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Catherine Blake

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said that Blake "allowed her, to the last moment of his practice, to take off his proof impressions and print his works, which she did most carefully." Catherine's role in colouring at least some of William's illuminated books has been wide, although her hand is usually attributed to some of the more
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in 1781, during his brief visit to the area, while he was recovering from an emotional upset following the failure of an earlier relationship. Their courtship was brief. According to early biographers of Blake, Catherine immediately recognized him as her future husband, and when she sympathized with
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later explicitly asserted that this was the case, but that Blake dropped the idea when he saw that it upset Catherine. No documentary evidence survives supporting this notion, but Blake is known to have stated that he "learned from the Bible that wives should be held in common."
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William Boucher (1714–1794) and Mary Davis (1716–1782). A "demure young woman" in response to her mother's queries regarding which of her acquaintances she would take for a husband, she would reply that she had not yet met such a man. She met William Blake in
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wrote that William "and his excellent wife (a true helpmate!) pass the plates thro' a rolling press in their cottage together". On his deathbed, Blake drew a picture of Catherine as his last work, stating "you have ever been an angel to me".
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Throughout her husband's uneven career, Catherine not only took an active role in the production of William's engravings and illuminated books; she also ran the household finances and offered strong practical support. William's friend
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The couple did not have children, and it has been suggested that Blake wanted to bring a concubine into the relationship to act as a surrogate mother, which was consistent with the theories of
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him over his earlier emotional troubles, he replied, "Do you pity me? Then I love you." Blake married Catherine – who was five years his junior – on 18 August 1782 in
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series (which featured similar fictionalized meetings between historical figures) and was first broadcast on 4 July 1993. It was directed by Sebastian Graham-Jones and featured
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home of William and Catherine Blake in 1789. It was first performed at the East Dulwich Tavern in July 1989. The play was later adapted for television in the
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In William Hayley's writings on ideal marriages, Catherine is presented as a model wife. In more recent literature, she is the central character in
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in Blake's writings. Catherine is explicitly identified as the poet's "shadow of delight" in the second part of Blake's
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does not mention this but speaks of unspecified troubles in the early years of the relationship. However,
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in Blake's mythology is partly inspired by Catherine. Enitharmon is the wife of the "eternal prophet"
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Writers who knew the couple in their later years describe a very happy relationship. In 1802,
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William Blake, Osbert Burdett, 1926, Parkstone Press International (reprint), p. 37
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beliefs, he destroyed a number of them, asserting that they were inspired by the devil.
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Other Sorrows, Other Joys: The Marriage of Catherine Sophia Boucher and William Blake
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clumsily rendered passages. Her work as a printer is held in higher regard.
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Glorious Incomprehensible: The Development of Blake's Kabbalistic Language
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The Four and Twenty Elders Casting their Crowns before the Divine Throne
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After her husband's death, Catherine was taken in by Blake's admirer
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Catherine and William are buried at Bunhill Cemetery in London.
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The Wood of the Self-Murderers: The Harpies and the Suicides
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Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
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by which Blake was influenced. Blake's earliest biographer
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The Works of William Blake: Poetic, Symbolic and Critical
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William Blake and the Cultures of Radical Christianity
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Retrieved 5 November 2008. 177:(2001) and also features in 74:St. Mary's Church, Battersea 7: 915:Never pain to tell thy love 10: 1474: 272:Metropolitan Museum of Art 93:Algernon Charles Swinburne 32: 1380: 1329: 1320:Witness Against the Beast 1283: 1279: 1268: 1242: 1085: 1081: 1070: 943: 930: 905: 880: 788: 751: 740: 587: 484: 471: 432: 428: 417: 881:The Pickering Manuscript 306:, Ashgate, 2007, p. 193. 268:Catherine Blake, ca.1805 225: 1075: 729:(found only in Copy BB) 607:The Clod and the Pebble 57: 1414:Catherine Blake (wife) 199:dramatised a visit by 108: 30: 1393:William Blake Archive 1292:Life of William Blake 1182:Descriptive Catalogue 889:Auguries of Innocence 818:The French Revolution 622:The Little Girl Found 455:All Religions are One 448:An Island in the Moon 255:Life of William Blake 102: 22: 1189:The Great Red Dragon 896:The Mental Traveller 617:The Little Girl Lost 529:The Little Boy Found 509:The Little Black Boy 1211:Agony in the Garden 1204:The Ghost of a Flea 1109:The Ancient of Days 908:Rossetti Manuscript 677:The Little Vagabond 657:My Pretty Rose Tree 627:The Chimney Sweeper 589:Songs of Experience 579:On Another's Sorrow 524:The Little Boy Lost 519:The Chimney Sweeper 331:Sheila A. Spector, 134:Role in Blake's art 89:Alexander Gilchrist 1143:Illustrations for 839:The Book of Ahania 832:The Book of Urizen 765:America a Prophecy 707:A Little Girl Lost 687:The Human Abstract 672:The Garden of Love 499:The Ecchoing Green 486:Songs of Innocence 474:Songs of Innocence 171:Janet Adele Warner 148:Role in literature 109: 103:Pencil drawing by 31: 1435: 1434: 1431: 1430: 1427: 1426: 1264: 1263: 1260: 1259: 1217:Illustrations of 1166:Illustrations of 1151:Illustrations of 1066: 1065: 926: 925: 922: 921: 876: 875: 772:Europe a Prophecy 736: 735: 702:A Little Boy Lost 476:and of Experience 441:Poetical Sketches 375:978-1-85437-727-2 1465: 1458:English printers 1402:(1983 monologue) 1306:Fearful Symmetry 1281: 1280: 1270: 1269: 1083: 1082: 1072: 1071: 932: 931: 804:The Book of Thel 749: 748: 544:The Divine Image 482: 481: 430: 429: 419: 418: 404: 397: 390: 381: 380: 361:Myrone, Martin. 350: 349: 342: 336: 329: 323: 313: 307: 300: 291: 288: 275: 264: 258: 251: 245: 242: 121:Frederick Tatham 85:Swedenborgianism 1473: 1472: 1468: 1467: 1466: 1464: 1463: 1462: 1438: 1437: 1436: 1423: 1376: 1346:Ten Blake Songs 1325: 1284:Scholarly works 1275: 1256: 1251:Visionary Heads 1238: 1100:Engravings for 1087: 1077: 1062: 939: 918: 901: 872: 846:The Book of Los 784: 779:The Song of Los 755: 743: 732: 583: 475: 467: 424: 413: 408: 358: 353: 344: 343: 339: 330: 326: 314: 310: 301: 294: 289: 278: 265: 261: 253:Thomas Wright, 252: 248: 243: 232: 228: 179:Tracy Chevalier 150: 136: 105:George Richmond 64:market gardener 60: 41:Catherine Blake 38: 24:Catherine Blake 17: 12: 11: 5: 1471: 1461: 1460: 1455: 1450: 1433: 1432: 1429: 1428: 1425: 1424: 1422: 1421: 1416: 1411: 1403: 1395: 1390: 1384: 1382: 1378: 1377: 1375: 1374: 1366: 1358: 1350: 1342: 1333: 1331: 1327: 1326: 1324: 1323: 1316: 1309: 1302: 1295: 1287: 1285: 1277: 1276: 1266: 1265: 1262: 1261: 1258: 1257: 1255: 1254: 1246: 1244: 1240: 1239: 1237: 1236: 1229: 1222: 1214: 1207: 1200: 1193: 1185: 1178: 1171: 1163: 1156: 1148: 1145:Night-Thoughts 1140: 1137:Nebuchadnezzar 1133: 1126: 1119: 1112: 1105: 1097: 1095:Relief etching 1091: 1089: 1079: 1078: 1068: 1067: 1064: 1063: 1061: 1060: 1055: 1050: 1045: 1040: 1035: 1030: 1025: 1020: 1015: 1010: 1005: 1000: 995: 990: 985: 980: 975: 970: 965: 960: 955: 950: 944: 941: 940: 928: 927: 924: 923: 920: 919: 912: 910: 903: 902: 900: 899: 892: 884: 882: 878: 877: 874: 873: 871: 870: 863: 856: 849: 842: 835: 828: 821: 814: 807: 800: 792: 790: 786: 785: 783: 782: 775: 768: 760: 758: 746: 738: 737: 734: 733: 731: 730: 727:A Divine Image 724: 719: 717:The School Boy 714: 709: 704: 699: 694: 689: 684: 679: 674: 669: 664: 662:Ah! 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T. Smith 1442:Categories 1407:In Lambeth 1088:and prints 1018:Palamabron 983:Golgonooza 973:Enitharmon 756:prophecies 569:Infant Joy 365:. 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Index


William Blake
Catherine Blake (disambiguation)
engraver
William Blake
market gardener
Battersea
St. Mary's Church, Battersea
printing-press
Swedenborgianism
Alexander Gilchrist
Algernon Charles Swinburne

George Richmond
William Hayley
Frederick Tatham
Irvingite
J. T. Smith
Enitharmon
Los
Milton
Janet Adele Warner
Tracy Chevalier
Keith Heller
Jack Shepherd
Thomas Paine
Lambeth
BBC Two
Mark Rylance
Bob Peck

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