Blake's Water-Colours for the Poems of Thomas Gray: With Complete Texts

By William Blake

At the dawn of the 19th century, Blake created this imaginative series of 116 watercolors to illustrate 13 poems by Thomas Gray. Including such popular poems as "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" and "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat," these rarely exhibited treasures remained exclusively in the hands of collectors for close to 175 years. This is the first inexpensive, full-color reproduction, with the complete text of the poems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Release date: Dec 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9780486147109

William Blake

William Blake was born in London in 1757. He was apprenticed to a master engraver and then studied at the Royal Academy under the guidance of Joshua Reynolds. In 1789 he engraved and published Songs of Innocence and the contrasting Songs of Experience came later in 1794. A poet, painter and printmaker of great originality and imagination, his work was largely unrecognized during his lifetime and he struggled to make a living. Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. He died in 1827.

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