A rare first-issue print of William Blake’s iconic poem, The Tyger, is set to go under the hammer, with experts anticipating it could fetch up to £120,000.
This exceptional piece originates from Blake’s Songs Of Experience, published around 1794, a collection so scarce that only four copies are known to exist, each featuring 17 poems meticulously illustrated, etched, and printed by the poet himself.
Murray Macaulay, Christie’s head of prints for Europe, highlighted the profound significance of these works. "For many, the poetry of William Blake is familiar from school anthologies, studied solely as literary works," he explained.
"To see these etchings from Experience opens our eyes to how he intended them, as printed manuscripts."
Macaulay added that "the play between Blake’s designs and delicate script adds a new dimension to his verse, and a touch of humour – the charming illustration for his most famous poem a little more Tigger than Tyger."
He concluded by describing them as "some of the rarest prints in our field, this remarkable group, assembled by the great scholar Sir Geoffrey Keynes, exemplifies Blake’s idiosyncratic genius as both an artist and a poet."
The specific Tyger print destined for Christie’s “Old Masters To Modern Day Sale” on December 3 holds further distinction as the only one in private ownership, having once belonged to The Wind In The Willows author, Kenneth Grahame. Its valuation stands between £80,000 and £120,000.
Accompanying The Tyger are seven additional prints from Songs Of Experience. These include My Pretty Rose Tree, Ah! Sunflower, The Lilly, and The Clod and The Pebble, both estimated at £30,000 to £50,000.
Nurse’s Song carries a higher estimate of £50,000 to £70,000. Other notable pieces on offer are The Chimney Sweeper (£25,000-£35,000), A Little Boy Lost (£30,000-£50,000), A Little Girl Lost (£20,000-£30,000), and The Human Abstract (£30,000-£50,000).
All these works showcase Blake’s pioneering "illuminated painting style." This intricate process involved writing text in mirror image and drawing designs with stop-out varnish directly onto a copper plate, which was then etched in relief through an acid bath.
Blake ceased using this unique technique after 1794 for subsequent editions of Songs Of Experience, making these early prints particularly rare.
The collection will be available for public viewing at Christie’s in London from November 27 to December 2, ahead of the auction.
