| Age | Year |
|---|---|
| 1757 Born, 28 November; lived at 28 Broad Street, Golden Square | |
| 10 | 1767 Began drawing lessons with Henry Pars |
| 15 | 1772 Apprenticed to James Basire at 31 Great Queen Street (completed seven years later, in August 1779) |
| 22 | 1779 Admitted to Royal Academy in October; studied as an engraver; exhibited in 1780, 1784, 1785, 1799, and 1808 Began engravings for books published by Joseph Johnson (1738–1809) 1779–86 (sixteen plates for seven books); 1786–1801 (ninety plates) |
| 25 | 1782 Married Catherine Boucher, 18 August, in Battersea; moved to 23 Green Street, Leicester Fields |
| 26 | 1783 Poetical Sketches |
| 27 | 1784 Opened a print shop with James Parker at 27 Broad Street, probably in October; business dissolved in 1785 |
| 30 | 1787 Death of his brother Robert |
| 31 | 1788 Etched There Is No Natural Religion, which probably was not printed until 1794 |
| 32 | 1789 Songs of Innocence The Book of Thel, which perhaps was not printed before 1791 Engraved Satan |
| 33 | 1790 Moved to 13 Hercules Buildings, Lambeth The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (first book from Hercules Buildings) |
| 36 | 1793 Visions of the Daughters of Albion America |
| 37 | 1794 Songs of Innocence and of Experience Europe The First Book of Urizen |
| 38 | 1795 The Song of Los The Book of Los |
| 40 | 1797 Night Thoughts |
| 43 | 1800 Moved from Lambeth to Felpham, Sussex, 18 September; returned to 17 South Moulton St., London, in autumn 1803 |
| 46–47 | 1803–4 Quarreled with a soldier in his garden at Felpham in August; tried for uttering seditious statements, 1803; cleared in a second trial, 1804 Began Jerusalem, which probably was first printed 1820; last copy produced 1827 |
| 48–53 | 1805–10 Created watercolor illustrations for the Book of Job for Thomas Butts |
| 50 | 1807 Pickering manuscript |
| 51 | 1808 The Grave |
| 59–63 | 1816–20 Created watercolors for Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso for Thomas Butts |
| 61 | 1818 Met John Linnell |
| 62 | 1819 Began drawing visionary heads for Varley |
| 63 | 1820 On Homer's Poetry [and] On Virgil |
| 63–68 | 1820–25 For the Sexes: Gates of Paradise |
| 64 | 1821 Moved to 3 Fountain Court, Strand Publication of Thornton's Pastorals of Virgil |
| 66–69 | 1823–26 Began to engrave illustrations for the Book of Job, published by Linnell in 1826 |
| 67 | 1824 Met the young artists who called themselves the Ancients in his honor |
| 67–69 | 1824–27 Blake's illustrations of Dante, of which only seven plates were produced; printed posthumously (1838) |
| 69 | 1827 Died 12 August; Catherine died 18 October 1831 |
Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.
Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.