From spark of inspiration to final press – how William Blake built a book of poetry

An influential artist and poet of the Romantic age, William Blake (1757-1827) was also a tradesman who, training and working in London for the vast majority of his life, supported himself as an engraver. In this video from the British Library, the engraver Michael Phillips, who has studied and recreated Blake’s techniques for several decades, explores how, in his innovative engraving work, Blake married his two greatest passions – poetry and visual art. In a tactile demonstration, Phillips details how Blake created a technique to pair his poems with original illustrations. The resulting short offers an elegant look at how, through a combination of years of apprenticeship and artistic vision, Blake was able to control every aspect of his poetry collections.