Alexander Gilchrist

Gilchrist was born at Newington Green, then just to the north of London, son of the minister of the Unitarian church there.

Although he studied law, Gilchrist adopted literary and art criticism as his main pursuits.

Gilchrist had all but finished his Life of William Blake when he contracted scarlet fever from one of his children and died.

[2] His wife Anne helped to complete the Life (his magnum opus),[1] and survived him by 24 years.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his brother William also contributed to the completion of the book.