Customer Reviews

The Book of Urizen: A Facsimile in Full Color (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)

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Blake's "The [First] Book of Urizen" is an incredible poetical and visual depiction of the rise of the flesh and the implications of being bound to our bodies. Particulalry interesting because the book manages to depict an occurance that, according to Blake himself, is impossible to describe. The use of the metaphorical tool of a mythology by the book comes as close as one could expect from a peice of writing to achieving this depiction (the rest, appropriately enough, is up to our imagination). It is this undertaking of what seems to be an impossible task (that of attempting to represent the metaphysical through the physical) that shows this poem's bravery.

I was disappointed to find that this book is not "A Dover Book designed for years of use," like my old Dover copy of Songs of Innocence, which has a sewn binding and opens flat. This Book of Urizen will not open flat without breaking. The reproductions are very good, though.

I would like to see an edition of Blake with the text in the plates sharpened up so that we can actually read it. I wonder if anyone will ever dare to undertake that task.

A small book but of good value. Very useful to see the full color plates that Blake had designed along with the text. The combination of the two increased my enjoyment of the work. The poetry is a bit obtuse and requires multiple readings to really extract what Blake was saying.

Anyone else notice the parallels between Blake's illuminated text and the universal origins described in the recently uncovered scrolls contained in the Nag Hammadi Library, the ones that are the oldest origional records of the words of Jesus Christ in the Secret Book of James? From the ignorant splitting from the undescribable origional of the lesser and jealous "God" (arguably the Old Testament's Jehova) to the metaphor of the chain, it seems as if they could be mirror images. The interesting part is that the Nag Hammadi library was discovered in 1947- the same year the Dead Sea Scrolls were found-- and has been dated back to approximately 50 AD. Almost all other Gnostic writings had long been destroyed by the early Church. Read into this what you may, but Blake most probably never read this particular text. Personally, I take this as proof of at least authenticity, and moreover that Blake was in greater alignment, more like Christ, if you will, than most humans so far. I bet he could make a killer salad.