William Blake's Manuscripts

This collection of essays examines how close analysis of William Blakes manuscripts can yield new discoveries about his techniques, his working habits, and his influences. With the introduction of facsimile editions and more particularly, the William Blake Archive, the largest digital repository of Blake materials online, scholars have been able to access Blakes work in as close its original medium, leading to important insights into Blakes creative process and mythopoetic system. Recent advancements in digital editing and reproduction has further increased interest in Blakes manuscripts. This volume brings together both established Blake scholars, including G.E. Bentley Jnrs final essay on Blake, and upcoming scholars whose research is at the intersection of digital humanities, critical theory, textual scholarship, queer theory, transgender studies, reception history, and bibliographical studies. The chapters seek to cover the breadth of Blakes manuscripts: poetry, letters, notebook entries, and annotations. Together, these chapters offer an overview of the current state of research in Blake studies on manuscripts at a point when his manuscripts have become increasingly available in digital environments, and gesture to a possible future of Blake scholarship in general.