The First Book of Urizen, The Book of Los, and The Book of Ahania constitute an unorthodox rewriting of the Pentateuch. This mythic transformation of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures offers many perspectives, but to highlight the biblical relationships, Blake designed the leaves to contain two columns of text. The work exemplifies his own radical spirit. A total of eight copies exist; this copy is one of only two containing the complete series of twenty-eight plates.
William Blake (1757-1827), The First Book of Urizen, plate 22, PML 63139