- Title:
- "An ancient pile of building stands... there Employed the power of Fairy hands" (Design 25)
- Additional Title(s):
Verso: "The Seals and Maces danc'd before him..." (Design 26)
A Long Story- Part Of:
- Date:
- between 1797 and 1798
- Materials & Techniques:
- Watercolor with pen and black ink and graphite on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper with inlaid letterpress page
- Dimensions:
- Sheet: 16 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches (41.9 x 32.4 cm)
- Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed in black ink upper right: "3"; in graphite center: "x"; on verso in gray ink upper left: "4"; in graphite center: "+ | +"
Lettered on inlaid page: "A | LONG STORY. | IN Britain's isle, no matter where, | An ancient pile of building stands: | The Huntingdons and Hattons there | Employed the power of Fairy hands | To raise the ceiling's fretted height, | Each pannel in atchievements clothing, | Rich windows that exclude the light, | And passages, that lead to nothing. | E4 Full"; Lettered on verso, on inlaid page: "66 A LONG STORY. | Full oft within the spacious walls, | When he had fifty winters o'er him, | My grave Lord-Keeper led the Brawls: | The Seals and Maces danc'd before him. | His bushy beard, and shoe-strings green, | His high-crown'd hat, and satin doublet, | Mov'd the stout heart of England's Queen, | Tho' Pope and Spaniard could not trouble it. | What, in the very first beginning! | Shame of the versifying tribe! | Your Hist'ry whither are you spinning? | Can you do nothing but describe? | A House there is, (and that's enough) | From whence one fatal morning issues | A brace of warriors, not in buff, | But rustling in their silks and tissues. | The"
- Credit Line:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Copyright Status:
- Public Domain
- Accession Number:
- B1992.8.11(13)
- Classification:
- Drawings & Watercolors
- Collection:
- Prints and Drawings
- Subject Terms:
- angels | arches | bricks | building | cathedral | coat of arms | dancing | fairies | literary theme | mask | men | mortar | pinnacles | religious and mythological subject | ruff | sceptre | stained glass | text | vaulted | women
- Access:
- Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
Note: The Study Room is open by appointment. Please visit the Study Room page on our website for more details. - Link:
- https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:3612
- Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
William Blake (Tate Britain, 2000-11-02 - 2001-02-04) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Colin Cross, Blake revealed, William Blake : Discovery of a Masterwork , Observer, vol. 12, November 21, 1971, pp. 19-23, V 1245 Detached from Observer colour magazine [ORBIS]
John Russell, Blake the Craftsman, Art , Sunday Times, Issue no. 7749, December 12, 1971, p. 27, Sunday Times Digital Archive [ORBIS]
Arnold Fawcus, Unknown Watercolours by William Blake, Illustrated London News, vol. 259, No. 6881, December 25, 1971, pp. 45-46, 49-51, Illustrated London News Historical Archive [ORBIS]