William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and engraver active in London during the late Georgian and Romantic period. Trained as an engraver, he produced illuminated books combining his own verse with hand-colored designs, including Songs of Innocence and of Experience and longer prophetic works such as Milton and Jerusalem. He also engraved and illustrated works by other authors and developed an intricate personal mythology. Largely unrecognized in his lifetime, he worked closely with his wife Catherine, who assisted in printing and coloring. He lived almost entirely in and around London, apart from three years in coastal Sussex, and died in modest circumstances in 1827.