Folio Archives 120: Night Thoughts by Edward Young. Illustrated by William Blake. Limited Edition 2005

Night Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality or The Complaint by Edward Young. Illustrated by William Blake. Limited Edition 2005

This Folio Society limited edition is absolutely humungous. Weighing in at over 10kg., and measuring 46x36.5x14.5cm. in its dark blue cloth solander box, it is the second heaviest FS book (after Johnson’s Dictionary), and certainly not something to be read on your lap.

Edward Young’s epic religious poem on life, death and immortality was very popular in the late 18th.C. In 1795 William Blake was commissioned to illustrate a new edition, and the result was one of the most magnificent illustrated books ever produced.

The pictures below do not just pick out the illustrated pages, every single page of the two volume production has similar illustrations – 537 in total. The effect is stunning, but the original project failed, and only 43 of the pages were printed in 1797. This is the first publication ever to produce the entire set of paintings, the originals being stored in the British Museum for the last 200+ years.

The two volumes have a total of 548 pages, and there is a separate 362 page unillustrated commentary volume by Robin Hamlyn which describes and explains every page in the facsimile volumes. The original cost from the FS was £875.

The facsimile volumes are quarter bound in silver lettered black goatskin over blue and silver decorated cloth with leather title label on the front panel. The limitation was 1000 copies, and mine is number 953. There is a limitation colophon at the back of each facsimile volume.



































































An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.

This is one I would love to have and regret not getting at the time

>1 wcarter:

I think you mean 1795 and 1797. A case of fat fingers, I'm sure!

Night Thoughts has been one of the most sought-after LEs produced by FS and its popularity is well-deserved. It's always been one of my favourites. Perhaps because of the textured paper the watercolour paintings look really fresh and immediate. Young's poem famously coins the aphorism "Procrastination is the thief of time."

>3 boldface:
Of course!🤪
Original post corrected.

>1 wcarter: Many thanks for this one, Warwick. Your thorough presentation does justice to one of the most spectacular LEs Folio has ever produced. I completely agree with boldface that the paper texture and the quality of reproduction of the watercolours are magnificent. When I slimmed down my library a few years ago during FAD treatment, relieving it of half its limited editions, I made sure I kept this one along with its partner, The Poems of Thomas Gray.

>2 shdunne:

I don't know...I paid full price and ended up having to sell it. Barely got a third of what I paid back. Never understood why. It's marvelous.

> Agreed--it pairs well with The Poems of Thomas Gray, although I believe that one can be picked up much cheaper elsewhere. Since 2005, has anyone else published a complete version of Blake's Night Thoughts?

I started reading poetry, aside of epic which I acquired a taste for a few years back, about 2 months ago. I used to consider the whole idea of poetry a false bond for those who liked dabbling, oh what a fool. I have found that it varies greatly to each, the taste, with infinite and minute detail one can conclude from a singular reading whether to discard or contrarily will form a lasting bond like no other form of writing, and yet so easily you'll find yourself wrong. I particularly need to read this work, because upon small glimpses I enjoy it so much and this is a Folio gem.

I think FSD has helped me more than any other group on the appropriate method for building a library, now I just need that FAD to subside, so that I can slowly but surely acquire the appropriate works. I believe I have enough principal works, so I appreciate Warwick's presentations for the mad-craving they instill. Thank you Dr. Carter!

For those who have this, how have you been storing it? It seems heavy enough that storing it vertically would damage the base of the solander box (if not the books themselves). Do you place it horizontally on your shelf?

>9 -Ophidian-:

I stored mine horizontally for a few years, then moved and stored it vertically for about two years, then changed it back to horizontal storage because I was worried the book's own weight might cause spine sagging from vertical storage. There was no damage to the solander case though. It's an absolutely gorgeous edition, I highly recommend it.

I did pick it up! Now I'm just agonising over how to store it.

My worry about the solander case is that the books don't rest on the bottom...there's a "floor" to the solander case and then sort of "legs" that go around the outside, meaning the books themselves are suspended in air (getting zero support from the shelf itself, the entirety of their weight is pressing on the solander case). I would expect that to warp the floor of the solander case over time if stored vertically, no?

I store my copy horizontally next to my desk, along with other oversized LEs such as Birds of Paradise, 1001 Nights, and Works of Chaucer. Even large LEs such as Birds Drawn for John Gould and Temple of Flora are stored under the couch and library chair/ottoman, respectively.

My copy has been stored vertically for 15 years with no damage to book or case.

Would anyone have any information on where to possibly get a replacement solander case? I received a copy a few months ago and although the books are immaculate the case is torn and damaged.

Other question...I found one that doesn’t include the commentary volume. Doesn’t really matter to me, but wondering if that would mean the books will move around in the case?

>13 wcarter:

Same here--no damage.

Me three--no dommage.

>15 RRCBS: It shouldn't. The commentary volume is in a small separate area and won't compromise anything. And if it's for a good price I'd make the purchase. Even though my case is ripped and bumped (did get a discount since it was insured,) the books are absolutely beautiful. One of the finest productions by Folio. It really seems like their limited editions have gone down a little in quality as the years progress.

>18 Joshbooks1: thanks for the info! Limited editions are generally out of my price range and prefer standard editions anyway, but considering making an exception for this one!

>18 Joshbooks1: It really seems like their limited editions have gone down a little in quality as the years progress.

The decline started when Joe Whitlock Blundell retired.

Another case of no damage with vertical storage for me.

>20 folio_books: Out of curiosity when was that? Strictly guessing I'd say 2013 or 2014 looking at the Folio dropbox LE productions. I still like the newer limited editions but I'm never in awe when I open them. When I first opened the Kelmscott Chaucer (my favorite thus far) or Night Thoughts or Queen Mary Atlas I felt that these books are true pieces of art. Folio went above and beyond. I had no regrets. I haven't got that feeling for many of the newer editions but hope that is changed once Gargantua and Pantagruel is on low stock and I make that purchase. But it makes much more sense now and it is a shame.

>22 Joshbooks1: Out of curiosity when was that?

I can't recall exactly. I'd guess around 2015. There are several Devotees with fond memories of Joe who may be able to pinpoint it more exactly. Now, I may be misremembering here but I do seem to recall that Gargantua and Pantagruel was the last LE Joe had a hand in.

>23 folio_books:
2018? Here's one of his last blogs:
https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/blog/this-folio-life-joes-blog-no-39/

>24 Jayked:

That's the one! I knew you would know. I didn't realise it was so recent, though he does say he's "semi-detached" from Folio. Anticipating "Working From Home", in fact.

>25 folio_books: 2015 was a good guess though - that was the year Bob Gavron died. It takes a passionate owner to maintain focus.

Is there a list anywhere of the works he participated in? It seems he was responsible for a lot of what made the high-end FS books great.

>27 -Ophidian-:
He started the modern limited editions program, so every LE from 2001 until Gargantua and Pantagruel.

>27 -Ophidian-:
For over 20 years he had overall responsibility for design, materials etc for all FS publications, although obviously he relied on assistants for much of the work. He was more personally involved with LEs. In 2016 he wrote an account of FS LEs in a booklet for The Private Library, Sixth Series, Volume 9:3, still available at a reasonable price: https://www.plabooks.org/private-library-downloads-v2
It contains a checklist of LEs including those yet to appear in 1917. Ironically the LEs are given an ID number for the online bibliography that was supposed to appear in 2017, but appears to have followed Joe out of the door.

>28 wcarter:

I thought he oversaw Gargantua and Pantagruel too--do you mean everything after Gargantua and Pantagruel?

>30 podaniel:
Exactly

Speaking of, Night Thoughts is offered at auction here:

https://auctions.potterauctions.com/__BLAKE__William__illustrator______YOUNG__Ed...

Bump!
This is one of the most phenomenal LEs I have ever seen! Thanks to wcarter for taking such magnificent pictures -- hope others appreciate this as much as I do :)

>33 astropi: This is the pinnacle of the few FS LE I own. It's the one I'll never sell.

>34 LT79:
In my opinion, the best book ever produced by the FS was Illustrations of Birds Drawn for John Gould by Edward Lear, the 2012 limited edition.
See https://www.librarything.com/topic/343920

There is a copy on Oxfam books for £770 which isn't the best deal. But occasionally oxfam do 40% off sales. It's definitely one to bookmark for future sales.

>35 wcarter: I'm a huge William Blake fan so this obviously adds to my bias but I agree it's got to be up there with the best of them. The Birds Drawn for John Gould looks a beast. Do you own a copy? I think I'd have it on permanent display.

>34 LT79: Congrats on owning this and I don't blame you one bit :)
>37 LT79: Yes, I'm also a William Blake fan, and I'm honestly surprised no one else has published Night Thoughts in color, but here we are!

>35 wcarter: Ah, if I was a birder, and I often wish I was, this one would be in my personal collection. Also, I'm a huge David Attenborough fan too!

>37 LT79:
Yes, I own a copy, which is the one I reviewed.

>38 astropi: Suprisingly, I don't think it's very popular. Copies tend to linger on ebay. I think originally it took a while to sell. It's one of the heaviest LE I think. The paper quality is superb, really thick. It has a stunning cover design and is packed with two volumes of illustrations. Plus it's genuinely unique being the only colour Night Thoughts of this scale. The new LEs from FS don't come anywhere near this in terms of value for money in my opinion.

>39 wcarter: It's a beauty! Looking at the images I'm not surprised it's top of your list.

I already owned and enjoyed this edition A LOT, but what really did it for me was when I visited the Blake exhibition in Tate Britain a few years ago and could see some of the originals. This edition and their Poems of Thomas Gray come as close to these originals as you can. Wonderful quality that really does Blake's work justice.

Related to the topic of Blake, I've been made aware of this facsimile edition of his notebooks from SP Books.

https://www.spbooks.com/158-william-blake-notebook-rossetti-manuscript-979109545...

In the FS copy of Blake (a very nice and well illustrated edition), Peter Ackroyd talks constantly of Blake's notebooks. Blake inherited it from his brother who died very young so he kept it all his life. It would be nice to aquire a reasonable copy facsimile.

I've never heard of SP Books though. Does anyone know if their books are of reasonable quality?

>43 LT79: I had previously just bought the Frankenstein, but bought this one instantly when I received the notification. The quality is very high, well bound and good paper. The book itself is superb.

>44 TristanJohn: Thank you for the information. This is really good to know. I will now be ordering a copy!