Although today William Blake (1757 1827) is recognised as a visionary poet and artist, at the time of his death he was unknown except for his presumed insanity. This highly influential two-volume biography by the barrister Alexander Gilchrist, first published in 1863 and reissued here in its second edition (1880), rescued William Blake from almost complete obscurity. The accepted interpretation of his madness was challenged and his creative talents were brought to the attention of Victorian society by the inclusion of selected writings and artistic works, nearly all previously unpublished....

Few collections of verse have been associated with such drama as these poems by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 82). Much of this work had disappeared in 1862 when it was buried with Rossetti's wife, Elizabeth Siddal, only to be brought back to the light of day in 1869. Rossetti added further poems and the work first appeared in 1870. The full impact of the sexually explicit material was soon felt. In his article 'The Fleshly School of Poetry', the writer Robert Williams Buchanan denounced Rossetti as corrupt and decadent. Others joined the chorus of disapproving voices. Steeped in remorse about...

Few collections of verse have been associated with such drama as these poems by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 82). Much of this work had disappeared in 1862 when it was buried with Rossetti's wife, Elizabeth Siddal, only to be brought back to the light of day in 1869. Rossetti added further poems and the work first appeared in 1870. The full impact of the sexually explicit material was soon felt. In his article 'The Fleshly School of Poetry', the writer Robert Williams Buchanan denounced Rossetti as corrupt and decadent. Others joined the chorus of disapproving voices. Steeped in remorse about...

On November 11, 1878, Rossetti wrote to Watts-Dunton: Friday night exactly made a year since my return to London in 1877 & you know how well I have been the whole of that time.' Indeed, in 1878-79, Rossetti lived what might appear to be a more tranquil version of his first years at Cheyne Walk. The long breach with Ford Madox Brown finally ended, and he began to see his brother regularly again; and he managed to complete a number of commissions, and other paintings. However, as the correspondence collected here show, his depression was seldom far away; he was often unable to work. His...