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0: SUGGESTIONS FOR READERS FOR OPTIMAL VIEWING
1: INTRODUCTION
2: BACKGROUND & CONTEXT
3: BLAKE'S COLOR PRINTING METHODS
4: THE TWO-PULL THEORY
5: THE ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST
TWO-PULL PRINTING
6: WHY "NURSES SONG"
WAS PRINTED TWICE
7: OCCAM'S RAZOR
8: POSTSCRIPT: SOME IMPLICATIONS
9: NOTES
10: LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
11:
WORKS CITED |
10:
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS |
1. William Blake, Industrious
Cottager. Stipple and line engraving after George Morland, color
printed. Platemark 27.3 x 30.5 cm. (all measurements are of platemarks
unless otherwise specified), 1788. Collection of Robert N. Essick.
2. William Blake, Industrious
Cottager. Stipple and line engraving after George Morland, color
printed. Platemark 27.3 x 30.5 cm., 1788. Collection of Robert N. Essick.
Detail showing the blending and overlapping of colors.
3. Elisha Kirkall, The
Holy Family. Mezzotint and chiaroscuro, 29.5 x 40.0 cm., 1724.
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.
4. John
Baptist Jackson, Descent from the Cross, after Rembrandt.
Chiaroscuro woodcut, 35.5 x 27.8 cm., 1738. Yale Center for
British Art, University Art Gallery Collection, Gift of Ralph Kirkpatrick.
5. Jacques
Christophe Le Blon, Van Dyck Self Portrait. Three-color mezzotint,
61.2 x 36.0 cm., c. 1720s. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon
Collection.
6. William
Blake, There is No Natural Religion copy C, plate a4. Relief
etching, 5.2 x 4.2 cm., etched 1788, color printed c. 1794. Lessing
J. Rosenwald Collection, Library of Congress. Rudimentary color
printing is present on the left hip and thigh of the standing figure.
7. William
Blake, The First Book of Urizen copy C, plate 18. Relief etching,
15.0 x 10.9 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
and pen and ink 1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.
8. William
Blake, Nurses Song (Experience). Relief etching,
11.1 x 6.9 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
and pen and ink 1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy
E, 1789/1794, with additional washes c. 1806. Huntington Library.
9. Jacques
Christophe Le Blon, Van Dyck Self Portrait. Three-color mezzotint,
61.2 x 36.0 cm., c. 1720s. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Detail, top
right corner, showing evidence of the second printing in the form of
a fine line along the right margin, created by one plate extending past
another.
10. Jacques
Christophe Le Blon, Narcissus. Three-color mezzotint 56.3 x 42.0
cm., c. 1720s. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Detail, bottom right corner,
showing evidence of the second printing in the form of a fine line along
the bottom margin, created by one plate extending past another.
11. Jacques
Fabian Gautier DAgoty. Myologie complette en couleur et grandeur
naturelle, Paris: Gautier, 1746, plate 3. Three-color mezzotint,
40.2 x 32.3 cm. Huntington Library. Detail, top right corner, showing
evidence of second plate and one of four pinholes.
12.
Jacques Fabian Gautier DAgoty, Observations sur lhistoire
naturelle, sur la physique et sur la peinture, 6 vols., Paris
1752-55, Tortuise, Observation XII. Three-color mezzotint,
20.5 x 14.6 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.
Detail, bottom right corner, showing evidence of second plate.
13.
Louis Bonnet, Head of a Young Girl Turned toward the Left.
Two-color stipple,
27.9 x 21.3 cm.,
1774. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.
14.
Louis Bonnet, Head of a Young Girl Turned toward the Left.
Two-color stipple, 27.9
x 21.3 cm., 1774.
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Detail, bottom left corner, showing the platemarks
of two plates and a pinhole in the framing line.
15. Elisha
Kirkall, The Holy Family. Mezzotint and chiaroscuro, 29.5 x 40.0
cm., 1724. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Detail of bottom left corner,
showing tonal block extending past image.
16.
John Baptist Jackson, Descent from the Cross, after Rembrandt.
Chiaroscuro woodcut, 35.5 x 27.8 cm., 1738. Yale Center for British
Art, University Art Gallery Collection, Gift of Ralph Kirkpatrick.
Detail, bottom left corner, showing yellow tonal block extending
below the outline of the key block.
17. John
Baptist Jackson, Holy Family and Four Saints, after Veronese.
Chiaroscuro woodcut, 56.0 x 34.5 cm., 1739. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Detail, bottom right corner, showing yellow tonal block extending
below the outline of the key block.
18. Infant
Sorrow. Line block cast from electrotype, 11.1 x 7.0 cm., printed
2001 by authors. Detail of text. Plate was printed twice and is slightly
out of focus in text.
19. Infant
Sorrow. Line block cast from electrotype, 11.1 x 7.0 cm., printed
2001 by authors. Detail of illustration. Plate was printed twice and
is slightly out of focus.
20. Infant
Sorrow. Line block cast from electrotype, 11.1 x 7.0 cm., printed
2001 by authors. Plate was printed twice and appears perfectly registered
to the naked eyebut see illustration 21.
21. Infant
Sorrow. Line block cast from electrotype, 11.1 x 7.0 cm., printed
2001 by authors. Detail. Image in illustration 20 looks fine to the
naked eye, but when magnified it reveals ghosting around the letters
created by one plate printed on top of itself.
22. Infant
Sorrow. Line block cast from electrotype, 11.1 x 7.0 cm., printed
2001 by authors. First impression of five from a plate inked once in
black ink. Detail. Magnification of the letters of a plate printed once
reveals sharp forms and the absence of ghosting.
23. William
Blake, The Fly. Relief etching, 11.8 x 7.3 cm., etched 1794,
color printed and finished in watercolors and pen and ink 1794. Songs
of Innocence and of Experience copy G, 1794. Collection of Robert
N. Essick. Detail of the letters of a plate color printed by Blake reveals
sharp forms and the absence of ghosting.
24. William
Blake, Nurses Song (Experience). Relief etching,
11.1 x 6.9 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy F, 1789/1794.
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Detail of top right corner showing embossment
of wiped border.
25.
William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell copy F, plate
21. Relief etching, 15.3 x 10.8 cm., 1790, color printed and finished
in watercolors and pen and ink c. 1794. Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. PML 63935.
Detail of embossment of relief lines into the paper, caused by pressure
sufficient to print from the shallows and relief simultaneously,
and of the fine white lines between shallows and relief lines caused
by the paper not picking up the color from the escarpments between
relief plateaus and etched valleys.
26. Infant
Sorrow. Line block cast from electrotype, 11.1 x 7.0 cm., printed
2001 by authors. Detail. Plate was printed twice, first with ink and
then without ink; the second printing shows up under magnification as
a slightly embossed halo around inked areas.
27a.
William Blake, The Lamb. Relief etching, 11.9 x 7.7 cm.,
etched 1789, printed and finished in watercolors 1789. Songs of Innocence
copy G, 1789. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Detail of bottom margin showing
traces of ink on and along border wiped of ink.
27b.
William Blake, The Lamb. Relief etching, 11.9 x 7.7 cm.,
etched 1789, printed and finished in watercolors 1789. Songs of Innocence
copy G, 1789. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Detail of right margin showing
traces of ink on and along border wiped of ink.
28. Infant
Sorrow. Line block cast from electrotype, 11.1 x 7.0 cm., printed
2001 by authors. Detail. Text of third impression printed from a plate
inked once in black ink is light and more reticulated than normal but
perfectly legible and acceptable.
29. William
Blake, The First Book of Urizen, plate 25, relief etching, 16.3
x 10.3 cm., etched 1794, proof impression color printed 1794, touched
with yellow watercolors. Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library,
Yale University. Detail, showing image printed in colors and before
being finished in watercolors and pen and ink, and showing the white
lines along the escarpments between shallows and relief areas.
30. William
Blake, The First Book of Urizen, plate 25, relief etching, 16.3
x 10.3 cm., etched 1794, proof impression color printed 1794. Keynes
Collection, Fitzwilliam Museum. Second impression from plate that produced
the Beinecke Library impression (illus. 29) without its being re-inked
or recolored. Detail. The colors replicate those in the first impression
but are lighter and thinner, and the white lines along the escarpments
between shallows and relief areas are more pronounced.
31. William
Blake, The First Book of Urizen copy C, plate 24, relief etching,
15.0 x 10.4 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
and pen and ink 1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.
32.
William Blake, The First Book of Urizen copy F, plate 24.
Relief etching, 15.0 x 10.4 cm., etched 1794, color printed and
finished in watercolors and pen and ink 1794. Typ 6500 42F, Department
of Printing and Graphic Arts, Houghton Library, Harvard College
Library.
33. William
Blake, Nurses Song (Experience). Relief etching,
11.1 x 6.9 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
and pen and ink 1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy
E, 1789/1794, with additional washes added c. 1806. Huntington Library.
Detail of top left border showing two plate border lines.
34a-b.
(a, top) William Blake, Europe a Prophecy copy H, plate 1.
Relief etching, 23.4 x 16.7 cm., etched 1794, printed 1795. Typ
6500 41 (A) F, Department of Printing and Graphic Arts, Houghton
Library, Harvard College Library. Detail showing that the fine white
lines between shallows and relief lines were caused by the inking
dabber accidentally depositing ink in the shallows and the paper
not picking up the ink from the escarpments between relief plateaus
and etched valleys.
(b, bottom)William
Blake, Europe a Prophecy, plate 1. Relief etching, 23.4 x
16.7 cm., etched 1794, printed c. 1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Detail of the same section of the plate as illustration 34a,
but the shallows of this impression were not accidentally blemished
with ink and hence the white line escarpments defined by the blemished
and relief areas are absent.
35. William
Blake, Europe a Prophecy copy H, plate 4. Relief etching,
23.6 x 17.1 cm., etched 1794, printed 1795. Typ 6500 41 (A) F, Department
of Printing and Graphic Arts, Houghton Library, Harvard College
Library. Detail of white escarpments in the bushes caused by ink
in the shallows that printed with the relief areas in one pull.
36. William
Blake, The First Book of Urizen copy D, plate 1. Relief etching,
14.9 x 10.3 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
and pen and ink 1794. British Museum. Detail showing printed colors
painted over inked relief lines of tree branches, with colors spilling
over on both sides of the relief lines.
37. William
Blake, The First Book of Urizen copy C, plate 24. Relief etching,
15.0 x 10.4 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
and pen and ink 1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Detail of right side
of the plate showing traces of color spilling over from relief areas
into margin.
38.
William Blake, The First Book of Urizen copy F, plate 24.
Relief etching, 15.0 x 10.4 cm., etched 1794, color printed and
finished in watercolors and pen and ink 1794. Typ 6500 42F, Department
of Printing and Graphic Arts, Houghton Library, Harvard College
Library. Detail of left side of the plate showing traces of color
spilling over from relief areas into margin.
39. William
Blake, America a Prophecy copy H, plate10. Relief etching, 23.5
x 16.7 cm., etched 1793, printed 1793. British Museum. Detail of bottom
right corner, showing droplets of ink spilling over into margin (similar
to that seen in some color prints) and white space between relief areas
and shallows that were accidentally inked. The fine white line at the
bottom is the sharp edge of the plate and the ink below the line is
from the side of the plate, which was picked up either because the paper
was especially damp and supple or the printing pressure was substantial
enough to force the paper around the side of the plate.
40. William
Blake, Europe a Prophecy copy H, plate 1. Relief etching,
23.4 x 16.7 cm., etched 1794, printed 1795. Typ 6500 41 (A) F, Department
of Printing and Graphic Arts, Houghton Library, Harvard College
Library. Detail of bottom edge of plate showing traces of ink spilling
over from relief areas, similar to the effect in some color prints,
but not indicative of two pulls from the plate.
41a.
William Blake, title plate, Songs of Experience. Relief etching,
12.4 x 7.2 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy T1,
1794. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
41b.
William Blake, title plate, Songs of Experience. Relief etching,
12.4 x 7.2 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy T1,
1794. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Detail of pillars and figures,
with gray color applied to paper to cover date.
42. William
Blake, The Song of Los copy E, plate 1. Relief etching, 23.4
x 17.3 cm., etched 1795, color printed and finished in watercolors 1795.
Huntington Library. Detail of opaque colors that appear color printed
but were applied to the impression over the printed colors.
43. William
Blake, The Fly. Relief etching, 11.8 x 7.3 cm., etched 1794,
color printed and finished in watercolors 1794. Songs of Innocence
and of Experience copy F, 1789/1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.
Detail of gray opaque colors applied to the impression over printed
colors. Copy F was printed in the same session as copy T1.
44a.
William Blake, The First Book of Urizen copy D, plate 1. Relief
etching, 14.9 x 10.3 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in
watercolors 1794. British Museum. Detail showing that ink mixes with
or shows through colors printed on top of it, but is covered by colors
brushed over it on the impression. Printed colors are reticulated, but
colors applied to the impression, like the gray between the tablets
and above the figure's head, are flatter and smoother and have more
opacity.
44b.
William Blake, The First Book of Urizen copy D, plate 1. Relief
etching, 14.9 x 10.3 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in
watercolors 1794. British Museum. Detail showing that the texture of
colors applied to the paper (the brush marks defining the edges of the
knees) is smooth while the texture of printed colors is reticulated.
Ink mixes with the colors printed on top of it, but opaque colors applied
to the impression cover the ink more thoroughly than colors printed
with and over the ink.
45. Infant
Sorrow. Line block cast from electrotype, finished in watercolors,
11.1 x 7.0 cm., from facsimile of Songs of Innocence and of Experience
copy B (1789/1794). Manchester Etching Workshop, 1983. The look and
feel of printed colors are replicated by opaque colors added to the
impression while the ink was still tacky.
46a.
William Blake, Experience title plates of Songs of Innocence
and of Experience copies F (top) and T1
(bottom). Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection (copy F) and National Gallery
of Canada, Ottawa (copy T1). Details
of pillars and figures in the two impressions, showing that they
share the same pattern of printed colors around the date. This shared
pattern indicates that the two impressions were printed in the same
session. The white escarpments, visible in the copy F impression,
were painted over in the copy T1
impression in the same gray color used to paint out the date.
46b.
William Blake, Experience title plate of Songs of Innocence
and of Experience copy G. Detail of pillars and figures, showing
the same pattern of printed colors as the impressions in copies
F and T1. Collection of Maurice
Sendak.
47. William
Blake, title plate, Songs of Experience. Relief etching, 12.4
x 7.2 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors 1794.
Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy T1,
1794. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Detail of pillars and figures,
computer enhanced by changing the contrast and midtones to reveal the
escarpments and other unprinted areas before they were painted over.
This pattern of color printing matches what we see in the Songs of
Innocence and of Experience copy F (illus. 46a) and copy G (illus.
46b) impressions, both printed in the same session with this copy T1
impression.
48.
William Blake, title plate, Songs of Experience. Relief etching,
12.4 x 7.2 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy T1,
1794. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Detail of top left corner
of sheet showing two specks in the paper and one of three stab holes
for the binding, but no pinhole.
49. Title
plate, Songs of Innocence. Line block cast from electrotype,
12.0 x 7.4 cm., printed with bottom sheet to register plate to paper.
Manchester Etching Workshop, 1983.
50. The
Lamb. Line block cast from electrotype, 11.9 x 7.7 cm., finished
in watercolors, from facsimile of Songs of Innocence and of Experience
copy B (1789/1794). Manchester Etching Workshop, 1983. The plate is
symmetrically aligned to paper wider than Blakes.
51. William
Blake, The Lamb. Relief etching, 11.9 x 7.7 cm., etched
1789, printed and finished in watercolors 1789. Songs of Innocence
copy G, 1789. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. The image is too low on the
page.
52. William
Blake, The Shepherd. Relief etching, 11.1 x 6.9 cm., etched
1789, printed and finished in watercolors 1789. Songs of Innocence
copy G, 1789. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. The image is too low on the
page and slants to the left.
53. William
Blake, The Little Boy Lost. Relief etching, 11.8 x 7.2 cm.,
etched 1789, printed and finished in watercolors 1789. Songs of Innocence
copy G, 1789. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. The image is too low on the
page, slants to the left, and is off center too far toward the spine.
54. William
Blake, The Fly. Relief etching, 11.8 x 7.3 cm., etched 1794,
color printed and finished in watercolors 1794. Songs of Innocence
and of Experience copy F, 1789/1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.
The mat surrounding the image compensates for its poor alignment to
the sheet of paper.
55. William
Blake, The Fly. Relief etching, 11.8 x 7.3 cm., etched 1794,
color printed and finished in watercolors 1794. Songs of Innocence
and of Experience copy F, 1789/1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.
With the mat lifted, the image can be seen to be too low on the page.
56. William
Blake, The Little Girl Lost. Relief etching, 11.2 x 6.6
cm., etched 1789, printed and finished in watercolors 1789. Songs
of Innocence and of Experience copy F, 1789/1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. The mat surrounding the image compensates for its poor
alignment to the sheet of paper.
57. William
Blake, The Little Girl Lost. Relief etching, 11.2 x 6.6
cm., etched 1789, printed and finished in watercolors 1789. Songs
of Innocence and of Experience copy F, 1789/1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Under the mat, the image can be seen to be too low on the
page and to slant to the left.
58. William
Blake, frontispiece and title plate, Songs of Innocence. Relief
etchings, 11.0 x 7.0 cm. and 12.0 x 7.4 cm., etched 1789, finished in
watercolors 1789. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy F,
1789/ 1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Under the mat, the sheets are
adjusted to make the poorly registered images appear aligned.
59. William
Blake, frontispiece and title plate, Songs of Innocence. Relief
etchings, 11.0 x 7.0 cm. and 12.0 x 7.4 cm., etched 1789, finished in
watercolors 1789. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy F,
1789/ 1794. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Images are matted to be displayed
as aligned facing pages.
60. William
Blake, Earths Answer. Relief etching, 11.7 x 7.2 cm.,
etched 1794, printed and finished in watercolors and pen and ink c.
1825. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy Z, c. 1825. Library
of Congress. Detail, showing misalignment of plate to paper and pen
and ink over text. The text slants dramatically to the left, but the
edges of the plate look more evenly aligned to the sheet because Blake
has painted new edges on the impression to disguise the printed ones,
as can be seen most clearly along the upper right margin and the top
margin on the left.
61.
William Blake, Laughing Song. Relief etching, 11.1 x
6.7 cm., etched 1789, printed and finished in watercolors and pen
and ink c. 1818. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy
V, c. 1818. Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. PML 62442. Detail,
bottom half of plate and frame, showing pencil and pen framing lines
and wash.
62. Title
plate, Songs of Innocence. Line block cast from electrotype,
12.0 x 7.4 cm., printed with bottom sheet to register plate to paper.
Manchester Etching Workshop, 1983. Detail, showing bold guide lines
and traces of ink along side of plate from previous position of the
plate on the bottom sheet.
63. William
Blake, Holy Thursday (Experience). Relief etching,
11.3 x 7.3 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy E, 1789/1794,
with additional washes c. 1806. Huntington Library. Detail of text
that printed well in yellow ochre ink.
64.
William Blake, The Tyger. Relief etching, 11.0 x 6.3
cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors 1794.
Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy E, 1789/1794, with
additional washes c. 1806. Huntington Library. Detail of text very
poorly printed and gone over completely in pen and ink. Note the
displacement between the lightly printed "C" of "Could"
(line 4 of the text) and the over-writing in pen and ink.
65. William
Blake, Nurses Song (Experience). Relief etching,
11.1 x 6.9 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
and pen and ink 1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy
E, 1789/1794, with additional washes c. 1806. Huntington Library. Detail
of top left corner, showing flecks of yellow ochre ink on top of green
color, proving that the yellow ochre was printed second.
66. William
Blake, Nurses Song (Experience). Relief etching,
11.1 x 6.9 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
and pen and ink 1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy
E, 1789/1794, with additional washes c. 1806. Huntington Library. Detail
of top left corner, electronically changing yellow ochre ink to red
on computer, using Adobe Photoshop software, to make it easier to see
that the yellow ochre ink lies on top of the green.
67. Title
plate, Songs of Innocence. Line block cast from electrotype,
detail of top of plate, 5 x 7.5 cm., printed 2001 by authors. The
word Songs was printed twice, first in green and second
in yellow ochre, but the green appears to be on top of the yellow
ochre and hence printed second. Recreates the illusion occurring
in Nurses Song of Songs copy E (see illus. 8).
68. William
Blake, Nurses Song (Experience). Relief etching,
11.1 x 6.9 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
and pen and ink 1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy
E, 1789/1794, with additional washes c. 1806. Huntington Library. Detail
of the word play in line 7, showing traces of the first,
faint printing of the text in yellow ochre just above the second printing
of the word.
69. William
Blake, Nurses Song (Experience). Relief etching,
11.1 x 6.9 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
and pen and ink 1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy
E, 1789/1794, with additional washes c. 1806. Huntington Library. Detail
of faint traces of yellow ochre ink from first printing strengthened
and brought out by oversaturating the pigments on a computer using Adobe
Photoshop software.
70.
William Blake, Nurses Song (Experience). Relief etching,
11.1 x 6.9 cm., etched 1794, color printed and finished in watercolors
and pen and ink 1794. Songs of Innocence and of Experience copy
E, 1789/1794, with additional washes c. 1806. Huntington Library. Detail
of the word play in line 7, with traces of the text printed
just above the word changed to red on a computer using Adobe Photoshop
software to make those traces easily visible.
71. The
Human Abstract. Line block cast from electrotype, 11.2 x 6.6 cm.,
color printed à la poupée in 2001 by authors, before
watercolors. Detail of top right corner.
72. The
Human Abstract. Line block cast from electrotype, 11.2 x 6.6 cm.,
color printed à la poupée in 2001 by authors, before
watercolors. Detail of top right corner, second impression pulled from
the plate without its being re-inked or recolored; the colors and ink
are lighter and thinner than the first pull (illus. 71).
73. The
Human Abstract. Line block cast from electrotype, 11.2 x 6.6 cm.,
color printed à la poupée in 2001 by authors, before
watercolors. Detail of top right corner, third impression pulled from
the plate without its being re-inked but with colors replenished. The
text is very light, analogous to those in Songs of Innocence and
of Experience copy E that needed to be rewritten in pen and ink.
The colors are strong. The contrast between the strong color and illegibly
light text is analogous to the condition of Nurses Song
in copy E as initially printed (see illus. 68).
74. William
Blake, The Song of Los copy E, plate 6. Relief etching, 23.2
x 13.6 cm., etched 1795, color printed and finished in watercolors 1795.
Huntington Library. Detail of colors and ink printed à la
poupée and blending together.
75. William
Blake, The Lilly. Relief etching, 11.0 x 7.0 cm., etched
1794, color printed and finished in watercolors 1794. Songs of Innocence
and of Experience copy E, 1789/1794, with additional washes c. 1806.
Huntington Library. Detail of the green color and yellow ochre ink mixing
in text and tendrils as they do in Nurses Song in copy Echaracteristic
of à la poupée printing.
76. The
Marriage of Heaven and Hell, plate 10. Relief etching, 15.2
x 10.0 cm., etched and color printed à la poupée
by J. Viscomi in 1978. Relief-etched plate on the bed of the press
and impression before watercolors and pen and ink finishing.
|
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0: SUGGESTIONS FOR READERS FOR OPTIMAL VIEWING
1: INTRODUCTION
2: BACKGROUND & CONTEXT
3: BLAKE'S COLOR PRINTING METHODS
4: THE TWO-PULL THEORY
5: THE ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST
TWO-PULL PRINTING
6: WHY "NURSES SONG"
WAS PRINTED TWICE
7: OCCAM'S RAZOR
8: POSTSCRIPT: SOME IMPLICATIONS
9: NOTES
10: LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
11:
WORKS CITED |
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