Illustration to Night Thoughts - William Blake
Archival giclée
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Description
A detailed engraving by William Blake from his 1797 series illustrating Edward Young's poem, Night Thoughts, featuring a winged figure and a reclining man.
This engraving is one of the many plates William Blake produced for the ambitious 1797 edition of Edward Young's poem, Night Thoughts. Blake was commissioned to provide illustrations for the entire text, resulting in a series of designs that wrap around the printed verses. This specific page features a standing winged figure, draped in a veil, who appears to be writing or recording observations. Below this figure, a reclining man holds a goblet, a visual counterpoint to the solemnity of the upper composition.
Blake's approach to this project involved creating large watercolour drawings, which were then etched and engraved. The style is characteristic of his late eighteenth-century work, featuring clean, flowing lines and a focus on human form. The figures possess a classical grace, yet they are imbued with the specific, often enigmatic, symbolic language that defines Blake's personal mythology. The composition is balanced by the verticality of the winged figure and the horizontal orientation of the reclining man, creating a visual rhythm that guides the eye across the page.
As a printmaker, Blake utilised a technique that allowed for the integration of text and image, a method he refined throughout his career. The monochrome palette of the engraving focuses attention on the draftsmanship and the interplay of light and shadow. This work provides a glimpse into the collaborative nature of eighteenth-century publishing, where poets and artists worked in tandem to create immersive reading experiences. The print captures the intersection of moral philosophy and visual narrative, reflecting the themes of mortality and reflection present in Young's original text.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Illustration to Night Thoughts - William Blake
Artist Biography
William Blake
He married Catherine Boucher in 1782. She was illiterate at the time and signed the marriage register with an X. He taught her to read, write, and engrave, and she became his collaborator for the next forty-five years: mixing paint, operating the printing press, hand-colouring plates, and binding the finished pages into covers.
Their working method was Blake's own invention, revealed to him (he said) in a dream by the spirit of his dead brother Robert. Relief etching reversed the standard printmaking process: instead of cutting lines into copper, Blake wrote and drew on the plate in acid-resistant varnish, then dissolved the surrounding metal with acid, leaving text and image raised. This allowed him to compose poetry and illustration simultaneously on a single plate, print them together, then hand-colour each sheet in watercolour. Every copy was therefore unique. Songs of Innocence and of Experience was produced this way. He sold fewer than thirty copies during his lifetime.
In 1803, he physically threw a soldier named John Schofield out of his garden in Felpham. He was charged with assault and with uttering treasonable expressions against the King. He was acquitted at the Chichester assizes in January 1804.
Newton, painted in 1795, shows the scientist as a young man with the body of a Greek god, bent forward at the bottom of a dark ocean, fixing his gaze on a pair of compasses, measuring and drawing on a scroll that appears to project from his own head. It is a painting about the limits of reason: beautiful, precise, and missing everything beyond the edge of the paper. The Ancient of Days, from the same period, depicts his mythological figure Urizen crouching at the edge of a void, reaching down with a compass to measure the darkness below.
He died on 12 August 1827, working on illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy. He was buried at Bunhill Fields. The wider recognition came decades later.
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