style="font-size:15px;"> 47
The Eagle and the Child. (1802). Indian-ink drawing for illustration to Hayley’s Ballad.
48 The Death of the Virgin. Water-colours.
49 The Death of Saint Joseph. Water-colours.
50 The Rainbow over the Flood. Indian-ink.
51 The Three Maries at the Sepulchre. (1803). Water-colours
52 Nelson guiding Leviathan. Tempera.
53 Mary Magdalen washing the Feet of Jesus. Water-colours
54 Ruth and Naomi. Water-colours.
55 David delivered out of Many Waters. Water-colours
56 Page 4 of Milton. (1804). Coloured print.
57 Page 36 of Milton. (1804). Blake’s Cottage at Felpham. Coloured print
58 Page 38 of Milton. (1804). Coloured print.
59 Design on page 8 of Jerusalem. (Begun 1804). Uncoloured
60 Design on page 28 of Jerusalem. Uncoloured.
61 Page 31 of Jerusalem. Uncoloured
62 Page 35 of Jerusalem. Uncoloured.
63 Design on page 41 of Jerusalem. Uncoloured.
64 Page 70 of Jerusalem. Uncoloured.
65 Page 76 of Jerusalem. Uncoloured.
66 The River of Life. Water-colours.
67 Fire. Water-colours
68 Famine. (1805). Water-colours
69 Dedication to the Queen, for Blair’s Grave. (1806). Pencil and tint (not engraved).
70 Satan watching the Endearments of Adam and Eve (Paradise Lost). (1806). Water-colours.
71 The Finding of Moses. Water-colours.
72 The Infant Jesus praying. Water-colours.
73 The Woman taken in Adultery. Water-colours.
74 The Burial of Moses. Water-colours.
75 The Temptation. Water-colours
76 The Ascension. Water-colours
77 Angels hovering over the Body of Jesus. (1808). Water-colours
78 The Angel rolling away the Stone from the Sepulchre. (1808). Water-colours
79 Jacob’s Ladder. (1808). Water-colours.
80 The Creation of Eve (Paradise Lost). Water-colours.
81 Queen Catherine’s Dream. Water-colours
82 The Judgment of Paris. (1817). Water-colours.
83 Four Subjects from A. Phillips’ Imitation of Virgil’s First Eclogue. (1821). Woodcuts, first state.
84 Four Subjects from A. Phillips’ Imitation of Virgil’s First Eclogue. (1821). Woodcuts, first state.
85 The Wise and Foolish Virgins. (1822). Water-colours
86 Mirth. Design for Milton’s L J Allegro. Stipple-engraving
87 The Fire of God is fallen from Heaven. Job, pi. 3. Line-engraving.
88 Then a Spirit passed before my Face. Job, pi. 9. Line-engraving
89 I am Young and Ye are Very Old. Job, pi. 12. Line-engraving
90 The Lord answering Job out of the Whirlwind. Job, pi. 13. Line-engraving
91 The Morning Stars singing together. Job, pi. 14. Line-engraving.
92 Job and his Daughters. Job, pi. 20. Line-engraving.
93 Study for Job and his Daughters. (A different design). Pencil and Indian-ink.
94 So the Lord blessed the Latter End of Job. Job, pi. 21. Line-engraving
95 Satan smiting Job. Tempera
96 The Tempter (Paradise Regained), No. 7. Water-colours
97 The Tempter Foiled (Paradise Regained), No. 10. Water-colours
98 Paolo and Francesca. Dante, Inferno, Canto V. Line-engraving, first state
99 The Falsifiers. Dante, Inferno, Canto XXIX. Line-engraving, first state
100 Lucia carrying Dante in his sleep. Dante, Purgatorio, Canto IX. Water-colours
101 The Angel in the Boat. Dante, Purgatorio, Canto II. Pencil and slight colour-wash.
102 The Earthly Paradise: Beatrice in the Car. Dante, Purgatorio, Canto XXIX. Water-colours
103 Portrait of Mrs. Blake. Lead pencil.
104 Portrait of William Blake at work, 1820. By John Linnell. Lead pencil
105 Portrait of William Blake on Hampstead Heath, 1821. By John Linnell. Lead pencil
Introduction by Laurence Binyon
FOR the sale of the Linnell collection of drawings, prints and books by Blake, the great room at Christie’s was full to overflowing. It was March of 1918. Copies of the Songs of Innocence, of the Marriage of Heaven and Hell; the set of water-colour designs for The Book of Job; the famous century of Dante illustrations; single drawings and rare prints; all were fetching or going to fetch hitherto unparalleled prices. Competition ran high, the excitement of the bidders was infectious. In the middle of the sale Lot 171 was announced; and observers on the edge of the crowd could see, lifted high in the hands of the baize-aproned, impassive attendant, a human mask, conspicuous in its white plaster. It was the life-mask of William Blake; and as those tense features were carried duly along the knots of dealers and bidders, who, pencil and catalogue in hand, threw up at it an appraising glance, the Ironic Muse could surely not have forborne a smile. The auctioneer invited bids, collecting from various quarters those imperceptible nods which give to auctions an air of magic and conspiracy; and still the white mask,
