Blake’s works entered the library’s collections in 1795 at the founding of Union College. Among the first set of books acquired for the College that year was Lavater’s Essays on Physiognomy, which included four engravings by Blake. The five volume set in Special Collections, part of the First Purchase collection, is a replacement for the original copy. Not available at the William Blake Archive. Consult the book in Schaffer Library for more information.
The Fables were originally published in the 1720s, well before Blake’s lifetime, but they remained popular. Blake, on commission, contributed a number of engravings, based on designs by others, to this 1793 edition. It was donated to the library as part of the Cullen Bequest in 1974. Not available at the William Blake Archive. Consult the book in Schaffer Library for more information.
Ritson’s Select Collection of English Songs is divided into three volumes including an introduction, thematic sections, and “airs” or music for the songs. Blake’s engravings for this work were done on commission after designs by Thomas Stothard. The book was published by Joseph Johnson, who was part of a radical circle to which Blake also belonged. Johnson is believed to have published Blake’s first book of poetry, and it was probably he who was responsible for the commission, as he was for many of Blake’s other commissioned work. This book was donated to the library in 1951 by Water C. Baker, Union College Class of 1915. Not available at the William Blake Archive. Consult the book in Schaffer Library for more information.
Unlike many of Blake’s other early commissions, for the second edition of this work (which was first published in 1788), he was contracted to submit the designs as well as engrave those selected for the final publication. The six images in the 1791 edition are thus entirely Blake’s. Comparing them to commercial engravings that Blake based on designs by others, it is possible to see very clearly how Blake’s personal style and outlook differed, even when he was doing commercial work. Some of Blake’s designs for Original Stories from Real Life also relate to imagery in his illuminated works, which suggests that he detected rigidity even in the thinking of fellow radicals such as Mary Wollstonecraft. The copy in the Union College library was donated by Hans Rozendaal.
The title page for The Triumphs of Temper names the artist behind the “new original designs” for the illustrations, Maria Flaxman, as prominently as the poem’s author, William Hayley. Blake’s engravings for these designs caused friction within his circle of friends, but they remain one of the chief interests of this edition. The copy in the Union College library was donated by Hans Rozendaal.
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