DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31843#0092
ENGRAVED DESIGNS OF WILLIAM BLAKE
(Wicksteed). Above are the seraphs of the stars in the “ realm of
pure spirit ” (Damon) or “ the Sons of God, the poetic emanations
of the Divine-Human Imagination ” (Wicksteed). In the margin
are the Six Days of Creation, and below, Leviathan (Nature) in the
sea of Time and Space.
7l x5l in-
See reproduction, Plate 27.
First State : Before the marginal design. Reproduced by Russell,
p. 110.
Second State : Before the imprint and date. The edge of the cloud
under the serpents is white.
Third State : With Blake's imprint and date. The cloud under the
serpents is shaded.
In neither of the water-colour designs, nor in the pencil study made
for the engraving, are there more than four seraphim. The lifted
arms at either side, suggesting infinity, were only introduced in the
engraving.
120. Illustration XV. “ Behold now Behemoth which I made with
THEE.”
God with his left hand points out to Job and his friends, who still
sit in the starry night under the roofing cloud, the globe beneath them
and within it Behemoth, the Might of the Land, and Leviathan, the
Might of the Sea. Angels float on either side of the Deity. In the
margin below are sea-shells, with inverted shapes of eagles above
them. Above, on each side, are winged old men writing in books of
the law. These last recall the figure of Urizen, who in the Prophetic
Books is responsible for the Creation, which is illusion and evil; and
the position of the eagles seems to suggest the temporary domination
of the powers of Urizen over genius or imagination.
7fX 5! in.
First State : Before imprint and date. The white foam round
Leviathan is only partly shaded.
Second State : With Blake's imprint and date. The foam is covered
with light wavy lines.
In the companion pictures, now in the National Gallery, of Pitt
and Nelson, the same symbols of Behemoth and Leviathan are
used; Pitt guides the forces of the land, Nelson the forces of
the sea.
72
(Wicksteed). Above are the seraphs of the stars in the “ realm of
pure spirit ” (Damon) or “ the Sons of God, the poetic emanations
of the Divine-Human Imagination ” (Wicksteed). In the margin
are the Six Days of Creation, and below, Leviathan (Nature) in the
sea of Time and Space.
7l x5l in-
See reproduction, Plate 27.
First State : Before the marginal design. Reproduced by Russell,
p. 110.
Second State : Before the imprint and date. The edge of the cloud
under the serpents is white.
Third State : With Blake's imprint and date. The cloud under the
serpents is shaded.
In neither of the water-colour designs, nor in the pencil study made
for the engraving, are there more than four seraphim. The lifted
arms at either side, suggesting infinity, were only introduced in the
engraving.
120. Illustration XV. “ Behold now Behemoth which I made with
THEE.”
God with his left hand points out to Job and his friends, who still
sit in the starry night under the roofing cloud, the globe beneath them
and within it Behemoth, the Might of the Land, and Leviathan, the
Might of the Sea. Angels float on either side of the Deity. In the
margin below are sea-shells, with inverted shapes of eagles above
them. Above, on each side, are winged old men writing in books of
the law. These last recall the figure of Urizen, who in the Prophetic
Books is responsible for the Creation, which is illusion and evil; and
the position of the eagles seems to suggest the temporary domination
of the powers of Urizen over genius or imagination.
7fX 5! in.
First State : Before imprint and date. The white foam round
Leviathan is only partly shaded.
Second State : With Blake's imprint and date. The foam is covered
with light wavy lines.
In the companion pictures, now in the National Gallery, of Pitt
and Nelson, the same symbols of Behemoth and Leviathan are
used; Pitt guides the forces of the land, Nelson the forces of
the sea.
72