Introduction: the Matter of Britain

Abstract

In A Vision of the Last Judgement, after describing the characters of the Harlot, Mystery and the Great Red Dragon, Blake depicts the graves of those being awakened to new life, among whom are the following figures:

… an Aged patriarch is awakd by his wife <He is Albion our Ancestor <patriarch of the Atlantic Continent> whose History Preceded that of the Hebrews <& in whose Sleep <or Chaos> Creation began, [his Emanation or Wife is Jerusalem …] at their head> <the Aged Woman is Brittannia the Wife of Albion Jerusalem is their Daughter> (E558)

This highly significant — if complex — passage summarizes several important features of Blake’s use of British mythology which is the subject of this book: the antiquity of Albion and his association with the biblical patriarchs, the legend of a lost Eden in Atlantis and the relations within this primal family. The myths of Albion important to such works as Milton and Jerusalem include the bards and Druids, who were important foci for antiquarian writers dealing with British history (fabulous and real), as well as the supposed origins of the British race — in particular as they could be traced to a more fantastic beginning in the Atlantic Ocean.