Jerusalem; The Emanation of the Giant Albion

London: Printed at the Trianon Press for the Trustees of the William Blake Trust, 1974. Limited Edition. Leather bound. Fine. Blake, William. One of the 32 copies bound in full morocco, with extra proofs and stencil, folio size, unpaginated. Poet, printer, artist and prophet William Blake (1757-1827) is arguably the most original and highly-regarded English authors of all time. Although thought mad by his contemporaries, he was also held in high regard for his expressiveness and for the synthesis of philosophical and mystical senses within his work.

Blake's "Jerusalem" has been spectacularly reproduced through the pochoir technique by Arnold Fawcus and his Trianon Press, which has an undeniable claim to being the finest press of its kind in the last century and has long been known for their unrivaled artworks in fine colour printing. "Jerusalem" is Blake's longest prophetic book, with 100 plates that were completed in 1820, 33 of which are reproduced in this volume. Its large host of characters take on the subject of mankind's struggle throughout history for wholeness, with Jerusalem and Albion being allegorical figures representative of the male and female halves of humanity seeking to be unified as one.

In addition to the 33 plates included in all 558 copies of this publication, this deluxe version also has a special section, "Progressive states of plate 25, collotype proofs, and a matching guide-sheet & stencil". This section shows the progression of plate 25 as each colour is applied (fifteen plates) plus a cut-out plate showing the few sections where a particular colour was applied, and finally the stencil itself mounted onto the rear pastedown.

___DESCRIPTION: Full morocco, backstrip lettered in gilt, thirty-three plates (including the eight proofs) reproduced by collotype and pochoir, printed on Arches pure rag paper made to match the paper used by Blake, each page watermarked with Blake's monogram, the special section, as described above, following the limitation page; folio size (14 3/4" by 10 1/2"), thirty-three plates and nine pp. of commentary, plus the plates in the special section, limited edition, this no. XXVI of the thirty-two copies bound in full morocco with extra material (558 copies total). Housed in publisher's slipcase covered with hand-marbled paper with matching morocco guards at the head and tail of the opening.

____CONDITION: A fine copy, the leather smooth and supple, the corners perfectly straight and unrubbed, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, internally clean and bright, and free of prior owner markings; other a miniscule mark to the leather at the top of the front board clean, crisp, and as new. Slipcase fine overall, strong and sturdy, the marbled paper clean, the only wear being a bit of light rubbing at the extremities.

___CITATION: Bentley, Blake Books, A82.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard shipping charge does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

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