William Blake and the Cartographic Imagination Maps, Diagrams, Networks

This book contributes to current discussions about the meaning, history, and theorisation of maps. The monograph focuses on William Blake (1757-1827), whose astute critical angle on cartography invites us to think in a new light about mapping in the eighteenth century, commonly regarded as a key phase within the history of European cartography. Ritchie positions Blake as a participant in a vibrant mesh of cartographic practices, seeking out his antecedents, peers, interlocutors, and followers. She characterises Blake’s participation in cartographic culture as both energetic and uneasy. In addition, the book traces Blake’s legacy as a point of contact for London-based psychogeographical writers and small-press publishers seeking to rethink the nature of maps and mapping in recent years and up to the present day. Through its exploration of Blake's poetry, art, and legacy, this book aims to pluralise and enrich conceptions of cartography from the eighteenth century to the present.

1. Introduction.- 2. Mapping and Blake’s Networks.- 3. Blake’s Globes.- 4. Mental Travel.- 5. Blake’s London.- 6. London Blakeans.- 7. Conclusion.

Caroline Anjali Ritchie is a Postdoctoral Fellow in English Literature 1760-1830 at Exeter College, University of Oxford, UK. She is the author of Artists Series: William Blake (Tate Publishing, 2024). Her articles on William Blake have appeared in Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly, Literary Geographies, and VALA: The Journal of the Blake Society.