William Blake and the Cultures of Radical Christianity

Robert Rix is Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Languages at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

’Drawing largely on printed sources, including some in Scandinavian languages, Rix steers clear of the tenuous connections and unsubstantiated claims that have marked some of the scholarship in this field to provide a careful and balanced reconstruction of an important aspect of Blake’s world.’ English Historical Review ’[Rix’s] book is lucid and readable, and in its exceptional grasp of the complex interrelations between religious traditions and reading communities in Blake’s age it sets an example that exposes the limitations of some earlier studies of influence, an example that others will be able to build on.’ Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly ’... this is a fine book, carefully and thoroughly researched, lucidly written, and most welcoming to anyone interested in William Blake and/or the theosophical tradition of late eighteenth-century England. William Blake will forever frustrate our efforts to put him in context, even as he and his work challenges us to do so. Hats off to Robert Rix, who has tangled him up with the Swedenborgians as well as anyone could.’ Christianity and Literature

• Contents: Introduction; Religious themes and early contexts; Libertines, liberators and legislators; Swedenborgianism; From Swedenborg to radical politics; International Swedenborgians in London; The divine image; The Marriage of Heaven and Hell as satire; The visionary marketplace; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.