William Blake, Illustrations of the Book of Job, God © The British Library
The work of the acclaimed English poet, artist and visionary William Blake is currently being commemorated in a new exhibition at the British Library.
Under the Influence, which runs at the library until March 21 2007, celebrates the profound and continuing influence of Blake’s work upon contemporary artists and writers. The display features unique items lent or donated by writers and artists who have been inspired by Blake’s life and work, including Philip Pullman, Tracy Chevalier and Patti Smith.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is Blake’s notebook, which he used for over 30 years to record sketches and draft his poems. This provides a fascinating insight into Blake’s creative process and allows us the rare privilege to see just how the poet developed such well-loved poems as London and The Tyger.
William Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience. © The British Library
To commemorate the 250th anniversary of Blake’s birth, the British Library has created an interactive version of the notebook, allowing visitors to actually flick through the pages of the original.
For the exhibition, novelist Philip Pullman has loaned the library part of his manuscript for his bestselling book, The Amber Spyglass. Blake’s The Little Girl Lost inspired a scene in Pullman’s novel, which went on to form the opening chapter of the published book. The exhibition includes a specially commissioned recording of Pullman reading this extract, together with his reading of The Little Girl Lost.
The Notebook of William Blake, 3. © The British Library
Tracy Chevalier’s new novel, Burning Bright, describes the journey from innocence to experience of two young children who lived next to William Blake in Lambeth in 1792. She has lent her notebook containing the draft of an episode in which one of the children first sees Blake’s notebook.
Chevalier wrote this into her novel after seeing and holding the real notebook at the British Library. Visitors to the exhibition can hear a recording of her reading from the novel and she will be making a personal appearance on Monday 5 March 2007, when she will give a reading as part of the Burning Bright: An Evening for William Blake.
The Notebook of William Blake, 6. © The British Library
Described as ‘punk rock’s poet laureate’, American musician, poet and artist Patti Smith has been a life-long fan of Blake and has donated the manuscript of her song My Blakean Year to the exhibition. Smith curated the South Bank’s Meltdown festival in 2005, which featured two performances by her inspired by Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience.
In addition to this unique loan material, the display also features Benjamin Britten’s manuscript of Songs and Proverbs of William Blake and other superb examples of Blake’s illustrations, engravings and correspondence.
William Blake, The Tyger. © The British Library
Two books that were owned by Blake are also on display, The Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Emanuel Swedenborg’s The Wisdom of Angels Concerning Divine Love and Divine Wisdom – these feature annotations in his own hand and provide an intriguing glimpse into his thinking.
Blake’s art and poetry explore the big questions of spirituality and human nature, as well as his own visionary experiences. An artist of breathtaking originality, he produced a series of illustrated books and redefined the thinking of the day to create his own compelling visions of England, the nature of religion and the power of imagination.
The Notebook of William Blake, 4. © The British Library
The exhibition showcases Blake’s remarkable creativity and breadth of vision, and illustrates how his creative legacy continues to lives on.
