William Blake and the Language of Adam

by Robert N. Essick

Setting William Blake's language concepts and practices within the broad context of linguistic history, this book offers a new perspective on his poetry. Essick first looks in detail at four of Blake's paintings and addresses some basic questions in semiotic theory based on the history of the "motivated sign" idea from Plato to Wilhelm von Humboldt. Converting this background into a hermeneutic, he then demonstrates Blake's contributions to the mystical...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198129858
• ISBN13: 9780198129851
• Release Date: February 1989
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.8"