My sister gave me a wonderful Christmas present: William Blake: The Complete Illuminated Books. (Look at it at the publisher's web site here.)
William Blake was an illustrator as well as a poet. Much of his poetry (perhaps all of it) was published in the form of drawings that Blake created himself. Click this link, for instance, to see the plate of my favorite Blake poem, The Sick Rose.
The reproduction in my new book is much crisper and more clear than the Internet link above. My book also includes all of Blake's work its original size, except for one image, the poem "Laocoon", that had to be reduced by about 30 percent.
I'm looking forward to reading the introduction by David Bindman.
Another thing that fascinates me about this paperback book is how relatively inexpensive it is. Amazon lists it at $25.17. I say this not to diminish my sister's wonderful gift, but to appreciate the fact that this kind of high-brow art is accessible at a reasonable price.
In other holiday books news, J.K. Rowling announced a few days before Christmas that the new Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, will be released on July 16. Hooray, hooray! I will be writing more about my appreciation for the Harry Potter books as this date approaches. I encourage anyone who loves books to at least try reading the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
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