Introduction: “Writing Is the Divine Revelation”

As a facet of Blake’s creative output alongside his pictorial art and printmaking, his writings are prodigious. While considerable scholarly attention has been directed at Blake’s writing in the illuminated books, there has until recently been little critical attention given to the manuscripts. Blake’s manuscripts are diverse, comprising poems of varying lengths, including complex palimpsests such as Vala or The Four Zoas. There are also receipts, inscriptions for paintings and preparatory sketches, ninety-six letters, an entry in an autograph album, notebooks, fugitive pieces, and, at last count, sixteen books containing Blake’s energetic annotations. The material complexity of these scribal productions coupled with difficulties identifying composition dates presents significant editorial and interpretative challenges. This chapter reviews early studies of Blake’s manuscripts before previewing the chapters in this volume which offer new research made possible by greater access to Blake’s manuscripts, particularly digitized versions. This new research is at the intersection of digital humanities, critical theory, textual scholarship, queer theory, transgender studies, reception history, and bibliographical studies.