William Blake and the Visionary Law: Prophecy, Legislation and Constitution (1st ed. 2023)

By: Matthew Mauger

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: This book examines the difficult relationship between individual intellectual freedom and the legal structures which govern human societies in William Blake’s works, showing that this tension carries a political urgency that has not yet been recognised by scholars in the field. In doing so, it offers a new approach to Blake’s corpus that builds on the literary and cultural historical work of recent decades. Blake’s pronouncements about law may often sound biblical in tone; but this book argues that they directly address (and are informed by) eighteenth-century legal debates concerning the origin of the English common law, the autonomy of the judicature, the increasing legislative role of Parliament, and the emergence of the notions of constitutionalism and natural rights. Through a study of his illuminated books, manuscript works, notebook drafts and annotations, this study considers Blake’s understanding that law is both integral to humanity itself and a core component of its potential fulfilment of the ‘Human Form Divine’.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9783031377235
Related ISBNs:: 9783031377228
Publisher:: Springer International Publishing
Date of Addition:: 10/15/23
Copyrighted By:: The Editor
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: History, Nonfiction, Poetry, Literature and Fiction, Language Arts, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.