William Blake: Under the Influence
Under the Influence pays tribute to the work of English poet, artist and visionary, William Blake, in the 250th anniversary year of his birth. It reveals the range of Blake's commissioned work, his engagement with contemporary thinkers, and his profound and continuing influence on today's artists and writers. This small display in the British Library's Sir John Ritblat Gallery features unique items lent or donated by writers and artists who have been inspired in some way by Blake's life and work, including Tracy Chevalier, Philip Pullman and Patti Smith.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is Blake's notebook, which he used to record sketches and draft his poems for over thirty years. The dense, closely-filled pages provide a fascinating insight into Blake's compositional process, and allow us to follow - line by line, correction by correction- the genesis of some of his best-known work, including poems such as London and The Tyger. To commemorate the 250 th anniversary of Blake's birth, the British Library has used its award-winning Turning the Pages technology to create an interactive version of the manuscript.
For the purposes of this exhibition, Philip Pullman has loaned the British Library a portion of his manuscript for his bestselling novel, The Amber Spyglass, from the His Dark Materials trilogy. This will be the first time that the manuscript has been displayed. Blake's The Little Girl Lost inspired a scene from Pullman's novel, as well as the character name, Lyra. This scene was originally written as chapter four of The Amber Spyglass and became the first chapter of the published version. The exhibition includes a specially commissioned recording of Philip Pullman reading this extract on an accompanying sound-point, together with his reading of The Little Girl Lost.
Tracy Chevalier's new novel, Burning Bright, describe the journey from innocence to experience of two young children who lived next to William Blake in Lambeth in 1792. Tracy Chevalier has lent her notebook containing the draft of an episode in which one of the children first sees Blake's notebook. Tracy Chevalier wrote this into her novel after seeing and holding the real notebook at the British Library. The author can also be heard reading from her book via the exhibition sound-point. She also appears at the British Library on Monday 5 March to give a reading at Burning Bright: An Evening for William Blake.
American musician, poet and artist Patti Smith has been described as 'punk rock's poet laureate' and is a lifelong Blake devotee. Smith curated the South Bank's Meltdown festival in 2005, which featured two performances inspired by Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. She has donated the manuscript of her song My Blakean Year, to the exhibition.
In addition, the display features Benjamin Britten's manuscript of Songs and Proverbs of William Blake , examples of Blake's illustrations, engravings and correspondence. Also on display are two books owned by Blake, The Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Emanuel Swedenborg's The Wisdom of angels concerning Divine Love and Divine Wisdom - both heavily (and often angrily) annotated by him.
The achievements of William Blake were largely unrecognised in his own lifetime, but his creative legacy lives on. Blake's artistic and poetical creations explored spirituality, society, human nature, as well as his own visionary experiences. Trained as an engraver, he produced a series of startlingly original 'illuminated books', and rethought the traditions of the Bible, Milton and the gothic to create compelling visions of England, the nature of religion and the power of imagination. This exhibition showcases Blake's astonishing creativity and his contribution to the work of contemporary artists and writers, 250 years later.
For further information, contact Ruth Howlett at the British Library Press Office: +44 (0)20 7412 7112 or ruth.howlett@bl.uk
Notes for Editors
Under the Influence: William Blake is on display in The Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library from 11 January to 21 March 2007. Admission free.
Monday 5 March 2007 18.30-20.00
Burning Bright: An Evening for William Blake
The British Library Conference Centre
Tracy Chevalier will read from her forthcoming novel Burning Bright, an imaginative evocation of Blake's London, partly based on research on Blake's note book held by the British Library. The evening will also feature an introduction to Blake's poetry and methods as a printer. This event, featuring a London-resident American novelist, is supported by the Eccles Centre for American Studies, the British Library.
Price £6.00 (concessions £4.00)
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