Blake's Poetry and Designs: Authoritative Texts, Illuminations in Color and Monochrome, Related Prose, Criticism
The major poetic and prose works of Blake are accompanied by his illuminations and selected criticism.
This generous selection from Blake's poems, prose, notebooks, marginalia, and letters is accompanied by many of Blake's illuminations for his own works, some in full color. The spelling and punctuation have been modified for greater intelligibility to modern readers.
Almost all of Blake's published writings are here, as well as most of his best shorter poems that remained in manuscript at his death, and much of his energetic prose. Of Blake's major epics, Milton is printed in full, in its longest version, Jerusalem is represented by selections amounting to one third of the complete poem, and The Four Zoas by briefer excerpts. All the other poetic works are presented complete.
The selection of criticism includes contemporary responses by Coleridge, Lamb, John Thomas Smith, Frederick Tatham, Henry Crabb Robinson, and Samuel Palmer. Modern critical essays are by T.S. Eliot, Northrop Frye, Jean Hagstrum, Robert F. Gleckner, Irene Tayler, Martin K. Nurmi, Martin Price, David V. Erdman, Harold Bloom, and E.J. Rose. Also provided are maps, a chronology of Blake's life and times, and a bibliography of Blake studies.
This is a book is quite good as most Norton Critical Editions are. It has a lot of what is needed by students for a course on Blake or, more likely, a course that spends part of a term on Blake.
It has some biographical material and some maps of England and London at the time Blake lived. There are also a good helping of black and white as well as color plates of Blake's illuminated works. The color plates are only good - the color is not produced beautifully. The student will only get an impression of the true power of Blake's artistry. However, a good teacher will point the student to the Blake Archive at:... so the students can see the works more completely with variants and in better color (if you have good video cards and monitors).
One of the best parts of this book begins on page 176 where working drafts are shown and compared to the final versions. There is also a nice selection of critical writing on Blake - criticism from Blake's time through the present. There is also a useful bibliography.
In some ways this is "Erdman Lite", but it is much more portable than Erdman and for an introductory course on Blake it is probably sufficient. I am glad that I have it in my library. --Reviewer: Craig Matteson from Ann Arbor, MI
