"THE GUARDIAN PRINCE OF ALBION BURNS IN HIS NIGHTLY TENT": FINE TRIANON PRESS FACSIMILE OF BLAKE'S ILLUMINATED THE SONG OF LOS
BLAKE, William. The Song of Los [facsimile]. (London: The Trianon Press for the William Blake Trust, 1975). Folio (9-1/2 by 13 inches), original half brown morocco, marbled boards. Housed in original matching marbled slipcase. $850.
Limited edition of the renowned Trianon Press facsimile of Blake's etched book The Song of Los, number 52 of 400 copies (from a total edition of 458) printed on Arches paper, finely reproducing in color the eight leaves of Blake's illuminated poem. Printed for The William Blake Trust from the Lessing J. Rosenwald copy, with bibliographical note by Blake expert Geoffrey Keynes.
"The Song of Los, dated 1795 on the title page, is closely related to The Book of Urizen, 1794, to The Book of Los, 1795, and to The Book of Ahania, 1795, each describing some part of the cosmic tragedy… Five copies of The Song of Los have been recorded, two of them having been in the British Museum since the middle of the 19th century. One of these was formerly in the collection of Thomas Butts, so that the book was always known to students of Blake, though he did not include it in any list of his works. All copies contain the same series of eight plates, though their order varies… This copy [reproduced in this facsimile] is the only one containing any foliation by Blake" (Keynes, Commentary). "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). This is one of 400 printed on Arches paper made to match the paper used by Blake and bound in half morocco, from a total edition of 458 copies. With publisher's bifolio prospectus for this work laid in. See Bentley, Blake Books 137. Bookplate.
Fine condition.