Songs of Innocence William Blake Early 1900s Bagster Poetry Edition Small Format
 
Bibliographic Details
Title: Songs of Innocence and Other Poems
Author: William Blake
Publisher: Samuel Bagster & Sons Limited
Place: 15 Paternoster Row, London
Printer: Ballantyne, Hanson & Co., at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh
Date: Early 1900s
Edition: Later Bagster edition, exact impression and year unconfirmed
Format: Very small-format paperback
The book is undated. The code “B 12” appears on the final page of the main text, but there is insufficient evidence to interpret this as a publication year, and it is therefore not being presented as a date.
The early 1900s dating is based principally on the publisher's catalogue bound at the rear, together with the Bagster imprint and associated bibliographical evidence. The catalogue advertises Daily Light on the Daily Path, Sunday Light, Broken Bread for Daily Use and other Bagster devotional publications. A 1906 publication carries very similar Bagster advertising, including the same Samuel Bagster & Sons Ltd., 15 Paternoster Row address and almost identical wording concerning the numerous bindings and prices of Daily Light. 
The catalogue also describes Precept and Practice by Constance M. Whishaw as a “new volume”. Whishaw's related Being and Doing is documented by a surviving 1907 edition, providing further support for an early twentieth-century rather than later dating. 
Taken together, these clues make an early 1900s date the most appropriate description, although the precise year cannot presently be established with confidence.
 
Historical & Bibliographical Context
William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience occupy a central position in English Romantic poetry and in the history of illustrated books. Blake originally produced his poems as illuminated books in which poetry, typography and visual art were conceived together rather than as separate elements.
This later Bagster volume brings together Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, Ideas of Good and Evil and a substantial selection of Blake's other poems, including Auguries of Innocence, The Everlasting Gospel, The Crystal Cabinet and The Mental Traveller.
The volume is therefore interesting not as an original Blake illuminated book, but as an early twentieth-century accessible collected edition of Blake's poetry, issued by the established London publisher Samuel Bagster & Sons. Its very small format also reflects the continuing popularity of compact devotional and literary books during this period.
The inclusion of the original Bagster catalogue is particularly useful bibliographically because it preserves contemporary evidence of the publisher's wider output and helps establish the period in which this copy was produced.
 
About the Author
William Blake (1757–1827) was an English poet, artist and visionary whose illuminated books and distinctive combination of poetry and visual art made him one of the most influential figures of British Romanticism.
 
Binding & Exterior
Original light paper wrappers, with black lettering, red border and ornate decoration to the front, and dark lettering to the spine. The top edge is stained dark.
The binding remains intact and robust, with light wear including a light crease to the front, folded corners, small marks, light rubbing, creasing to the spine and very small splits at the spine tail and upper front edge. Please see the photographs for further detail.
 
Interior Condition
The pages are lightly tanned and generally very neat for their age, with occasional very light foxing to the page edges and only occasional small marks or creases. There are a couple of very small edge tears, including a minimal tear at the inner margin of the rear pastedown and rear free endpaper.
There are pencil remnants to the front free endpaper. An embossed bookseller's stamp to the front pastedown appears to read either “Payley Bookseller” or “Hayley Bookseller”, Southport, although the precise reading cannot be established with certainty.
All pages are secure and the book is complete. The publisher's one-page catalogue at the rear is also present.
 
Physical Details
Pages: viii + 125 pages, plus one-page publisher's catalogue
Dimensions: Approximately 11.9 × 9.2 × 1.5 cm
Weight: Approximately 73 grams
This is an unusually small-format volume, measuring under 12 cm in height.