William Blake

The book combines a concise critical biography with close readings of the subject's poems and designs, arguing that he uniquely fused word and image by producing illuminated books through his own engraving and coloring. The author maps recurring concerns—imagination as primary over nature, the dialectic of innocence and experience, prophetic myth-making, and a lyric voice that privileges idea over sentiment—and illustrates these through focused commentary. A substantial second part reproduces diaries, letters, obituaries, and early memoirs that supply first‑hand testimony of the artist's methods, temperament, and reception, enabling readers to weigh interpretation against contemporary documents.