William Blake
William Blake (1757-1827), British engraver, painter, and poet. He trained and worked as an engraver, writing poetry in his spare time at first. He later published books of engraved and illustrated poems, the best known of which are Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794). Some of his finest illustrations can be found in The Book of Job (1826). As his poetry became increasingly complex and symbolic, his designs developed an imaginative style that was to influence the romantic art of the 19th century.
