Publisher's Synopsis
Illustrations of the Book of Job
William Blake
Illustrations of the Book of Job. Invented and Engraved by William Blake
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.[9] They are most likely copies after the engravings by someone in the circle of John Linell, as they have no unique features.
