Night the Second - William Blake
Archival giclée
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Description
An original engraving by William Blake from his 1797 series illustrating Edward Young's poem, Night Thoughts, featuring a skeletal figure and a heraldic horn-bearer.
This engraving originates from William Blake's ambitious project to illustrate Edward Young's poem, Night Thoughts. Published in 1797, the series represents a significant collaboration between Blake and the publisher Richard Edwards. Blake produced a series of large watercolour drawings, which were then engraved to accompany the text of the poem. This specific page, titled Night the Second, displays the characteristic synthesis of text and image that defines Blake's graphic output. The composition is divided into two distinct zones. On the left, the printed text of Young's poem occupies a rectangular block. To the right and below, Blake provides a visual commentary on the themes of mortality and spiritual awakening. A skeletal figure lies prone, draped in a shroud, representing the physical reality of death. Above this, a figure descends in a vertical orientation, holding a horn. This figure acts as a herald, suggesting the resurrection or the call to judgement described in the poem. The line work is precise and controlled, typical of the engraving techniques employed by Blake during this period. The figures are rendered with anatomical clarity, yet they possess a dreamlike quality that transcends literal representation. Blake's approach to book illustration was unconventional. He did not merely decorate the page; he integrated the imagery into the narrative flow of the poetry. The stark contrast between the white space of the paper and the dark, shaded areas of the figures creates a sense of drama. This work offers a glimpse into the late eighteenth-century fascination with the sublime and the macabre. It remains a primary example of how Blake used his technical skill to interpret complex literary themes through visual media. The print is a study in balance, where the weight of the text is countered by the verticality of the horn-bearing figure.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. EU customers have a 14-day cooling-off right. See our refunds page for full details.
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Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Night the Second - William Blake
Our Features
Designed for Lasting Impact
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Choose poster, framed print, canvas or framed canvas
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
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Artist Biography
William Blake
He married Catherine Boucher in 1782. She was illiterate at the time and signed the marriage register with an X. He taught her to read, write, and engrave, and she became his collaborator for the next forty-five years: mixing paint, operating the printing press, hand-colouring plates, and binding the finished pages into covers.
Their working method was Blake's own invention, revealed to him (he said) in a dream by the spirit of his dead brother Robert. Relief etching reversed the standard printmaking process: instead of cutting lines into copper, Blake wrote and drew on the plate in acid-resistant varnish, then dissolved the surrounding metal with acid, leaving text and image raised. This allowed him to compose poetry and illustration simultaneously on a single plate, print them together, then hand-colour each sheet in watercolour. Every copy was therefore unique. Songs of Innocence and of Experience was produced this way. He sold fewer than thirty copies during his lifetime.
In 1803, he physically threw a soldier named John Schofield out of his garden in Felpham. He was charged with assault and with uttering treasonable expressions against the King. He was acquitted at the Chichester assizes in January 1804.
Newton, painted in 1795, shows the scientist as a young man with the body of a Greek god, bent forward at the bottom of a dark ocean, fixing his gaze on a pair of compasses, measuring and drawing on a scroll that appears to project from his own head. It is a painting about the limits of reason: beautiful, precise, and missing everything beyond the edge of the paper. The Ancient of Days, from the same period, depicts his mythological figure Urizen crouching at the edge of a void, reaching down with a compass to measure the darkness below.
He died on 12 August 1827, working on illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy. He was buried at Bunhill Fields. The wider recognition came decades later.
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