BLAKE & TULK

• The meeting of a family in heaven

• Charles Augustus Tulk, acquired from the artist, possibly in 1816

Until it was sold in 2012 this image was in the collection of the family of Charles Augustus Tulk who had purchased it directly from William Blake. It seems that Blake was acquainted with Tulk through his association with the Swedenborgian movement which Blake had explored as a young man. Tulk was wealthy and a member of Parliament. His support was crucial to the financial survival of Blake during lean years.

After Blake's original participation in an organizational meeting of Swedenborg followers in London in 1789, he continued to read Swedenborg's books. He annotated his copies of Heaven and Hell, Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and Divine Providence finding fault with particular statements of Swedenborg. In Blake's book The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (composed between 1790 and 1793) he criticized aspects of Swedenborg's doctrine. He declined to join the New Jerusalem Church in 1797. 

Although Blake felt compelled to create his own system, he was not averse to borrowing from others. In fact he searched the literature of the ages seeking the truth which had been revealed to wise men who came before him. He found in Swedenborg both truth and error and incorporated what he valued. Part of the reason he did not join the Swedeborgian New Jerusalem Church was the distinction he made between the Kingdom of God being manifest in this world or conversely within the realm of the spirit. Attempts to bring the Kingdom of God on Earth, he felt, diverted attention from building the spiritual kingdom not limited by material constraints.

It seems that Blake found in Charles Tulk a man who shared his attitude about the message Swedenborg delivered. They didn't join the movement but incorporated truth which could be found within it.

More about Blake and Tulk.