The Pastorals of Virgil

Details

WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827)
The Pastorals of Virgil
the complete set of seventeen wood-engravings (sixteen plates plus title page), on wove paper, without watermark, circa 1821, a uniform set, printing with clarity and detail even in the finest lines, each with margins, framed
Largest block: 2 3⁄8 x 3 3⁄8 in. (60 x 86 mm.)
Largest sheet: 6 ¾ x 4 1⁄8 in. (171 x 105 mm.)

Literature

The Complete Graphic Works of William Blake, Bindman, 602-618

Further details

Including: Frontispiece: Thenot and Colinet (B. 602); Thenot remontrates with Colinet (B. 603); Thenot under fruit tree (B. 604); Thenot remonstrates with Colinet, Lightfoot in background (B. 605); Colinet departs in sorrow: 'riven trunk' at right (B. 606); Blasted tree and flattened crops (B. 607); Shepard chases away wolf (B. 608); 'Sabrina's silvery flood' (B. 609); Colinet's journey: milestone marked 'LXII miles to London' (B. 610); 'A rolling stone is ever bare of moss' (B. 611); Colinet resting by night (B. 612); Colinet mocked by two boys (B. 613); Menalcas watching women dance (B. 614); Thenot and Colinet lead their flocks together (B. 615); Thenot and Colinet eat their evening meal (B. 616); Boy returning joyfully with plough and oxen (B. 617); and Return of the Shepard (B. 618)

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

These wood engravings were originally cut on four blocks, four to a block (the image for the title page was cut on a separate block), and subsequently divided before printing and publication in a school textbook. See the note to the previous lot.

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