Page:The letters of William Blake (1906).djvu/15

 PREFACE

HE "Life of Blake," by Frederick Tatham, now for the first time published, has been printed verbatim and in full from the original manuscript, which was prefixed by its author to a coloured copy of Blake's Jerusalem and bound up with it. The volume is now the property of Captain Archibald Stirling, and it is by his most courteous permission that the editor has been able to avail himself, on the present occasion, of this valuable biography.

The series of Blake's letters has been made as complete as possible; and though the editor is indeed aware of several omissions, he has some knowledge, in almost every case, of the contents of those which he has been unable to trace, and is confident that, at anyrate of all those which have been known to exist, none of any serious moment are absent. The letters, too, have been edited, wherever it has been possible, from the originals, and especial attention has been given to the accuracy of the text. In both Life and Letters, however, the punctuation, the spelling, and the use of capitals