L21

l21, and afterwards published in a series of engravings by schiavonetti. despite the ill treatment blake received in the matter, and the other evils, including a quarrel with his friend stothard as to priority of invention of a design illustrating the canterbury pilgrims, which his association with cromek involved, the book gained for him a larger amount of popularity than he at any other time secured. stothard's picture of the canterbury pilgrims was exhibited in 1807, and in 1809 blake, in emulation of his rival's success, having himself painted in water-colour a picture of the same subject, opened an exhibition, and drew up a _descriptive catalogue_, curious and interesting, and containing a very valuable criticism of chaucer. the remainder of the artist's life is not outwardly eventful. in 1813 he formed, through the introduction of george cumberland of bristol, a valuable friendship with john linnell and other rising water-colour painters. amongst the group blake seems to have found special sympathy in the society of john varley, who, himself addicted to astrology, encouraged blake to cultivate his gift of inspired vision; and it is probably to this influence that we are indebted for several curious drawings made from visions, especially the celebrated "ghost of a flea" and the very humorous portrait of the builder of the pyramids. in 1821 blake removed to fountain court, in the strand, where he died on the 12th of august 1827. the chief work of these last years was the splendid series of engraved designs in illustration of the book of job. here we find the highest imaginative qualities of blake's art united to the technical means of expression which he best understood. both the invention and the engraving are in all ways remarkable, and the series may fairly be cited in support of a very high estimate of his genius. none of his works is without the trace of that peculiar artistic instinct and power which seizes the pictorial element of ideas, simple or sublime, and translates them into the appropriate language of sense; but here the double faculty finds the happiest exercise. the grandeur of the theme is duly reflected in the simple and sublime images of the artist's design, and in the presence of these plates we are made to feel the power of the artist over the expressional resources of human form, as well as his sympathy with the imaginative significance of his subject. a life of blake, with selections from his works, by alexander gilchrist, was published in 1863 (new edition by w.g. robertson, 1906); in 1868 a.c. swinburne published a critical essay on his genius, remarkable for a full examination of the prophetic books, and in 1874 william michael rossetti published a memoir prefixed to an edition of the poems. in 1893 appeared _the works of william blake_, edited by e.j. ellis and w.b. yeats. but for a long time all the editors paid too little attention to a correct following of blake's own mss. the text of the poems was finally edited with exemplary care and thoroughness by john sampson in his edition of the _poetical works_ (1905), which has rescued blake from the "improvements" of previous editors. see also _the letters of_ ~~ _william blake, together with a life by frederick tatham_; edited by a.g.b. russell (1906); and basil de selincourt, _william blake_ (1909). (j. c. c.)