BLAKE AT YALE

Paul Mellon began collecting the works of William Blake in 1941. You can read about Mellon's acquisitions of Blake's works in The Human Form Divine by Patrick Noon. He states: "After 1941, hardly a year passed without Mr. Mellon acquiring some Blake opus. The harvest is impressive, consisting as it does of four tempera paintings, one mono-type, several hundred prints and watercolors, and several dozen engraved books; however, it is the twelve Illuminated Books that confer on this collection its stature of eminence."

The Illuminated Books in the Paul Mellon Collection:
Book of Thel (Copy B) and (Copy R)
Europe, A Prophecy (Copy A)
Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience (Copy F) and (Copy L)
There is No Natural Religion (Copy B)
Songs of Innocence (Copy G)
Visions of the Daughters of Albion (Copy I)
America, A Prophecy (Copy M) and (Copy R)
Book of Urizen (Copy A) and (Copy C)
Jerusalem (Copy E)

The prize possession of the Mellon Collection at

Yale Center for British Art 

Jerusalem
Plate 1

Yale is the only complete color copy of Jerusalem. Blake took great care in producing his final print of Jerusalem and it remained in his possession at his death.

Yale has made available to the public online the 537 items in the Blake collection. The University does not restrict the use of its Blake material as it is in the public domain.