America A Prophecy: With the Original Illustrations by William Blake

William Blake

May 2022 · DigiCat

About this ebook

America a Prophecy is a 1793 prophetic book by English poet and illustrator William Blake. It is engraved on eighteen plates, and survives in fourteen known copies. It is the first of Blake's Continental prophecies. America was one of the few works that Blake describes as "illuminated printing", those of which were either hand coloured or colour printed with the ink being placed on the copperplate before printed. Early sketches for America were also included in his notebook, which Blake used between 1790 and 1793. William Blake (1757 – 1827) was a British poet, painter, visionary mystic, and engraver, who illustrated and printed his own books. Blake proclaimed the supremacy of the imagination over the rationalism and materialism of the 18th-century. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age.

About the author

William Blake (1757–1827) was a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. An English poet, painter, and printmaker, Blake has left an indelible mark on the literary world with his unique blend of spiritual, visionary, and revolutionary themes. Born in London, he first made his mark as an engraver, but is more widely known for his poetry and prophetic works which include 'Songs of Innocence and of Experience' and 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.' 'America a Prophecy' (1793), a lesser-cited work amidst Blake's bibliography, is part of a series of continental prophecies and employs his idiosyncratic mythological framework to comment on the American Revolution, showcasing Blake's radical and nonconformist thinking. His works often express his critical view of the political and social oppression of his time and envision a new and more divine order. As a poet, Blake was mostly unacknowledged during his lifetime, but posthumously his work has been increasingly celebrated for its artistic creativity and depth of thought. His exploration of the spiritual and the corporeal, the mystical and the material, has earned him a position of considerable respect in both English literature and the broader realm of Western art. The visionary nature of Blake's writings and art render him not just a chronicler of his time but a continuing source of philosophical and artistic inspiration.