The Marriage of Heaven and Hell - Softcover

Blake, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1540602613 ISBN 13: 9781540602619

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

Synopsis

RINTRAH roars and shakes his fires in the burden’d air,Hungry clouds swag on the deep. Once meek, and in a perilous pathThe just man kept his course alongThe Vale of Death.Roses are planted where thorns grow,And on the barren heathSing the honey bees. Then the perilous path was planted,And a river and a springOn every cliff and tomb;And on the bleached bonesRed clay brought forth:Till the villain left the paths of easeTo walk in perilous paths, and driveThe just man into barren climes. Now the sneaking serpent walksIn mild humility;And the just man rages in the wildsWhere lions roam. Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden’d air,Hungry clouds swag on the deep. As a new heaven is begun, and it is now thirty-three years since its advent, the Eternal Hell revives. And lo! Swedenborg is the angel sitting at the tomb: his writings are the linen clothes folded up. Now is the dominion of Edom, and the return of Adam into Paradise.—See Isaiah xxxiv. and xxxv. chap. Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence. From these contraries spring what the religious call Good and Evil. Good is the passive that obeys reason; Evil is the active springing from Energy

About this title

Review:

“A leading American Blake scholar once described the prospect of editing "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" as ‘a swamp filled with gators;’ Michael Phillips has navigated his way with great skill through the problems of chronology, textual unity, technique, contemporary context and significance of Blake''s strikingly witty, sardonic, quirky, cryptic product of his unique combination of text and illustration in his illuminated books. As well as the facsimile of Copy B, one of the earliest of the nine known copies of the book, there are twenty-one valuable supplementary color plates of comparable pages from other copies, including a full run of Plate 14 as it occurs in the nine copies produced between 1793 to the year of his death, 1827. The detailed commentary discusses both text and illustrations, and in the case of the illustrations is most helpfully accompanied by appropriate details from Blake''s designs.” — Martin Butlin, formerly Keeper of the British

“This edition of one of Blake’s most potent and provocative books will give great pleasure both to Blake enthusiasts and to those new to his work.”—Tracy Chevalier
--Tracy Chevalier

“This is an excellent scholarly edition of one of Blake’s most fascinating works, likely to become the defining text for generations to come. No one knows as much about Blake’s work in this period as Michael Phillips and he uses his knowledge of the text, its context, and Blake’s printing techniques to open up the question of what Blake thought he was doing with "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell".” —John Mee
--John Mee

A leading American Blake scholar once described the prospect of editing "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" as a swamp filled with gators; Michael Phillips has navigated his way with great skill through the problems of chronology, textual unity, technique, contemporary context and significance of Blake's strikingly witty, sardonic, quirky, cryptic product of his unique combination of text and illustration in his illuminated books. As well as the facsimile of Copy B, one of the earliest of the nine known copies of the book, there are twenty-one valuable supplementary color plates of comparable pages from other copies, including a full run of Plate 14 as it occurs in the nine copies produced between 1793 to the year of his death, 1827. The detailed commentary discusses both text and illustrations, and in the case of the illustrations is most helpfully accompanied by appropriate details from Blake's designs. Martin Butlin, editor of "The Complete Paintings and Drawings of William Blake"
--Martin Butlin"

This edition of one of Blake s most potent and provocative books will give great pleasure both to Blake enthusiasts and to those new to his work.
--Tracy Chevalier"

This is an excellent scholarly edition of one of Blake s most fascinating works, likely to become the defining text for generations to come. No one knows as much about Blake s work in this period as Michael Phillips and he uses his knowledge of the text, its context, and Blake s printing techniques to open up the question of what Blake thought he was doing with "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell." John Mee
--John Mee"

"A leading American Blake scholar once described the prospect of editing The Marriage of Heaven and Hell as 'a swamp filled with gators;' Michael Phillips has navigated his way with great skill through the problems of chronology, textual unity, technique, contemporary context and significance of Blake's strikingly witty, sardonic, quirky, cryptic product of his unique combination of text and illustration in his illuminated books. As well as the facsimile of Copy B, one of the earliest of the nine known copies of the book, there are twenty-one valuable supplementary color plates of comparable pages from other copies, including a full run of Plate 14 as it occurs in the nine copies produced between 1793 to the year of his death, 1827. The detailed commentary discusses both text and illustrations, and in the case of the illustrations is most helpfully accompanied by appropriate details from Blake's designs." -- Martin Butlin, editor of The Complete Paintings and Drawings of William Blake

--Martin Butlin

"This edition of one of Blake's most potent and provocative books will give great pleasure both to Blake enthusiasts and to those new to his work."

--Tracy Chevalier

"This is an excellent scholarly edition of one of Blake's most fascinating works, likely to become the defining text for generations to come. No one knows as much about Blake's work in this period as Michael Phillips and he uses his knowledge of the text, its context, and Blake's printing techniques to open up the question of what Blake thought he was doing with The Marriage of Heaven and Hell." --John Mee

--John Mee

About the Author:

Michael Phillips, formerly Reader in the Department of English and Related Literature, is now Honorary Fellow of the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies, University of York. He has published extensively on Blake and was guest curator of major exhibitions of Blake held in London, New York, and Paris.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1540602613
• ISBN 13: 9781540602619
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 28