30 June 2004
The William Blake Archive <www.blakearchive.org> is pleased to announce
the publication of electronic editions of _Visions of the Daughters of
Albion_, copy A (British Museum) and proof copy a (Library of Congress).
Like all the illuminated books in the Archive, both the texts and images
of these new publications are fully searchable and are supported by our
Inote and ImageSizer applications.
Like copies C and J, previously published in the Archive, copy A was
produced in Blake's first printing session for _Visions_ in 1793.
Probably to lend variety to his stock of copies on hand, Blake used three
ink colors in this first printing: yellow ochre (as in copy A), raw sienna
(copy C), and green (copy J). All three copies exemplify his use of
semi-transparent washes to color his illuminated books in the early 1790s.
Like several other illuminated books in the British Museum collection, the
leaves of copy A are mounted close to the image in windows cut in thick
paper. The inner edges of these mounts appear in some of our
reproductions.
Proof copy a is an unusual, and probably fragmentary, remnant of Blake's
typical proofing of his illuminated prints in black ink (which takes on a
brownish hue when thinly printed). This group of just 6 proofs was
printed in 1793; they are probably the earliest extant impressions of
_Visions of the Daughters of Albion_. All but the frontispiece and title
page have been trimmed within the platemarks to the designs only. Blake
very probably printed the entire plates, to check the progress of his
work, and a later owner was responsible for trimming off the texts. Yet,
even if reduced after they left Blake's hands, these impressions offer a
glimpse into his etching and printing methods.
As always, the William Blake Archive is a free site, imposing no access
restrictions and charging no subscription fees. The site is made possible
through the continuing support of the Library of Congress, the Institute
for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia,
by a major grant from the Preservation and Access Division of the National
Endowment for the Humanities, by the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, and by the cooperation of the international array of
libraries and museums that have generously given us permission to
reproduce works from their collections in the Archive.
Morris Eaves, Robert N. Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, editors
Andrea Laue, technical editor
The William Blake Archive
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