed.

(lin 339-42; auth r' o' n mpha e )

pa-pa rt a

w n i -

ro111 J>r1md1se ).

alL

4. William Blak , Laocoon eparate plate, detail

th Lao oon ngra ing: I think he aw it quit clearl . I am

per uad d , h w ver, that he engraved the image before the

. 1 26 xecuti n f th a companying text . o uch highl wrought figur ould have been engraved freehand onto

th plat ( i mi 9nl 1), and thi idea i onfirmed b the

"boldly tch d and ngraved ro hatching ' ( P 100)

whi h indi at that Blake employ d a "mixed-method" pro-

' t hing at lea t a good pr portion of the line , and

then fini hing th m with hi graver. The writing that Blake

ha add d to th culptur ' bas , "Drawn & Engra ed b

d tail, illu . 4), al o upport thi idea.

Th t t ment, within th culptur , refer only to the ulp­

tur : it ugg t that th entral imag wa once the' hole

w rk, n nd in it If. Mor ov r, th word tell u that

Blak pr du d n riginal drawing f th ulpture,' hi h

wa then tr n fi rr d nt th opp r plate fi r engra ing.

y ntra t, th un v n pa ing, and th mi take , of the

urr uncling t t ugg t that it probably wa crat hed and/

r ngrav d traight nto th plate. om porti n of' rit-

ing fi r am pl , ar w U- iz d, ommanding th urround­

ing pa e, wh r a th r p rti n ar made up of maller

] tt r nd ar ramm d int tiny area . Th re i al o the

pr bl m f th Al ph (~ ) in "i1 i1~ 1 [ 1:~ ] /'J '' hi h ha

b n ngr d ba k t fr nt. Again thi u p1 ion i up­

p rt d by th fa t that th in ripti n (including th ig­

natur line) app art h ave b n ut with a gra er, and n t

t h d. 42

Th m t bvi u r a n fi r Blake initiall to ha e pro-

du d th ntr 1 im g al n i that it wa intend d a a

mm r ial ngr ing, nd , in fa t, many of th chara t r-

1 ti f th Lao oon plat upport thi po ibilit . At the

ngr in g' h rt i th ar fully copied tatue, the p -

w rk a v r implying a mm r ial ontext; then there i th matt r f th im ag ha ing b en rendered ' ith the

h t hing, nd v n a Jittl of th d t and lozenge' rk,

t pi al f mmer ial r pr du ti n . In turn, th m t

n r Blak t hav tran fi rmed the plate into

al l 2

the' ork' e know today i that it went mm ed in that com­

mer ial capacity. Although to date thi h a not b en the

a cepted view of the Laocoon parat plate's g nesis, it is

much more probable than the wid ly h ld idea that Blake

produced the whole work within the la t y ar or two of hi

life. Wherea the in criptions could have been-and ind d

eem to have been-quite quickly produced, it would hav

taken a great deal of time for Blake to hav tch d and en­

gra ed the central imag . Around 1826-27 Blake imply

did not ha e that time, immer ed a h wa in produ ing hi Illustrations of the Book of Job (1823-25; publi hed 1826), and the de ign and n graving for ant 's Divine Comedy ( 1 24-27). Moreov r, h wa alr ady ick. 43

A later addition oft xt to th entr l imag would a -

count for the di parity betw nth eparate plat ' ar ful

entral image and array f rath r haphazard in ripti n ,

and e plain ' hy it i diffi ult t det rmine what kind f

audien e Blake had in mind fi r th w rk. Unlik th

lution

to thi problem; on e gain, how v r, Jam ' rtainty that

thi effect wa Blake' int nti n from th ut et i a failing.

the impul e behind th engraving hang d fr m om­

mer ial t imaginativ no doubt at tim s v n Blak him -

elf' ondered what audienc h w uld find fi r it. n th

other hand, that at om tag , h did

the idea of ther b ing an audi n e i point d t in th

men ti ned phra e, "Drawn & ngrav d by William Blake":

uch tatem nt act a a declaration of pyright, and ar

g nerall found n t on pri at tudies and p rim nt

but n ' rk int n d fi r ir ulati n.

When attempting t p it a hi t ry fi r th Laocoon n­

gra ing, however, we en ounter om diffi ulti . Mu h

depend on how we nvi age th riginal tat f the n ­

raving: I have argued that it did n tin Jud th n m ­

pa ing te t but there ar ther po sibl ubtra ti on , u h

the bumi hing on th entral imag . Thi w uld in Jud

43. Fir t ugge ted in Pai e,' Willi am Blake s - ailed Lno oifo"

117-r; al Paley,";"'1' hi tw n "213,214.

Blake/An Illu trated uarterly 57

th in cripti n " rawn & Engrav d by William Blak ," whi h appear v r one of the burni h d ar a . What mak it po ibl that th burni hing wa an ther alterati n t an

f th Laocoon i that thi

Thi tradition i n a th by Marc 3), whi h Blak m d ubt tudi d a part

; Pal y, "'W nd rful

ing within it. he lat r d

w

n

ha

0011 engr ing, h m r lightly, and in

l . Whibl all \ ing lhe b i us l.llcncss I the burnishing in Lhc l 110coo11 engr.1 in'. l di agn:e v ilh the ~t.1lcmcnt th.ll "th< u ,h m r •

5 Blak I n I1lu, trat d uartcrl

thi n tur t

rath r than in lin w uld ha gra r and n

rakh d hi

f Job, Ezekiel,

fall_

ject and layout ar uitable for the Cyclopcedia' page , there being found within it many full-page engra ing , includ­

ing Cromek' image of the Cupid and P yche tatue (Plate I

f the fir t equence of engravings for the " culpture" ar­

ti 1 ). Th hat hing of Blake' image al o i con i tent" ith th t hnique u d by romek, although Cromek' image i 1 a m pli h d. Furthermore, the fact that Blake'

Laocoon eparat plate, in its final tate, hearken ba k to is u cov r d by Flaxman in the " culpture" article again

ugg t a m r than oincidental relation hip between the

m ur

£ r th

a .. n i twi t d fur th r r und,

fing r , in th tippl d plat .49 iffi ren e betv een the

the fir t tale f Blake' engra ing f th "Rev. J hn Ca par La, at r ( L 787; p fi g. 65). It w uld , h we er, have been left to th hou ' rit­in n r, er t ut th lin .

n , d tail that ar ic with ea h ver i n i La on' pem . ln

Fall 2 03

5. \ illiam Blake, detail f drawing f th Laocoon statue. Yale

Center for British Art, Paul Mell n Fund.

head f Laocoon and hi on in the parat plat and the

dra\ ing and tipple engraving (e.g., t th, hair) ar diffi-

ult to ignore; h w er, giv n that in th eparate plat the

engra ing in the e area e m m re lin ar and fl wing th n

el e' here on the plate, it i po ible that th se lem nt w r

r \ ork d at a lat r p int.

In fa t, many f the diffi r nces b tw n th drawing and

tippled er ion an be ac unt d for if w add th imag

from the Laocoon eparate plat int th qua ti n betw n

them, rather than after them; 50 the plau ibility of thi r r­

dering an be een by furth r analy i f the d tail . Th

folds at the bott m of La coon' cloak in th p n il draw-

ing are a recognizabl ur e ~ r th in th parat plat ,

\ here their hape i v ry diffi r n t fr m th in the tipple

Blake/An Illu tr t d u rt rly 5

ngraving.

printin th r n pr .u

Blak /An Illu lrnt 'd uartcrl

er

n t rn an that th r n ver r urnent n ~ und in

all_ 3

I

Es ick' account of the Ezekiel separate plate: his claim for a "hypothetical fir t published state" is ba ed upon imi­larly indicative feature of th known tate, and compari-ons with Ezekiel' companion piece the Job separate plate

of which two state are extant ( P 21-23). A with the t\: o ta te of the Job plate, the po ited earlier tate of the Laocoon

engraving must have been arti tically far removed from what it became. All tho e features that have led to the en­graving b ing placed o firmly in Blake' final fe" ear w uld hav been ab nt. Unburni hed, unlettered, and with

it h avy er hatching pattern , th plate probabl ' ould hav m d rather old-fa hioned to the eye of Flaxman and th publi h r ofRees's Cyclopcedia-perhap e en too b ld and primitive for the ta te of the da .

V\lhil t th s id as ab ut th gene i of the Laocoon epa­rat plate mu tr main hypothe e , and although there are many fa et of both it and th Cyclopcedia plate which are n t d alt with her , it i evident that Blake' encounter' ith th Re pr j ti more ignifi ant than ha previou ly been allowed. The ommission probably offended Blake' arti -ti n ibilitie , and may further have damaged the alread

l d fri ndship b twe n Blake and Flaxman: it i at lea t improbable that their relation hip ould ha e been aided mu h by the fa t that th aim of the Cyclopcedia, and en y 1 paedias in general, were in many important re pe

ut f k ping with Blak ' phil ophie . Moreo er,' e can b ur that Blak had to r d at 1 a tone of the Cyclopcedia plat ( c M Engra ing") . It e ms fair to urmi e then

that Blak wa not enam r d of the Cyclopcedia proje t b

the tim h fini h d hi work for it. Th multifacet d relation hip between the La coon e a­

r t plat and th w rld of ommi ion , in luding that for

th y lopcedia, demon trate th ne d further to attend to

Blak ' mmercial engraving . It al o highlight the ' on­d rful irony that th ommi ion for that work of order and r n-a mmi i n apparently incon quential in it lf- h uld hav ugge ted id a , and provid d the ba i (p rhap v n the raw material), for one of Blake'

m t p rpl xing work of rt. In the Laocoon ulpture the

figure truggl with th ir m at rial erp nt ; in the Laocoon ngraving th truggl eem to be with tho e' Rea ning

lik rpent "-r oning a pre ent in the Cyclopcedia f th y ar in any f N wt n' work -whi h Blake

£ It "In£ ld[ d] ar und" hi limb , brui ing hi minute rti ulati n "(J rusalem 15:12-13, E 159).

W rk it d

I. "Jn grain d Id log : Blake, R u eau, It ir nd th ult f R a on." Lit ratur and R volution.

a id B van. Am t rdam: Rodopi, 19 9. 7-1 . ntl y, . ., Jr. Blak Books. D rd: larendon Pre

~a ll 2003

-. Blake Records. Oxford: Clarendon Pre s, 1969. -. Blake Records upplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988. -. The tranger from Paradise: A Biography of William Blake.

ew Haven and London: Yale University Press for the Paul Mellon Centre, 200 1.

Bieber, Margarete. Laocoon: the influence of the group since its rediscovery. Rev. ed. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1967.

Bindman, David. "The Dating of Blake's Marginalia to Reynold ."The Burlington Magazine 108 (1996): 522.

Blake, William. The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake. Ed. David V. Erdman. Rev. ed. New York, London, tc.: Doubleday, 1988.

-. 1ilton a Poem and the Final Illuminated Works: Th Gho t of Abel I On Homer Poetry [and] On Virgil I Laocoon. Ed. Robert . Es ick and Jo eph Vi comi. L ndon: Th Tat Gallery and the William Blake Tru t, 1998. Vi l. 5 of Blak 's Illuminated Books.

-. The otebook of William Blake. A Photographic and Typo­graphic Facsimile. Ed. David V. Erdman with onald K. Moore. Oxford: Clarendon Pr ss, 1973.

Bogan, Jame . "Blake' Jupiter Olympu in Re s' yclopaedia." Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly 15 (1982): 156- 63.

-. 'From Hackwork to Propheti Vision: William Blake's De­lineation of the Laocoon roup." Publications of the Arkan­sas Philological Association 6.1(1980):33-51.

Cox-John on, Ann.John Bacon, R. A., 1740- 1799. London: [ t. Iarylebone ociety], 1961.

Cru, R. Lo alty. Diderot as a Disciple of English Thought. N w York: Columbia Univer ity Pr s, 1913.

Cunningham, llan. Th Lives of the most eminent British painters, sculpto rs, and architects. 5 vol . London: J hn

urray, 1830. Cyclopcedia: or, an Univer al Dictionary of Arts and ciences;

containing the Definitions of the Terms, and Accounts of th Thi11gs signified thereby, In the several Arts, both Liberal ai1d Mechanical; and the ev ral cienc s, Human and Divin ... The \Vhole intended as a ourse of Antient and Modern Learning. Compil d from the best Authors, Dictionaries, Jour­nals, Memoirs, Transactions, Eph merides, &c . . . . By E. Chambers .... 2 vol . L nd n, 1728.

Cyclopcedia: or, a11 Universal Dictionary of Art and ci nces. Containing An Explanation of th Terms, and an Account of the everal ubjects, in th Lib ral and Mecha11i al Arts, and the cienc Human and Divi11e. Intend d as a ourse of Anti nt and Modern Leaming. By E. hamb rs, F. R. . With the uppleme11t and Mod rn Irnprov ments, Incorporat din on Alphabet. By Abraham Re s . ... 5 v 1 . [ 4 t t ; 1 ad­d nda, ind x, plates, etc.] 1781- 8 . London, 178 - 91.

The Cyclopcedia; or, Universa l Dictionary of Arts ci nces, and Literature[.] By Abraham Rees. 39 vol . text, 6 vol . plat s. L ndon, [ 1 02-20].

Dider t, Deni . CEuvres Comp/et s. Ed. J. zat and Mauri e Tourneux:. 107 vol . Pari , 1877.

ew Cycl predia." dvertis m nt. ?1802. "Dr. Ree ' ew Cyclopredia." Adverti ment. 1804. Eave , 1 rri . T1ze Counter Arts onspiracy: Art a11d Industry

in th Ag of Blake. Itha a and L nd n: rn II Uni r ity Pre , 1 92.

Blak I An Illu trat d uart rly

-. William Blake's Th ory of Art. Prin t n ay on the rt . Prin et n: Princet n Uni er ity Pre , 1 2.

Encyclopaedia Britannica; or, a Di tio11nry of Arts, ci 11c s and Miscellan ous Lit rature; enlarged and improv d. 4th d. 20 v 1 . dinburgh, 1810.

[Encyclopaedia Britannica.] uppl ment to th third ditio11 of the En yclopa dia Britanni a, or, A dictionary of arts, sci n and mi c flan ou lit ratur . 3rd d. 2 I . dinburgh, 1 01.

H

uart rl

ni r ity

atalo u signs by

Illu trat d n : h l r

nnd pro rs of n: J hn Murray,

Kn owl , J hn. Th Life and Writing of H nry Fu Ii, Esq. M.A. R.A. 3 1 . L nd n: H nr C lburn and Ri hard Bentle ,

1 31.

[Ma lain

ndon, 1 07. latkine R -

land and Limited

rrY

all_ 3

Blake's Graphic Use of Hebrew

BY HEILA A. PECTOR

Th one certainty that em rg from the ontro er ie urr uncling th r lationship between Blake' erbal

and vi ual art i that neither medium alon wa capable of pr ing th pl nitud of hi Divine Vi ion. the ar-

ti ulati n fa n pti n b yond the range of either on­v ntional painting r po try, Blake' vi ual art, a Chri to­ph r eppn r ha aid, " i in continual flight from the pur ly and/ r m r ly visual toward th more explicit m de f m aning availabl only to language it elf."1 Con­v r ely, it might be add d, the p eti i in ontinual flight fr m th pur ly and/ r merely lit ral, the language of the pr ph ci b ing illuminat d by th ompo ite art. Ba i­cally, Blal la ked a medium of expre ion through ' hich t arti ulat th full rang of hi imagination, for it exceeded th mat rial limitation of the vi ual and the erbal, ine i­tably leaving a gap between hi conception and the mean fit x ution. n quently, mu h of Blake' arti ti xp rim ntation wa dialectical, invol ing the attempt to

d v l p a v hid thr ugh whi h to coordinate the h o. M t lik ly, it wa in njuncti n with thi aim that Blake turn d t br w. B au e of it ignifican e a the lan­guage f the ld 'D tarn nt, and h nc , a the purported l ngu g f dam H br w pr id d Blak with a medium that uld be u d t pand th magnitud f hi po tr '.2

B yond it lit ral impli ati n , h w ver, Hebr ' - uld al o ntribut t th gr phi dim n ion f th art a ' ell it

ymb Ji and my ti la ciation providing a u eful tool fi r xt nding the r ng f the vi ual art.

1 arly n ta rnaj rel ment ofBlake' graph­, th r being fi w r than a doz n example of ob iou br w I ttering in th ntir orpu .3 Ev n , it u e lu -

Fall 2 03

ter into definite chronological period , each reflecting a di tinctive approach to the alphabet. pecifically, the first period, introduced by graphic experimentation on the ver o of a Tiriel drawing, spans the decade of the 1790 , Night Thoughts 30E and 435 using p udo-Hebr w to imply ome ort of indecipherable supernatural message. After that,

" e ha e no eviden e that Blake drew any 1 tter again until 30 January 1803, when he wr te his broth r Jame that h " a tudying Hebrew. During th decade introduced by that letter, Blake produced Job's Evil Dr ams, Enoch and Milton plate 15 ea h of which ontains what can be con-idered a text-ba ed u e of Hebrew, revolving around ex­

pli it pa age from the ld 'D tament. Finally, Blake r -turned to Hebr win hi la t year when, on Milton 32 (e), the title page and plate 2 of the Linnell Job ngraving , and Laocoon, he again experimented with hebraic graphi , though thi time Blake eem to have r pla d th literal en e of the text with ymbolic a p cts of the alphab t that

eJo..rpand the verbal and vi ual omponent into the dynami unity of hi la t work . Before analyzing how Hebrew con­tribute to the graphic art, th ugh, it i nee s ary fir t to on ider the non-lingui ti a pe ts of the alphab t.

on-Lingui tic A pect of the Hebrew Alphabet

Be au e of it pe ial hi t ry, Hebrew d veloped in n-jun ti n " ith num ri al, vi ual and my ti al m d f thought that e tend the u of th alphab t far b yond it con entional function a a c mponent fa material ign

tern (illu . 1).4 Numeri ally, I brew i u d for compu­tational purpo to a far gr at r xt nt than the y tern de el ped by the R man . Math mati ally, ea h of the h enty- e en character of th alphab t (tw nty-tw l t­ter , fi e of which have different form f r u at th nd f a' ord) ha a p ifi value, o that lett r , r even w rd , an be u ed a the qui al nt f numb or e ampl ,

the" ord for' life," .,n (hai), mpo ed f th ighth and tenth letter - (beth) and ., (yod)-i quival nt to th number 1 with whi h it i u d inter h ng ably, liai ig­nifying 1 and c nver ely, 1 th on pt f lifi . rtain

etting a Watch (B 499) are bey nd the range f nsiderati n in Lhi tud ; ee al o Heppner 242 and 292n 14.

Given the confu ion urrounding the rder [plat in many f Blake' b o , for the illuminated b k the numbering u ed in Lhi e av will conform to that found in the William Blak Tru t/Prin et n

Blak I An Illu trat d uart rly 3

l• i'1 1 ) tin I 0 ~

Fin 1 = ~ I·in. I = f

5. F r .rn rvic\ ( gt111u1t1111, s • S h lcm 337-4 .

Blake/ n Illuslratcd uart ~rl

HEBREvV A

1. (Thou nds are 2 . denoted by a 8 . I r 1 r I tt r ;

thus an I ph l r nh nthel re t of the let-ter mon" which it i , sirtnifi not 1 1 I but 1000.)

Final = 500

·inal = 600 in 1 = 700 I

I

Y . z. c T . I . K . L .

0 .

z.

i ·. 8 T

d. nd tran ., Th Kabba/ah m• iled (L n

'·

(h ), aw rd fun rtain d ri

amut iritual w rld .

ation, th y divide the process into three part . The fir t t n number , ompri ing the World of Emanation corre­spond to the ten ftrot, or Divine hypo ta e , that ema­nated su ce ively ach from it immediate predece or. In thi cont xt, th fir t 1 tter, ~ (al f), corre pond to the fir t manati n, th <• upreme rown"; the econd letter, ::::;

(b th), to" ivin Wi <lorn"; third, (gimel), "Human In­tellig n ";and n to the ixth, (vav ), 'Grace"; and fi­nally culminating in the t nth,~ (yod), th 'Di ine King­dom," al kn wn a the h khinah, or' i ine Pre en e. '

Ea h of th manation ha num r u th ologi al mythi­cal and anatomical a ociation , the m t germane to thi paper being th a ociation Chri tian Kabbali t de eloped b tw n th ixth, vav, " race," and Chri t. Located in the symb li "h art" f th human configuration of the ema­nati n , th vav i depi t d a the intermediary bet\ en th orp r al mo inhabited by man, the piritual r alm f th manati n and, finally, the odhead Him elf. The

W rld f manati n onstitute the highe t piritual le el f th r at d o mo . Beyond that, the next nvel e num­

b r , whi h orr p nd to the ne t twel e 1 tter of the al­phab t, c ntain the " tarry World," including the Fir t M v r, th ir 1 f Fix d tar , and th e en planet fol­l w d by th Rati nal ul, the Animal oul, and the Ele­m nt of n . Finally, the la t fiv number r fer to the

rp r al o m , whi h ontain th four element , in­animat matt r, v g tation, animal , and finall , number

27, n (toph ), man him If. Them t imp rtant 1 tter i ~ (alef). ymbolizing unity

and th undiffer ntiat d reality of the ne, it i on id red th mo l piritual f th 1 tter , having been manated di­

r tly fr m th db ad Him lf, and it elf er ing a the £ r ub qu nt manati n . A ummarized b

que a n g in hi p pular History of th Jew (tran -

lat dint ngli h in 170 ):

L tter denot th ina -

all 2 0

My terie compriz,d in it; for the Vau that mak s the middle Branch, signifies the Tipheret. The two fads are two Arm , which open to embrace the Malchut or the Kingdom. The Jodon the right indicate Wisd m, which alwa carrie her view upwards; and sheds her influ­ence upon the other splendors beneath h r. The Vau is the intelligence, which Wi d m has conceived, and the fad above be peaks the Knowledge which the Intelligenc ha produced. Another invert the Letter which com­po e the word Alef, which making Pala, and ignifying to con eal, he here di cover an th r way th fir t of the plendors; that Crown whi his actually conceal'd; for Eye

ha not een it, nor ha it enter'd into the Heart of Man. (1 9)

In hi account, Ba nage allude to mo t of then n-lingui -tic a pect of the letter. In addition to th one pt of incar­nation, and the a ociations with numeri al valu s, plan­e angel , intelligen e , pirit , ivine nam , b <lily or­gan , ph ical en e and motion , Ba nage al o per ni­fi language, endowing th letter with gender and will.

ot only are the two yod d cribed in term of arm rea b­ing up to embrace Malkhut, but, a he will plain in hi di u ion of the letter :J (beth), at 1 a t one Kabbali t be­lie e ( that thi Letter i a W man, and that the tw Lin :J are t:\ o Arm , betwixt which h re eiv and mbra h r

Hu band Tipheret." Thi would b sp cially ignifi ant to Chri tian Kabbali t , who b liev that Tifi r t, th ixth efirah, ignifie hri t. or tbi r a n, Ba nage r mind

hi r ader, 'Je u Christ ay that ne Jod, r rath r 1 a t p int of the Law hall n t pa away" (190), a h ntain­

ing it m n kind of my t ry. The e m teri w 11 a lit r l.

am an im­

w r pa , fr m per-

Blake/An Illu trat d uart rly 65

I

.~

. .-

2.WiJ liamBI k, tudyofH br iv hnrn tcr i11H11111a11Form. yp rmi n fth Whit rth rt all r,

:i Blak I n lllu trated uart •rl

ti rn \ ith the Ronhlll .llph.1hL't in th \ \fillinm Blake, d. Erdman, ., -75).

0

a IL

partially unfurled croll that, in thi early tate, contain a few illegible rawl , u ually interpreted a indicating hov it i pos ibl that "Life live beyond the Grave." When fi­nally engrav d, th picture i u ed to illuminate the next pag oft t, in which the line, "Thi KI OF TERR R i th PRIN P A E," i highlighted. In the engra ed ver i n, th figur 1 k away fr m, rather than tm ard , the i w r, and in thi ca , th croll ontain ' hat an be t b d rib d a p udo-hebraic letter that are irtu­ally imp ibl t d ipher. om are in mirror" ntmg, other ar ymm trically ambiguou , while the r t, though gen rally appro imating Hebrew, a tuall are not. The ef­fe t f the l tt ring i non-verbal. 10 un tioning like rune whi h f the hara ter actually re emble the writ­ing app ar to ntain th ecret of immortalit po e ed by th, th ugh imp n trable t u in our mortal tate.

f our , th oppo it inferenc i al o plau ibl : what ap­pear fr m di tan to be the secret of life might al o be rev al d, upon lo r examination, to b non en e ( 'Thi KIN FT RR R i the PRIN E F P ACE' ?). The f t that b th int rpr tation are equal! fea ible ugge t th 1 rg r ignifi an e f the graphi , that we ill ha et u e ur im ginati n , rather than ur rational facultie , if we wi h t p n trat th e ntial truth b yond the range

f Yi ung' m andering . Th me h rm n uti an be appli d to page 43 of The

Four Zon wh r , in Night th Third, Blak u e the ame illu trati n, thi tim ppar ntly t und r or Urizen' hu­bri in id ntifying him lf a od (Magno and Erdman 49).

By u ing th am illu trati n for both Young' on entional int rpr t ti n f ath and the Uriz ni imp ture it i p .ibl that Bl k i implying an quivalenc bet\ een the tw fal d trin , b th t b abr gat d in part b the re-

f Uriz n him If, at the limax f Blak pi .

.. aJl 2

The mo t ignificant aspect of the Hebrew in the e draw­ing i it unintelligibility. Clearly, Blake had no intere tin conveying a literal me age; yet, he pain takingly exe uted the lettering, in th one obfu ating the chara ters, in the other clarifying them though ignifying n thing mpre­hen ible, in both ca e apparently to imply a m ag that extend be ond the bound of either the visual r th ver­bal medium . In contra t, when he did wi h to onvey a decipherable me age, Blake reverted to the Roman alpha­bet, a in ight Thoughts 60/Four Zoas 51. Exploiting Young' allu ion to Bel hazzar, Blake' illu trati n depicts, a ording to E ick and La Belle (xiv), the figure of a prophet interrupting Bel hazzar during hi fea t- he drop hi gla and the' ine pill out-to e the writing on th wall. Here, the Roman letter pell out th fir t w rd and a half f the ' arning in Daniel (5:24-28), "MENE" and "T K." A x­plained b Daniel: 'M N , od ha number d the day of rour kingdom and br ught it to an end; T .. KEL, you have been' eighed in the balance and found wanting." Mi -ing from Blake' picture i the third word, "P R , your kingdom i divided and giv n to the M d and P r ian ." Blake choi e of Roman rath r than Hebr w Jett r e m to indi ate that in thi in tan , he on ider d the ont nt of the me age to be more ignifi ant than it medium.11

Biblical ommentarie

The next e tant amp] f Hebrew graphi i found in the letter to Jame Blake f 30January1803, in whi h 1 k b at

of it having be n tran lated a Gho t (E 727)

Th pa age i problemati for everal r a n . M t bvi­ou I ', a indi ated by th Tiri land Night Thoughts illu -tration , not to m nti n th v rbal art, Blak had I arly been intere ted in Hebr w long b for thi I tt r to hi brother, and pre umably, om tim in th pr vi us d -ade and a half, Blake w uld have menti n d it t Jam .

11. In per o na] orre p nden e, rant a iate the illu tra-tion wi th a erie of me age ~ und through ut Blak ' Night Thoughts, in luding T 53, 108, 10 , 298, 302, 303, 330, 388, 434, 435, 436 l :4E, 20:5E, 52: l 7E, 0: 19 , 30 .

L. n the impa t f bibli al High riti i m, ee M nn 152-72.

Blake/An Illu trat d uart rly 67

b illustrati n-. in k an ial

Blake/An lllu trat d uartcrl all_

inclu ion of Hebrew lettering wa obviou 1 gratuitou ,ju t to show ff to Jam how well William could draw the fir t three letters of th alphabet-which we have no rea on to a ume that Jame would have recogniz d. Yet, de pite all thi , th 1 tt rd es indicate that, meaning a ide, in the next decade Blak would u e the Hebrew allu ively, to refer to a p cifi ontext. Here in the letter to Jame , he include

the fir t thre haracter to reate a hebraic equi alent to l arning on 's AB .13 imilarly, during thi period,' hile Blake w rk d n th ries of Bible and Milton illu tra­tion , a well a hi own pr ph cy Milton, he in luded He­brew 1 tt ring in thr picture -fob's Evil Dreams of the Butt eri , Enoch, and Milton, cop C, plate 15-in each a manipulating a biblical text to comment on the larger

th m of th vi ual art. gun oon fter the 1 tter to Jam , th water olor ]ob'­

Evil reams ( . 1804-07) contain the fir t e ample of' hat app ar t b an attempt to combin the ymbolic impli­cation flit r I H br w with graphic art (illu . 3). e­picting a dream tat , th drawing portray Job re i ting b ing pull d d wn. At the bottom of th pi ture are the flam f hell , ut f which ri thr e d monic being that attempt t r train th pr n figure ofJob," ho appar ntl

th rwi might ri beyond their gra p. The figure on th I ft h ld J b's ankle , the one in the middle hi loin and th d m non th right lift a hain toward Job' head, pr umably int nding to lock up Job' mind. tret hed

ut ab v J b, in parody of the Elohim Creating Adam (l 7 5), i atan id ntifiabl by hi lo en ho f and the

rp nt ntwin d ar und hi body. 14 ot breathing life J b, wh h ad i turned away, atan gaze dm n, at

In k th

Fall 2 0

nd hi xtend d 1 ft arm that, it elf radled b r

erie , in thi

H br ' let-

of the ten commandment . Blake' text com from Exo­du 20. Read from right to left, the first tabl t contains the ingle Hebrew word CNJiD, "heaven," which occur twice in

the Commandment : in ver e 4, "Thou halt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner oflikenes , of any thing that i in heaven above, or that i in the earth beneatl1, or that i in the water under the earth"; and ver 11, "£ r in ix day the Lord made heaven and earth, the a, and all

that in them i , and re ted n the eventh day; wherefore the Lord ble ed the ab bath day, and hallow d it." Th s c­ond tablet contain ommandm nt from v rs 12 and 13:

jrt: -;ril \"' (from Exodu 20:1 2: Hon r thy father and thy mother, that thy day may be I ng upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.) ~ir1 "' (E odu 20: 13: Thou shalt not murd r. )

(Exodu 20: 13: Th u halt not commit adul-

:.: ·r, •"' (Exodu 20: 13: Thou halt not steal.)

f the ten, Blake cite th e mo t concerned with material exi tence. While the ommandment to h n r ne' par­ent i it elf ideali ti , the ju tifi ation is orp r al, for long life. imilarly, by omitting the fi urth omm ndm nt fr m er e 13- 'Thou hal t not b ar fal witne again t thy

neighbour," the te t in the illu tration on ntr t on rime of prop rty iolati n. In lecting th c mmand-

ment , Blake eem to b implying that th vil dr am im­p ed b atan con i t of rpor al value , at th e of the piritual ideal r legat d t th th r ta bl t.

Con i tent with the h i e f mmandm nt , it an be argued that Blake el tiv ly introduc rr r t und r c r

the erron ou law being impo d by a tan. L aving th r­re tl p !led "hea en" t p ak for it lf n it wn ta bl t, Blake er wd the ec nd t n with lingui ti an mali that apparently empha iz the th m f th pi tur a a wh 1 .

1 t n te\ rthy in th on text of Engli h H brai m i th pointed • at the end of th fir t word. H r , Blake rr tly in lude the final khaph, 1, at th nd f th w rd ignify­ing ' ur od." Even m r not worthy, though, i th in-

lu i n f the vowel)n the l tter, both b au v w J w r e hewed b many hri tian Hebrai t of tl1 day (in lud­ing J hn Parkhur t, who e lexic n Blak lik ly u d 15

), and becau e that parti ular form i xtr m ly rar . Thi ug­ge t that Blake had a Jewi h te tin fr nt f him a h om­pl ted th drav ing. In ntra t, th nd w rd, "ga ,"

nt in an err r, Blake' er i n mitting th final nun at the end f the word. That i , Blake ha JnJ in t ad f nJ.

i -. In "The Rea n ~ r' rizen,"' T argue Lhat P rkhur L' Hebrew and Engli Ji Lexi on, without Points wa pr bably Blak ' main ur e

f He rew. For more mplcte di u ion f Parkhur L' influcn eon Blake, ee my "Blake a an ighteenlh- en Lury Hebra i L" and " /ori-011 111comprel1ensible" 47-49.

Bl k I n Illu tr t d u rt rly 9

The a umpti n that the err r wa c mmitt d ut f igno­

ran e e m belied b the t chni l a ura y of th pr vi­

ou w rd. It i at l a t con ivable that th anomaly wa

deliberat , r fl ting a orrupti n f th n pt f giving

a p ibility in the ntext f thi parti ular r i n f the

dh ad, pecially in e atan' finger int dire tl at

thew rd /oh chn, th geniti fi rm f Elohim. ignifi antly, th ne t mmandm nt, lo tirzah, "Th u

halt n t kill," i ut d flawl 1 , Blak

ing n quarrel

tirzab pr id

lat additi

w 11 a th

rl ,

th r figur s urr

t r f Lh pi tur .

16. n the nam 1 irz.1h, s em "' ur cs and ft mol gics 'Tirz~h."' n her linguisti anti m thi ignifi .111 e in the m,1j r pr ph ­

ie , cc my tw m n graph , "Glor1011 111co111prrl1cns1[J/c" 1 4- 6 ,111d "Wo11der D111111e" 126 anti 1 5.

17. Bin n anJ Kc nes 8. Jn The cpomti• Plait'~ of \V1/li11111 Hl11ke, ssi k pr ide a omprchcnsi c hist r f the lith ,r,1ph ( ).

7 Bia I n Illu tral cl uart rl

Th in lu i n of the H brew though, em t ugge t

that a with th biblical hara ter him elf, th

in

11- 3

4. illiam Blak , Enoch. By permi ion f the Briti h 1u eurn.

th figur . It

t pla e th n d t l

alr ady tran

ibl that Blak d liberate! cho e

Jn ntra t, th tw figur at th right h ldin the roll

th ugh fa in th light, I k down at the writing the one

t th right p in ting, with hi l ft hand, t th final' rd of

th phra , lohim:

t k him"-ar rr t, ntaining no anomali .) W rk d n r und the am tim a th Job and En h

illu trati n , 19 Milton, py , plate 15 mbin the bibli­·11 t t f fol/ vii r ams with th ymb Ii im rt f

1 . A c rding t i mi, the full pr duction and e\'olution o Ji/1011 pan the peri d fr m l 04 to 1 I , th ugh it '"a pr bably

Fall 2

Enoch to pro idea mythi repr ntati n f th Uriz ni

impo ture. In dramatizing th m tivati n f th h r , Blak pla e Iilton with hi ba kt u , a h appar ntly limb

up into the Uriz ni w rid in rd r, a pun tuat d by hi

right foot, "to Annihilat th elf-h od f it & Fal

orgi ene ." Although Lh lwo figur n titut the£ al int f the pi tur , th are flank d by th tw tabl t f

the L ' , thi time h ld by a rr wful Uriz n. By r pla ing

the atan of fob's Evil r ams with Urizen, Blak r d fin

the on ept of morality, ub tituting for th c nv ntional

duality of go d and il th d lu ion produced by an r­roneou interpr tati n f th t xt. In ontra t t th tani prototyp , Uriz n i n t a ld, n t a i t d by a -l 'te but alone, not p w rful but sorr wful, lm t a though h realiz d th n ity fr £ rming hi m d f th ught.

on i tent\ ith th tran fi rmation, thi tim th br w

n the tablet i virtually inde iph rabl . Whil it i p -

ible that the tabl t in Urizen' right hand might ntain on the fir t line the w rd i1n, tohu, " h ," and n th third ~ , lo, "not," th re i no way t b rtain what th

fir t printed in 1 11. r a detailed di u i n, see "The Pr du ti n and ,. luti n Milto11: I 04-181 and the Idea of tl1e Book.

Blak /An lllu trat d uart rly 71

letter ignify. 20 Rather th p int em t be the corrup­

tion of the t xt. B cau e the vi ual tabl t provid the ob­

vi u allu ion t the Ten ommandment , Blake ha n

real need to etch particular lett r t c nvey a lit ral r ad­

ing of the Law. All he ne d d i ket h in a few H brew­

lik hara t r t impl th irrati nalit f rizenic think­

ing, that whi h Milt n will r i thr ugh ut th r t f

the pie. In ntra t t th ill gibl lett ring fi und nth

er 11 in Ni ht Thought 30 /Four Zoa 43 th ugh h r

the graphic ar te t p ifi , th allu i n t th 11 n

mandment b ing bvi

Verbal Illuminati n

uring th p ri d wh n Bl k

t illumin t d pr ph y, he al

tern t way f

72 Blak I n Illustrated u, rterl

m -

ignifi an . mboli all

uld indi at the pre en e hand , \ hile

ibl that to

b -

all_

the initial fault of Job in term of a literal, a oppo ed to imaginative, r ading of the Bible. In what might be vie\ ed a a parody f the titl page of the ongs of Innocence, Blake portray Job and his wife eated beneath a tree who e fruit , in contra t to those of the earlier drawing, are mu ical in-trum nt . urrounded by kneeling children, Job and hi

wi£ are eated, with their kn e b nt in Urizen' haracter-i ti p , to form two tablet , and both ha e open book on their lap . ever ly b xed in by the border of the pic­ture, the illu tration i contained within a border depict­ing th outline of a Gothi chur h, at the bottom of' hich i an altar who e flames appear to generate the entire pic­ture. Th m age b n ath the altar i from 2 Corinthian 3:6 and 1 rinthian 2: 14: "Th L tter Kille th I The pirit gi eth Lifi I It i piritually Di cerned." Be ond the out­lin f th hur hi a ring of loud ontaining the open­ing f th Lord' Pray r.

oth lit rally and figurativ ly illuminating the engra -ing, th v rbal line h lp to r contextualiz the vi ual me -ag . By xpanding th per pe ti e beyond the border of

th pi tur it lf, th ir um cribing ornamentation indi­at that J b' own p r pective i for hortened, the ph i­al pr en e of th unu d in trument , which them elve

ar n l d within th line of th church, ob curing the piritual m ag ab v and it explanation b lm . ot an vil man, J b "fear d od & e ch wed E il," a the illumi­

n ting t t xpl in . ut h la k d vi ion, and a a re ult h pr j t d a m rali ti int rpr tation onto the Bible, re-a ting d in hi wn lit rali ti image. The fun ti on of hi xperi n e, th n, will b to xpand hi own imaginati e fa -

ulti that h might levat him elf pirituall , rath r

than lit rali ti lly d ba ing th n pt f d. My ti ally, th narrativ n b aid to r ol e around

th 1 f th al f, ymb 1 f th unifi d i ion f od a by th fir t i ine hypo ta i th ' uprem n th u f Hebr w n plat 2, a tan Befor

the Thro11 of od (illu . 5). i ually, the pi tur introdu od, drawn in th imag of Job from plate 1,24 the nl

b ing that d wh hair i piked to re emble r wn, 1 k d wn, whil J b had 1 oked up. Be­d and J b i pr umably a figure of atan though

with ut th 1 v n ho for ncir ling erp nt, it i hard to t U (Burwi kn t th r mbl n b tween atan and Job' Id t n).Atth b ttm fth pitur,Jbandhi fam­

ily all h v r ading m t rial in th ir hand though ' ith th pti n f hi wifi , wh e gaze i ambiguou , all look

fr m th t xt . Although n ta for h rtened plate ] , pl t 2 i l nfin d by th r ligiou in titution thi

thi tr lli w rking it way up th id f the pag it pir pr j t db y nd th b rd r of the ngra ing. Even th u hit j n t phy i ll pre nt, it imaginati e lin n-

2 . , . F ter Dam n' ommentary n the plate, in Blak 's Job,

14.

Fall 200

fine the verbal illumination in the clouds above the pic­ture.

iewed from center to circumference, the text focu e in on the Hebrew phra e i1 i1~ 1 ~rJ, melekh "Jehovah," above ' hich i 'The Angel of the Divine Presence." Beyond that i 'Ha t thou con idered my ervant Job," and finally, "I beheld the Ancient of Day ." Although the Hebrew phra e can be literally tran lated as "the king Jehoval1;' its use ould convey both ironic and my tical dimen ion beyond what can be conveyed by a imple English tran la tion. Fir t of all, the Hebrew can be read a a corrupt d form of the En­gli h "The Angel f the ivine Pres nc ," that would be - 1~ ~ rJ with the inclu ion of an al f. econd, for the name of God, Blake choo th Tetragrammaton, th in­effable ame who e numerical value, 26, is the am a th total of the omp nents of the omitted al f. Thus, by ub-tituting the corrupt d pelling, Blake may be vi ually im­

pl ing Job' deba ed on ept of od, who ha been trans­form d into a r yal image of man. At th ame tim , th Hebr ' could ugg tac rr ponding d g n ration f the oncept of angel, from whi h th alef of th n ha be n

eliminated.25 Thu , the version of the "Ang l f th ivine Pre en e" found in Job' onv ntional m d of thought i incomplete, for it lacks th vi ionary omponent pr vided b the pirit of the letter, th 1 and 26 f the al f, whos t tal, 27, ymbolize man. ymb lically, the lo f th alef an be attributed t the interv ning lin , "Ha t th u on­idered m ervant Job;' th challenge that cau d t11 lit r­

ali ti deba ement of the n pt f od into th p udo-ne who abdi at d hi r p n ibiliti st a tan. Abov th

hallenge, though, i the phra "I beh ld th I Anci nt f Da ." Tak n fr m Dani 1 7:9, th t rm "An i nt f Da ' '\ a u ed b Kabbali t t de ignat th high t phy i­ogn m of the upernal M n, rr p nding t al f, "th

upreme rown." Thu , ev n th ugh th hall ng may have ob cur d J b' vi i n, th r by d grading th " ng l" into a orporeal "king," th ivinity i till v r pr nt.

might b graphi ally indi at d by th £ rmal prop rti f the pi tur it lf. In th nt r, it i p ible that at n i depi t d in th fi rm of an al f, hi rai ed arm , like tho e de ribed by Ba nag , r aching up, a if ironi ally to mbra e od, whil hi 1 g xtend ut­' ard t en ompa Job and hi family. r m a br ader per pecti e, a tan him lf could be vi w d a part of a larger al f, fi rmed b the whirlwind ri ing n ith r sid f d, and the figure t nding d wn t ward ith r rn r. Kabbali tically, the diag nal orr p nd t th m diating vav, the ymbol of hri t wh fun ti n i t unit th 1 \ er material world with the piritual r alm. hu , fr m the hall ng ould b p rform-

1 . ording t Burwick, "'The Angel f the ivin Pre n ' i manife t atani ontradi ti n, nd th H br w w rd , 'J h v h i Kmg,' pronoun e the urrender t his tyranny" ( 144).

Blak I An Illu tr t d uart rly 73

5.William

B k and

7 Blak •/ n Illu trnlcd uarl ,rl

.... I c. in J. R en Id

fall - 3

ing the chri tological function of helping to expand Job' vi ionary fa ulti o that he might percei e the Ancient of

ay . Hen the ab nee of cloven hoove or erpent . Ju t a the d pi tion of od i a projection of Job, o too i that f atan.

Blak d e n t include any m re Hebrew lettering in the rie , it ab n e in thi ver ion of Job's Evil Dream (plate

12) po ibly indi ating a graphic e onom . By no\ the bar utlin f the tablet ha be ome enough to on e ' his riti ism f the ommandment . In tead, he engra e

Job' pray rat th b ttom of the pag : « h that my\ ord

w r print din a B ok that they were graven\ ith an iron pen & l ad in th ro k for ever." Blake' illumination graphi ally literalize the ver e.

Alth ugh th r are no other Hebrew word in the Job ibl that Blake pl ited th ymbolic val-

u n und rlying form through' hi h to riti-ize J b' vi i n f d . A Munk point out in hi fir t hapter in Th Wisdom of the H brew Alphabet, the m ti­al valu f th al f, a ymbol of od' unity and omnip -

t n , i vi ually n y d through it graphic form (43-44). u h, th alef i the ymbol that unifie God and man, alef l b ing th fir t I tt r f th name Adam. Con-

qu ntly,

Whi l th r i no way t b ertain whether or not the for­

l g n rat th

of m pi ture t th letter alefi inten­nough imilaritie to \ arrant their

6. William Blak , Europe a Proph cy, 1794, py , pl te 13.

Le ing J. Ro enwald lie ti n, Rar B k and p ial 1-lection Di i ion, Library of ongr

pr iding the mean by which to rr t the al f. In n­

tra t, on plate 16, The Fall of atan, th lin pr du ed by

the flanking angel wh xt nd d wing re mbl th e

framing Urizen in Europ 13, h re ]early c mpri an in­

tervening diagonal, a atan i ummarily-with a tru v r­ti al- xiled to h 11.

ulmi­

Tru t/

d,

Blak I An Ill u trat d u rt rly 7 5

being situated next to th Hebrew Tetragrammaton, his left arm i lowered to restrain the intertwined serpent, lo ated just abov the Hebrew for Lilith, the he-demon, thu em­phasizing the mediating function of the vav, through which the vi wer will be able to apprehend the occluded Divinity of the figure. In thi way, th ngraved Laocoon might b seen a revolving around the dynamics of an alef in the pro­ces of completing it elf, thereby providing the means by which th r ad r/vi w r could di ern th tru form f the

Divinity o luded by the overlay of r ek art. Thi i not to imply that th engraving wa original to

Blake. To the c ntrary, Blake' Laocoon wa likely ba ed 11

the reconstructed cast of a marbl tatu that wa arved around 25 B. ., and redi c ver d in the Pala of Titu in R me in January 1506. vVhen found, the statu la ked, among other thing , the right arm on th ntra] figur . In hi ver i n, Blak tilt d th h ad rn r t th left, c ntra t d the stomach mus les and mo d the right knee m r to th l ft. 26 Es ick ugg t that Blake might ha be n influ n d by J hann Winkelmann' de ripti n f Lao en's body, in Reflections on the Painting and 11lpt11re of the r ks.

till the figure's form is al quit l e to that of th mal in Europ 17( 18). ven though Lao oon lo k up whil the other l ok bad at the p r on he i bringing along with him, th ir heads ar in th am p sition. A Kabbah t might infer that Blake had attempt d t bring ut th al fh had envisi n d incarnate within the r k tatue. N t in ig­nificantly, alth ugh he had fir t begun working on the n-ept of th Lao oon ar und 1814- 15, in a commi ion for

Abraham R ' The Cy lopnedia; or, Univ rsal icti nary of Art, cien es, anrf Litemtur, publi h d 1 16-1 , lal

returned to th n pt at the nd f hi lifi , th Ln.o 0011,

completed . 182 -27, being hi la t illuminat d w rk.

p radically inter p r din th v rbal mp n nt f th vi u l linear fi ur br w me ir tly in th n-t r of th pi tur b tw n th figur f La oon an n

f hi son , i th nly rarnmati ally rr t H br w n th ntire plate, th nam f ilith: n~ ~ Y Probably d -

riv d fr m Babylonian d m n 1 gy, ilith wa the fir t wi~

of d m. B cau , like him, h wa al fi rmed fr m du t, Lilith demand d ual equality, and wh n her hu band

t b tran h -d m n

" th r id ;• b

'1 khi11nh th

7 Blake/ n Illu trnl d uartcrl

Blake' myth). Not an i elated name Lilith i i uall en-losed in a pa e circum cribed by Lao on and the on on

hi left, bisected by Laocoon' arm that re train the er­pent. Vi uall the Hebrew i the lower part of a duality opposed by th Engli h word "Good ' oordinated b the erpent. Within th ont t of th pictur a a whol th

verbal duality of good and evil/Lilith i , n the one hand a product f the interv ning erp nt and on th ther en-1 d within the lower d yod of Lao oon' 1 ft arm. n­equ ntly, while th duality oc upie the ntral area of the

pictur a a who! it i patiall reduc d to an aberration

that, pr umably, will be liminated when Lao on rai e his arm to om pl t th form of th al f. In th meantim th mediating vav, who e width i i uall e::\-pand db r the tou hing arm and l g of La o ·· n and hi on e:Ktend th chri tological function which \ ill ultimate! fa ilitate th corn pl tion of the alef Within thi · ual ntext th gramm ti ality of Lilith' name refle t the f; ile app al of th 1 tt r, ultimat ly to be up r ded b the pirit f the nlef

Alth ugh th Hehr w Lilith i in th middl of the pic­tur , th m t pr minent 'ample f Hebr ' i the head­ing at th top: i1ii1~ l • i.,i'J. Re olving ar und the ame

n pt a that u ed ·fi r plate 2 of the J b engra\ ing , h r th H br w r nd ring of "Th Ang l f th i ine Pre -n nt in th al f, th ugh rev r d. In addition the

nt xt i far differ nt. In th J b dr ' ing th Hebm wa u ed t d ribe the d v lution f tran nd n , fr m the An i nt f ay (the kabbali ti nl .f f th u rnal

mboli Chri t) d wn to r the ym-

n,

Wh ' re any view [ M ne arn d n, but \\ar

0 n ly Read M.1tthe" C .. '

b I rctcn c: t the Tw God ol th Heath n

I le rep ntcd that he had mad dam

(of the emak, the damah )

[scrntclrcd 0111]

Th ngel ii ii ~

it grieved him at hi heart

the Divine Pr . n

/ -

28. A ording t 1 rton . Pak;, thl· .iph ri ms urr un in the 1, tuc tran. form the Lno 0011 "int - · Iii. vw ntan ·~

Ada111 b ·urr unding it with tc ·t. denoun m m n ), war, empire and .iffirming thl: ultim.llc alu1.: f. rt L_ ::- ).

Fall_

7. illiam Blak , Lnocoo11. Le ing J. R enwald He tion, Rare B k and pe ial 11 ction ivi n, Library f ngr

l·all 200 B1ak I n Illu trat d u rt dy 77

f th v rbal nd

dr,1gr.1mm.1ton.

78 Blak •/ n Illu trnt c.l uart rl

th man

n

rk it d

8Jsna' ', J 1 qu ·~. Present Ti111c: 011ta111111~ th ·ir t1tiq11itit., th ir Rtli ion, their Ri tc:, t ht• I i:pc1 sio11 c the Tc11 7 il1t: i11 th · r. and

alL

the Persecutions this Nation has uffer'd in the i est. Being a Supplement and Continuation of the History of Josephus. Tran . Tho. Taylor. London, 1708.

B er, John. "Blak ' hanging View of Hi tory: The Impact of th Bo k of n ch." Historicizing Blake. Ed. teve Clark and David W rrall. Y: t. Martin' P, 1994. 159-7 .

entl y, . ., Jr. "A J wel in an Ethiop' Ear." Blake in Hi Time. Ed. Robert . E ick and Donald Pear e. Bloom­ington: Indiana UP, 1978. 213-40.

Binyon, Laurence and offrey Keyne . Illustration of the Book of Job by William Blake. NY: Pierpont forgan Library 1936.

Blak , William. Blak 's Job: William Blake's Illu tration of th B l of Job. "d . . F ter Damon. Hano er and Lon­d n: UP f N w England for Brown P, 1966.

--. The ompl te Poetry and Prose. Ed. Da id . Erdman. mm ntary by Har Id Blo m. Newly r . ed. Garden

ity, NY: D ubl day, 1988. [abbreviated "E"] --. Th onti11ental Proph ci s: America: A Prophecy; Eu-

r p : Pr phe y; The ng f L . Ed. D. \ . Dorrbecker. Blak ' llluminat d ok gen. d. avid Bindman ol. 4. Prin ton: William Blake Tru t/Princeton P, 1995.

--. Th F ur Zoa by Willia111 Blake: A Photographic Fac­simile of the Manuscript with Comrn 11tary 011 th Illumina­tions . d. ettina Tramontano Magn and avid V.

rdman. L wi burg: Bu knell UP, 19 7. --. Milton a Poem. "d. R b rt i k and Jo eph

i mi. Blak ' Illuminat d B ok , gen. ed. Da id Bind­man, ol. 5. Prin t n: illiam Blak Tru t/Prin eton UP 1 93.

--. Th Not book of William Blake: A Photographic and Ty­po raphi Fa simile. d. avid . Erdman witl1 Donald K. M r . Rev. d. NY: Read x B ok, 1977.

3 ol.

n the

~ all 200

" i ion in Vala: A on ideration of om Pictures in the Manu cript." Blake's ublime Allegory: Essays on Th Four Zoa , Milton, Jeru alem. Ed. tuart urran and Jo­eph Anthony Wittrei h, Jr. Madi on: U of Wis onsin P,

1973. 141-202. Gra e , Robert and Raphael Patai. Hebr w Myths: The Book

of Genesis. NY: McGraw-Hill, 19 3. Heppn r, Chri topher. Reading Blake's Designs. ambridg :

Cambridge UP, 1995. Klein, Erne t. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the

Hebrew Language for Read rs of English. NY: Macmillan, 19 7.

Mather . L. Ma reg r. The Kabba/ah Unveiled. ing the following Books of th Zohar: The B ok of n eal d

1 tery, The reater H ly embly, The Le er H ly embl . Tran lated int ngli h from th Latin ver i n of

Knorr von Ro enroth, and ollated with th riginal Chaldee and Hebrew text. 1887. N wed. L ndon: Rout­ledge & K. Paul, 1926, 1954. Rpt. NY: W i r, 1968.

M Gann, Jerome J. "The Idea of an Ind t rm in ate Te t: Blake and Dr. Alexander dde ." 198 . Rpt. in hi ocial Valu s a11d Poetic Acts: Th Histori al Judgment of Literary Work. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1988. 152-72.

1itchell, \ . J. T. " i ibl Languag : Blak ' Wond 'rou Art of\ riting." Ro111a11ti ism and ont mporary riti i m. d.

Iorri Eave and licha l Fi ch r. Itha a: orn 11UP,1986. 46-95.

1unk, Mi hael L. The Wisdom in th Hebr w Alphab t: The acred Lett rs as a Guide to f, wish Deed and Thought. Br k­

lyn: e orah Publi ati n , 1983. Pale , lort n D. "iP & hi tw on a tan & dam." t11dies

in Romanticism 41 ( umm r 2002): 201-35. Parkhur t, John. Hehr wand E11gli h Lexicon, without Points.

1762; 3rd. ed. London, 1792. holem Ger horn. Kabbalah. NY: uadrangl , 1974.

pe tor, heilaA. "Blak a an Eighte nth - nturyH brai t." Blake and Hi· Bibi s. d. avid V. rdman. W t rnw 11, CT: L u t Hill P 1990. 179-229.

--. "Glorious incompreh 11sible": The Develop111 ntof Blak ' Kabbalistic Lan uag . Lewi burg: Bucknell UP, 2001.

--. "K bbali tic ur : Blake' and Hi riti '." Blak I An Illu trated Quart rly 17 (wint r 1983-84): 84-101.

--. •The Rea n for ·uriz n."' Blake/A11 Ilhistrat d Q11ar­terly 21 ( pring 1988): 147-49.

« urce and Etym logie f Blak 's 'Tirzah."' Blake/ An Illustrated Quarterly 23 ( pring 1990): 17 -83 .

--. 'i onder ivine": Th D velopment of Blak 's Kabbal-i tic \tfyth. L ' i burg: Bu knell UP, 200 1.

tehelin, John Pet r. The Traditions of th ] ws, or th oc-trine and Expositions co11tai11eri in th Tal11111d anri th r

Rabbinical i ritings. Translated from th High - utch. To which i Added A Pr limi11ary Pr fac : or, A11 Enquiry into the Origin, Progress, Authority, anri Us f11/11 s of Tho Tra ­dition , wher in the Mystical 11se of the All gori s in th Talmud and 0th r Writings of th Rabbills i Explni11 d. 2 vol . L nd n, 1732- 4; 2nd d. 1742-43.

\ ' i omi, Jo eph. Blak and the Idea of th Book. Prin t n: Prin t n P, 1993.

lake/ n Illu trat d uart rly 79

athleen Raine

1908-2003