On October 10th, 1793, America a Prophecy was advertised by Blake in a Prospectus of works for sale that was addressed TO THE PUBLIC. The works listed were available to view at No. 13 Hercules Buildings, Lambeth, William and Catherine’s home and printmaking studio. This was the first - and the only - time Blake offered his works ‘in Illuminated Printing’ for sale to the public.

Eight months earlier, on 1 February 1793, France declared war on Britain – asserting the overthrow of monarchy and the right of all peoples to enjoy the founding principles of the French Revolution. By historical analogy, with the earlier revolution of the American colonies, America a Prophecy made clear Blake’s political allegiance. Proclaiming his position, the scale of these new plates – 18 in all - was larger than any of the illuminated books he had made before. Appositely, they would only be matched the following year, with the production of Europe a Prophecy, in format and number the companion to America a Prophecy, a prophetic vision spanning 1800 years elaborating the mythic universe of the earlier work.

By 1794, when the first copies of Europe a Prophecy were produced, the times had become even more repressive – and, for a printmaker and publisher of such works, highly dangerous. For William Godwin “terror was the order of the day.” These same times also prompted the creation of some of the most iconic, lyrical and haunting images that Blake ever produced; plates that are also amongst the most innovative and important in the history of graphic art; the examples of white-line etching alone are breath taking (cf. America, pl. 9).   

Ten copies of America a Prophecy were printed in 1793 (14 in Blake’s lifetime), all in monochrome, either in shades of blue ink, as offered here, or in a dark olive-green ink. There is no record of a member of the public responding to Blake’s Prospectus, nor of a copy of one of the illuminated books being sold from Hercules Buildings. In 1794, six copies of Europe a Prophecy were printed (14 in Blake’s lifetime), each elaborately hand coloured, colour printed or produced in a combination of both mediums finished in pen and ink; this time, with no intention of offering them publicly, but privately to close friends and select connoisseurs. For the edition, to complement the sets of America a Prophecy, the sets of Europe a Prophecy are also printed in monochrome, in contrasting shades of charcoal green ink.

The companion sets of eight plates each of America a Prophecy and Europe a Prophecy are offered together. Because of the great difficulty involved in making the plates, and in printing, the edition is limited to ten sets only. P.O.R.

The paper used in printing has been specially hand made to reproduce the papers Blake used; as described in the Prospectus, ‘the most beautiful wove papers that could be procured.’ In size this was a quarter of an Imperial sheet, measuring 390 x 280 mm.  The lower right corner of each sheet is watermarked with Blake’s initials. 

Included in the archival drop-back box containing each set is a bound pamphlet, printed in letterpress, describing how the replica relief-etched copper plates were made, the inks mixed to match the coloured inks that Blake used, and how the impressions were printed - on an early nineteenth-century star-wheel rolling press – with the colophon noting the number of each set. 

In format, the Limited Edition sets of America a Prophecy and Europe a Prophecy match those offered previously, of 45 plates of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience, and all 27 plates of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and the last in the series, a selection 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.

America a Prophecy

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Europe a Prophecy

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America a Prophecy, 1793; Europe a Prophecy, 1794

16 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.