William Blake’s Universe
David Birdman and Esther Chadwick
Philip Wilson, £35

 
WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827) is possibly best known as the creator of England’s unofficial national anthem. When I was a kid, my mother used to take me with her to the local Co-op Women’s Guild, and at the start of every meeting we would heartily sing “Jerusalem.”

England’s green and pleasant land was written in the context of a turbulent age of political upheaval where the American, French, and Haitian revolutions combined with the growth of modern capitalism. Unsurprisingly, both dissenting and visionary art flourished across Europe. 

When you flick open the pages of this book, images and words created by European artists, including Blake, absolutely take your breath away. It’s obvious that William Blake was not simply the ultimate English eccentric that many of his contemporaries would want us to believe. Religious radicalism forms a central focus of his words and images.