Poetical Sketches was the first and only volume of William Blake`s poetry printed in his lifetime. Long unavailable in its entirety as a single volume, this edition is reproduced from an extremely rare copy of the original 1783 book that contains corrections to the printed text handwritten by Blake himself. The writings range from work written in Blake`s twelfth year up to that of his twentieth and are all stamped with his unique vision. This beautiful book also contains an introduction by Robin Hamlyn, who considers the history of the book itself and the place it has in Blake`s pursuit of fame.
William Blake (Londres, 1757 - 1827). El seu primer llibre de poesia, Poetical Sketches (1783), mostrà la influència de Shakespeare, de Chatterton i dels romanços populars. La majoria dels seus poemes daten d'abans del 1804, i tota l'obra madura fou concebuda com una combinació íntima de text i d'il·lustracions. Les poesies líriques són agrupades en dos volums, Songs of Innocence (1789) i Songs of Experience (1794). La seva tendència visionària, apareguda ben aviat, augmentà notablement amb la sèrie de Prophetical Books, culminats amb Milton (1804-08, Quaderns Crema, 2004) i Jerusalem (1804-20).
