Blake’s Public Addresses
Blake’s Public Addresses

Summary/Abstract: Blake never delivered a public speech but he produced several written addresses “To the Public.” These include his prospectus of 1793 listing for sale his “illuminated books;” the advertising material he created for his 1809 exhibition and his engraving of Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims; and his unpublished “Public Address” (c.1810), which expands his Chaucer prospectuses into an artistic mission statement. This article explains how prospectus-writing taught Blake the language of proclamation that became a key part of his creative repertoire. This shaped not only his promotional writings but also literary works like The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and Jerusalem, discussed briefly here. The article ends by suggesting that Blake’s transformation of this now largely forgotten genre mirrors that of other Romantic writers, notably Wordsworth, whose “Prospectus” to The Recluse Blake copied out by hand. His development of the “public address” element of the prospectus is also a powerful example of the revaluation of public utterance which this special issue explores.

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