Death's Door (engraved by Luigi Schiavonetti for Robert Blair's 'The Grave') by William Blake

Deaths Door (engraved by Luigi Schiavonetti for Robert Blairs The Grave) by William Blake

Death's Door (engraved by Luigi Schiavonetti for Robert Blair's 'The Grave')

William Blake

Please call us at 707-546-7352 or email artannex@aol.com to purchase this item.
Title

Death's Door (engraved by Luigi Schiavonetti for Robert Blair's 'The Grave')

 
Artist

William Blake

  1757 - 1827
Year
1808 / 1824 
Technique
engraving 
Image Size
9 1/2 x 5 7/16" image 
Signature
unsigned proof 
Edition Size
1824 printing? 
Annotations
 
Reference
MK 99 
Paper
antique-white wove 
State
published 
Publisher
Robert Cromek 
Inventory ID
MMAE147 
Price
$1,800.00 
Description

In October of 1805, Blake was commissioned by the engraver and would-be publisher Robert H. Cromek to prepare forty drawings illustrating Robert Blair's "The Grave" , a popular "Graveyard" school poem first published in 1743. Cromek planned to select twenty of these designs for a de luxe edition of the poem.

In Cromek's first prospectus of November 1805, Blake is named as both the designer and engraver of fifteen designs. The prospectus further states that "the original Drawings, and a Specimen of the Stile of Engraving, may be seen at the Proprietor's, Mr. Cromek." The "Specimen" is probably a white-line etching of Deaths Door. Its rugged and primitive boldness, coupled with public reaction to such a "Style of Engraving," apparently convinced Cromek to find another craftsman to engrave Blake's designs.

In a second prospectus, also of November 1805, Cromek announced that Luigi (or Louis) Schiavonetti would engrave twelve designs for the new edition. Blake had lost both the chance to introduce one of his highly individual graphic techniques into a commercial project and the potentially lucrative commission to engrave his own designs. His relationship with Cromek soon descended into anger and argument. The volume with Schiavonetti's engravings was not published until 1808.

 
Please call us at 707-546-7352 or email artannex@aol.com to purchase this item.