Illustrations of the Book of Job

William Blake’s engraved illustrations of the Book of Job are masterpieces of intaglio art. Dated 1825 in the plate and published the following year, they were based on his watercolours of the same subject from 1806 (Morgan Library, New York) and 1821 (Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard). Unlike the watercolours, the prints have complex marginal decorations that comment upon the biblical text. They are among the most inspired and sublime artistic achievements of this visionary artist and poet of the British Romantic period. This handsome volume reproduces the Royal Academy’s copy of John Linnell’s 1874 printing, which comprised 100 copies on India paper laid on unmarked heavy paper. Katharine Dell, Professor of Old Testament Literature and Theology at the University of Cambridge, introduces the biblical text, and Joseph Viscomi, Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-editor of the Blake Archive, gives an account of the creation of Blake’s engravings. The 22 illustrations are reproduced at actual size from new photographs especially taken for this publication and are accompanied by a series of magnificent details of the prints.