William Blake and relief etching

Happy birthday William Blake, 250 today. Although most famous for having his poem Jerusalem misinterpreted as a jingoistic anthem for public schoolboys, Blake's biggest contribution to printmaking methods was his invention of relief etching. This technique was supposedly revealed to Blake by the spirit of his dead brother, who Blake had adored, although it also had great practical benefits to Blake as it enabled him to paint his images directly on to the plate using etch resistant varnish. The acid would therefore eat away at the areas he did not want printing, as opposed to intaglio etching where the etched lines are the areas to be printed. The only real obstacle was to then reverse all the images and words on the plate; although his training as an engraver would have made this process second nature.

"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is: Infinite. This I shall do by printing in the infernal method by corrosives, which in Hell are salutary and medicinal, melting apparent surfaces away, and displaying the infinite which was hid." The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Blake's new method was first used around 1788 in the first of his 'illuminated books' All Religions are One and There is No Natural Religion. His first illuminated book of poems, Songs of Innocence appeared in 1789 with much of the hand colouring and printing carried out by his wife Catherine. The books were then mostly sold by Blake directly to collectors. Blake's other Illuminated Books include The Book of Thel, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Milton, Jerusalem and Visions of the Daughters of Albion.