Trianon facsimile of Blake's Poems of Gray

Heading: (Blake, William - Trianon Press)
Author:
Title: William Blake's Water-Colour Designs for the Poems of Thomas Gray
Place Published: London
Publisher:The Trianon Press for the William Blake Trust
Date Published: 1972
Description: 3 volumes. Introduction and commentary by Geoffrey Keynes. With 116 color facsimile plates after designs by William Blake. (Folio) original tan quarter-morocco and marbled paper-covered boards, spines lettered in gilt, Each volume housed in a leather-lipped marbled paper-covered slipcase. No. 443, one of the 100 copies reserved for Paul Mellon (numbered 389-488) from a total edition of 518 copies.A resplendent Trianon facsimile from the original in the collection of Mr. Paul Mellon. The painstaking stencil coloring process brought the work to vibrant life in contrast to the 1922 monochrome facsimile published by the Oxford University Press. "It has often been pointed out that Blake devoted his pictorial art almost entirely to the illustration of written works, notably the Bible and the poems of Milton, so that he was what is commonly called a 'literary artist', a term sometimes used in a derogatory sense. This is, however, in no way a belittlement of Blake's renown as an artist. He did, in fact, uniquely combine the arts of painting and poetry, the chief manifestation of this being seen in his series of Illuminated Books beginning with Songs of Innocence, 1789, and ending with Jerusalem, 1818. He regarded the faculty of imagination as a divine gift serving to equate Man with God, and imagination could obviously be most fruitfully used in this combination of the arts." - Geoffrey Keynes, Introduction. Previous owner's return address label on front pastedowns, chops on front free endpapers.
Condition Report: Light wear to slipcases; some sunning to spines with a bit of discoloration; a few minor stains; near fine in near fine slipcases.