Lot 96
Blake, William
Illustrations of the Book of Job
Auction: 16 June 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
Invented & Engraved by William Blake. London: Printed as the Act Directs March 8th: 1825 by William Blake. [i.e., 1874].
Complete set of an 1874 re-issue of 22 line-engravings by Blake (title-leaf and 21 plates, without the word ‘Proof’) on china paper (20.6 x 15.4 cm, sizes vary slightly), mounted on unmarked wove paper sheets (50.5 x 34.5cm, sizes vary slightly), one of a set of 100 copies printed by Blake's friend John Linnell in 1874, loose inside a standard 20th-century artist's portfolio, each leaf inside folded sheet of tissue paper, very light spotting to some of the plates and to the wove paper sheets, with later (loose) blue wrappers with details of the original label for the 1826 printing written in ink on front cover [Bentley, Blake Books, 421]
Footnote
The engravings were originally commissioned in 1823 by John Linnell, but not published until March 1826. The plate numbered ‘1’ was dated 1828 by mistake, all the others were dated 1825. The original printing consisted of 150 ‘Proof’ copies on india paper, along with 65 French paper ‘Proofs’, and 100 plain copies on drawing paper. According to Linnell's son, ‘my father considered the plates at the last [1874] were as good as they ever were, for the work being cut by a graver, and not etched, it is durable - and is not worn by the printing as is the case with an etching’ (Bentley p.523).