Descriptive Catalogue (1809)

Having conceived the idea of portraying the characters in Chaucer's Canterbury Pilgrims, Blake approached Cromek with a view to marketing an engraving.

Knowing that Blake was too eccentric to produce a popular work, Cromek promptly commissioned Thomas Stothard to execute the concept.

He also set up an independent exhibition in his brother's haberdashery shop at 27 Broad Street in the Soho district of London.

As a result he wrote his Descriptive Catalogue of 1809, which contains what Anthony Blunt has called a "brilliant analysis" of Chaucer.

Inscribed and dated: "W Blake 1809" Pen, ink and watercolor, size 308 × 192 mm British Museum, London.