ABSTRACT
Blake was apprenticed as an engraver, and for most of his life his chief income was probably derived from his exercise of this art. His contemporaries clearly knew him best as an engraver, and his reputation was generally good, though few suggested that he was one of the great masters of his craft. In fact, however, he rarely drew much attention simply as an engraver; most of the accounts below refer to him as the engraver of his own designs. Most critics apparently felt that the oddity of his designs was to some extent compensated for by the competence of the engravings.
