One of the most important books of illustrated poetry in English literature, William Blake’s Songs of Innocence was meticulously relief-etched, printed and coloured in 1789. A unique work of composite art, it contains some of Blake’s most enduring and popular poems, delicately illustrated with his exquisite and idiosyncratic designs. 

This beautiful book reproduces in colour the twenty-seven pages of the Bodleian Library’s copy of Songs of Innocence together with page-facing transcriptions and an introduction on Blake, his life and work, his illuminated printing process and the genre and continuing influence of Songs of Innocence.  

Including the much-loved ‘Nurse’s Song’, ‘Little Boy Lost’ and ‘Spring’, Blake’s captivating lyrics celebrate childhood as a period of harmony and spontaneity, where the defining traits of the world are compassion, empathy and love. 

MARK CROSBY is an associate professor of English at Kansas State University and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.