SCOTT, WILLIAM BELL. "Exhibition of the Works of William Blake." With introductory memoir. London, The Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1876. 4o. SCOTT, WILLIAM BELL. "William Blake." Etchings from his works (with descriptive text). London, Chatto and Windus, 1878. Folio. SMETHAM, JAMES. "Essay on Blake." (Reprinted in Gilchrist's work, q.v., from the "London Quarterly Review"). SWINBURNE, A. C. "William Blake." A critical essay, with illustrations from Blake's designs in facsimile, coloured and plain. Second edition. London, 1868. 8o. [Illustration: WILLIAM BLAKE] WILLIAM BLAKE CHAPTER I EARLY YEARS The work of one of the greatest spirits that ever made Art his medium has yet its way to make among the general public. The world entertained the angel unawares, for three-quarters of a century have passed since the death of William Blake, and still his name and his work are but indifferently known. Yet to those that know them, the designs from his pencil, and the poems from his pen, are among the most precious things that Art has bequeathed to us. It is my purpose in the following pages to tell over again the main outlines of his life, quite shortly and simply, for the great biography on Blake (that of Alexander Gilchrist) can be consulted by all, and contains almost every detail known about him. To this monumental work, and to Messrs. Ellis and Yeats's more recently issued and exhaustive Commentary on Blake, I owe all my facts. A brief memoir is a necessary preface to the review I propose making of those engraved and painted books, pictures, drawings and engravings of Blake's which our National Collections possess.