… the child’s hand could hold a pencil it began to scrawl rough likeness of man or beast, and make timid copies of all the prints he came near’. 1 Blake went to Henry Pars’ Drawing School (1767-72) and was apprenticed to James Basire … help with employment and lead to collaboration. His circle of friends included the painter Henry Fuseli (1741-1826), the printmaker and amateur painter George Cumberland (1754-1848), the painter, illustrator, and engraver Thomas Stothard (1755-1834) as well as the sculptor John Flaxman (1756-1826). Blake was an avid collector of prints; his early networks existed through print shops and auction rooms. On his father’s death in 1784, his older …