ABSTRACT
Tatham’s ‘Life of Blake’ 1 was composed about 1832, in part to advertise for sale Jerusalem (copy E), with which it is bound, and other unsold copies of Blake’s works which Tatham acquired at Mrs Blake’s death in October 1831. The punctuation, paragraphing and continuity are eccentric. Tatham knew Blake better than any of Blake’s other biographers, and Blake’s widow lived with him for a time, but his own vigorously naïve piety influenced his diction and distorted his thought. His admiration for Blake was clearly that of a disciple for his master, but his dispraise of Poetical Sketches and his enthusiasm for the Songs and Jerusalem may be determined in part by his commercial interest; he had copies of the latter for sale. The critical extracts which follow are incidental to what is essentially a biographical account.
