A painter, poet & engraver, William Blake (1757-1827) was born in London. Poetical Sketches, his first volume of poetry, was published in 1783 & was followed by several of his best-known works: Songs of Innocence (1789), The Book of Thiel (1789), The Marriage of Heaven & Hell (1790-93), Songs of Experience (1794) ad Jeusalem (1804-20).