William Blake 1757 – 1827

Biography

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker whose visionary work was little appreciated in his lifetime and is now counted among the greatest in English art and literature. Born in London in 1757, he trained as an engraver and developed a unique method of illuminated printing, hand-producing books in which text and image were fused, including Songs of Innocence and of Experience, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and the prophetic books. His poems, from The Tyger to Jerusalem, combined radical politics, spiritual mysticism, and fierce opposition to industrial oppression. He died in obscurity in London in 1827, but later generations, from the Pre-Raphaelites onward, recognised him as a prophet of imagination and freedom. His illuminated books are now treasured in museums and libraries, and his songs and prophecies have inspired poets, musicians, and artists ever since.