By William Blake
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Sale Catalogues of Blake's Works ftÄx VtàtÄÉzâxá Éy UÄt~x:á jÉÜ~á 1791-2013 A Catalogue Somewhat Raisonné By Toronto Spring 2013 1 Sale Catalogues of Blake's Works \Ç [ÉÅtzx àÉ `tÜà|Ç UâàÄ|Ç 2 Sale Catalogues of Blake's Works Table of Contents Dedication to Martin Butlin 2 Table of Illustrations 4 Introduction 5 Abbreviations and Symbols 7 Catalogues Number 1791-1799 8 9 1800-1809 21 12 1810-1819 29 20 1820-1829 28 29 1830-1839 31 41 1840-1849 21 53 1850-1859 28 62 1860-1869 28 84 1870-1879 25 102 1880-1889 45 113 1890-1899 69 139 1900-1909 77 166 1910-1919 114 193 1920-1929 125 230 1930-1939 92 277 1940-1949 63 319 1950-1959 59 345 1960-1969 50 360 1970-1979 110 371 1980-1989 67 402 1990-1999 64 423 2000-2009 34 445 2010-2013 15 461 1,023 3 Sale Catalogues of Blake's Works Table of Illustrations Illus. 1 Image of Francis Harvey's shop at 4 St James Street from A General Catalogue of Rare and Valuable Engraved Portraits On Sale by Francis Harvey (n.d.). Illus. 2 "??", from "William Blake's Original Sketch Book" reproduced in the catalogue of Stan V. Henkels, 21 November 1921, Lot 15. The sketch book "is probably the most important Blake item offered for sale in this country", with 50 original sketches by William Blake, together with "quite a number" by George Richmond; "all of Blake's sketches have that weird, mystical technique, which has never been even imitated by anybody since his death"; "the most skeptical would hesitate to pass an adverse opinion of them". The reproductions do not look at all like Blake, but they do look like George Richmond's work. Illus. 3 Letter from "W.B." of 24 April [1811] to John [Thomas] Smith, attributed confidently to "William Blake" by the auctioneer (American Art Association, 13-14 March 1928, Lot 27); I am confident that it is not by the poet and suggest instead William Beckford. Illus. 4 W.B., "Directions for Landscape Painting", last page, Anderson Galleries, Sale Number 2256 (3 April 1928), Lot 13. The handwriting and context are quite unlike those of the poet. 4 Sale Catalogues of Blake's Works \ÇàÜÉwâvà|ÉÇ Since 1951 I have been accumulating information about William Blake. Some of the information comes from sources which are ephemeral, such as sale catalogues, or difficult of access, such as archives in Canberra or Stoke-on-Trent. The information in this list derives chiefly from (1) my own records of thousands of catalogues (2) G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Books (1977) (3) Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake (1981) (4) Robert N. Essick, The Separate Plates of William Blake: A Catalogue (1983) (5) G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Book Supplement (1995) (6) G.E. Bentley, Jr, "William Blake and His Circle", Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly (1995 ff.). (7) G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Records, Second Edition (2004) The list excludes incidental advertisements, announcements,1 bibliographies, exhibitions,2 most Prospectuses for books with Blake’s commercial engravings,3 sale catalogues published after Blake's death listing books with his commercial engravings except for remarkable copies,4 and reviews (which often have prices). I have not recorded sales of the Butts-Blake print of "Christ Trampling on Satan" because all known copies were printed 1903 ff by Edward J. Shaw, the firm of E. Weyhe, and perhaps others. I also ignore engravings by William Staden Blake of 'Change Alley and "Windsor Castle" (I.B.-G. Maile), the companion to Blake's "Mrs Q", which was often hopefully attributed to Blake. 1 Such as the 15 announcements traced for Flaxman’s Hesiod engraved by Blake. 2 Such as those at the Royal Academy. 3 Such as that [1781] for Kimpton's History of the Holy Bible. 4 Such as coloured copies of Young's Night Thoughts (1797) and Blair’s Grave (1808). 5 Sale Catalogues of Blake's Works When a leaf has drawings on both sides, only the one on the recto is identified. Note that the "British Library" was before about 1980 known as the "British Museum Library" or usually "British Museum". The locations given for these sometimes very ephemeral catalogues represent only copies I have examined. The authority for the prices and buyers recorded here is not always clear. The Sotheby catalogues in the British Library, the Christie catalogues in Christie's, and the Quaritch catalogues in Quaritch's are generally the master copies and reliable, but the others may not be as worthy of trust. 6 Sale Catalogues of Blake's Works Abbreviations and Symbols ALS = Autograph Letter Signed BB = G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Books (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977) BBS = G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Books Supplement (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995) Blake = Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly <Bodley> Locations of the copies seen are given within angle brackets BR (2) = G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Records, Second Edition (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2004) Butlin # = Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1981), Vol. I, number Christie The master copies of Christie auctions are still in Christie's Essick, Sepa- Robert N. Essick, The Separate Plates of William rate Plates Blake: A Catalogue (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983) Europe [B] Letters following names of books by Blake, usually within square brackets, identifying that copy derive from BB g.e. Gilt edges, a standard bookseller's abbreviation Innocence Songs of Innocence Songs Songs of Innocence and of Experience Sotheby The master copies of Sotheby catalogues are in the British Library Victoria Uni- Most works so identified came from the Bentley versity in the Collection University of Toronto £15 Prices of works sold by auction usually derive from annotations in the copy seen; of course different copies 7 Sale Catalogues of Blake's Works may be differently annotated. Some prices derive from other sources, particularly Butlin or Book Prices Current 8 Sale Catalogues of Blake's Works 1791 John and Josiah Boydell,5 Second Part: New Prints, Lately Published by John and Josiah Boydell (London, 1791), p. 6 Hogarth's design for The Beggar's Opera engraved by "Blake" is listed in Hogarth's Works, the whole volume at £15.15.0. 1793 October 10 [William Blake] To the Public (London, 1793)6 “The following are the Subjects of the several Works now published and on Sale at Mr. Blake’s, No. 13, Hercules Buildings, Lambeth. “1. Job, a Historical Engraving. Size 1 ft. 7½ in. by 1 ft. 2 in.: price 11s. “2. Edward and Elinor, a Historical Engraving. Size 1 ft. 6½ in. by 1 ft. price 10s. 6d. “3. America, a Prophecy, in Illuminated Printing. Folio, with 18 designs. price 10s. 6d. “4. Visions of the Daughters of Albion, in Illuminated Printing. Folio, with 8 designs,7 price 7s. 6d. “5. The Book of Thel, a Poem in Illuminated Printing. Quarto, with 6 designs,8 price 3s. “6. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, in Illuminated Printing. Quarto, with 14 designs,9 price 7s. 6d. “7. Songs of Innocence, in Illuminated Printing. Octavo, with 25 designs, price 5s.10 5 No. 90, Cheapside, and at the Shakespeare Gallery, Pall-Mall. 6 No copy of Blake’s prospectus has been publicly recorded since it was printed by Alexander Gilchrist, Life of William Blake, “Pictor Ignotus” (1863), II, 263. 7 Visions of the Daughters of Albion has 8 large designs; Blake was not counting all 11 leaves. 8 The Book of Thel has 6 large designs but 8 leaves. 9 Marriage of Heaven and Hell has 27 prints 13 substantial designs on 27 leaves, but copy B has an extra plate of “Our End is Come”. 10 No copy of Innocence or Experience has 25 plates, and most copies of the combined Songs have 54 plates. 9 Sale Catalogues of Blake's Works “8. Songs of Experience, in Illuminated Printing. Octavo, with 25 designs, price 5s. “9. The History of England, a small book of Engravings.11 Price 3s. “10. The Gates of Paradise,12 a small book of Engravings. Price 3s. “The Illuminated Books are Printed in Colours,13 and on the most beautiful wove paper that could be procured. “No Subscriptions for the numerous great works now in hand are asked, for none are wanted; but the Author will produce his works, and offer them to sale at a fair price.”14 1794 John and Josiah Boydell,15 A Catalogue of Historical Prints, Various Subjects, Landscapes, Sea Pieces, Views, &c. After the Most Capital Pictures in England. Engraved by the Most Celebrated Artists. Part II (London, 1794) A Catalogue of the Original Works of William Hogarth *104 Beggars Opera, - - - - 0 15 0" "N.B. The Prints marked * were never before inserted in this Collection". The price of the collected works of Hogarth is £17.17.0 11 Nothing more is known of “The History of England”. 12 For Children: The Gates of Paradise (1793), with 18 prints. 13 That is, printed in red or blue or green but not hand-coloured after printing. 14 In his letters of 9 June 1818 and 12 April 1827, Blake listed his works, mostly coloured 1818 1827 America £5.5.0 £6. 6.0 Europe £5.5.0 £6. 6.0 Visions of the Daughters of Albion £3.3.0 £5. 5.0 The Book of Thel £2.2.0 £3. 3.0 Songs of Innocence £3.3.0 } Songs of Experience £3.3.0 } £10.10.0 First Book of Urizen £5.5.0 £6.