William Blake Archive

+++ Series Part 2 +++ “America, a Prophecy” (1793) is the first part of Blake’s “Continental Prophecies” series. In the sixteen illuminated plates of images and texts, Blake envisions how the enchained Orc – symbolizing America – has broken his chain and liberated himself. In the first image, the chained Titan buries his head between his knees, and the gloominess of his imprisonment permeates through the dense lines of Blake’s engraving. In the second image, however, the winged-snake, which embodies the fierce revolutionary spirit, flies from England to the continent of America, and descends to awake the Orc from his slumber in imprisonment. Eventually in the third image, the liberated Orc sits upright on a lawn, gazing at the heaven which is no longer dominated by dark clouds. Scroll left to check out Orc’s path to liberation! How do you like Blake’s interpretation of American Independence? © 2003 William Blake Archive

+++ New Series - Part 1 +++ Over the next few weeks, we present to you an exciting series of posts related to William Blake’s “Continental Prophecies” and two thematically related texts, namely the “Book of Urizen” and the “Four Zoas.” The first two books focus on America and Europe, while the “Song of Los” features the continents of Africa and Asia. The reason for dividing this reinterpretation of creation into three books is based on the biblical story of Noah’s sons possessing Africa, Asia, and Europe after the Great Flood. All three books are part of the so-called “Lambeth Books,” named after Blake’s place of residence. What is furthermore noteworthy is that “Europe” and “Los” are illuminated books. Illumination is an artistic printing technique invented by Blake, in which the color is placed on the copper plate for printing instead of being added afterwards. He himself writes that his invention results in “a method of Printing both Letter-press and Engraving in a style more ornamental, uniform, and grand, than any before discovered.” If that does not raise our expectations! After the French Revolution, Blake joined the counter-cultural movement that politicized readings of the Bible, as some scholars argue. Others caution us against reading his texts too literally. In Blake’s understanding, a prophecy is not only future-oriented, as D. W. Dörrbecker writes in his introduction to the Continental Prophecies. Rather, his style is highly ambiguous and thus can be a direct reference to the French Revolution, or not. Therefore, Dörrbecker concludes that Blake’s books “oblige the readers and spectators to make a choice and thus participate responsibly in the construction of meaning.” This is what we invite you to do. On our website (link in bio), we offer diplomatic transcriptions of a vast number of Blake’s works that you can check out. “America a Prophecy:” © 2003 Morgan Library and Museum “Europe a Prophecy:” © 2001 Fitzwilliam Museum “The Song of Los:” © 2003 The William Blake Archive

In the week of her birthday, (April 25, 1762), we would like to honor Catherine Sophia Blake (née Boucher), William’s wife, and her work as an artist and assistant to her husband. She was an artist and printer in her own right and worked alongside her husband on the printing press, often performing the coloring of prints and stitching together the volumes. He also trained her to become an engraver. For her lifetime, this was an unusual profession for a woman, which highlights the exceptional role she played, so that we should consider both Blakes a team. Here you see the painting “Agnes” by Catherine. The second image is a sketch of Catherine by William. Upon her husband’s death, she was left penniless and needed to make a living as a housekeeper for Frederick Tatham while also keeping financially afloat by printing and selling William’s work as well as her own art. © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge © Wikipedia, “Catherine Blake”

This week, we once again would like to highlight our latest publication, William Blake’s annotation to Francis Bacon’s “Essays: Moral, Economical, and Political” (published in 1798). In Blake’s annotations in the margins of the book (shown here with our diplomatic transcriptions on the right), you can see and feel his engagement with the text. Some entries seem to be more calmly and deliberately written than others, which are more indistinctly scrawled, probably in the heat of judgment. We think it offers great insight into Blake’s intellectual engagement with the developments of philosophy in his time. If you want to have a look at the 91 annotated pages, you can find them on our website (link in bio) under the rubric “Manuscripts and Typographic Works,” as well as under the featured “Latest Publication” banner. This image copyright © 2026 University of Cambridge

Have a great start into the weekend with William Blake’s “Adam Naming the Beasts” and “Eve Naming the Birds,” composed in 1810. © Glasgow District Council, Pollok House

On the occasion of Holy Thursday, we present two poems written, printed, and illuminated by William Blake. Both are titled “Holy Thursday” and depict an orphan choir’s contribution to the Holy Thursday service at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The tone, however, differs significantly between them. The poem in “Songs of Innocence” is indeed more “innocent,” only hinting at the poverty in which the orphans live. By contrast, “Holy Thursday” in “Songs of Experience” is more direct and overt in addressing the grim realities of orphaned children’s lives in institutions that provided only the bare necessities for survival, and little beyond that. Some scholars suggest that Blake’s publication of such contrasting mirror poems, as they are juxtaposed in “Innocence” and “Experience,” constitutes a form of social protest. The poems presented here can be found in Copy B of “Songs of Innocence and Experience”. This copy of the combined “Songs” was assembled in 1794 from copies of “Innocence” printed in 1789 and copies of “Experience” printed in 1794. © 2003 British Museum

Swipe to appreciate the details of this stunning print of the Canterbury Pilgrims. This is William Blake’s panoramic view of Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims, Copy 2 (Composed 1810). It is a print from the second plate, partly hand colored, possibly by Blake himself or his wife Catherine. While Blake only made a few prints during his lifetime, the plate was used for reprints beginning in 1881. Today, the original copperplate can be marveled at at the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut. © 2019 William Blake Archive

Look what a fine morning it is. _ Insects, Birds, & Animals, are all enjoying existence. Isn’t that what we all want to hear today, at the beginning of the astronomical spring? This is the frontispiece to Mary Wollstonecraft’s children’s book “Original Stories from Real Life; with Conversations, Calculated to Regulate the Affections, and Form the Mind to Truth and Goodness,” engraved by William Blake for the 1791 edition. © 2009 Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery

Page 55 of Francis Bacon’s “Essays Moral, Economical, and Political” annotated by our very own William Blake. Now available on our website (link in bio). What do you see? Copyright © 2026 University of Cambridge.

+++ NEW PUBLICATION +++ The edition of Francis Bacon’s Essays: Moral, Economical, and Political that Blake owned was published in 1798, and Bentley surmises the annotations may have been written shortly thereafter (Blake Books, 682). The English political climate was still filled with paranoia towards those with varying degrees of antiestablishment sentiments, especially considering the looming threat of the Napoleonic Wars. While Blake wrote poetically in the 1790s about revolutionary ideas in works such as The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and The French Revolution—the former issued unsigned and the latter dropped from publication by Joseph Johnson—we might speculate that he never imagined these bold annotations would be read by others at all. Just a handful of years later, Blake found himself, rather spuriously, on trial for sedition, thanks to his alleged retort about king and country to a loitering dragoon in his garden. Though he was acquitted, it goes to show that such confrontational words were taken seriously. We would like to point you to one highlight:: In the right margin of page 55, Blake comically, if not bitingly, sketched a long chain that terminates at the phrase „A King“ (Object 26). The top portion of the chain is now erased, but Bentley (Writings, 2: 1430) and Erdman (The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, 624) suggest it was once a drawing of „the Devils arse,“ irreverently connecting kingship to rather unholy origins. Some pages later, in response to Bacon’s governmental instructions to prevent sedition, Blake rails that „A Tyrant is the worst disease“ and „the Cause Of all others“ (Object 34). His wry sarcasm and indomitable spirit shine through the annotations here, which read like an uncensored debate between two fundamentally disparate thinkers. Whether Bacon’s Essays should be subject to such an appraisal is perhaps less interesting than noticing which ideas strike Blake as disingenuous. Find the whole document via this link /work/bb712 or via the link in our bio and the rubric “What’s new on the archive.” © 2026 University of Cambridge

Perhaps one of Blake’s most famous stanzas can be found in a poem never published during Blake’s time titled “Auguries of Innocence.” The stanza as originally inked by Blake’s hand can be found in the first image and reads as follows: “To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour” (L. 1-4) This stanza has served as inspiration for readers of Blake of all stripes by encouraging us to experience the fullness of life by building strong, individual relationships with the particular objects and creatures around us. This insight also acts as the guiding light for the rest of the poem, which explores many concerns that inform Blake’s thought before and after the poem’s composition between 1801-1803. One such topic is Blake’s thoughts on the sciences and empiricisms of the Romantic era. For some time, Blake’s vehement disdain for thinkers like Francis Bacon has prompted readers to believe that Blake held overall anti-scientific sentiments. Blake scholar Harry White pushes back against this sentiment in a 2005 article housed at @blakequarterly titled “Blake’s Resolution to the War Between Science and Philosophy.” White clarifies that it was only when natural philosophers “claimed to have discovered fixed and abstract laws” that potentially stifled new scientific discoveries that prompted Blake to critique these philosophers for developing "fictitious creations and not the stuff of real science” (122). White references the following couplet from “Auguries of Innocence” (seen in the second image of this post) to demonstrate this point: “The Emmets Inch & Eagles Mile / Make Lame Philosophy to smile” (L. 105-106). White interprets this couplet to be arguing that “one cannot conclude from observing a portion of existence, like the emmet’s inch, what the rest of the world, like the eagle’s mile, will be like” (120). In other words, one must see in the individual eagle and individual emmet (which in Blake’s time referred to the ant) a whole “World” and “Eternity” in every being in itself. © 2011 Morgan Library and Museum.

Happy Valentine's Day ❤️ from the Blake Archive team