William Blake and the Art of Engraving (The History of the Book)

Sung closely examines William Blake's extant engraved copper plates, a previously under-used resource, and arrives at a new interpretation of his working process. Thirty-nine engraved copper plates survive, including twenty-two for illustrations for the Book of Job. Sung argues that hammer marks to the reverse of the plates point to high levels of repoussage, suggesting that Blake revised and corrected his work more than was previously thought. This belies the Romantic ideal that the acts of conception and execution are simultaneous in the creative process.