Disc. 1A / Ian Newman
William Blake (1757-1827)
• Born in London, England. He was a poet as well as a commercial book illustrator who did engravings. His work was intensely physical; he worked consistently with his hands and chose to do all of his work himself instead of having a division of labor. What’s important about Blake is that he constantly chose to break the laws of convention.
• All of the copies of his works were different from each other (with different colors, added lines, etc…) meaning there is no original copy of his works. One version of his poem “Little Black Boy” has some prints with a drawing of a boy with dark skin and in other versions it has a boy with light skin.
• He was known for having a two-dimensional format (pictures + words).
• “What you take for granted is something that misleads you” Blake wants his readers to look beyond the given or the obvious.
• Blake does not believe there is a distinction between the body and the soul. Instead, he sees the body as an extension of soul.
• The belief of antinomianism (which literally means “against law,”) is seen throughout his works.
• According to Blake:
o There is no afterlife. Since the body and soul are one, when the body dies, so does the soul.
o The bible is a code book.
o Act on impulse, seek your desires!
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