PA-N65; E571| PAGE 65
PA-N65; E571|
Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims
PA-N65; E571|
Being a Complete Index of Human Characters
PA-N65; E571|
as they appear Age after Age
PA-N51; E571|
[Public Address] PAGE 51
PA-N51; E571|
[Engravd by William Blake tho Now Surrounded by Calumny & Envy]
PA-N56; E571|
[Public Address] PAGE 56
PA-N56; E571|
This Day is Publishd Advertizements to Blakes Canterbury
PA-N56; E571|
Pilgrims from Chaucer.
PA-N56; E571|
Containing Anecdotes of Artists. Price 6*d
PA-N11; E571|
[Public Address] PAGE 11
PA-N11; E571|
If Men of weak Capacities [in Art] have alone the
PA-N11; E571|
Power of Execution in Art Mr B has now put to the test. If to
PA-N11; E571|
Invent & to Draw well hinders the Executive Power in Art & his
PA-N11; E571|
Strokes are still to be Condemnd because they are unlike those of
PA-N11; E571|
Artists who are Unacquainted with Drawing [the
PA-N11; E571|
accompanying] is now to be Decided by The Public[.] Mr B s
PA-N11; E571|
Inventive Powers & his Scientific Knowledge of Drawing is on all
PA-N11; E571|
hands acknowledgd it only remains to be Certified whether
PA-N11; E571|
[The Fools hand or the] Physiognomic Strength & Power is
PA-N11; E571|
to give Place to Imbecillity [and whether an unending xxxxxdx
PA-N11; E571|
xxx an unabated study & practise of forty Years[---] for I
PA-N11; E571|
devoted myself to Engraving in my Earliest Youth [---] are
PA-N11; E571|
sufficient to elevate me above the Mediocrity to which I have
PA-N11; E571|
hitherto been the victim] <In a work of Art it is not fine
PA-N11; E571|
tints that are required but Fine Forms, fine Tints without, are
PA-N11; E571|
loathsom> <Fine Tints without Fine Forms are always the
PA-N11; E571|
Subterfuge of the Blockhead>
PA-N11; E571|
I account it a Public Duty respectfully to address myself to
PA-N11; E571|
The Chalcographic Society & to Express to them my opinion the
PA-N11; E571|
result of the incessant Practise & Experience of Many Years That
PA-N11; E571|
Engraving [is in a most wretched state (of) arising from
PA-N11; E571|
an] <as an Art is Lost in
PA-N11; E572|
England owing to an artfully propagated> opinion that Drawing
PA-N11; E572|
spoils an Engraver [which opinion has been held out to me by
PA-N11; E572|
such men as Flaxman Romney Stothard It] I request the
PA-N11; E572|
Society to inspect my Print of which Drawing is the Foundation &
PA-N11; E572|
indeed the Superstructure it is Drawing on Copper as Painting
PA-N11; E572|
ought to be Drawing on Canvas or any other [table]
PA-N11; E572|
<surface> & nothing Else* I request likewise that the Society
PA-N11; E572|
will compare the Prints of Bartollouzzi Woolett Strange &c with
PA-N11; E572|
the old English Portraits that is <Compare the Modern Art> with
PA-N11; E572|
the Art as it Existed Previous to the Enterance of Vandyke &
PA-N11; E572|
Rubens into this Country
PA-N11; E572|
<since which English Engraving is Lost> & I am sure [of
PA-N11; E572|
the] [the] Result <of this comparison> will be that
PA-N11; E572|
the Society must be of my Opinion that Engraving by Losing
PA-N11; E572|
Drawing has Lost all Character & all Expression without which
PA-N11; E572|
<The> Art is Lost.
PA-N51[b]; E572|
[Public Address] PAGE 51
PA-N51[b]; E572|
In this Plate Mr B has resumed the style with which he set
PA-N51[b]; E572|
out in life of which Heath & Stothard were the awkward imitators
PA-N51[b]; E572|
at that time it is the style of Alb Durers Histries & the old
PA-N51[b]; E572|
Engravers which cannot be imitated by any one who does not
PA-N51[b]; E572|
understand Drawing & which according to Heath & Stothard Flaxman
PA-N51[b]; E572|
& even Romney. Spoils an Engraver for Each of these Men have
PA-N51[b]; E572|
repeatedly asserted this Absurdity to me in condemnation [P 52]
PA-N51[b]; E572|
of my Work & approbation of Heaths lame imitation Stothard being
PA-N51[b]; E572|
such a fool as to suppose that his blundering blurs can be made
PA-N51[b]; E572|
out & delineated by any Engraver who knows how to cut dots &
PA-N51[b]; E572|
lozenges equally well with those little prints which I engraved
PA-N51[b]; E572|
after him five & twenty Years ago & by which he got his
PA-N51[b]; E572|
reputation as a Draughtsman
PA-N51[b]; E572|
The manner in which my Character <has been blasted these
PA-N51[b]; E572|
thirty years> both as an artist & a Man may be seen particularly
PA-N51[b]; E572|
in a Sunday Paper cald the Examiner Publishd in Beaufort
PA-N51[b]; E572|
Buildings. <(We all know that Editors of Newspapers trouble their
PA-N51[b]; E572|
heads very little about art & science & that they are always paid
PA-N51[b]; E572|
for what they put in [Descriptive Catalogue P 53] upon these ungracious
Subjects>
PA-N52; E572|
[P 52] & the manner in which I have routed out the nest of villains
PA-N52; E572|
will be seen in a Poem concern[in]g my Three years <Herculean>
PA-N52; E572|
Labours at Felpham which I will soon Publish. Secret Calumny &
PA-N52; E572|
open Professions of Friendship are common enough all the world
PA-N52; E572|
over but have never been so good an occasion of Poetic Imagery[.]
PA-N52; E572|
When a Base Man means to be your Enemy he always begins with
PA-N52; E572|
being your Friend [Descriptive Catalogue P 53] Flaxman cannot deny
that one of the
PA-N53[b]; E572|
very first Monuments he did I gratuitously designd for him <at
PA-N53[b]; E572|
the same time he was blasting my character as all Artist to
PA-N53[b]; E572|
Macklin my Employer as Macklin told me at the time> how much of
PA-N53[b]; E572|
his Homer & Dante he will allow to be mine I do not know as he
PA-N53[b]; E572|
went far enough off to Publish them even to Italy. but the Public
PA-N53[b]; E572|
will know & Posterity will know
PA-N53[b]; E573|
Many People are so foolish to think that they can wound Mr
PA-N53[b]; E573|
Fuseli over my Shoulder they will find themselves mistaken they
PA-N53[b]; E573|
could not wound even Mr Barry so
PA-N53[b]; E573|
A Certain Portrait Painter said To me in a boasting way
PA-N53[b]; E573|
Since I have Practised Painting I have lost all idea of Drawing.
PA-N53[b]; E573|
Such a Man must know that I lookd upon him with Contempt he did
PA-N53[b]; E573|
not care for this any more than West did who hesitated &
PA-N53[b]; E573|
equivocated with me upon the same subject at which time he
PA-N53[b]; E573|
asserted that Wooletts [Descriptive Catalogue P 55] Prints were
superior to Basires
PA-N55; E573|
because they had more Labour & Care now this is contrary to the
PA-N55; E573|
truth[.] Woolett did not know how to put so much labour into a
PA-N55; E573|
head or a foot as Basire did he did not know
PA-N55; E573|
how to draw the Leaf of a tree all his study was clean strokes &
PA-N55; E573|
mossy tints[.] how then should he be able to make use of either
PA-N55; E573|
Labour or Care unless the Labour & Care of Imbecillity[?] The
PA-N55; E573|
Lifes Labour of Mental Weakness scarcely Equals one Hour of the
PA-N55; E573|
Labour of Ordinary Capacity like the full Gallop of the Gouty Man
PA-N55; E573|
to the ordinary walk of youth & health I allow that there is such
PA-N55; E573|
a thing as high finishd Ignorance as there may be a fool or a
PA-N55; E573|
Knave. in an Embroiderd Coat but I say that the Embroidery of the
PA-N55; E573|
Ignorant finisher is not like a Coat made by another but is an
PA-N55; E573|
Emanation from Ignorance itself & its finishing is like its
PA-N55; E573|
master The Lifes Labour of Five Hundred Idiots for he never does
PA-N55; E573|
the Work Himself
PA-N55; E573|
What is Calld the English Style of Engraving such as
PA-N55; E573|
proceeded from the Toilettes of Woolett & Strange (for theirs
PA-N55; E573|
were <Fribbles> Toilettes) can never produce Character &
PA-N55; E573|
Expression. I knew the Men intimately from their Intimacy with
PA-N55; E573|
Basire my Master & knew them both to be heavy lumps of Cunning &
PA-N55; E573|
Ignorance as their works Shew to all the Continent who Laugh at
PA-N55; E573|
the Contemptible Pretences of Englishmen to Improve Art before
PA-N55; E573|
they even know the first [lines] <Beginnings> of Art[.]
PA-N55; E573|
I hope this Print will redeem my Country from this Coxcomb
PA-N55; E573|
situation & shew that it is only some Englishmen [Descriptive Catalogue
P 56] and not
PA-N56[b]; E573|
All who are thus ridiculous in their Pretences Advertizements in
PA-N56[b]; E573|
Newspapers are no proof of Popular approbation. but often the
PA-N56[b]; E573|
Contrary A Man who Pretends to Improve Fine Art Does not know
PA-N56[b]; E573|
what Fine Art is Ye English Engravers must come down from your
PA-N56[b]; E573|
high flights ye must condescend to study Marc Antonio & Albert
PA-N56[b]; E573|
Durer[.] Ye must begin before you attempt to finish or improve &
PA-N56[b]; E573|
when you have begun you will know better than to think of
PA-N56[b]; E573|
improving what cannot be improvd It is very true what you have
PA-N56[b]; E573|
said [P 57] for these thirty two Years I am Mad or Else you are
PA-N57; E573|
so both of us cannot be in our right senses Posterity will judge
PA-N57; E573|
by our Works[.] Wooletts & Stranges works are like those of
PA-N57; E573|
Titian & Correggio the Lifes Labour of Ignorant journeymen Suited
PA-N57; E573|
to the Purposes of Commerce no doubt for Commerce Cannot endure
PA-N57; E573|
Individual Merit its insatiable Maw must be
PA-N57; E573|
fed by What all can do Equally well at least it is so in England
PA-N57; E573|
as I have found to my Cost these Forty Years
PA-N57; E574|
<Commerce is so far from being beneficial to Arts or to
PA-N57; E574|
Empire that it is destructive of both <as all their History
PA-N57; E574|
shews> for the above Reason of Individual Merit being its Great
PA-N57; E574|
hatred. Empires flourish till they become Commercial & then they
PA-N57; E574|
are scatterd abroad to the four winds>
PA-N57; E574|
Wooletts best works were Etchd by Jack Brown Woolett Etchd
PA-N57; E574|
very bad himself. Stranges Prints were when I knew him all done
PA-N57; E574|
by Aliamet & his trench journeymen whose names I forget.
PA-N57; E574|
The Cottagers & Jocund Peasants the Views in Kew Gardens
PA-N57; E574|
Foots Cray & Diana & Acteon & in short all that are Calld
PA-N57; E574|
Wooletts were Etchd by Jack Browne & in Wooletts works the
PA-N57; E574|
Etching is All tho even in these a single leaf of a tree is never
PA-N57; E574|
correct
PA-N56[c]; E574|
[Public Address] PAGE 56
PA-N56[c]; E574|
Such Prints as Woolett & Strange producd will do for those
PA-N56[c]; E574|
who choose to purchase the Lifes labour of Ignorance &
PA-N56[c]; E574|
Imbecillity in Preference to the Inspired Moments of Genius &
PA-N56[c]; E574|
Animation
PA-N60; E574|
[Public Address] PAGE 60
PA-N60; E574|
I also knew something of Tom Cooke who Engraved after
PA-N60; E574|
Hogarth Cooke wished to Give to Hogarth what he could take from
PA-N60; E574|
Rafael that is Outline & Mass & Colour but he could not [&
PA-N60; E574|
Hogarth with all his Merit never g]
PA-N57[b]; E574|
[Public Address] PAGE 57
PA-N57[b]; E574|
I do not pretend to Paint better than Rafael or Mch Anglo
PA-N57[b]; E574|
<or Julio Romano or Alb Durer> but I do Pretend to Paint finer
PA-N57[b]; E574|
than Rubens or Rembt or Correggio or Titian. I do not Pretend to
PA-N57[b]; E574|
Engrave finer than Alb Durer Goltzius Sadeler or Edelinck but I
PA-N57[b]; E574|
do pretend to Engrave finer than Strange Woolett Hall or
PA-N57[b]; E574|
Bartolozzi <& All> because I understand Drawing which they
PA-N57[b]; E574|
understand not
PA-N58; E574|
[Public Address] PAGE 58
PA-N58; E574|
In this manner the English Public have been imposed upon for
PA-N58; E574|
many Years under the impression that Engraving & Painting are
PA-N58; E574|
somewhat Else besides Drawing[.] Painting is Drawing on Canvas &
PA-N58; E574|
Engraving is Drawing on Copper & Nothing Else & he who pretends
PA-N58; E574|
to be either Painter or Engraver without being a Master of
PA-N58; E574|
Drawing is an Impostor. We may be Clever as Pugilists but as
PA-N58; E574|
Artists we are & have long been the Contempt of the Continent
PA-N58; E574|
[Aliamet] Gravelot once said to My Master Basire
PA-N58; E574|
[you] <De> English may be very clever in [your]
PA-N58; E574|
<deir> own opinions but [you] <dey> do not draw
PA-N58; E574|
[the] <De> draw
PA-N58; E574|
Resentment for Personal Injuries has had some share in this
PA-N58; E574|
Public Address But Love to My Art & Zeal for my Country a much
PA-N58; E574|
Greater.
PA-N59; E574|
[Public Address] PAGE 59
PA-N59; E574|
Men think they can Copy Nature as Correctly as I copy
PA-N59; E574|
Imagination this they will find Impossible. & all the Copies or
PA-N59; E574|
Pretended Copiers
PA-N59; E575|
of Nature from Rembrat to Reynolds Prove that Nature becomes
PA-N59; E575|
[tame] to its Victim nothing but Blots & Blurs. Why are
PA-N59; E575|
Copiers of Nature Incorrect while Copiers of Imagination are
PA-N59; E575|
Correct this is manifest to all
PA-N39; E575|
[Public Address] PAGE 39
PA-N39; E575|
I do not condemn Rubens Rembrant or Titian because they did
PA-N39; E575|
not understand Drawing but because they did not Understand
PA-N39; E575|
Colouring how long shall I be forced to beat this into Mens Ears
PA-N39; E575|
I do not condemn [Bartolozzi] <Strange> or Woolett
PA-N39; E575|
because they did not understand Drawing but because they did not
PA-N39; E575|
understand Graving I do not condemn Pope or Dryden because they
PA-N39; E575|
did not understand Imagination but because they did not
PA-N39; E575|
understand Verse[.] Their Colouring Graving & Verse can never be
PA-N39; E575|
applied to Art <That is not either colouring Graving or Verse
PA-N39; E575|
which is Unappropriate to the Subject> He who makes a Design must
PA-N39; E575|
know the Effect & Colouring Proper to be put to that Design &
PA-N39; E575|
will never take that of Rubens Rembrandt or Titian to
PA-N39; E575|
[put] <turn> that which is Soul & Life into a Mill or Machine
PA-N46; E575|
[Public Address] PAGE 46
PA-N46; E575|
They say there is no Strait Line in Nature this Is a Lie
PA-N46; E575|
like all that they say, For there is
PA-N46; E575|
Every Line in Nature But I will tell them what is Not in Nature.
PA-N46; E575|
An Even Tint is not in Nature it produces Heaviness. Natures
PA-N46; E575|
Shadows <are> Ever varying. & a Ruled Sky that is quite Even
PA-N46; E575|
never can Produce a Natural Sky the same with every Object in a
PA-N46; E575|
Picture its Spots are its beauties[.] Now Gentlemen Critics how
PA-N46; E575|
do you like this[?] You may rage but what I say I will prove by
PA-N46; E575|
Such Practise & have already done so that you will rage to your
PA-N46; E575|
own destruction[.] Woolett I knew very intimately by his intimacy
PA-N46; E575|
with Basire & I knew him to be one of the most ignorant fellows
PA-N46; E575|
that I ever knew. A Machine is not a Man nor a Work of Art it is
PA-N46; E575|
Destructive of Humanity & of Art the Word Machination
PA-N46; E575|
[seems]
PA-N46; E575|
Woolett I know did not know how to Grind his Graver I know
PA-N46; E575|
this he has often proved his Ignorance before me at Basires by
PA-N46; E575|
laughing at Basires knife tools & [p 47] ridiculing the Forms of
PA-N47; E575|
Basires other Gravers till Basire was quite dashd & out of
PA-N47; E575|
Conceit with what he himself knew but his Impudence had a
PA-N47; E575|
Contrary Effect on me[.] Englishmen have been so used to
PA-N47; E575|
Journeymens undecided bungling that they cannot bear the firmness
PA-N47; E575|
of a Masters Touch[.] Every Line is the Line of Beauty it is only
PA-N47; E575|
fumble & Bungle which cannot draw a Line this only is Ugliness[.]
PA-N47; E575|
That is not a Line which Doubts & Hesitates in the Midst of its
PA-N47; E575|
Course
PA-N38; E575|
[Public Address] PAGE 38
PA-N38; E575|
There is just the same Science in Lebrun or Rubens or even
PA-N38; E575|
Vanloo that there is in Rafael or Mich Angelo but not the same
PA-N38; E575|
Genius[.] Science is soon got the other never can be acquired but
PA-N38; E575|
must be Born
PA-N60; E576|
[Public Address] PAGE 60
PA-N60; E576|
The Originality of this Production makes it necessary to say a few words
PA-N60; E576|
While the Works [of Translators] of Pope & Dryden
PA-N60; E576|
are lookd upon as [in the Same class of] the Same Art with those
PA-N60; E576|
of Milton & Shakespeare while the works of Strange & Woollett are
PA-N60; E576|
lookd upon as the same Art with those of Rafael & Albert Durer
PA-N60; E576|
there can be no Art in a Nation but such as is Subservient to the
PA-N60; E576|
interest of the Monopolizing Trader [whose whole]
PA-N60; E576|
[who Manufactures Art by the Hands of Ignorant Journeymen
PA-N60; E576|
till at length Christian Charity is held out as a Motive to
PA-N60; E576|
encourage a Blockhead & he is Counted the Greatest Genius who can
PA-N60; E576|
sell a Good for Nothing Commodity for a Great Price[.] Obedience
PA-N60; E576|
to the Will of the Monopolist is calld Virtue [p 61] and
PA-N61; E576|
the really <Industrious> Virtuous & Independent Barry is driven
PA-N61; E576|
out to make room for a pack of Idle Sycophants with whitlors on
PA-N61; E576|
their fingers] Englishmen rouze yourselves from the fatal
PA-N61; E576|
Slumber into which Booksellers & Trading Dealers have thrown you
PA-N61; E576|
Under the artfully propagated pretence that a Translation or a
PA-N61; E576|
Copy of any kind can be as honourable to a Nation as An Original
PA-N61; E576|
[Belying] Be-lying the English Character in that well
PA-N61; E576|
known Saying Englishmen Improve what others Invent[.] This Even
PA-N61; E576|
Hogarths Works Prove [P 62] a detestable Falshood. No Man Can
PA-N62; E576|
Improve An Original Invention. [Since Hogarths time we have
PA-N62; E576|
had very few Efforts of Originality] <Nor can an Original
PA-N62; E576|
Invention Exist without Execution Organized & minutely Delineated
PA-N62; E576|
& Articulated Either by God or Man[.] I do not mean smoothd up &
PA-N62; E576|
Niggled & Poco Piud t1457
[but] <and all the beauties pickd
PA-N62; E576|
out [but] & blurrd & blotted but> Drawn with a firm <and
PA-N62; E576|
decided> hand at once [with all its Spots & Blemishes which
PA-N62; E576|
are beauties & not faults] like Fuseli & Michael Angelo
PA-N62; E576|
Shakespeare & Milton>
PA-N44; E576|
[Public Address] PAGE 44
PA-N44; E576|
Let a Man who has made a Drawing go on & on & he will
PA-N44; E576|
produce a Picture or Painting but if he chooses to leave off
PA-N44; E576|
before he has spoild it he will Do a Better Thing
PA-N62[b]; E576|
[Public Address] PAGE 62
PA-N62[b]; E576|
I have heard many People say Give me the Ideas. It is no
PA-N62[b]; E576|
matter what Words you put them into & others say Give me the
PA-N62[b]; E576|
Design it is no matter for the Execution. These People know
PA-N62[b]; E576|
<Enough of Artifice but> Nothing Of Art. Ideas cannot be Given
PA-N62[b]; E576|
but in their minutely Appropriate Words nor Can a Design be made
PA-N62[b]; E576|
without its minutely Appropriate Execution[.] The unorganized
PA-N62[b]; E576|
Blots & Blurs of Rubens & Titian are not Art nor can their Method
PA-N62[b]; E576|
ever express Ideas or Imaginations any more than Popes
PA-N62[b]; E576|
Metaphysical jargon of Rhyming[.] Unappropriate Execution is the
PA-N62[b]; E576|
Most nauseous <of all> affectation & foppery He who copies does
PA-N62[b]; E576|
not Execute he only Imitates what is already Executed Execution
PA-N62[b]; E576|
is only the result of Invention
PA-N67; E578|
Who could not do this what man who has eyes and an ordinary
PA-N67; E578|
share of patience cannot do this neatly. Is this Art Or is it
PA-N67; E578|
glorious to a Nation to produce such contemptible Copies
PA-N67; E578|
Countrymen Countrymen do not suffer yourselves to be disgracd
PA-N66[b]; E578|
[Public Address] PAGE 66
PA-N66[b]; E578|
The English Artist may be assured that he is doing an injury
PA-N66[b]; E578|
& injustice to his Country while he studies & imitates the
PA-N66[b]; E578|
Effects of Nature. England will never rival Italy while we
PA-N66[b]; E578|
servilely copy. what the Wise Italians Rafael & Michael Angelo
PA-N66[b]; E578|
scorned nay abhorred as Vasari tells us
PA-N66[b]; E578|
Call that the Public Voice which is their Error
PA-N66[b]; E578|
Like as a Monkey peeping in a Mirror
PA-N66[b]; E578|
Admires all his colours brown & warm
PA-N66[b]; E578|
And never once percieves his ugly form
PA-N66[b]; E578|
What kind of Intellects must he have who sees only the Colours of
PA-N66[b]; E578|
things & not the Forms of Things
PA-N71; E578|
[Public Address] PAGE 71
PA-N71; E578|
A jockey that is any thing of a jockey will never buy a
PA-N71; E578|
Horse by the Colour & a Man who has got any brains will never buy
PA-N71; E578|
a Picture by the Colour
PA-N71; E578|
When I tell any Truth it is not for the sake of Convincing
PA-N71; E578|
those who do not know it but for the sake of defending those who
PA-N71; E578|
Do
PA-N76; E578|
[Public Address] PAGE 76
PA-N76; E578|
No Man of Sense ever supposes that Copying from Nature is
PA-N76; E578|
the Art of Painting if the Art is no more than this it is no
PA-N76; E578|
better than any other[']s Manual Labour any body may do it & the
PA-N76; E578|
fool often will do it best as it is a work of no Mind
PA-N78; E578|
[Public Address] PAGE 78
PA-N78; E578|
The Greatest part of what are calld in England Old Pictures
PA-N78; E578|
are Oil Colour Copies from Fresco Originals the Comparison is
PA-N78; E578|
Easily made & the Copy Detected Note I mean Fresco Easel or
PA-N78; E578|
Cabinet Pictures on Canvas & Wood & Copper &/c
PA-N86; E578|
[Public Address] PAGE 86
PA-N86; E578|
The Painter hopes that his Friends Anytus Melitus <& Lycon>
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will percieve that they are not now in Ancient Greece & tho they
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can use the Poison of Calumny the English Public will be
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convincd that such a Picture as this Could never be Painted by a
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Madman or by one in a State of Outrageous manners as these
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[Villains] <Bad Men> both Print & Publish by all the
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means in their Power. the Painter begs Public Protection & all
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will be well
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[Public Address] PAGE 17
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I wonder who can say Speak no Ill of the Dead when it is
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asserted in the Bible that the name of the Wicked shall Rot[.) It
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is Deistical
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Virtue I suppose but as I have none of this I will pour Aqua
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fortis on the Name of the Wicked & turn it into an Ornament & an
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Example to be Avoided by Some & Imitated by Others if they Please
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Columbus discoverd America but Americus Vesputius finishd &
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smoothd it over like an English Engraver or Corregio or Titian
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[Public Address] PAGE 18
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What Man of Sense will lay out his Money upon the Lifes
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Labours of Imbecility & Imbecillitys Journeymen or think to
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Educate [an Idiot] <a Fool> how to build a Universe with
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Farthing Balls The Contemptible Idiots who have been calld Great
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Men of late Years ought to rouze the Public Indignation of Men of
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Sense in all Professions
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There is not because there cannot be any difference of
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Effect in the Pictures of Rubens & Rembrandt when you have seen
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one of their Pictures you have seen All It is not so with Rafael
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Julio Romano Alb D Mich Ang Every Picture of theirs has a
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different & appropriate Effect
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Yet I do not shrink from the Comparison in Either Relief or
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Strength of Colour with either Rembrandt or Rubens on the
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Contrary I court the Comparison & fear not the Result but not in
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a dark Corner[.] their Effects are in Every Picture the same Mine
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are in Every Picture different
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I hope my Countrymen will Excuse me if I tell them a
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Wholesom truth Most Englishmen when they look at a Picture
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immediately set about searching for Points of Light <& clap the
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Picture into a dark corner [this in] <This when done by>
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Grand Works is like looking for Epigrams in Homer> A point of
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light is a Witticism many are destructive of all Art <One is an
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Epigram only> & no Grand Work can have them they Produce System &
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Monotony
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Rafael Mich Ang Alb D Jul Rom are accounted ignorant of
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that Epigrammatic Wit in Art because they avoid it as a
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destructive Machine as it is
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That Vulgar Epigram in Art Rembrandts Hundred Guelders has
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intirely put an End to all Genuine & Appropriate Effect all both
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Morning & Night is now a dark cavern It is the Fashion
t1458 [P 19]
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When you view a Collection of Pictures painted since Venetian Art
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was the Fashion or Go into a Modern Exhibition with a Very few
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Exceptions Every Picture has the same Effect. a Piece of
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Machinery [of] <or> Points of Light to be put into a
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dark hole
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[Public Address] PAGE 18
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Mr B repeats that there is not one Character or Expression
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in this Print which could be Produced with the Execution of
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Titian Rubens Coreggio Rembrandt or any of that Class[.]
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Character & Expression can only be Expressed by those who Feel
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Them Even Hogarths Execution cannot be Copied or Improved.
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Gentlemen of Fortune who give Great Prices for Pictures should
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consider the following [p 19]
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Rubens s Luxembourg Gallery is Confessd on all hands
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[because it bears the evidence at first view] to be the
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work of a Blockhead <it bears this Evidence in its face> how can
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its Execution be any other than the Work of a Blockhead. <Bloated
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[Awkward] Gods> Mercury Juno Venus & the rattle traps of
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Mythology & the lumber of an [old] awkward French Palace
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are [all] thrown together around <Clumsy & Ricketty>
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Princes & Princesses higgledy piggledy On the Contrary Julio
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Rom[ano's] <Palace of T at Mantua> is allowed on all hands to be
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<the Production of> a Man of the Most Profound sense & Genius &
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Yet his Execution is pronouncd by English Connoisseurs & Reynolds
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their Doll to be unfit for the Study of the Painter. Can I speak
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with too great Contempt of such Contemptible fellows. If all the
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Princes in Europe <like Louis XIV & Charles the first> were to
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Patronize such Blockheads I William Blake a Mental Prince should
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decollate & Hang their Souls as Guilty of Mental High Treason
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Who that has Eyes cannot see that Rubens & Correggio must
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have been very weak & Vulgar fellows & <we> are [we]
to
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imitate their Execution. This is [as if] <like what> Sr
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Francis Bacon [should downright assert] <says> that a
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healthy Child should be taught & compelld to walk like a Cripple
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while the Cripple must be taught to walk like healthy people O
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rare wisdom
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[Public Address] PAGE 18
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I am really sorry to see my Countrymen trouble themselves
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about Politics. If Men were Wise <the Most arbitrary> Princes
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could not hurt them If they are not Wise the Freest Government is
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compelld to be a Tyranny[.] Princes appear to me to be Fools
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Houses of Commons & Houses of Lords appear to me to be fools they
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seem to me to be something Else besides Human Life
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[Public Address] PAGE 20
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The wretched state of the Arts in this Country & in Europe
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originating in the Wretched State of Political Science which is
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the Science of Sciences Demands a firm & determinate conduct on
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the part of Artists to Resist the Contemptible Counter Arts
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[set on foot] <Established> by Such contemptible
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Politicians as Louis XIV & [but] originally set on foot
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by Venetian Picture traders Music traders & Rhime traders to the
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destruction of all true art as it is this Day. To recover Art
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has been the business of my life to the Florentine Original & if
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possible to go beyond that Original <this> I thought the only
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pursuit worthy of [an Englishman] <a Man>. To Imitate I
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abhore I obstinately adhere to the true Style of Art such as
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Michael Angelo Rafael Jul Rom Alb Durer left it [the Art
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of Invention not of Imitation. Imagination is My World this
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world of Dross is beneath my Notice & beneath the Notice of the
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Public] I demand therefore of the Amateurs of [P 21] art the
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Encouragement which is my due if they <continue to> refuse theirs
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is the loss not mine <& theirs is the Contempt of Posterity> I
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have Enough in the Approbation of fellow labourers this is
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my glory & exceeding great reward I go on & nothing can hinder
my
PA-N21; E581|
course
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And in Melodious accents I
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Will sit me down & Cry. I. I.
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[Public Address] PAGE 20
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An Example of these Contrary Arts is given us in the
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Characters of Milton & Dryden as they are written in a Poem
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signed with the name of Nat Lee which perhaps he never wrote &
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perhaps he wrote in a paroxysm of insanity In which it is said
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that Miltons Poem is a rough Unfinishd Piece & Dryden has finishd
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it Now let Drydens Fall & Miltons Paradise be read & I will
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assert that every Body of Understanding [& sen(se) will]
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must cry out Shame on such Niggling & Poco Piu as Dryden has
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degraded Milton with But at the same time I will allow that
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Stupidity will Prefer Dryden because it is in Rhyme [but for
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no other cause] <& Monotonous Sing Song Sing Song> from
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beginning to end Such are Bartollozzi Woolett & Strange
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[Public Address] PAGE 23
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[That Painted as well as Sculptured Monuments were
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common among words the Ancients is evident from the words of the
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Savants who compared the Plain [unpainted] <Those> Sepulchers
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Painted on the outside with others [of] only of Stone. Their
PA-N23; E581|
Beauty is Confessd even by the Lips of Pasch himself.]
t1459
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The Painters of England are unemployd in Public Works. while the
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Sculptors have continual & superabundant employment Our Churches
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& Abbeys are treasures of [Spiritual riches] their
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producing for ages back While Painting is excluded Painting the
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Principal Art has no place [in our] <among our almost>
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only public works. [while] <Yet> it is more adapted to
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solemn ornament than [dead] Marble can be as it is
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capable of being Placed in any heighth & indeed would make a
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Noble finish <Placed> above the Great Public Monuments in
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Westminster St Pauls & other Cathedrals. To the Society
for
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Encouragement of Arts I address myself with [duty &]
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Respectful duty requesting their Consideration of my Plan as a
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Great Public [deed] means of advancing Fine Art in
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Protestant Communities Monuments to the dead Painted by
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Historical & Poetical Artists like Barry & Mortimer. I forbear
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to name [a li] living Artists tho equally worthy I say
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Monuments so Painted must make England What Italy is an Envied
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Storehouse of Intellectual Riches
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[Public Address] PAGE 24
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It has been said of late years The English Public have no
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Taste for Painting This is a Falshood The English are as Good
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judges [as] <of> Painting as of Poetry & they prove it
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in their Contempt for Great Collections of all the Rubbish of the
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Continent brought here by Ignorant Picture dealers an Englishman
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may well say I am no Judge of Painting when he is shewn these
PA-N24; E581|
Smears & Dawbs at an immense
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price & told that such is the Art of Painting I say the English
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Public are true Encouragers of [Great] <real> Art while
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they discourage & look with Contempt on False Art
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[Public Address] PAGE 25
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In a Commercial Nation Impostors are abroad in all
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Professions these are the greatest Enemies of Genius [Mr B
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thinks it his duty to Caution the Public against a Certain
PA-N25; E582|
Impostor who]. In [our Art] the Art of Painting
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these Impostors sedulously propagate an Opinion that Great
PA-N25; E582|
Inventors Cannot Execute This Opinion is as destructive of the
PA-N25; E582|
true Artist as it is false by all Experience Even Hogarth cannot
PA-N25; E582|
be either Copied or Improved <Can Anglus never Discern
PA-N25; E582|
Perfection but in the Journeymans Labour>
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[Public Address] PAGE 24
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I know my Execution is not like Any Body Else I do not
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intend it should be so <None but Blockheads Copy one another> My
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Conception & Invention are on all hands allowd to be Superior My
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Execution will be found so too. To what is it that Gentlemen of
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the first Rank both in Genius & Fortune have subscribed their
PA-N24[b]; E582|
Names[--] To My Inventions. the Executive part they never
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Disputed [P 25] the Lavish praise I have recieved from all
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Quarters for Invention & Drawing has Generally been accompanied
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by this he can conceive but he cannot Execute* this Absurd
PA-N25[b]; E582|
assertion has done me & may still do me the greatest mischief I
PA-N25[b]; E582|
call for Public protection against these Villains I am like
PA-N25[b]; E582|
others Just Equal in Invention & in Execution as my works shew I
PA-N25[b]; E582|
in my own defence Challenge a Competition with the finest
PA-N25[b]; E582|
Engravings & defy the most critical judge to <make> the
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Comparison Honestly [p 24] asserting in my own Defence that This
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Print is the Finest that has been done or is likely to be done in
PA-N24[c]; E582|
England where drawing <its foundation> is Contemnd and absurd
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Nonsense about dots & Lozenges & Clean Strokes made to occupy the
PA-N24[c]; E582|
attention to the Neglect of all real Art I defy any Man to Cut
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Cleaner Strokes than I do or rougher when I please & assert that
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he who thinks he can Engrave or Paint either without being a
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Master of Drawing is a Fool [& he] Painting is Drawing
PA-N24[c]; E582|
on Canvas & Engraving is Drawing on Copper & nothing Else
PA-N24[c]; E582|
<Drawing is Execution & nothing Else> & he who Draws best must
be
PA-N24[c]; E582|
the best Artist [&] to this I subscribe <my name as a Public
PA-N24[c]; E582|
Duty>
PA-N24[c]; E582|
WILLIAM BLAKE
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[Public Address] PAGE 25
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*P. S. I do not believe that this Absurd opinion ever was
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set on foot till in my Outset into life it was artfully publishd
PA-N25[c]; E582|
both in whispers & in print by Certain persons whose robberies
PA-N25[c]; E582|
from me made it necessary to them that I should be
PA-N25[c]; E582|
[left] hid in a corner it never was supposed that a Copy
PA-N25[c]; E582|
Could be better than an original or near so Good till a few Years
PA-N25[c]; E582|
ago it became the interest of certain envious Knaves