William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job

William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job primarily refers to a series of twenty-two engraved prints (published 1826) by Blake illustrating the biblical Book of Job. It also refers to two earlier sets of watercolours by Blake on the same subject (1806 and 1821). The engraved Illustrations are considered to be Blake's greatest masterpieces in the medium of engraving, and were also a rare commercial and critical success for Blake.

As early as 1785 Blake had sketched several ink studies of an illustration to Job. In 1793 Blake engraved a composition based upon these drawings, which he offered for sale in the Prospectus to the Public for twelve shillings. This, alongside an engraving of Ezekiel, are the only extant examples of an intended series of biblical illustrations that were never completed. Blake reworked the Job plate sometime after 1804, but the resulting print was not included in the Illustrations.

Blake's next illustration was the tempera painting Job and his Daughters (1800), commissioned by Thomas Butts (see gallery below). This has similarities to plate 20 of the engraved illustrations, but it is unclear whether the print was directly based upon it.

The engraved illustrations to Job originated as a series of watercolours that Blake painted in 1805-6, also for Butts. These 19 watercolours are referred to as the Butts Set (in the collection of the The Morgan Library & Museum).

A second set of watercolours, known as the Linell Set (mostly in the collection of the Fogg Art Museum) was produced in 1821 at the request of John Linell. Linell traced the watercolours from the "Butts set"; these tracings were then coloured in by Blake. As a result of this unusual process, the outlines of the Linell set are thicker and the colouring is uniformly darker, with a more restricted palette than the Butts set. Blake also added two new designs to the Linell set, and added copies of these to the Butts set. The two designs added were No.s 17 and 20, The Vision of Christ and Job and His Daughters.

There is also another set of watercolours known as the New Zealand Set. These were initially believed to be from Blake's hand, but their authenticity has been all but refuted by scholars such as Martin Butlin and Bo Lindberg. They are most likely copies after the engravings by someone in the circle of John Linell, as they have no unique features.

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