The Book of Thel.
by Blake, William. (Muir Facsimile)
- Used
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
San Francisco, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
4to. Edmonton: William Muir, 1885. 4to, 8 unnumbered hand-colored plates with no printed outline. Full red straight-grain morocco, covers panelled in gilt, backstrip gilt-lettered. A fine copy, bookplate of C.H. Wilkinson dated 1938. § The Muir facsimile (based on copy D in the British Museum) and limited to around 50 copies. The plates are delicately colored and the text is printed in golden-brown. Bentley, BB, 249b. Essick notes three versions of the ca. 1885 edition, one entirely executed by hand (this copy), another version with the correction of ‘sprin’ to ‘springs’ on leaf 5 line 7, and a third version with the final two leaves numbered 5 and 6 as in Blake’s original (the two prior versions do not have numbered leaves). The Book of Thel is “the first, the simplest, and the most charming of the prophetic books... best understood as a rewriting of Milton’s Comus.” Bentley, BB, 26. It is known in about 20 different versions though some today are untraced. (The prophetic work Tiriel was written before the Book of Thel but was never printed by Blake.)
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Details
- Bookseller
- John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 123176
- Title
- The Book of Thel.
- Author
- Blake, William. (Muir Facsimile)
- Book Condition
- Used
- Publisher
- William Muir
- Place of Publication
- Edmonton
- Date Published
- 1885
- Size
- 4to
Terms of Sale
John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller
5 day return guarantee, with full refund not including shipping costs for up to 5 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller
Biblio member since 2005
San Francisco, California
About John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller
John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller offers an exceptional selection of rare books and manuscripts from medieval times through the twentieth century; we specialize in illustrated material, particularly the work of William Blake and his circle. Located in downtown San Francisco, we have served an international clientele of private collectors, libraries, and institutions for 35 years. We are actively purchasing books and manuscripts in all fields, especially medieval illuminated and text manuscripts; material on California, Hawaii, and Pacific voyages; illustrated books and fine bindings from the 15th through the 20th century; and fine press printing. William Blake, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Thomas Frognall Dibdin remain special interests. We are members of the ABAA, ILAB, and PBFA, and we subscribe to the code of ethics endorsed by reputable antiquarian booksellers worldwide.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Facsimile
- An exact copy of an original work. In books, it refers to a copy or reproduction, as accurate as possible, of an original...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...