http://www.vu.union.edu/~blake/artisan.html
Further information (more than most of us want to know) can be found in this excellent example of digital scholarship:
http://www.rochester.edu/College/ENG/blake/inquiry/enhanced/index.html
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
How did Blake make those plates?
http://www.vu.union.edu/~blake/artisan.html
Further information (more than most of us want to know) can be found in this excellent example of digital scholarship:
http://www.rochester.edu/College/ENG/blake/inquiry/enhanced/index.html
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Any idea as to why Blake printed with plates? It seems to be more work than sketching/painting/writing directly on the pages. Perhaps I am wrong, but I was curious. Thanks! This was a very interesting read.
ReplyDeleteGood q, Eva. You've flagged the curiosity of Blake's project: why spend so much time making something that seems so little used (given that Blake printed copies of his Songs piecemeal over several years)?
DeleteThe title page and "Introduction" poem to _Songs of Innocence_ signal Blake's ambition to disseminate his work (somewhat?) widely, though economic and popular realities hindered that project. Simply put, making the plates is a sign that Blake's hope that there's be a large enough audience for the book that he'd need to be able to reprint multiple (fairly) identical copies. By making the plates himself, moreover, he retains control over the ability to print his work -- rather than the usual practice of effectively selling one's writing and, frequently, copyright to a printer who would then control the printing process (esp. if the printer now owns the copyright).
To me, Blake's plate-printing + watercoloring technique represents a fascinating transitional moment: Blake is inventing his own means of relief-etching BUT that process still won't allow him to print ALL of the colors at once (as one would be able to do by the middle of the nineteenth century). We should note that Blake is not alone is water-coloring his book: other artists are doing the same for other kinds of books such as works of natural history. More info (if interested) can be found here:
http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/color/
The links at the bottom of the page ("Intaglio, etc.) are worth following, even if briefly.
Other thoughts on Blake's plates (read: general discussion now open...)
Oh, that helps a great deal. Thank you. I didn't think of his designing his own plates as a way of keeping his work unique to himself. His hope you pointed is one most authors/artist would hold, so it makes sense he would devote himself to such labor in the hope of public demand.
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