William Blake
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
A selection of 45 plates printed by Michael Phillips on the replica of William Blake’s rolling press in Christ Church Upper Library, OXFORD MMXVI.
By re-creating Blake’s original relief-etched copper plates, lost in the nineteenth century, it is possible to print impressions from the Illuminated Books exactly as Blake did, and that compare with the excessively rare originals.
Replica of William Blake’s rolling press
The edition is limited to 20 sets. Each set contains the 45 plates listed below. Printed on wove paper hand made by W. S. Hodgkinson and Co. in 1927, each set is presented in an archival drop-back box. Included in each set is a bound pamphlet printed in letterpress describing how the replica relief-etched copper plates were made and printed. The colophon notes the number of the set. Few sets remain. P.O.R.
In format, the Limited Edition sets of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience match the Limited Edition sets of all 27 plates of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, the sets of eight plates each from America a Prophecy and Europe a Prophecy and finally, the sets of 28 plates from Jerusalem.
The replica relief-etched copper plates shown opposite the selection of printed impressions below, and used to print these impressions, were made by Michael Phillips. These are not for sale.
Any one or more of the plates that have been made to print the Limited Edition sets can be printed separately to order. Please contact Michael Phillips.
Click images to enlarge
Songs of Innocence and of Experience, 1794
45 plates of the Limited Edition
In the list below click on the title to see an example of the image, and click again to enlarge and scroll over it.
1. General title page, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, 1794, 114 x 70 mm
Songs of Innocence, 1789
2. Frontispiece, 113 x 72 mm
3. Title page, 122 x 76 mm
4. Introduction, 123 x 78 mm
5. The Shepherd, 113 x 75 mm
6. The Ecchoing Green (Plate 1), 118 x 70 mm
7. The Ecchoing Green (continued), 111 x 70 mm
8. Laughing Song, 114 x 68 mm
9. Night, 114 x 71 mm
10. Night (continued), 113 x 70 mm
11. The Lamb, 123 x 78 mm
12. Holy Thursday, 117 x 79 mm
13. The Chimney Sweeper, 114 x 75 mm
14. Nurses Song, 118 x 79 mm
15. The Divine Image, 114 x 72 mm
16. The Little Boy Lost, 121 x 74 mm
17. The Little Boy Found, 119 x 74 mm
18. The Little Girl Lost, 114 x 66 mm
19. The Little Girl Found, 112 x 70 mm
20. The Little Girl Found (continued), 113 x 71 mm
21. A Cradle Song, 115 x 74 mm
22. A Cradle Song (continued), 113 x 71 mm
23. The Little Black Boy, 115 x 70 mm
24. The Little Black Boy (continued), 113 x 68 mm
25. On Anothers Sorrow, 118 x 75 mm
26. The Voice of the Ancient Bard, 118 x 66 mm
Songs of Experience, 1793/94
27. Frontispiece, 113 x 73 mm
28. Title page, 127 x 74 mm
29. Introduction, 126 x 75 mm
30. Earth’s Answer, 118 x 73 mm
31. The Tyger, 113 x 64 mm
32. Holy Thursday, 117 x 74 mm
33. The Chimney Sweeper, 112 x 69 mm
34. Nurses Song, 114 x 70 mm
35. The Human Abstract, 114 x 68 mm
36. London, 112 x 69 mm
37. The Clod & the Pebble, 115 x 74 mm
38. The Fly, 123 x 74 mm
39. The Sick Rose, 114 x 68 mm
40. A Poison Tree, 112 x 71 mm
41. My Pretty Rose Tree, Ah Sun-Flower, The Lilly, 112 x 72 mm
42. A Little Boy Lost, 113 x 72 mm
43. A Little Girl Lost, 124 x 76 mm
44. To Tirzah, 117 x 75 mm
45. A Divine Image, 112 x 69 mm
For images of all of the Songs of Innocence and Experience, please see the Prints Available to Purchase page.