Relief etching on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-blake-39" aria-label="More by William Blake" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">William Blake</a>
Songs Innocence TitlePage
Presented by Mrs John Richmond 1922
actions: postures and motions
adults
Blake, William, ‘Songs of Innocence and of Experience’, 1789
child
children
group
groups
leisure and pastimes
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
people
reading
recreational activities
sitting
tree
woman
paper print relief etching
20 April 2015 – 7 May 2017
2017-05-07
20 April 2015 – 7 May 2017
2017-05-07
2015-04-20
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2015-04-20
William Blake
Collection based display
‘Songs of Innocence’: Title-Page
image: 120 × 64 mm
Presented by Mrs John Richmond 1922
<p><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blake-songs-of-innocence-title-page-a00038" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>A00038</span></a> [from] <b><i>Songs of Innocence and of Experience</i>: Miscellaneous Pages</b> 1789 and 1794/1831 or later [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blake-songs-of-innocence-and-of-experience-infant-sorrow-a00035" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>A00035</span></a>-<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blake-songs-of-innocence-title-page-a00039" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>A00039</span></a>; complete]
<br/>
<br/><span>A00035</span>- A00039/ -</p>
<p>5 relief etchings, printed in grey
<br/>Presented by Mrs John Richmond 1922
<br/>PROVENANCE ?Mrs Blake; Frederick Tatham; his brother-in-law George Richmond, sold Christie's 29 April 1897 (in 147 with 22 other works; see no.2) £2.10.0 bt Dr Richard Sisley; his daughter Mrs John Richmond
<br/>LITERATURE Keynes <i>Bibliography</i> 1921, pp.114–28; Erdman <i>Illuminated Blake</i> 1974, pp.41–97, book repr.; Bentley <i>Blake Books</i> 1977, pp.364–432 no.139 (Tate works pp.371, 430); Bindman <i>Graphic Works</i>
1978, pp.468–9 nos.40–70, 474 nos.214–69, two books repr.
<br/></p>
<p>Blake published his <i>Songs of Innocence</i> on their own in 1789. In his prospectus <i>To the Public</i> of 10 October 1793 he advertised both <i>Songs of Innocence</i> and, as a separate item, <i>Songs of Experience</i>; however the separate title-page for <i>Songs of Experience</i> is dated 1794 (Keynes <i>Writings</i> 1957, p.208). Most though not all of the existing copies of <i>Songs of Experience</i> are bound up with <i>Songs of Innocence</i> with a joint titlepage reading <i>Songs of Innocence and of Experience Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul</i>; this is undated. In some of these joint copies certain poems originally included in <i>Songs of Innocence</i> are moved to <i>Songs of Experience</i>. Even within the two sets, the order of the poems was frequently altered.
<br/>
<br/><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blake-songs-of-innocence-and-of-experience-spring-a00037" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>A00037</span></a> is watermarked ‘1831’ and, as all these pages show the same palish grey inking and type of <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/paper" title="Glossary definition for 'Paper'"><span>paper</span></a>, all were presumably printed after Blake's death in 1827, probably by Frederick Tatham from the plates that Mrs Blake would have brought with her when she went to stay with him in September 1828, though not necessarily before her death on 18 October 1831.
<br/>
<br/>These works were formerly inventoried as nos.3694 vii, viii, vi, v, va and iv respectively.
<br/>
<br/><span>A00038</span> <b><i>Songs of Innocence</i>: Title-Page</b> 1789/1831 or later
<br/>
<br/>A 00038 /-
<br/>Relief etching, printed in grey 120×64 (4 3/4×2 7/8) on paper, irregular 245×201 (9 5/8×7 3/8)
<br/>
<br/>This title-page normally comes second in copies of <i>Songs of Innocence</i>, following the frontispiece, and third in the combined <i>Songs of Innocence and of Experience</i>.</p>
<p>
<br/><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Martin Butlin, <i>William Blake 1757-1827</i>, Tate Gallery Collections, V, London 1990
<br/>
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-22T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
actions: postures and motions adults Blake, William, ‘Songs of Innocence and of Experience’, 1789 child children group groups leisure and pastimes literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) people reading recreational activities sitting tree woman