William Blake at Westminster Archives

The Preston Blake collection, donated to Westminster in 1967, represents 50 years of assiduous acquisition of books by and about the great poet, painter and mystic, who was born in Soho and spent most of his life in Westminster.

The collection consists of over 700 volumes, many of which are rare and sought-after, as well as periodicals, catalogues and transparencies.

Visit the Archives centre to view the jewels of the collection:

• A complete series of autographed letters written by Blake to one of his patrons
• Blake’s own printed copy of his first book of poems ‘Poetical Sketches’, including many alterations in Blake’s own hand
• The ‘Book of Job’ containing the artist’s proof copies of his 22 engraved illustrations
• Artist’s proofs of the seven large illustrations of Dante