The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Among the beautiful and striking illuminated books etched and printed by William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell stands out. Written in 1790 at the beginning of the French Revolution, it represents Blake’s first attempt to create a new system of art, poetry and philosophy, declaring himself on the side of the devils in a world that was being turned upside down. While perhaps lesser known than his Songs of Innocence and of Experience, it has strong echoes throughout pop culture, and is arguably more influential on later generations of writers, thinkers and even musicians, from Aldous Huxley drawing on it as a key text to opening the doors of perception, which in turn gave The Doors their name, through to figures as diverse as Salman Rushdie, Benjamin Britten, Olga Tokarczuk and Keith Haring. Blake’s writing and art immediately draws the reader into a fantastical and surrealist landscape, where the protagonist converses with angels who have thrown their lot in with revolutionary hell, or chats with prophets and devils about the nature of God, the universe and everything. The gloriously illustrated edition, which opens with a poem, and takes the form of prose thereafter, is both a spirited satire on religion and morality, and expresses Blake's essential wisdom and philosophy. Produced as a beautiful facsimile, with a new, illuminating introduction, this is a special and thought-provoking gift book.