£1,495.00
BLAKE (William). The Writings of William Blake. Edited in Three Volumes by Geoffrey Keynes. London: The Nonesuch Press, 1925. Three volumes.
A handsome complete three-volume Nonesuch Press edition of the writings of William Blake, edited by the distinguished Blake scholar and bibliographer Geoffrey Keynes.
The set is attractively produced in the characteristic manner of the early Nonesuch Press, bound in vellum-backed marbled boards with gilt lettering to the spines and retaining broad, uncut margins. Illustrated throughout with reproductions of Blake’s work, including a striking portrait after the life mask made by Deville in 1823 and reproductions of Blake’s visionary designs.
The bindings show the natural toning, marking and surface variation associated with vellum, with some rubbing and wear visible to the extremities. Internally the volumes present well, with the substantial handmade-style paper and generous typography giving the set considerable presence.
A desirable combination of Blake, Geoffrey Keynes and the Nonesuch Press, bringing together literary importance, scholarship and fine press book production.
Year: 1925
Edition: Nonesuch Press edition; complete in three volumes
Publisher: The Nonesuch Press, 16 Great James Street, London
Few figures in English culture unite poetry and visual art as completely as William Blake. Poet, engraver, painter and visionary, Blake created an intensely personal imaginative world that was only gradually recognised as one of the great achievements of the Romantic age.
This 1925 edition occupies an important place in the twentieth-century rediscovery of Blake. Its editor, Geoffrey Keynes, became one of the foremost Blake scholars and bibliographers of his generation, helping establish reliable texts and a clearer understanding of Blake’s extraordinarily complicated body of work.
The choice of the Nonesuch Press was particularly appropriate. Founded only a few years earlier, Nonesuch sought to combine the traditions of the private press with the technical capabilities of commercial printing. The resulting books are celebrated for typography, paper, illustration and design without abandoning the practical form of the printed book.
Here Blake’s writings are given the physical treatment they deserve: three substantial volumes, generous margins, marbled boards, vellum spines and illustrations drawn from his artistic legacy.
It is not simply an edition of Blake’s writings, but an artefact from the period in which Blake’s reputation was being firmly established for a modern readership.
This set has several strong collecting points:
