National Arts and Disruptive Technologies in Blake’s Prospectus of 1793

Abstract

After all, Blake’s so-called ‘prospectus’ of 1793 (E692-3) — titled and dated ‘To the Public October 10, 1793’ — is just an ad. It would be a forgettable bit of self-promotion were it not also his first and, as it turned out, only public statement on illuminated printing. But, as the prospectus gives us ‘Illuminated Books’ in ‘Illuminated Printing,’ the very terms by which we have come to know and name that body of work, and as those illuminated books have settled into their place as the centerpiece of Blake’s artistic identity and reputation, the little prospectus has become a key document, mined for insight into one man’s printing and publishing practices and his artistic ambitions.¹