Blake's Composite Art: A Study of the Illuminated Poetry, by W.J.T. Mitchell

Blake's Composite Art: A Study of the Illuminated Poetry, by W.J.T. Mitchell. 1982 softcover. 312 pages, very nice condition.

Can poem and picture collaborate successfully in a composite art of text and design? Or does one art inevitably dominate the other? W.J.T. Mitchell maintains that Blake's illuminated poems are an exception to Suzanne Langer's claim that "there are no happy marriages in art―only successful rape." Drawing on over one hundred reproductions of Blake's pictures, this book shows that neither the graphic nor the poetic aspect of his composite art consistently predominates: their relationship is more like an energetic rivalry, a dialogue between vigorously independent modes of expression. In the past, barriers between the disciplines of art history and literary criticism have seriously hindered a unified interpretation of Blake’s illuminated books. W.J.T. Mitchell, Professor of English and Art and Design at the University of Chicago and editor of Critical Inquiry, overcomes these barriers to scrutinize these works as coherent units, treating pictorial style and iconography, poetic form and heme, as they contribute to the whole. A landmark book on Blake’s work.