"TRULY MY SATAN THOU ART BUT A DUNCE"

BLAKE, William. The Gates of Paradise. For Children. For the Sexes. London: Trianon Press, 1968. Three volumes. Octavo and 12mo, original red cloth; housed in the original matching slipcase. $1200.

Limited edition, number 448 of 700 copies (out of a total of 726 copies), of these facsimiles of the two versions of Blake's Gates of Paradise, with a separate volume of commentary and reproductions of Blake's preliminary sketches.

The first iteration of this book of emblematic images for children was produced by Blake in 1793; years later, around 1818 he returned to the plates, re-engraving them and adding three more. "The original plan was to publish a facsimile of the single volume, For Children–The Gates of Paradise, with the usual short bibliographical statement. However, the book seemed incomplete without Blake's later states of the engravings, to which he gave a new title, For the Sexes, and added three plates. It then appeared of interest to shew Blake's preliminary sketches from the Notebook, and these are reproduced in the present volume. For good measure, we have added to the facsimile volumes various early states and examples of different inkings." Bookplate.

Fine condition.