Wood engraving, 1820-21
35x75mm [sheet 87x126 mm]
Ref: Binyon 145 ii/ii; Bindman 610; Bentley 504.
One of seventeen illustrations by William Blake for The Pastorals of Virgil published by Dr. R.J. Thornton, 1821.A strong impression on thin China paper, laid on a larger white wove backing sheet. One of a small number of impressions printed for John Linnell Jnr in or around May 1892.
The importance of these small engravings is without question. They have had a profound influence on English art throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.