Although Illustrations of the Book of Job, his last completed work, was not published until 1826, the year before his death, Blake had been interested in the Biblical story of Job for many years. At least as early as 1787 Blake had engraved "Job and His Friends," and he produced several other individual plates in subsequent years. Around 1810 Blake had provided a set of twenty-one watercolor illustrations for the story of Job to Thomas Butts. In 1821 the artist and publisher John Linnell, greatly impressed by Blake's work, asked him to produce a second set of watercolors and in 1823 commissioned Blake to engrave these illustrations for sale to the public. Blake completed the engravings in 1825 and the set was offered to the public by subscription the following year.

Notable book historian Gordon Ray listed Illustrations of the Book of Job among his choices for the "100 Outstanding Books Printed in English Between 1790 and 1914." Job was one of three Blake titles selected for the "100," the others being Jerusalem and the 1797 edition of Edward Young's Night Thoughts with Blake's illustrations.

Although unlike his other major works, Job does not contain Blake's own writing, he carefully chose and edited the Biblical text that accompanies his twenty-one masterful illustrations. Thus Job reveals Blake's own interpretation of the story of Job and his suffering. As literary critic Northrup Frye stated, "Everyone realizes that Blake re-created the book of Job in his engravings and was not simply illustrating it." While not as colorful as Blake's illuminated printings, Job stands at the forefront of his artistic accomplishments and demonstrates that, whatever his state of mind, Blake's work did not diminish in his later years.

The UNCG copy of Illustrations of the Book of Job, one of only 315 copies of the first edition, once belonged to the Oxford and Cambridge University Club and retains its original calf binding. This copy has been professionally restored by the Etherington Conservation Center in Greensboro.

Although Jackson Library has most of the famous Trianon Press facsimiles of Blake's works, Illustrations of the Book of Job is its only original Blake title. Jackson Library is very fortunate to have obtained a copy of the book that Gordon Ray claims ranks "among the supreme masterpieces of graphic art."