Editing Artist's book (section)

===Origins of the form: William Blake===
Whilst artists have been involved in the production of books in Europe since the early medieval period (such as the ''[[Book of Kells]]'' and the {{lang|fr|[[Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry]]}}), most writers on the subject cite the English visionary artist and poet [[William Blake]] (1757–1827) as the earliest direct antecedent.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Drucker |first=Johanna |title=The Century of Artists' Books |publisher=[[Granary Books]] |year=2004 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Discovering Artists' Books |author=Miller, Gwendolyn Jan |url=http://www.gwenjpenner.com/publications/thesis/intro.pdf |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140403010454/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:dtGTaoLCFvoJ:www.gwenjpenner.com/publications/thesis/intro.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-04-03 |access-date=2014-04-03 }} Cached copy retrieved April 2014.</ref>

Books such as ''[[Songs of Innocence and of Experience]]'' were written, illustrated, printed, coloured and bound by Blake and his wife [[Catherine Blake (wife of William Blake)|Catherine]], and the merging of handwritten texts and images created intensely vivid, original works without any obvious precedents. These works would set the tone for later artists' books, connecting [[self-publishing]] and self-distribution with the integration of text, image and form.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} All of these factors have remained key concepts in artists' books up to the present day.