Technical Services

William Blake (1757-1827)
Illustrations of the Book of Job (London, 1825, i.e., 1826)

At the age of fifteen, the English painter and portraitist George Richmond (1809-1896) met William Blake, who made a deep impression on him. Richmond became a member of The Ancients, a group of Blake’s artistic followers with connections to the Royal Academy of Art. In 1827, he was present at Blake’s death and it fell to him to close the poet’s eyes and to take his death mask. Before passing these illustrations to his son, the artist Sir William Blake Richmond (1842-1921), he wrote on the volume’s flyleaf: “I watched these works in [pieces?] progress, and used to see them on the copperplate under Mr Blakes hand. Mr. Linnell supplied me with this early and very fine copy directly it was published.”

Typ 6500.55 (B), Bequest of Grenville Winthrop, 1943