Ever since the publication of Gilchrist’s Life with its subtitle “pictor ignotus”, there has been a widely held assumption that Blake lacked any significant contemporary audience. In fact, there is good empirical evidence for a hitherto unrecognised feminine audience for Blake’s books, which should be seen as having a particular appeal to women collectors such as Elizabeth Aders, Rebekah Bliss, Hannah Boddington, Maria Denman, Nancy Flaxman, Elizabeth Iremonger, Fanny S. Milner, Harriet Jane Moore, and Miss C. L. Shipley. (The majority of Blake’s paintings, unlike the books, were produced for a single patron, Thomas Butts.) I have been able to link Iremonger and Shipley but the other women seem only to have their sex in common.
Whether one considers bibliophiles, book collectors, or simply people who buy books, and ignoring any taxonomic differences between these categories, there can be little doubt that most of them are, and in the past were, men. Women have always been involved in the book trade, and there have been many distinguished female bibliographers and editors. But until relatively recently, for economic and social reasons, few women have left important collections of books.
As a forgotten bibliophile, a contemporary of Wollstonecraft and Austen, Rebekah Bliss’s collection of sumptuously-bound printed books and illuminated manuscripts provides an extraordinary example of a dissenting, woman‑centred, female connoisseur. She poses interesting questions as to the female role in purchasing & reading Blake’s works, about how & why such work entered the private space of women’s reading. Feminist assessment of Blake has grown increasingly sceptical over the past two decades, but attention to Mrs. Bliss & her milieu obliges us to reassess the particular appeal of his works to a contemporary female audience. Some long-held assumptions associating Blake exclusively with a male radical intelligentsia are implicitly undermined & arguably wholly refuted.
What has long interested me is why certain men & women chose to become customers for Blake’s books, & in what terms they viewed their investment. The importance of book collecting is that it is a cultural practice by which the collector learns what his or her culture’s ethos & his or her private sensibility look like. Each collector provides Blake with a new critical context for his work & suggests new possibilities for Blake studies. Every person who bought Blake’s work in his lifetime is thus of significance to Blake scholarship.
I cite in my first paragraph those women collectors who collected Blake’s work in illuminated printing. But Blake collectors must also construe the numerous women who subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808—for example Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, 1778-1856, a Bristol subscriber. She was also, perhaps significantly, a member of Bristol’s long-established Moravian community. Or subscribers to Hayley’s Ballads like Penelope Chetwynd.
The following list is probably incomplete and certainly outdated. It is based on lists compiled many years ago, hence the references to BR and BRs rather than BR(2), but has also been checked against BDM, though the list is based on slightly different criteria. It includes women born in Blake’s lifetime or very shortly after, even if they acquired their Blakes many years after his death. Thus I include Julia Moore, who was born in 1801, but inherited her sister’s copy of For Children after 1884. I have also, where information was available, indicated the religious affiliation of the collector.
Whether one considers bibliophiles, book collectors, or simply people who buy books, and ignoring any taxonomic differences between these categories, there can be little doubt that most of them are, and in the past were, men. Women have always been involved in the book trade, and there have been many distinguished female bibliographers and editors. But until relatively recently, for economic and social reasons, few women have left important collections of books.
As a forgotten bibliophile, a contemporary of Wollstonecraft and Austen, Rebekah Bliss’s collection of sumptuously-bound printed books and illuminated manuscripts provides an extraordinary example of a dissenting, woman‑centred, female connoisseur. She poses interesting questions as to the female role in purchasing & reading Blake’s works, about how & why such work entered the private space of women’s reading. Feminist assessment of Blake has grown increasingly sceptical over the past two decades, but attention to Mrs. Bliss & her milieu obliges us to reassess the particular appeal of his works to a contemporary female audience. Some long-held assumptions associating Blake exclusively with a male radical intelligentsia are implicitly undermined & arguably wholly refuted.
What has long interested me is why certain men & women chose to become customers for Blake’s books, & in what terms they viewed their investment. The importance of book collecting is that it is a cultural practice by which the collector learns what his or her culture’s ethos & his or her private sensibility look like. Each collector provides Blake with a new critical context for his work & suggests new possibilities for Blake studies. Every person who bought Blake’s work in his lifetime is thus of significance to Blake scholarship.
I cite in my first paragraph those women collectors who collected Blake’s work in illuminated printing. But Blake collectors must also construe the numerous women who subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808—for example Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, 1778-1856, a Bristol subscriber. She was also, perhaps significantly, a member of Bristol’s long-established Moravian community. Or subscribers to Hayley’s Ballads like Penelope Chetwynd.
The following list is probably incomplete and certainly outdated. It is based on lists compiled many years ago, hence the references to BR and BRs rather than BR(2), but has also been checked against BDM, though the list is based on slightly different criteria. It includes women born in Blake’s lifetime or very shortly after, even if they acquired their Blakes many years after his death. Thus I include Julia Moore, who was born in 1801, but inherited her sister’s copy of For Children after 1884. I have also, where information was available, indicated the religious affiliation of the collector.
●
Elizabeth Aders (1785-1857), daughter of John Raphael Smith, wife of Charles Aders, owner of drawings, works in illuminated printing (Songs), subscriber to “Job”.
BDM 108
Bryant
Butlin #784, #829 20
Eliza Aders married Charles Aders as her third husband in Paris, in 1820 (see http://edpopehistory.co.uk/content/3-wives-3-husbands-living). In 1841 she exhibited a portrait in miniature at the Royal Academy, and another two works in 1839 (as "Mrs C. Aders").
Mrs. Appleby subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Manchester: “Mrs. Appleby”)
BDM 108
Sarah Austin, (1793-1867), née Taylor, translator and writer, subscribed to “Job” in 1826 (“Miss: —— friend of Mrs. Austin”; “Dr. —— German friend of Mrs. Austin”).
BR 596, 602
Bryant 134
Unitarian. Linnell painted two portraits of her, the first in 1834.
Tryphena Bathurst (1750-1807), widow of Henry, the 2nd Earl Bathurst, Lord Chancellor; or Georgiana (1765-1841), his daughter-in-law. Blake taught in the family and was, as it were, their “painter in ordinary”.
BDM 111
BR(2) 678 fn
“Miss Baxter” was a London subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808, as was Thomas Baxter (1782-1821), china painter. Was she perhaps his sister?
BDM 111
Charlotte, Lady Bedingfield (d.1854), of Oxburgh, Norfolk, was a London subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808. Born Charlotte Georgiana Jerningham, she married Sir Richard Bedingfield, bart. in 1795.
BDM 112
Miss Bentley was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 ([London]: “Miss Bentley”). Could this be Elizabeth Bentley (1767-1839)?
BDM 113
“Miss Beverley” was a London subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 113
Rebekah Bliss (1747-1819), book collector. Rebekah Bliss owned copies of For Children, and Songs; also 2 copies (coloured and uncoloured) of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) and a copy of Blair’s The Grave (1808).
BB 187, 191, 384, 419, 643, 654
BBs 77, 133
BDM 114
BRs 85-86
Independent.
See
Keri Davies.—“Mrs. Bliss: a Blake collector of 1794”, in Steve Clark & David Worrall, eds.—Blake in the Nineties.—New York NY : St. Martin’s, 1999.—pages 212-30.
Keri Davies.—“Rebekah Bliss: collector of William Blake and Oriental books” in Steve Clark & Masashi Suzuki, eds.—The Reception of Blake in the Orient.—London & New York : Continuum, 2006.—pages 38-62.
Hannah Boddington (fl. 1835), wife of Thomas Fremaux Boddington, (5 Norfolk Crescent, Hyde Park) owned a copy of Songs.
BB 384, 426
BRs 117
Bentley suggests Henry James [i.e. John] Boddington (1811-65) as the author of a letter to Linnell signed “H. Boddington”. However, in that case the surname Boddington would be a nom de plume. The son of Edward Williams, artist, and grandson of another Edward Williams, engraver, he took his wife’s surname, Boddington, to prevent confusion with relations who were artists. “He lived first at Pentonville, removed thence to Fulham, thence to Hammersmith, and finally in 1854 to Barnes.” An attribution to Hannah Boddington seems a great deal more plausible!
Miss Boyton was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Bristol : “Miss Boyton”).
BDM 116
“Miss Brandreth” was a Liverpool subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808. Sister or daughter of Joseph Brandreth M.D. (1746-1815), physician.
BDM 116
Elizabeth Butts (1770-1851), wife of Thomas. Blake may have taught in her school for girls. Dedicatee of “The Phoenix. To Mrs. Butts”.
BDM 118
See
Joseph Viscomi.—“William Blake’s ‘The Phoenix / to Mrs Butts’ Redux”.—Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly, Volume 29, Issue 1 (Summer 1995).—pages 12-15.
Charlotte Sophia (1744-1818), Queen of George III, was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“The Queen”). Permitted The Grave with Blake’s illustrations to be dedicated to her.
BBs 3
BDM 123
BR 178-79, 184, 192, 208
BRs 48-49, 51-52
Gilchrist 29, 218
Mrs. Chetwynd, (fl. 1801), subscriber to Hayley’s Ballads.
BDM 123
BR 116, 574
See
Angus Whitehead.—“’Mrs Chetwynd & her Brother’ and ‘Mr. Chetwynd’”.—Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly, Volume 42, Issue 2 (Fall 2008).—pages 75-78
Mrs Chetwynd, like Rebekah Bliss, doesn’t fit the male radical picture we have of Blake’s early audience. This account also sheds light on Hayley—even when flirting with Mrs. C., he’s still trying to help Blake. I also find it interesting how in this account Blake seems totally at ease in these upper-class circles. Does not this quite forcefully counter Jon Mee`s argument of Blake`s exclusion as enthusiast from genteel dissenting circles.
Sophia Catherine (Ford) Chichester (1795-1847), commissioned the Arlington Court Picture.
BR(2) 370
Swedenborgian?
See
J. E. M. Latham.—“Henry James Senior’s Mrs Chichester”.—Henry James Review, vol.14 (1993).—pages 132-40.
Jacqueline E. M. Latham.—“The Arlington Court Picture”.—Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly Volume XXIX, Number 1 (Summer 1995 [i.e., January 1996]).—page 24.
Charlotte Collins, poet. Agent for William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads.
BDM 124
Theodora Cowper, cousin of William Cowper, sister of Lady Hesketh. Acquired Hayley, Ballad I.
BDM 125
“Mrs. Dawson” was a London subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 128
Maria Denman, Flaxman’s sister-in-law, early owner of work by Blake: work in conventional and illuminated printing (Descriptive Catalogue, Songs); owner of paintings or drawings.
BB 140, 277, 283, 384, 419, 560, 788
BBs 214, 446
BDM 129
BR 24, 233, 250, 288, 309, 478, 521
Butlin #100, #451, #804, #835
Gilchrist 148, 307, 354
Mrs. J. K. De Putron, daughter of B.G. Windus, was the owner of paintings or drawings
Butlin #478, #491, #507, #518, #542
Mrs. Dowson (fl. 1830-32) patron of Linnell. “Mrs. Dowson” bought a copy of “Job” (c. 1830).
BRs 98, 111
Bryant 131
Linnell’s first portrait of Mrs Dowson dates from 1830, as does the group of Mrs Dowson and her children. A further portrait of Mrs Dowson dates from 1832.
Elizabeth, Countess of Egremont (1769-1822), wife of 3rd Earl, was the owner of paintings or drawings.
BDM 133
BR 179, 188, 236, 363, 441, 473
BRs 94
Butlin #642, #662
Gilchrist 212-13, 350
“Nancy” [Ann] Flaxman, (1760?‑1820), wife of the sculptor, early owner of work by Blake (Innocence, Poetical Sketches, Songs).
BB 216-7, 344-5, 349, 384, 405, 419, 451-2, 529, 579
BBs 214
BDM 134
BR 24, 25, 27, 28, 45, 48, 68, 70, 83, 85, 88-89, 91, 94, 99, 110, 112, 130, 165, 166, 188, 241-2, 245, 331, 336, 488, 521, 574
BRs 11, 14, 20
Gilchrist 148-49, 354
Swedenborgian.
Anne Gilchrist (1828-1885), author, owner of work in conventional or illuminated printing (Europe pl.18, Milton pl.13); owner of paintings or drawings; owner of some separate plates.
BB 24-5, 78, 108, 126, 159, 163, 224, 263, 267, 430-1, 449, 662, 684-5, 814-16, 904
BBs 390, 627, 90, 102, 107
BR 43, 274, 302, 307, 319, 321, 416-7, 14, 34, 40, 53, 278, 293, 315, 342, 418, 566
BRs 12, 28, 71, 74, 83, 84.
Butlin #68, #89, #90, #124, #137, #138, #149, #153, #179, #244, #261 2, #293, #295, #315, #341, #342, #554, #555, #615, #620, #638, #646, #683, #686, #765, #842, #848, #851, #870, #R2, #R3, #R4, #R5
Essick III, VII, XV, XXV, XXIX
“Mrs. Gutteridge, Camberwell” subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 139
Mrs. Robert Halliley was a Wakefield subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 140
Miss S. Hamer was a Wakefield subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 140
Emma, Lady Hamilton (1765-1815), wife of Sir William, subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Lady Hamilton, Merton”).
BBs 94
BDM 140
BR 78
Gilchrist 166
Emma was always grateful to William Hayley for the lessons which she said she learnt from reading The Triumphs of Temper. Writing to Romney from Caserta on 20 December 1791 she said, ‘Give my love to Mr Hayley, tell him I shall be glad to see him at Naples … I am always reading his Triumphs of Temper; it was that that made me Lady H., for, God knows, I had for five years enough to try my temper, and I am affraid it if it had not been for the good example Serena taught me, my girdle would have burst, and if it had I had been undone, for Sir W. minds more temper than beauty. He, therefore, wishes Mr. Hayley would come, that he might thank him for his sweet-tempered wife. I swear to you I have never been once out of humour since the 6th of last September.’
“Mrs. Harvey, Ardwick” was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 142
Euphrasia Fanny Haworth, (1802-1883) owned copy M of Thel.
BB 129.
Spiritualist. Swedenborgian.
Euphrasia Haworth met Robert Browning at Macready’s house at Elstree in 1836 and became his closest female friend before his marriage. She lived with her parents in an Elizabethan house at Barham Wood, where Mr. Haworth devoted himself to toxophily and his wife entertained her guests with psychic phenomena. The first of Miss Haworth’s “Sonnets to the Author of Paracelsus”, published in the New Monthly Magazine (September 1836), begins with lines that have become well known:
He has the quiet and calm look of one
Who is assured of genius too intense
To doubt of its own power.
Browning responded by enshrining her as “My English Eyebright” (a translation of her name “Euphrasia”) in a paragraph among the couplets of Sordello.
“Miss Haynes, Twickenham Lodge” subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808. “David Haynes, Esq. Lonesome Lodge, Surrey”, perhaps a relative, also subscribed.
BDM 143
BR 123, 126.
Harriet, Lady Hesketh (1733-1807), Cowper’s cousin, early owner of paintings or drawings.
BB 18, 741, 805, 918
BDM 144
BR 71, 73, 78-80, 82, 85-88, 90-91, 94-98, 100-8, 111-13, 116-18, 121, 135, 146, 148, 149, 150, 156, 162, 163-5, 455
BRs 22, 133
Butlin #355
Gilchrist 146, 164, 167, 169, 324
“Mrs. Hodson” was a Liverpool subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 145
“Miss Horde, Lansdown Crescent, Bath” subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 146
“Mrs. Nathan Hyde, Ardwick” was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 148
Elizabeth Iremonger, owner of work in illuminated printing (Songs).
BDM 148
Unitarian.
See
Keri Davies.—"'My little Cane Sofa and the Bust of Sappho': Elizabeth Iremonger and the female world of book-collecting", in Queer Blake, Helen Bruder & Tristanne Connolly, eds.—Basingstoke : Palgrave, 2010.
Miss James (fl. 1829) was a “Job” buyer.
BRs 94, 110
Bryant 128
Otherwise unidentified.
Mrs. Ley owned paintings or drawings. Note also that Hugh Ley, M.D. (1790‑1837), physician, was a subscriber to “Job” in 1826 (“Dr. H. Ley”).
BR 591, 599
Bryant 119
Butlin #871
Mary Ann Linnell (1796-1865), wife of John Linnell; recipient of Percy’s Reliques (1765), “[t]he gift of Mr W- Blake”.
BDM 155
“Miss Maskall” was a London subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 159
Harriet Mathew, wife of Rev. A. S. Mathew, patron of artists & musicians. Not known to have owned any work by Blake.
BB 15-16, 22
BDM 160
BR 25-26, 30, 455-7, 513
BRs xliii, 19, 119
Gilchrist 43-47, 55
Fanny S. Milner (d. 1876) owned work in conventional or illuminated printing (Songs).
BB 413.
Harriet Jane Moore (1801-1884), watercolourist, owned a copy of For Children: The Gates of Paradise.
BB 187, 193
BBs 77-78
BDM 161
BR 182
Harriet Moore is best known for her drawings of Michael Faraday's work at the Royal Institution. She documented his apartment, study, and laboratory in a series of watercolour paintings in the early 1850s.
Julia Moore (1803-1904) inherited her sister’s copy of For Children.
BB 193
BBs 77.
“Mrs. Moss” was a Liverpool subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808. “John Moss, Esq.” also subscribed.
BDM 161
Miss Norris subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 ([London]: “Miss Norris”).
BDM 163
Amelia Opie (1769-1853), novelist, widow of John Opie (1761-1807), painter, R.A., who had subscribed to Blair’s The Grave (“The late John Opie, Esq. R.A.”). Amelia Opie had acquired a copy of “Job” before November 1831 when she presented it to Pierre Jean David, known as David d’Angers (1788-1856), the French sculptor to whom she sat in 1829. This copy was later acquired by Henri de Triqueti (1807-74), also a sculptor.
BBs 194, 504
BR 596, 602
BRs 49
Bryant 133, 139.
Gilchrist 122
Quaker.
“Miss Peel, Ardwick” was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808, as was “Mr. R. Peel, Ardwick”.
BDM 165
Harriet Poole (d.1827), Hayley’s friend, subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Mrs. Harriet Poole, Levant, near Chichester”).
BB 813, 890
BDM 167
BR 79, 85-87, 89-90, 94, 103, 118, 145, 148, 150, 173
BRs 18, 41
Gilchrist 164-65, 176, 218
Miss Priestley was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Miss Priestley, Thorpe”).
BDM 168
Mrs. Roberts was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Wakefield: “Mrs Roberts, Pledwick”).
BDM 171
“Miss Roughsedge” was a Liverpool subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 174
Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck (1778-1856) was a Bristol subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Mrs. Schimmelpenning”).
BDM 174
Moravian.
“Mrs. Schutz, Gillingham Hall, Suffolk” was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 174
Catherine Louisa Shipley, acquired Mrs Iremonger’s copy of Songs.
BDM 176
See
Keri Davies.—"'My little Cane Sofa and the Bust of Sappho': Elizabeth Iremonger and the female world of book-collecting", in Queer Blake, Helen Bruder & Tristanne Connolly, eds.—Basingstoke : Palgrave, 2010.
Julia Smith (fl. 1828), daughter of Sam. Smith, early owner of paintings or drawings.
BR 367, 607
Butlin #53, #134
Mrs. Richard Smith was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Bristol: “Mrs. Richard Smith”).
BDM 177
Mrs. Samuel Smith (fl. 1828), early owner of paintings or drawings.
BR 367, 607
Butlin #53, #134
Princess Sophia (1777-1848), daughter of George III, sister of George IV and William IV, was a possible subscriber to “Job” in 1826 (“Princess Sophia” [del.]) BR 220, 345, 597, 602
BRs 98, 111
Bryant 131, 134
Linnell executed two portraits of her in 1821 and 1822. In addition to the proofs of “Job” sent to her at Kensington Palace in 1830, Linnell’s Journal indicates that John Varley gave to Mr Leonard (unidentified) a copy of “Job” in October 1834 to show to the Princess.
Widow Spicer, saleswoman of Little Tom the Sailor. Blake may have made it gratis.
BDM 179
Mrs. Stead was a Leeds subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808. Richard Stead was also a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave (Leeds: “Mr. Richard Stead”).
BDM 179
Miss Swayne was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Miss Swayne, Salisbury”).
BDM 181
Mary Taylor was the owner of work in conventional or illuminated printing (America). Could this be Mary Taylor (d. 1809), wife of the Platonist?
BB 100
BR 399?
Miss Temple was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Miss Temple, Northwood Place, Beccles, Suffolk”).
BDM 182
Sarah, Lady Torrens, wife of Major-General Sir Henry Torrens (1779-1828); adjutant general of the forces; resided in Fulham. Purchased proof copy of “Job”, April 1826. Patron of Linnell whose portrait of Lady Torrens and Family (1819), one of his most impressive group portraits was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1821. Sir Henry, it seems, was joint-subscriber with his wife to “Job” in 1826.
BDM 184
BR 327, 328, 590, 599
BRs 118, 122
Bryant 112, 118, 133
Susannah Tulk, wife of C. A. Tulk, early owner of work by Blake in conventional or illuminated printing (All Religions are One pl.1, There is No Natural Religion).
BB 82, 446
BR 242
Swedenborgian.
“Mrs. Turner, Brentford” was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 185
Mrs. Udny was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 ([London]: “Mrs. Udny”).
BDM 185
Delvalle Varley, wife of John Varley, daughter of Wilson Lowry, was the owner of work in conventional or illuminated printing (Marriage pl.20).
BBs 99-100.
Ann Vickers was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Birmingham: “Mrs. Ann Vickers”).
BDM 186
Miss Walkers was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Wakefield: “Miss Walkers, St. John’s”).
BDM 187
Mrs. Welford was the owner of paintings or drawings.
Butlin #353
Miss Wheeler was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 ([London]: “Miss Wheeler”).
BDM 187
Ann Whittaker (d. 1826), inherited Songs (G) from her life-partner, Rebekah Bliss.
Citations
BB
G. E. Bentley, jr.—Blake Books : Annotated Catalogues of William Blake’s Writings.—Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1977.
BBs
G. E. Bentley, jr.—Blake Books Supplement: A Bibliography of Publications and Discoveries about William Blake, 1971-1992.—Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1995.
BDM
G. E. Bentley, jr.—William Blake in the Desolate Market.—Montreal, &c. : McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2014.
BR
G. E. Bentley, jr.—Blake Records.—Oxford : Oxford University Press 1969.
BRs
G. E. Bentley, jr.—Blake Records Supplement: being new materials relating to the life of William Blake discovered since the publication of Blake records, 1969.—Oxford : Oxford University Press 1988.
BR(2)
G. E. Bentley, jr.—Blake Records.—2nd ed.—New Haven & London : Yale University Press, 2004.
Bryant
Barbara Bryant.—“The Job designs: a documentary and bibliographical record”, in David Bindman, ed.—William Blake’s Illustrations of the book of Job: the engravings and related material with essays, catalogue of states and printings, commentary on the plates and documentary record by David Bindman, Barbara Bryant, Robert Essick, Geoffrey Keynes and Bo Lindberg.—6 vols.—London : William Blake Trust, 1987.—pages 103-147.
Butlin
Martin Butlin.—The paintings and drawings of William Blake.—2 vols.—New Haven ; London : Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, 1981.
Essick
Robert N. Essick.—The Separate plates of William Blake : A catalogue.—Princeton : Princeton U.P. 1983.
Gilchrist
Alexander Gilchrist.—The Life of William Blake: “Pictor ignotus”.—London & Cambridge : Macmillan, 1863.—Vol. I.
BDM 108
Bryant
Butlin #784, #829 20
Eliza Aders married Charles Aders as her third husband in Paris, in 1820 (see http://edpopehistory.co.uk/content/3-wives-3-husbands-living). In 1841 she exhibited a portrait in miniature at the Royal Academy, and another two works in 1839 (as "Mrs C. Aders").
Mrs. Appleby subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Manchester: “Mrs. Appleby”)
BDM 108
Sarah Austin, (1793-1867), née Taylor, translator and writer, subscribed to “Job” in 1826 (“Miss: —— friend of Mrs. Austin”; “Dr. —— German friend of Mrs. Austin”).
BR 596, 602
Bryant 134
Unitarian. Linnell painted two portraits of her, the first in 1834.
Tryphena Bathurst (1750-1807), widow of Henry, the 2nd Earl Bathurst, Lord Chancellor; or Georgiana (1765-1841), his daughter-in-law. Blake taught in the family and was, as it were, their “painter in ordinary”.
BDM 111
BR(2) 678 fn
“Miss Baxter” was a London subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808, as was Thomas Baxter (1782-1821), china painter. Was she perhaps his sister?
BDM 111
Charlotte, Lady Bedingfield (d.1854), of Oxburgh, Norfolk, was a London subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808. Born Charlotte Georgiana Jerningham, she married Sir Richard Bedingfield, bart. in 1795.
BDM 112
Miss Bentley was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 ([London]: “Miss Bentley”). Could this be Elizabeth Bentley (1767-1839)?
BDM 113
“Miss Beverley” was a London subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 113
Rebekah Bliss (1747-1819), book collector. Rebekah Bliss owned copies of For Children, and Songs; also 2 copies (coloured and uncoloured) of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) and a copy of Blair’s The Grave (1808).
BB 187, 191, 384, 419, 643, 654
BBs 77, 133
BDM 114
BRs 85-86
Independent.
See
Keri Davies.—“Mrs. Bliss: a Blake collector of 1794”, in Steve Clark & David Worrall, eds.—Blake in the Nineties.—New York NY : St. Martin’s, 1999.—pages 212-30.
Keri Davies.—“Rebekah Bliss: collector of William Blake and Oriental books” in Steve Clark & Masashi Suzuki, eds.—The Reception of Blake in the Orient.—London & New York : Continuum, 2006.—pages 38-62.
Hannah Boddington (fl. 1835), wife of Thomas Fremaux Boddington, (5 Norfolk Crescent, Hyde Park) owned a copy of Songs.
BB 384, 426
BRs 117
Bentley suggests Henry James [i.e. John] Boddington (1811-65) as the author of a letter to Linnell signed “H. Boddington”. However, in that case the surname Boddington would be a nom de plume. The son of Edward Williams, artist, and grandson of another Edward Williams, engraver, he took his wife’s surname, Boddington, to prevent confusion with relations who were artists. “He lived first at Pentonville, removed thence to Fulham, thence to Hammersmith, and finally in 1854 to Barnes.” An attribution to Hannah Boddington seems a great deal more plausible!
Miss Boyton was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Bristol : “Miss Boyton”).
BDM 116
“Miss Brandreth” was a Liverpool subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808. Sister or daughter of Joseph Brandreth M.D. (1746-1815), physician.
BDM 116
Elizabeth Butts (1770-1851), wife of Thomas. Blake may have taught in her school for girls. Dedicatee of “The Phoenix. To Mrs. Butts”.
BDM 118
See
Joseph Viscomi.—“William Blake’s ‘The Phoenix / to Mrs Butts’ Redux”.—Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly, Volume 29, Issue 1 (Summer 1995).—pages 12-15.
Charlotte Sophia (1744-1818), Queen of George III, was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“The Queen”). Permitted The Grave with Blake’s illustrations to be dedicated to her.
BBs 3
BDM 123
BR 178-79, 184, 192, 208
BRs 48-49, 51-52
Gilchrist 29, 218
Mrs. Chetwynd, (fl. 1801), subscriber to Hayley’s Ballads.
BDM 123
BR 116, 574
See
Angus Whitehead.—“’Mrs Chetwynd & her Brother’ and ‘Mr. Chetwynd’”.—Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly, Volume 42, Issue 2 (Fall 2008).—pages 75-78
Mrs Chetwynd, like Rebekah Bliss, doesn’t fit the male radical picture we have of Blake’s early audience. This account also sheds light on Hayley—even when flirting with Mrs. C., he’s still trying to help Blake. I also find it interesting how in this account Blake seems totally at ease in these upper-class circles. Does not this quite forcefully counter Jon Mee`s argument of Blake`s exclusion as enthusiast from genteel dissenting circles.
Sophia Catherine (Ford) Chichester (1795-1847), commissioned the Arlington Court Picture.
BR(2) 370
Swedenborgian?
See
J. E. M. Latham.—“Henry James Senior’s Mrs Chichester”.—Henry James Review, vol.14 (1993).—pages 132-40.
Jacqueline E. M. Latham.—“The Arlington Court Picture”.—Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly Volume XXIX, Number 1 (Summer 1995 [i.e., January 1996]).—page 24.
Charlotte Collins, poet. Agent for William Hayley, Designs to a Series of Ballads.
BDM 124
Theodora Cowper, cousin of William Cowper, sister of Lady Hesketh. Acquired Hayley, Ballad I.
BDM 125
“Mrs. Dawson” was a London subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 128
Maria Denman, Flaxman’s sister-in-law, early owner of work by Blake: work in conventional and illuminated printing (Descriptive Catalogue, Songs); owner of paintings or drawings.
BB 140, 277, 283, 384, 419, 560, 788
BBs 214, 446
BDM 129
BR 24, 233, 250, 288, 309, 478, 521
Butlin #100, #451, #804, #835
Gilchrist 148, 307, 354
Mrs. J. K. De Putron, daughter of B.G. Windus, was the owner of paintings or drawings
Butlin #478, #491, #507, #518, #542
Mrs. Dowson (fl. 1830-32) patron of Linnell. “Mrs. Dowson” bought a copy of “Job” (c. 1830).
BRs 98, 111
Bryant 131
Linnell’s first portrait of Mrs Dowson dates from 1830, as does the group of Mrs Dowson and her children. A further portrait of Mrs Dowson dates from 1832.
Elizabeth, Countess of Egremont (1769-1822), wife of 3rd Earl, was the owner of paintings or drawings.
BDM 133
BR 179, 188, 236, 363, 441, 473
BRs 94
Butlin #642, #662
Gilchrist 212-13, 350
“Nancy” [Ann] Flaxman, (1760?‑1820), wife of the sculptor, early owner of work by Blake (Innocence, Poetical Sketches, Songs).
BB 216-7, 344-5, 349, 384, 405, 419, 451-2, 529, 579
BBs 214
BDM 134
BR 24, 25, 27, 28, 45, 48, 68, 70, 83, 85, 88-89, 91, 94, 99, 110, 112, 130, 165, 166, 188, 241-2, 245, 331, 336, 488, 521, 574
BRs 11, 14, 20
Gilchrist 148-49, 354
Swedenborgian.
Anne Gilchrist (1828-1885), author, owner of work in conventional or illuminated printing (Europe pl.18, Milton pl.13); owner of paintings or drawings; owner of some separate plates.
BB 24-5, 78, 108, 126, 159, 163, 224, 263, 267, 430-1, 449, 662, 684-5, 814-16, 904
BBs 390, 627, 90, 102, 107
BR 43, 274, 302, 307, 319, 321, 416-7, 14, 34, 40, 53, 278, 293, 315, 342, 418, 566
BRs 12, 28, 71, 74, 83, 84.
Butlin #68, #89, #90, #124, #137, #138, #149, #153, #179, #244, #261 2, #293, #295, #315, #341, #342, #554, #555, #615, #620, #638, #646, #683, #686, #765, #842, #848, #851, #870, #R2, #R3, #R4, #R5
Essick III, VII, XV, XXV, XXIX
“Mrs. Gutteridge, Camberwell” subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 139
Mrs. Robert Halliley was a Wakefield subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 140
Miss S. Hamer was a Wakefield subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 140
Emma, Lady Hamilton (1765-1815), wife of Sir William, subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Lady Hamilton, Merton”).
BBs 94
BDM 140
BR 78
Gilchrist 166
Emma was always grateful to William Hayley for the lessons which she said she learnt from reading The Triumphs of Temper. Writing to Romney from Caserta on 20 December 1791 she said, ‘Give my love to Mr Hayley, tell him I shall be glad to see him at Naples … I am always reading his Triumphs of Temper; it was that that made me Lady H., for, God knows, I had for five years enough to try my temper, and I am affraid it if it had not been for the good example Serena taught me, my girdle would have burst, and if it had I had been undone, for Sir W. minds more temper than beauty. He, therefore, wishes Mr. Hayley would come, that he might thank him for his sweet-tempered wife. I swear to you I have never been once out of humour since the 6th of last September.’
“Mrs. Harvey, Ardwick” was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 142
Euphrasia Fanny Haworth, (1802-1883) owned copy M of Thel.
BB 129.
Spiritualist. Swedenborgian.
Euphrasia Haworth met Robert Browning at Macready’s house at Elstree in 1836 and became his closest female friend before his marriage. She lived with her parents in an Elizabethan house at Barham Wood, where Mr. Haworth devoted himself to toxophily and his wife entertained her guests with psychic phenomena. The first of Miss Haworth’s “Sonnets to the Author of Paracelsus”, published in the New Monthly Magazine (September 1836), begins with lines that have become well known:
He has the quiet and calm look of one
Who is assured of genius too intense
To doubt of its own power.
Browning responded by enshrining her as “My English Eyebright” (a translation of her name “Euphrasia”) in a paragraph among the couplets of Sordello.
“Miss Haynes, Twickenham Lodge” subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808. “David Haynes, Esq. Lonesome Lodge, Surrey”, perhaps a relative, also subscribed.
BDM 143
BR 123, 126.
Harriet, Lady Hesketh (1733-1807), Cowper’s cousin, early owner of paintings or drawings.
BB 18, 741, 805, 918
BDM 144
BR 71, 73, 78-80, 82, 85-88, 90-91, 94-98, 100-8, 111-13, 116-18, 121, 135, 146, 148, 149, 150, 156, 162, 163-5, 455
BRs 22, 133
Butlin #355
Gilchrist 146, 164, 167, 169, 324
“Mrs. Hodson” was a Liverpool subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 145
“Miss Horde, Lansdown Crescent, Bath” subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 146
“Mrs. Nathan Hyde, Ardwick” was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 148
Elizabeth Iremonger, owner of work in illuminated printing (Songs).
BDM 148
Unitarian.
See
Keri Davies.—"'My little Cane Sofa and the Bust of Sappho': Elizabeth Iremonger and the female world of book-collecting", in Queer Blake, Helen Bruder & Tristanne Connolly, eds.—Basingstoke : Palgrave, 2010.
Miss James (fl. 1829) was a “Job” buyer.
BRs 94, 110
Bryant 128
Otherwise unidentified.
Mrs. Ley owned paintings or drawings. Note also that Hugh Ley, M.D. (1790‑1837), physician, was a subscriber to “Job” in 1826 (“Dr. H. Ley”).
BR 591, 599
Bryant 119
Butlin #871
Mary Ann Linnell (1796-1865), wife of John Linnell; recipient of Percy’s Reliques (1765), “[t]he gift of Mr W- Blake”.
BDM 155
“Miss Maskall” was a London subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 159
Harriet Mathew, wife of Rev. A. S. Mathew, patron of artists & musicians. Not known to have owned any work by Blake.
BB 15-16, 22
BDM 160
BR 25-26, 30, 455-7, 513
BRs xliii, 19, 119
Gilchrist 43-47, 55
Fanny S. Milner (d. 1876) owned work in conventional or illuminated printing (Songs).
BB 413.
Harriet Jane Moore (1801-1884), watercolourist, owned a copy of For Children: The Gates of Paradise.
BB 187, 193
BBs 77-78
BDM 161
BR 182
Harriet Moore is best known for her drawings of Michael Faraday's work at the Royal Institution. She documented his apartment, study, and laboratory in a series of watercolour paintings in the early 1850s.
Julia Moore (1803-1904) inherited her sister’s copy of For Children.
BB 193
BBs 77.
“Mrs. Moss” was a Liverpool subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808. “John Moss, Esq.” also subscribed.
BDM 161
Miss Norris subscribed to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 ([London]: “Miss Norris”).
BDM 163
Amelia Opie (1769-1853), novelist, widow of John Opie (1761-1807), painter, R.A., who had subscribed to Blair’s The Grave (“The late John Opie, Esq. R.A.”). Amelia Opie had acquired a copy of “Job” before November 1831 when she presented it to Pierre Jean David, known as David d’Angers (1788-1856), the French sculptor to whom she sat in 1829. This copy was later acquired by Henri de Triqueti (1807-74), also a sculptor.
BBs 194, 504
BR 596, 602
BRs 49
Bryant 133, 139.
Gilchrist 122
Quaker.
“Miss Peel, Ardwick” was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808, as was “Mr. R. Peel, Ardwick”.
BDM 165
Harriet Poole (d.1827), Hayley’s friend, subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Mrs. Harriet Poole, Levant, near Chichester”).
BB 813, 890
BDM 167
BR 79, 85-87, 89-90, 94, 103, 118, 145, 148, 150, 173
BRs 18, 41
Gilchrist 164-65, 176, 218
Miss Priestley was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Miss Priestley, Thorpe”).
BDM 168
Mrs. Roberts was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Wakefield: “Mrs Roberts, Pledwick”).
BDM 171
“Miss Roughsedge” was a Liverpool subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 174
Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck (1778-1856) was a Bristol subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Mrs. Schimmelpenning”).
BDM 174
Moravian.
“Mrs. Schutz, Gillingham Hall, Suffolk” was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 174
Catherine Louisa Shipley, acquired Mrs Iremonger’s copy of Songs.
BDM 176
See
Keri Davies.—"'My little Cane Sofa and the Bust of Sappho': Elizabeth Iremonger and the female world of book-collecting", in Queer Blake, Helen Bruder & Tristanne Connolly, eds.—Basingstoke : Palgrave, 2010.
Julia Smith (fl. 1828), daughter of Sam. Smith, early owner of paintings or drawings.
BR 367, 607
Butlin #53, #134
Mrs. Richard Smith was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Bristol: “Mrs. Richard Smith”).
BDM 177
Mrs. Samuel Smith (fl. 1828), early owner of paintings or drawings.
BR 367, 607
Butlin #53, #134
Princess Sophia (1777-1848), daughter of George III, sister of George IV and William IV, was a possible subscriber to “Job” in 1826 (“Princess Sophia” [del.]) BR 220, 345, 597, 602
BRs 98, 111
Bryant 131, 134
Linnell executed two portraits of her in 1821 and 1822. In addition to the proofs of “Job” sent to her at Kensington Palace in 1830, Linnell’s Journal indicates that John Varley gave to Mr Leonard (unidentified) a copy of “Job” in October 1834 to show to the Princess.
Widow Spicer, saleswoman of Little Tom the Sailor. Blake may have made it gratis.
BDM 179
Mrs. Stead was a Leeds subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808. Richard Stead was also a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave (Leeds: “Mr. Richard Stead”).
BDM 179
Miss Swayne was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Miss Swayne, Salisbury”).
BDM 181
Mary Taylor was the owner of work in conventional or illuminated printing (America). Could this be Mary Taylor (d. 1809), wife of the Platonist?
BB 100
BR 399?
Miss Temple was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (“Miss Temple, Northwood Place, Beccles, Suffolk”).
BDM 182
Sarah, Lady Torrens, wife of Major-General Sir Henry Torrens (1779-1828); adjutant general of the forces; resided in Fulham. Purchased proof copy of “Job”, April 1826. Patron of Linnell whose portrait of Lady Torrens and Family (1819), one of his most impressive group portraits was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1821. Sir Henry, it seems, was joint-subscriber with his wife to “Job” in 1826.
BDM 184
BR 327, 328, 590, 599
BRs 118, 122
Bryant 112, 118, 133
Susannah Tulk, wife of C. A. Tulk, early owner of work by Blake in conventional or illuminated printing (All Religions are One pl.1, There is No Natural Religion).
BB 82, 446
BR 242
Swedenborgian.
“Mrs. Turner, Brentford” was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808.
BDM 185
Mrs. Udny was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 ([London]: “Mrs. Udny”).
BDM 185
Delvalle Varley, wife of John Varley, daughter of Wilson Lowry, was the owner of work in conventional or illuminated printing (Marriage pl.20).
BBs 99-100.
Ann Vickers was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Birmingham: “Mrs. Ann Vickers”).
BDM 186
Miss Walkers was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 (Wakefield: “Miss Walkers, St. John’s”).
BDM 187
Mrs. Welford was the owner of paintings or drawings.
Butlin #353
Miss Wheeler was a subscriber to Blair’s The Grave in 1808 ([London]: “Miss Wheeler”).
BDM 187
Ann Whittaker (d. 1826), inherited Songs (G) from her life-partner, Rebekah Bliss.
●
Citations
BB
G. E. Bentley, jr.—Blake Books : Annotated Catalogues of William Blake’s Writings.—Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1977.
BBs
G. E. Bentley, jr.—Blake Books Supplement: A Bibliography of Publications and Discoveries about William Blake, 1971-1992.—Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1995.
BDM
G. E. Bentley, jr.—William Blake in the Desolate Market.—Montreal, &c. : McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2014.
BR
G. E. Bentley, jr.—Blake Records.—Oxford : Oxford University Press 1969.
BRs
G. E. Bentley, jr.—Blake Records Supplement: being new materials relating to the life of William Blake discovered since the publication of Blake records, 1969.—Oxford : Oxford University Press 1988.
BR(2)
G. E. Bentley, jr.—Blake Records.—2nd ed.—New Haven & London : Yale University Press, 2004.
Bryant
Barbara Bryant.—“The Job designs: a documentary and bibliographical record”, in David Bindman, ed.—William Blake’s Illustrations of the book of Job: the engravings and related material with essays, catalogue of states and printings, commentary on the plates and documentary record by David Bindman, Barbara Bryant, Robert Essick, Geoffrey Keynes and Bo Lindberg.—6 vols.—London : William Blake Trust, 1987.—pages 103-147.
Butlin
Martin Butlin.—The paintings and drawings of William Blake.—2 vols.—New Haven ; London : Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, 1981.
Essick
Robert N. Essick.—The Separate plates of William Blake : A catalogue.—Princeton : Princeton U.P. 1983.
Gilchrist
Alexander Gilchrist.—The Life of William Blake: “Pictor ignotus”.—London & Cambridge : Macmillan, 1863.—Vol. I.
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