William Blake was born in London in 1757 and showed early signs of mystical visions from a young age. He was apprenticed to an engraver at age 14 and studied art, but his poetry was his true passion. In 1782 he married Catherine Boucher, who helped him print his illuminated poetry. Though his work was not widely known in his lifetime, he produced major works of poetry and art including Songs of Innocence and Experience and illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy. Blake continued working until his death in London in 1827.

1. William Blake
by
J.ARTHIGAN

2. History of William Blake
• William Blake was born in London on November 28,
1757
• James Blake and Catherine Blake are his parents.
• Two of his six siblings died in infancy.
• From early childhood, Blake spoke of having visions
at four he saw God "put his head to the window";
• Around the age nine, while walking through the
countryside, he saw a tree filled with angels.
• Although his parents tried to discourage him from
"lying," they did observe that he was different from his
peers and did not force him to attend conventional
school.
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3. • At age ten, Blake expressed a wish to become a painter,
so his parents sent him to drawing school. Two years
later, Blake began writing poetry.
• When he turned fourteen, he apprenticed with an
engraver because art school proved too costly.
• After his seven-year term ended, he studied briefly at
the Royal Academy.
William Blake’s
house
William Blake 3

4. Married life
• In 1782, he married an illiterate woman
named Catherine Boucher.
• Blake taught her to read and to write, and also
instructed her in draftsmanship.
• Later, she helped him print the illuminated
poetry for which he is remembered today; the
couple had no children.
• In 1784 he set up a print shop with a friend
and former fellow apprentice, James Parker,
but this venture failed after several years.
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5. • Blake's first printed work, Poetical
Sketches (1783), is a collection of apprentice
verse, mostly imitating classical models.
• Blake's poetry was not well known by the general
public, but he was mentioned in A Biographical
Dictionary of the Living Authors of Great Britain
and Ireland, published in 1816.
William Blake

6. • Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who had been lent a copy
of Songs of Innocence and songs of Experience,
considered Blake a "man of Genius,"
and Wordsworth made his own copies of several
songs.
• Charles Lamb sent a copy of "The Chimney Sweeper"
from Songs of Innocence to James Montgomery for
his Chimney-Sweeper's Friend, and Climbing Boys'
Album (1824), and Robert Southey
• Wordsworth attended Blake's exhibition and included
the "Mad Song" from Poetical Sketches in his
miscellany, The Doctor (1834-1837).
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7. • in 1825, commissioned him to design
illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy, the
cycle of drawings that Blake worked on until
his death in 1827.
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The last day of William Blake

8. Poetry
• All Religions Are One (1788)
• America, a Prophecy (1793)
• Europe, a Prophecy (1794)
• For Children: The Gates of Paradise (1793)
• For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise (1820)
• Poetical Sketches (1783)
• Songs of Experience (1794)
• Songs of Innocence (1789)
• The Book of Ahania (1795)
• The Book of Los (1795)
• The First Book of Urizen (1794)
• The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790)
• The Song of Los (1795)
• There Is No Natural Religion (1788)
• Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793)
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