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Auction archive: Lot number 141

BLAKE, William (1757-1827). Illustrations of the Book of Job . London: William Blake, 8 March 1825 [March 1826].

Auction 08.10.2001
8 Oct 2001 - 9 Oct 2001
Estimate
US$30,000 - US$50,000
Price realised:
US$44,650
Auction archive: Lot number 141

BLAKE, William (1757-1827). Illustrations of the Book of Job . London: William Blake, 8 March 1825 [March 1826].

Auction 08.10.2001
8 Oct 2001 - 9 Oct 2001
Estimate
US$30,000 - US$50,000
Price realised:
US$44,650
Beschreibung:

BLAKE, William (1757-1827). Illustrations of the Book of Job . London: William Blake 8 March 1825 [March 1826]. Large 2 o (431 x 327 mm). Engraved title and 21 numbered plates on India paper, mounted on paper watermarked "J. Whatman Turkey Mill 1825." Each plate marked "proof," plate size varying between 196 x 161mm. and 212 x 165mm. UNCUT in later 19th-century green boards, original printed paper label, dated March 1826, laid down on front flyleaf, blue cloth box with morocco lettering-piece. Provenance : purchased from John Howell, San Francisco, 2 November 1978. FIRST EDITION, THE INDIA-PAPER ISSUE LIMITED TO 150 COPIES, INTERNALLY AN EXTREMELY FINE, FRESH, UNCUT COPY. Although Blake had worked on designs relating to Job for over thirty-five years, his engravings were based on the 19 watercolours executed for Thomas Butts in 1805-06. He added two new designs to bring the total to 21, and at a late stage made borders to surround the central design, also adding inscriptions above and below. The work was commissioned by John Linnell who, having agreed to pay Blake £100, had actually paid him £150. 19. 3. by 30 October 1825. While Blake printed proofs of the plates in his own living-room at Fountain Court, Strand, the finished plates were run off at the press of James Lahee, a specialist copperplate printer. According to Linnell's Job accounts, there were 65 French paper "Proofs," 150 India paper "Proofs," and 100 plain copies on "Drawing paper" made after the word "Proof" had been erased from each plate. This supply was enough to last Linnell for almost 50 years. He printed 100 more sets of Job in 1874. India "Proof" sets were still in the family long after his death in 1882, and 68 sets of Job were memorably sold by the Linnell family at Christie's, 15 March 1918. In Job the pastoral imagery of Songs of Innocence (see lot 6) is reintroduced and used in much the same way to denote stability and happiness, and at the same time a form of limited perception. However, here God is not seen through a child's but through an adult's eyes. This is strongly emphasised in plate 1 where Job is seated beneath an oak with his wife, surrounded by their seven sons and three daughters. The disturbing and challenging feature of the illustrations, which remain small in scale though not so small as the Songs , is the remarkable likeness between Job and God. A further mirroring effect is achieved since Job's distress reflects Blake's own situation so closely, and the renewed kindness eventually shown to Job must reflect that of the young Linnell and his circle towards the artist. Bentley Blake Books 421A; Bentley Biography pp. 394-400; Keynes 55; Ray English 313.

Auction archive: Lot number 141
Auction:
Datum:
8 Oct 2001 - 9 Oct 2001
Auction house:
Christie's
New York, Rockefeller Center
Beschreibung:

BLAKE, William (1757-1827). Illustrations of the Book of Job . London: William Blake 8 March 1825 [March 1826]. Large 2 o (431 x 327 mm). Engraved title and 21 numbered plates on India paper, mounted on paper watermarked "J. Whatman Turkey Mill 1825." Each plate marked "proof," plate size varying between 196 x 161mm. and 212 x 165mm. UNCUT in later 19th-century green boards, original printed paper label, dated March 1826, laid down on front flyleaf, blue cloth box with morocco lettering-piece. Provenance : purchased from John Howell, San Francisco, 2 November 1978. FIRST EDITION, THE INDIA-PAPER ISSUE LIMITED TO 150 COPIES, INTERNALLY AN EXTREMELY FINE, FRESH, UNCUT COPY. Although Blake had worked on designs relating to Job for over thirty-five years, his engravings were based on the 19 watercolours executed for Thomas Butts in 1805-06. He added two new designs to bring the total to 21, and at a late stage made borders to surround the central design, also adding inscriptions above and below. The work was commissioned by John Linnell who, having agreed to pay Blake £100, had actually paid him £150. 19. 3. by 30 October 1825. While Blake printed proofs of the plates in his own living-room at Fountain Court, Strand, the finished plates were run off at the press of James Lahee, a specialist copperplate printer. According to Linnell's Job accounts, there were 65 French paper "Proofs," 150 India paper "Proofs," and 100 plain copies on "Drawing paper" made after the word "Proof" had been erased from each plate. This supply was enough to last Linnell for almost 50 years. He printed 100 more sets of Job in 1874. India "Proof" sets were still in the family long after his death in 1882, and 68 sets of Job were memorably sold by the Linnell family at Christie's, 15 March 1918. In Job the pastoral imagery of Songs of Innocence (see lot 6) is reintroduced and used in much the same way to denote stability and happiness, and at the same time a form of limited perception. However, here God is not seen through a child's but through an adult's eyes. This is strongly emphasised in plate 1 where Job is seated beneath an oak with his wife, surrounded by their seven sons and three daughters. The disturbing and challenging feature of the illustrations, which remain small in scale though not so small as the Songs , is the remarkable likeness between Job and God. A further mirroring effect is achieved since Job's distress reflects Blake's own situation so closely, and the renewed kindness eventually shown to Job must reflect that of the young Linnell and his circle towards the artist. Bentley Blake Books 421A; Bentley Biography pp. 394-400; Keynes 55; Ray English 313.

Auction archive: Lot number 141
Auction:
Datum:
8 Oct 2001 - 9 Oct 2001
Auction house:
Christie's
New York, Rockefeller Center
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