"I KNOW THEE, I HAVE FOUND THEE, & I WILL NOT LET THEE GO": FINE TRIANON PRESS LIMITED FACSIMILE EDITION OF WILLIAM BLAKE'S ILLUMINATED MASTERPIECE, AMERICA
BLAKE, William. America: a Prophecy [facsimile]. (London: The Trianon Press, for the William Blake Trust, 1963). Folio (11 by 14-1/2 inches), original half navy morocco, marbled boards, top edge gilt, publisher's matching marbled slipcase. $1250.
Fine Trianon Press limited edition facsimile of one of William Blake's first illuminated books, number 325 of 480 copies (from a total edition of only 526) on Arches paper, finely reproducing in color the 18 leaves of Blake's illustrated poem. Printed for The William Blake Trust from trustee Paul Mellon's original 1793 volume, one of only four colored copies extant. With bibliographical note by Blake expert Geoffrey Keynes.
"America a Prophecy, also dated 1793, was the first of Blake's 'Continental Prophecies' that continued through Europe (1794) and concluded, somewhat diminished, in The Song of Los (1795), divided into sections entitled 'Africa' and 'Asia'. The designs in these books extend beyond direct illustration to establish their own iconographic drama. The texts intermingle figures real (Washington, Franklin) and fictive (Enitharmon, Rintrah), places local (Great George Street) and biblical (Mount Sinai). Blake alludes to contemporary events, but he typically seeks for their ancient origins and millennial conclusions" (ODNB). "America (1793), the first book with 'Lambeth' on the title page, is in subject the third of the series in which Los, who is both Time and the Poetic Spirit, plays upon his four harps, the four continents. The Preludium tells in allegory how the spirit of Man must be freed by revolt… Then follows 'A Prophecy,' or symbolic poem, describing the American Revolution. Washington, supported by Franklin, Paine, and the others, protests against the tyranny of England: the spirit of Revolt is born… England tries to crush the spirit of liberty, but finds in dismay that it is awakening even on her own shores" (Wilson, The Life of William Blake, 81-82). Bentley, Blake Books 9. Bookplate.
Fine condition.