William Blake in the desolate market /
Bentley, G. E.,Jr.(Gerald Eades),1930-author.
"G.E. Bentley, Jr., the dean of Blake scholars, details the poet's occupations as a commercial engraver, print-seller, teacher, copperplate printer, painter, publisher, and vendor of his own books. In his early career as a commercial engraver, Blake was modestly prosperous, but thereafter his fortunes declined. For his most ambitious commercial designs, he made hundreds of folio designs and scores of engravings, but was paid scarcely more than twenty pounds for two or three years' work. His invention of illuminated printing lost money, and many of his greatest works, such as Jerusalem, were left unsold at his death. He came to believe that his 'business is not to gather gold, but to make glorious shapes.' William Blake in the Desolate Market is an investigation of Blake's labours to support himself by his arts. The changing prices of his works, his costs and receipts, as well as his patrons and employers are expertly gathered and displayed to show the material side of the artistic career in Britain's Romantic period."--Publisher's Web site.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-214) and index.
Introduction: Blake in the marketplace -- Blake as a commercial engraver, 1772-1827 -- "A blaze of reputation": The Mathew Salon and Poetical sketches (1783) -- The print shop, 1784-1785 -- Blake as a teacher, 1784-1827 -- The Blakes as printers, 1784-1827 -- Blake as a painter, 1779-1827 -- Blake as publisher of works in conventional typography -- Blake's works in illuminated printing, 1789-1827 -- Summary of Blake's career -- Appendix: Blake's patrons.
"G.E. Bentley, Jr., the dean of Blake scholars, details the poet's occupations as a commercial engraver, print-seller, teacher, copperplate printer, painter, publisher, and vendor of his own books. In his early career as a commercial engraver, Blake was modestly prosperous, but thereafter his fortunes declined. For his most ambitious commercial designs, he made hundreds of folio designs and scores of engravings, but was paid scarcely more than twenty pounds for two or three years' work. His invention of illuminated printing lost money, and many of his greatest works, such as Jerusalem, were left unsold at his death. He came to believe that his 'business is not to gather gold, but to make glorious shapes.' William Blake in the Desolate Market is an investigation of Blake's labours to support himself by his arts. The changing prices of his works, his costs and receipts, as well as his patrons and employers are expertly gathered and displayed to show the material side of the artistic career in Britain's Romantic period."--Publisher's Web site.
Blake, William, 1757-1827.
Blake, William, 1757-1827
Engravers
Poets, English
Issued also in electronic format.
William Blake in the desolate market.