A strange and characteristic collection were those books which fed his fiery imagination. Could we have glanced along the row, we should have seen Shakespeare cheek by jowl with Lavater and Jacob Boehmen, while Macpherson's "Ossian," Chatterton's "Rowley," and the "Visions" of Emmanuel Swedenborg helped to fill in the ranks. Milton held perhaps the most honoured place of all, while Ovid, St. Theresa's works, and De la Motte Fouque's "Sintram" were among the heterogeneous collection. Chaucer was also cheerfully conspicuous, and, towards the close of Blake's life, Dante's "Divine Comedy" came to join the silent company in the bookshelves. In 1806 Blake became acquainted with a good and kindly man, Dr. Malkin, Head Master of Bury Grammar School. He gave him a commission for the frontispiece of Malkin's "Memorials of his Child," and in the preface wrote an account of the childhood and youth of the designer. Ozias Humphrey, the miniature painter, and a staunch friend of Blake, bought many of his engraved books, and it was he who obtained a commission for him from the Countess of Egremont to paint a picture elaborated from the Blair drawing of the "Last Judgment." The paper called by the same name in the MS. book is descriptive of this picture, and in its _intimite_ and demonstration of Blake's bed-rock foundations of thought and artistic principles, gives profound insight into his mind. These things occupied him during 1807. During that year Stothard's cabinet picture was publicly exhibited, and drew thousands of gazers. Blake doggedly continued to work at his own "Canterbury Pilgrimage," which he wrought in a water-colour medium which he arbitrarily termed "fresco." It was finished about the end of 1808. In the autumn of that year the twelve beautiful engravings after his designs for Blair's "Grave" were produced by Cromek, with a flowery introduction by Fuseli. The list of subscribers for the book at two-and-a-half guineas a copy was so large--thanks to Cromek's skilful manipulation--that the amount realized by its sale came to L1,800. Of this Blake received twenty guineas and Schiavonetti about L500. I cannot omit to mention that leave to dedicate to Queen Charlotte having previously been obtained, Blake made a vignette drawing with some grave and beautiful verses to accompany it, and sent it to Cromek as an additional plate, asking the modest price of four guineas for it. The design and verses were returned with a long letter from Cromek, closely packed with insults and slanders, and exhibiting a meanness too contemptible for expression. At the end of the letter he thus refers to the subject of the Pilgrimage, of which one would suppose he would be too ashamed to speak: "Why did you so _furiously rage_ at the success of the little picture of the Pilgrimage? Three thousand people have now _seen it and have approved of it_. Believe me, yours is 'the voice of one crying in the wilderness.'