William Blake

1757 (London) – 1827 (London)

Fuseli and Blake were friends and great mutual admirers. Blake met Fuseli, Wollstonecraft, Godwin, Paine, Price and Priestley at the home of the radical publisher Johnson, for whom he worked as an illustrator (Blake’s status within Johnson’s circle remains disputed). Flaxman, a friend since they were young artists, put a lot of work his way. Blake did illustrations for Wollstonecraft and for his patron John Linnell, who got him to illustrate the Book of Job and Dante’s Divine Comedy, and introduced him to Palmer and to Frederick Tatham, who reportedly destroyed many of his printing plates after his death.