William Blake was a revolutionary poet and artist: 'I know myself both Poet & Painter', he wrote. In his paintings, he created visionary images that challenge conventional perceptions; in his poetry, he joined words and images in the stunning form of the 'illuminated book', where verbal and visual depictions interact. A Romantic poet and religious visionary, he questioned Romantic assumptions and rewrote Biblical tradition in a radical mythology for his own time. He welcomed the eruption of the French Revolution and attacked Britain's wars against Revolutionary France, assaulting the social...

William Blake was a revolutionary poet and artist: 'I know myself both Poet & Painter', he wrote. In his paintings, he created visionary images that challenge conventional perceptions; in his poetry, he joined words and images in the stunning form of the 'illuminated book', where verbal and visual depictions interact. A Romantic poet and religious visionary, he questioned Romantic assumptions and rewrote Biblical tradition in a radical mythology for his own time. He welcomed the eruption of the French Revolution and attacked Britain's wars against Revolutionary France, assaulting the social...