76. 1806.-*The Repose of the Holy Family; also named The Humility of our Saviour. Water-colour, only half-painted.

The fugitives are reposing under a palm-tree; their donkey drinks of the stream; an animal shaggy and bristly enough to illustrate the 'doctrine of correspondences,' as though he represented so much pabulum of thistles and stubble. The varied landscape background is the most pleasurable feature of this water-colour, a poor one in surface handling.

77. 1806.-Jaques and the wounded Stag, from 'As You Like It.' This water-colour appears in a volume of Shakespeare, now belonging to Mr. Macmillan. It is far from being a good design; the lavish display of blood upon the stag being the most remarkable thing about it.

78. 1806. Hamlet and the Ghost. In neutral tints.

In the same volume as the preceding. Hamlet kneels, as the Ghost casts a last unforgettable look at him before parting. One of the finest specimens of Blake's art. Given in Vol. I. chap. XXIV.

79. 1806 (?).

'A spirit vaulting from a cloud

To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus.'

In the same volume as the two preceding. The design looks unaccountable enough, but must be the same as that of the fresco, No. 36. There is a rearing horse, a man floating and holding a lasso, a woman above on a cloud with a book, and a rising sun.

80. 1806.-Design for the Dedication to Blair's 'Grave.'

Executed with most special care and completeness in pale semi-neutral tints; a very beautiful work. The subject is the Deliverance of the Human Soul from Death, and the Ascension of the Just. Above are two angels, one sheathing the sword, another holding the unequally-poised balance and a sealed roll; a third descends with a key to unlock the fetters of the grave. A mother with her adolescent and infant family rises to the left; a man and children to the right, their chains riven, clasp their upraised hands in thankfulness for the great deliverance. Between the upper angels a space is left for the inscription. See p. 252, Vol. I.

81. 1806. From Blair's 'Grave.' 'Prone on the lonely grave she drops.'

82. 1806. By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept.'

83. 1806.-Satan watching the Endearments of Adam and Eve. [Butts.]

Essentially the same as No. 89d, but with differences of detail; the figure of Satan, for instance, being turned towards the left, instead of the right; the flesh here is almost colourless, and the feeling on the whole more softly sensuous. The serpent, with a comb of fire, 'in his own volumes intervolved,' shuffles away from the feet of the First Parents. Very beautifully drawn, rich in form, and charming in impression.

84. 1806.-The Last Judgment.

A very elaborate treatment of the subject, exceedingly fine. It used to belong to Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell.

85. 1807.-Twelve Designs from 'Paradise Lost.'

This fine series belongs to Mr. Aspland, of Liverpool. It is of smaller size than the similar series described under No. 89, but the number of subjects is larger-twelve instead of nine. Those subjects which correspond in the two series are essentially alike in design, yet with numerous and interesting variations of detail. Mr. Aspland's set does not include subject e, Satan, as a toad, haunting the dreams of Eve, but comprises the following four extra subjects :

(a) Satan calling up his Legions. Book I.

(b) Satan at the Gate of Hell, guarded by Sin and Death. Book II.

(c) Satan's Entry into Paradise-God sends Raphael to warn Adam. Book V.

(d) The Condemnation of Adam and Eve. Book X.

86. 1807.-The Vision of Queen Katharine-Shakespeare's 'Henry VIII.' [Butts.] Slight tint of water-colour.

Treated quite from the ideal, not the historic or dramatic point of view; and a leading example of Blake's accurate manner. Katharine, crowned and young-looking, with light hair, makes in her sleep signs of rejoicing, and holdeth up her hands to heaven,' or to the Angels, of whom a considerable number are floating about in all parts of the composition, with wreaths, harps, &c. Their small size gives them rather a fairy-like than a strictly angelic character. The attendants, Griffith and Patience, both dozing, are an ancient bearded man with a book, and a youthful woman. See the following number, for which this appears to be a preparation. It was exhibited in Manchester in 1857.

87. 1807.-The same.

This is the work painted for Sir Thomas Lawrence (see p. 401, Vol. I.), and is very elaborately executed, with a great glory of light shooting through ragged drifts of darkness. The purity of colour is somewhat affected by the strong effort to get relief and play of light. Katharine is finer here than in the preceding.

88. 1807.-The same.

In the Shakespeare volume.

89. 1807-8.-The Last Judgment. Vol. I.

See No. 77.

Tempera. See pp. 260-2, &c.

A small picture highly finished in drawing, but slight in colour, the white predominating save on the side of the condemned. Some of the figures of the blessed are of extreme loveliness, and the grouping is admirable.

90. 1808.-*NINE DESIGNS from 'Paradise Lost.' [Butts.]

This is a marvellously fine series: Blake is here king of all his powers of design, draughtsmanship, conception, spiritual meaning and impression. The colour is throughout good, often splendid; the execution accurate and sustained; the style of form grand, sweeping, and tense. This series (belonging to Mr. J. C. Strange) would of itself suffice to rank Blake among the heroes of the art.

(a) *The Casting of the Rebel Angels into Hell. Book VI.

A great example of energetic design; the devils hurled down with huge velocity, and a Michelangelo-like power of action. The Son of God, in a disc of pale crimson flame, draws His bow against them, the shaft of the arrow being imagined, not represented. The central demon is Satan; next him falls one with a mapped-out forehead, the representative of apostate intellect, presumably Beelzebub; the flames of hell reach already above them. The angels around Christ are not equal to the rest of the subject.

(b) *The Creation of Eve. Book VIII.

Very spiritual and sculpturesque, without much colour. Adam lies at full length on a natural carpet of leaves, a sort of invented foliaceous form, the like of which, modified according to the purpose, appears in other designs. At the bidding of the Son of God, as Creator, Eve floats up from Adam's side; the crescent moon above her in a deep, dusky sky. The evening flowers are shut; the trees seem bound in slumber.

(c) Father, Thy word is passed, Man shall find grace.' Book III.

The Son stands as intercessor before God the Father; four youthful angels hover with downward sway, bearing crowns. The whole of the celestial group is rather in grisaille than in colour. Satan, armed with shield and spear, floats below, subjugated, but unextinguished in rebellion.

(d) *Satan watching the Endearments of Adam and Eve. Book IV.

Very grand in the lines of the seated figures of Adam and Eve. Satan, above the floral bower which over-arches them, holds the serpent-an amazingly subtle, prismatic-hued serpent-which seems in horrid council with him, draining his vitals. Satan has a languid, almost 'sentimental' air, yet very terrible. The sun sets to the right, while the stars and moon are in the opposite space of nightly sky. See No. 83.

(e) *Satan, as a Toad, haunting the Dreams of Eve. Book IV.

The natural couch upon which Adam and Eve lie (see b above) is curious; a mass of rounded forms, simulating shut roses, but unfortunately solid-looking, like peaches. Two angels float above, with small javelins.

(*Raphael and Adam in conversation, Eve ministering to them. Book V.

A most beautiful Eve (as frequently the case with Blake), exactly realizing the high ideal 'naked and not ashamed.'

Raphael, with a grand action of the upraised arms, and his dispread wings meeting at the tips in a noble ogee curve, is narrating the great creative acts, or possibly cautioning Adam against his impending danger; he listens in awe. The natural chairs, table, and cups, formed by the vegetation, are ingeniously managed. In the distance is an extensive landscape, with numerous animals; the Tree of Life at the summit, with fruit glowing like illumination-lamps, or the jewel-fruit of Aladdin; the serpent is coiled up its trunk, lying fearfully in wait. (g) *Eve eating the forbidden Fruit. Book IX.

Wonderful exceedingly. Eve, again most beautiful, eats out of the jaws of the serpent the fruit which he presents to her. Other fruits hang from the branches, glowing (as in the preceding design) with ruddy luminousness. The trunk of the tree is cramped with huge parasitic thorn-stems, which reach down along the ground, as it were the roots of the tree itself. Ghastly forked lightning plays round Eve, lurid and menacing. At the other (left) side of the tree stands Adam, as in a distinct plane of the composition. He is yet guiltless and unconscious of the evil; round him too play the forked lightnings, chain-like, but less angry in colour. The storm-sky blackens as the doom

culminates.

(h) *Michael foretelling the Crucifixion to Adam :—

'But to the cross He nails thy enemies,

The law that is against thee and the sins

Of all mankind, with Him there crucified.'-Book XII. Christ on the cross is visibly brought before Adam, who stands adoring-very fine in form. At the foot of the cross lie two human figures, one of which is possibly 'the Law,' and some bestial heads symbolising 'the Sins,' or Vices it may be presumed. The Serpent is twined there also, his crest set beneath the foot of Christ. At the bottom of the composition Eve is sleeping; a beautiful, grand, rich form. The Archangel, in this and the succeeding design, is unfortunately a failure; a kind of over-handsome classic warrior. Blake has tried hard to hit the mark, but somehow the inspiration would not come.

(i) *Adam and Eve taken by Michael out of Eden.-Book XII.

Adam's first step out of Eden stumbles upon a thorn-admirably thought of: a thistle is beside it. Both he and Eve look with scared revulsion upon the serpent, wondrously treacherous, crawling and accursed, yet with malice gratified. Above this group are seen four red-bearded angels, represented as of the middle age of man, upon blood-red horses, and with flames; while a huge wreath of crimson fire, like a funereal pall, wind-shaken, flaps over the head of Michael.

91. 1808.-Jacob's Ladder. [Butts.] See pp. 264, Vol. I., and 161, Vol. II.

92. 1808. The Angels hovering over the Sepulchre. See pp. 264, Vol. I., and

Body of Jesus in the 161, Vol. II.

93. 1808.-*The Canterbury Pilgrimage, from Chaucer-'Sir Jeffrey Chaucer and the nine-and-twenty Pilgrims on their

Journey to Canterbury.' [Butts.] Tempera. See pp. 273 -82, Vol. I., and 142—151, Vol. II.

Sent to the International Exhibition, 1862. The colour of this fine work appears to have darkened, making the general impression of the scene a rather sombre one.

94. 1809 or earlier.-*The Spiritual Form of Nelson guiding Leviathan, in whose wreathings are enfolded the Nations of the Earth. Tempera. See p. 139, Vol. II.

The date given is conjectural; 1809 is the latest possible, that being the date of the Descriptive Catalogue.'

95. 1809 or earlier.-*The Spiritual Form of Pitt guiding Behemoth. Tempera. See p. 140, Vol. II.

96. 1809 or earlier.-*The Ancient Britons-The Three who escaped from King Arthur's last Battle. Tempera. See pp. 276-7, Vol. I., and 153-7, Vol. II.

97. 1809 or earlier.-The Goats (browsing the vine-leaves wherein some savage girls had dressed themselves). Tempera (?). See p. 158, No. 7, Vol. II.

98. 1809 or earlier.-The Spiritual Preceptor, from Swedenborg. Tempera (?). See p. 138, No. 8, Vol. II.,

99. 1809 or earlier.-Ruth parting from Naomi. Colour-printed. See p. 162, Vol. II.

I conjecture this to be the Ruth named in the 'Descriptive Catalogue,' though Blake there terms it a drawing. This design is inscribed by him 'Fresco,' but appears to have on it some colour-printing, and to be chiefly executed in water-colour with a good deal of body-colour. It differs from No. 50 in the more downward action of the arms and hands of both Naomi and Ruth, the latter with her head bowed as low as her mother-inlaw's bosom. Orpah bends in going away, with a hurried step as though a little ashamed of her departure, and anxious to be out of sight-a fine touch of nature. The background is a darkgreen mountain-land: the colour a little heavy, and the design as a whole hardly so beautiful as No. 50, fine though it is. 100. 1809 or earlier. - The Bard, from Gray.

Blake's 'Descriptive Catalogue,' p. 152-3.

Tempera.

See

A gorgeous piece of colour-tone, with gold amid the pigments. The water-colour No. 6, an earlier work, may or may not have been similar to this in composition.

101. 1809 or earlier.-The Brahmins-Mr. Wilkin translating the Geeta.

See p. 161, Vol. II., where this and the three following are stated to be 'drawings:' it seems clear that 'water-colour drawings' is meant.

102. 1809 or earlier. The body of Abel found by Adam and Eve; Cain, who was about to bury it, fleeing from the face of his Parents. [Butts.] See p. 161, Vol. II.

Full of grand horror and vigorous action. Adam and Eve wail over their slaughtered son.