(1688–1772) was a Swedish thinker and theologian. He had dreams and visions and experienced a spiritual awakening.
3
Alexander Gilchrist (1828–1861) was Blake’s principal biographer with his book
4
Threepenny: a coin of Great Britain introduced in 1551.
5
Edmund Spenser (c. 1552–1599) was an English poet and Poet Laureate (officially appointed by the government). He is well known for his poem
6
John Donne (1572-March 31, 1631) was an English Jacobean poet and a figure among the metaphysical poets of his time. He is well known for his realistic, sensual and satirist poetry. He was later criticised for his use and abuse of the metaphor.
7
John Fletcher (1579–1625) was a Jacobean playwright. A close collaborator to Shakespeare, he was regarded as one of the most popular writers of his time and a key figure in the transition from the Elizabethan tradition to the Restoration.
8
Thomas Chatterton (November 20, 1752-August 24, 1770) was an English poet and forger of pseudo-medieval poetry. Committing suicide at seventeen to escape from starvation, he was considered an icon of unacknowledged genius by the Romantics.
9
Thomas Rowley was Chatterton’s pseudonym for poetry and history.
10
Ossian is the narrator and supposed author of a cycle of poems. In 1760, the Scottish poet James Macpherson claimed to have translated his works from sources in Gaelic.
11
James Basire (1730–1802) was a British engraver and draughtsman. In 1770, he became a member of the Royal Society of British Artists. He engraved mostly portraits and historical subjects.
12
Frederick Tatham (1805–1878) was a British artist who was part of the Shoreham Ancients, which was a group of artists who were followers of William Blake. He wrote on Blake’s life. He looked after Catherine, Blake’s wife, who after her death bequeathed him with all of Blake’s written works. He later destroyed some of these because he joined a sect which led him to believe the works of the artist were inspired by the devil.
13
William Wynne Ryland (1738–1783) was an English engraver, also a member of the Incorporated Society of Artists.
14
Benjamin Heath Malkin (1769–1842) was a British writer. He had a close connection to Blake, although historians cannot determine under which circumstances the two met. Malkin mentions Blake in his book
15
Richard Gough (1735–1809) was an English antiquary and a leading authority on British topography.
16
William Woollett (c. 1735–1785) was a British engraver. Very well-known during his times, his techniques, and notably the “worm line,” were used throughout Europe. In 1775, he was appointed “Engraver to the King.”
17
Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) was a Swiss poet.
18
George Moore (1852–1933) was an Irish novelist, art critic and poet.
19
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) was an English poet, famous for his taste for provocative subjects.
20
Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800) was a British social reformer, patron of the arts, hostess, literary critic and writer.
21
Elizabeth Carter, (1717–1806), was a poet, classicist, writer and translator.
22
Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1717–1797), was an art historian, writer and politician.
23
Laurence Sterne (1713–1768) was an Irish-born English novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his work
24
Isaac Watts (1674–1748) was one of the first English hymnographers and was even considered the father of English hymnody. He is famous for hymns such as “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” (Ps. 90) and “Jesus Shall Reign” (Ps. 72). He also wrote religious songs especially for children; these were collected in
