William Blake, the son of a London hosier, did not receive any formal education but was self-taught in many respects before he enrolled as an apprentice to James Basire who was the engraver for the Society of Antiquities. Following this he studied at the Royal Academy, and made a living from the age of twenty-two onwards as an engraver for Joseph Johnson, a famously radical bookseller who published Mary Wollstonecraft's writing among others'. In 1782 he married Catherine Boucher and their marriage was a lasting and happy one although it produced no children. At this time Blake came under the spell of Macpherson's Ossianic writings and fell into the company of various intellectuals such as Flaxman and the circle of the Reverend A S Mathew. With their aid Blake published his first book of poetry, Poetical Sketches (1783), and set up his own print shop in 1784.

>From this time onwards Blake took the rather unusual step of engraving rather than printing his works, and doing so himself. He made his own ink, hand-printed the pages, illustrated them himself an

Blake's works became increasingly complex with Tiriel (written in 1789 and published in 1874), where the poet first introduces his blind and fiercely repressive father figure that reappears frequently in his later works. In the early 1790s, Blake produced his single important prose work, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and a number of revolutionary pieces including America: A Prophecy (1793) and Visions of the Daughters of Albion in the same year. A man touched by, if not madness as is frequently assumed, then at least a visionary instinct, Blake wrote with alleged aid of the spirit world and combined this mystical ecstasy with his radical political fervour. He said to a friend, "I write when commanded by the spirits, and the moment I have written I see the words fly about the room in all directions. It is then published and the spirits can read. My manuscripts are of no further use. I have been tempted to burn my manuscripts, but my wife won't let me".

Watercolour: Epitome of James Hervey's 'Meditations Amoung the Tombs'

Writes: The Ghost of Abel, Blake's last illuminated book.

Begins work for James Basire, engraver.

Exhibits "The Last Supper" at the Royal Academy.

Title Page for an Illustrated Manuscript of Genesis

John Flaxman helped Blake set up his own print shop at 27 Broad Street in 1784. The business was an eventual failure. Blake continued to contract his skills to others while producing his major works with his wife. During this time, he produced An Island in the Moon (1784-5), All Religions Are One and There is No Natural Religion (1788), The Book of Thel (1789), and Songs of Innocence (1789). The year 1789 marked the beginning of tremendous creativity for Blake as he published his major works in the relatively short period to follow- The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93), The French Revolution (1791), America: A Prophecy (1793), Visions of the Daughters of Albion

Blake sketches "The Body of Edward I in his Coffin".

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Approximate Word count = 2347
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)