Marriage of Heaven and Hell , Plate 15, (E 39)
"I was in a Printing house in Hell & saw the method in which
knowledge is transmitted from generation to generation.
In the first chamber was a Dragon-Man, clearing away the
rubbish from a caves mouth; within, a number of Dragons were
hollowing the cave,
In the second chamber was a Viper folding round the rock & the
cave, and others adorning it with gold silver and precious stones.
In the third chamber was an Eagle with wings and feathers of air,
he caused the inside of the cave to be infinite, around were
numbers of Eagle like men, who built palaces in the immense cliffs.
In the fourth chamber were Lions of flaming fire raging around
& melting the metals into living fluids.
In the fifth chamber were Unnam'd forms, which cast the metals
into the expanse.
There they were reciev'd by Men who occupied the sixth
chamber, and took the forms of books & were the arranged in libraries."
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Eagle_with_Snake_-_from_The_Marriage_of_Heaven_and_Hell%2C_Copy_E%2C_1827.jpg
Joseph Viscomi takes us through the process in which the Blakes engaged while making the illuminated books using the chambers of the Printing House of Hell.
Chamber 1: preparing the plate
Chamber 2: executing the design
Chamber 3: etching with acid
Chamber 4: inking the plate
Chamber 5: printing and coloring
Chamber 6: prints into books
Viscomi's article is available on this site.
Read more in Inquiry into Blake's Method of Color Printing by Robert N. Essick and Joseph Viscomi.
See Blake's methods demonstrated by Michael Phillips.
Printing House II sees the process differently.
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