Page:Life of William Blake, Gilchrist.djvu/453

 6. The Circle of the Falsifiers.

7. The Circle of the Traitors—Dante's foot striking Bocca degli Abati.



These engravings are, like the designs, uncompleted works. They are executed in Blake's strict, sharp-lined manner; and, though they are more than outlines, do not aim at entire finish of light and shade, or at any strong effects. It will be observed, in the list of engravings, that the two circles of the Corrupt Officials and of the Thieves receive a more than proportionate share of illustration, and the same is still more strikingly apparent in the list of the complete series of designs. Blake flapped, like a moth round a candle, time after