When he was about twenty-nine years old, Blake designed and engraved this cover leaf for music composed by Thomas Commins (1775–1859), the organist of Penzance, Cornwall. The stanza below the engraving is from the poem "Elegy" by Anne Home Hunter (1742–1821). The engraving depicts a returning sailor lunging into the welcoming arms of his wife and child. Only two or three copies are known.
I. Engravings
William Blake was tutored by his mother, given drawing lessons at the age of ten, and at fifteen apprenticed to James Basire, one of the most prominent engravers of the day. Seven years later, when the apprenticeship was complete, Blake was admitted to study at the Royal Academy. Because of this solid instruction, he was admired for his craftsmanship and often identified as "Mr. Blake, the engraver." Throughout his life, he maintained that engraving was a true art form: "Painting is Drawing on Canvas & Engraving is drawing on Copper & Nothing Else." Blake's prints demonstrate his strong commitment to line, developed through Basire and enhanced by his own creativity. Fortunately his engraver's training would support him, though not well, for the remainder of his life. At forty-six, he wrote, "I curse & bless Engraving alternately because it takes so much time & is so untractable, tho capable of such beauty & perfection."