William Blake printed 5 copies of Jerusalem, known most conveniently as copies A, C, D, E, and F. The chronology of the copies is established by the watermarks: copies A and C are printed on paper watermarked 1818-19-20, copies D and E on paper watermarked 1820, and copy F on paper watermarked 1824 and 1826. Only one, copy E, is fully colored. Aside from this coloring, the most significant variation among the copies of Jerusalem printed by Blake himself is the two different sequences of the plates in Chapter 2. Of the five extant copies printed by Blake himself, A, C and F exhibit one sequence (that reproduced in Erdman's edition), while copies D and E exhibit a different sequence (reproduced in Keynes's edition and in the Princeton/Blake Trust edition ). Thus the chronology apparently suggests that after printing copies A and C, Blake rearranged Chapter 2 for copies D and E, and then returned to the original order for copy F. The plates in all copies are all the same, and all plates are included in both versions of Chapter 2; the only difference is the position of two blocks of four plates each. Paley has offered a useful diagram of the shifting blocks (plate numbers are for the ACF sequence):

(AC, as in Paley)           28                   <--|           29-37    |                        |        ---38-41   |        |               |        |   42        |        |-->          |           43-46---           47-50

In this scenario, Blake moved block AC43-46 from the end of the chapter to become DE 29-32 at the beginning of the chapter; the other plates shift down four positions except for block AC38-41 which jumps over plate 42 and to become DE43-46. Only plates 28, 42, and 47-50 remain in the same position in both orderings. Keynes's choice of the DE sequence is based on the inference that the fully colored copy E represents Blake's fullest intention for the poem. Erdman's choice of the ACF sequence is based on the majority ruling of 3 of the 5 copies, as well as the inference from the chronology of copies that Blake returned in copy F to the "original " sequence, as if he was for some reason dissatisfied with the copy he had spent so much time and effort coloring. This last inference of Blake's " return " to the original sequence assumes that Blake himself determined the sequence of plates in Copy F, Chapter 2.

This assumption, however, turns out to be wrong, according to Joseph Viscomi in Blake and the Idea of the Book. Viscomi writes, "An examination of the page numbers [in Copy F] reveals two hands: one is Blake's and the other is not. Blake's set of numbers indicates that the initial order followed copies D and E, whereas the second and later set made emendations and created the final order" (357). Viscomi argues that this second hand belongs to John Linnell, who " received copy F on Blake's deathbed and sent it to Ottley [its original purchaser] on 16 August, 1827, five days after being paid and four days after Blake died " (358). Blake apparently did not finish numbering the pages, and so when Linnell finished numbering them, he used the sequence of the copy he himself owned, Copy C. Viscomi makes a strong case for the authority of the DE sequence, suggesting even that DE was in fact the first sequence, ACF being a revision from which Blake retreated in DE (341). Viscomi adds that Copy E " seems likely to have been printed as Blake's own copy " (356).

But if the "final " authority (such as it is) of the DE sequence now seems firm, it is also clear that Blake himself had doubts about how the chapter should work. Vincent De Luca has examined how the dynamics and interplay of visual composition among the plates change in the two sequences, but De Luca considers only the visual elements, virtually none of the events of the chapter, and he is working under the assumption that copy F represents Blakešs final intention for the chapter. De Luca does an impressive job of tracing the development of Chapter 2 through a series of hypothetical sequences, and despite what he takes as Blake's final intention in Copy F, he finally determines that the DE sequence is more balanced in terms of the visual composition of the plates.

De Luca's analysis does not, however, help us to understand the relationship between the different sequences and the events described on those plates. Here is an outline of the events/scenes in Jerusalem Chapter 2:

Chapter 2 (Copies A and C as in Erdman)

1. Albion and the Spectre's identification as "your Rational Power" (28:1-A29:24)
2. Albion and the return of Vala (A29:25-A30:16)
3. Los bends the organs of perception as the Savior creates States, with commentary from the Council of Eternals (A30:17-A32:56)
4. Los/Albion/Savior/Narrator: the Savior asks Albion, "If we have offended, forgive us"(A33:1-A35:11)
5. The Gate of Los, including the council of the Friends of Albion, the failure of force, the failure of rhetoric, and the confrontation between Los and Albion over "righteousness" (A35:12-42:81)
6. The appearance of the Divine Vision, the testimony of the two witnesses, Los's prayer (A43:1-A45:1)
7. Albion's interior in which Los searches for Albion's tempters; he hears Jerusalem and Vala discourse before Albion's interior is closed to him and the Sons of Albion build the Druid Temple around Albion's "golden couch"; the Savior counters with a direct address to the narrator and the building of the "Couch of repose" for Albion (A45:2-48:12)
8. Jerusalem's escape from Albion's tomb, Erin's speech, the prayer of the Daughters of Beulah (48:13-50:30)

This is how most readers know Chapter 2, the AC sequence from Erdman's edition. When we think of the two versions, we do as Paley and others do, and assume not only that any changes in DE are variations from this original intention, but also that Blake returned finally to this sequence. As we have seen, according to Viscomi, both assumptions are wrong. Instead of only one set of changes as diagrammed by Paley, we have two:

(DE)        28   ----29-32   |   |    33-41   |         <--   |    42       |   -->           |        43-46--        47-50

(AC, as in Paley)           28                   <--|           29-37    |                        |        ---38-41   |        |               |        |   42        |        |-->          |           43-46---           47-50

In the diagram on the left the plate numbers are given as Blake originally numbered them (DE), and the arrows indicate the changes he made before printing copies A and C. In the chart on the right, the plate numbers are given as in AC (Erdman), and the arrows indicate the changes made in copies D and E to return to the original sequence. The value of the first diagram is that it makes it clear that the changes Blake made in the chapter pivot around plate 42, and the essentially narrative question of what should come before and after the personal appeal of Los to Albion depicted on that plate.

What this means is that as Blake had originally intended, and as he apparently finally intended, what I have called scenes 6 and 7 in the AC sequence are actually scenes 2 and 3, and that plate 42 occurs earlier in the Gate of Los episode rather than later. All the same events occur, but they are all different because their narrative sequence is different. Here is a revised outline of the scenes as they appear in DE:

Chapter 2 (Copies D and E as in Keynes and Princeton/Blake Trust)

1. Albion and the lament of Divine Vision (28:1-E29:27)
2. The testimony of the two witnesses, Los's prayer (E29:28-E31:1)
3. Albion's interior in which Los searches for Albion's tempters; he hears Jerusalem and Vala discourse before Albion's interior is closed to him and the Sons of Albion build the Druid Temple around Albion's "golden couch" (E31:2-E32:15)
4. The triumphing of the Spectre and his identification as Albion's "Rational Power," with Albion's unmanning by the beauty and power of Vala (E33:1-E34:16)
5. Los bends the organs of perception as the Savior creates States, with commentary from the Council of Eternals (E34:17-E36:56)
6. Los/Albion/Savior/Narrator: the Savior asks Albion, "If we have offended, forgive us" (E37-E39:11)
7. The Gate of Los, including the council of the Friends of Albion, the confrontation between Los and Albion over "righteousness," the failure of force, and the failure of rhetoric to turn Albion from his error; the narrator's terror at the tale being dictated to him, with the Savior's reassurance and the building of the "Couch of repose" for Albion (E39:12-48:12)
8. Jerusalem's escape from Albion's tomb, Erin's speech, the prayer of the Daughters of Beulah (48:13-50:30)