Blake Fact File

	Plate 4 of Visions of the Daughters of Albion circa 1795. © Tate 2000.		Plate 2 of Urizen: Teach these Souls to Fly ?1796 from Urizen. © Tate 2000.

Albion
A common poetical name (and the ancient Roman name) for England, used by Blake to personify the country

Albion's Daughters
The women of England, who yearn for liberty

Beulah
The realm of the subconscious, the source of inspiration

Emanation
The female counterpart of the essentially bisexual male

Enitharmon
Spiritual beauty, the emanation of Los

Golgonoozo
A city of 'Art & Manufacture' created by Los in Britain

Jerusalem
Stands for Liberty. She is the emanation of Albion and a spiritual inspiration for all mankind

Los
Personifies poetry, the creative imagination; the physical manifestation of Urthona

Luvah
The Zoa representing love and sexual energy

Oothoon
Represents thwarted love. The third daughter of Los and Enitharmon, she is also the primitive 'soft soul of America'

Orc
The spirit of Revolution, the firstborn of Los and Enitharmon

Spectre
Stands for rational doubt and selfishness; hostile to Vision

Tharmas
The Zoa representing the bodily senses

Ulro
The material world, underneath Beulah

Urizen
One of the Zoas, standing for Reason. In Blake's eyes he limits energy and is a vengeful lawmaker

Urthona
The Zoa representing the creative imagination of the individual

Vala
The goddess of nature

Zoas
The Four Zoas represent the four aspects of man: the body, reason, emotion and imagination. The reunion of these elements will lead to the redemption of Albion

Beatrice Addressing Dante from the Car 1824-7
from Illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy. © Tate 2000.

1757 Born in London on 28 November to James Blake, a hosier
1769 Begins writing poetry
1772 Apprenticed to the engraver, James Basire
1775 American War of Independence begins
1780 First exhibits at the Royal Academy, while a student there London is shaken by the Gordon Riots
1782 Marries Catherine Butcher (or Boucher)
1787 Death of Blake's beloved younger brother Robert
1788 First uses his special method of relief-etched illuminated printing
1789 In June the French Revolution begins Publishes his first major independent works, Songs of Innocence and The Book of Thel
1790 Moves to 13 Hercules Buildings, Lambeth
1793 The execution of Louis XVI in France leads to a conservative backlash in Britain
and war against revolutionary France Blake's Prospectus advertises his work for sale, including America a Prophecy
1794 Publishes Europe a Prophecy and Songs of Innocence and Experience
1800 The Blakes leave Lambeth to live at Felpham, Sussex
1803 Alleged to have cursed the King and charged with sedition. The Blakes settle back in London
1804 Aquitted of sedition charge. Date given on title-pages of the illuminated books Milton and Jerusalem
1808 Thomas Butts commissions illustrations to Milton's Paradise Lost
1809 Opening in May of Blake's exhibition of his own work
1819 First examples of the 'visionary heads', including The Ghost of a Flea, drawn for John Varley
1821 Blake's wood-cut illustrations to Virgil published
1824 John Linnell commissions illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy
1827 Dies in London on 12 August