William Blake's Watercolour Inventions in Illustration of The Grave by Robert Blair. [Respectively] Edited with Essays and Commentary by... and an Essay on the Poem by..

Lavenham: The William Blake Trust, 2009.. Limited edition, one of 36 special copies from a total edition of 150 copies. Folio. 95, (1) pp. Publisher's wine red half calf over black moiré silk, gilt lettered to the spine with a matching gilt lettered label to the upper board, slipcase in matching moiré silk. Illustrated in colour and black and white; slipcase also housing a matching red full calf portfolio enclosing a card wallet holding fine reproductions of Blake's original watercolours mounted on card, as per the originals. Just some slight dustiness to the slipcase, a sumptuous production. An out-of-series set, marked as such on the watercolours wallet, being John Commander's own copy. Although not inscribed by him directly, the set was acquired from Commander's estate. Loosely inserted is a 12 page typescript of a review of the work by his fellow Blake scholar Robert N. Essick with Commander's pencilled annotations at intervals concerning some of Essick's observations. Also enclosed is an original 6" x 4" colour photograph captioned in pencil on the rear "John [Commander], Bob [Essick], Detto [unknown]" dated "October 21, 1991". Commander spent his life in publishing and for many years headed the Scolar Press. An expert on Blake, he was heavily involved in the refounding of the William Blake Trust and was appointed as secretary and executive director of the organisation. He also wrote about Blake and is credited with the design and production of this work on the verso of the title page. The story of the origins and subsequent disappearance of William Blake's designs for "The Grave" are long and complicated. Blake had been commissioned by Robert Hartley Cromek to produce illustrations for Blair's poem in late 1805 intending for a published edition. Blake assumed he would also be employed to engrave the images and be paid accordingly. However, Cromek had other ideas and gave the work to the Italian engraver Luigi (or Louis) Schiavonetti. Various miscommunications and provocations ensued causing Blake and Cromek to fall out. The published work eventually appeared in 1808 and Cromek passed away four years later at the age of 42. The whereabouts of Blake's designs for the next two decades are broadly known but after their sale in 1836 they completely disappeared. Nineteen of the watercolours in their original red portfolio (reproduced faithfully here) eventually turned up in Glasgow in 2001. Originally offered for sale together as a collection, the ownership passed to a London art dealer who failed to find a buyer. They were subsequently individually lotted up, including the case, and sold at Sotheby's New York in 2006. Now split between "four different countries and two continents", the auction was the last time the collection was held in one place.