The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Among the most inspired and influential works of William Blake's seminal career - one that shaped much of post-war popular culture - now stunningly reproduced in a beautiful fascimile. 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. Although not as well-known as 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. The work, which opens with a poem, and takes the form of prose thereafter, is both a humorous satire on religion and morality, and expresses Blake's essential wisdom and philosophy. Produced as a beautiful facsimile, with a new, illuminating introduction.