[The ensuing Descriptive Catalogue—a humble tribute to the soaring genius of the author of the 'Descriptive Catalogue'—is a complete list, as far as it was found practicable to compile one, of all Blake's original works. It was drawn up for the first edition of this book, 1863: it has now been carried on up to the present date, though with less particularity of research. This Catalogue takes no count of engravings; though it does include the works issued as separate designs in Blake's peculiar method of colour-printing. The term 'colour-printed' indicates these works; enough has been said on this curious question in other parts of the book to absolve me from discussing it here.
The Catalogue was compiled by me, in the very great majority of instances, from immediate personal inspection of the works referred to; to the owners of which, uniformly courteous and accommodating to the utmost, my thanks are most sincerely tendered. In other instances, I have been indebted to Mr. Gilchrist's notes, or to other sources of information. The works which have not been thus seen, and some which, from one circumstance or another, have been seen hurriedly or imperfectly, are, as an unavoidable consequence, referred to in less detail than their relative importance might be found to deserve. The interest attaching to the great collection of Blake's works formed by his almost solitary purchaser, Mr. Butts, has induced me to specify which were once his, even in the instances where they have passed out of the family. The like is done with the works belonging to Mr. Linnell.
The larger examples are roughly indicated in the catalogue; the standard of largeness for a water-colour or pencil-drawing being, of course, different from that for a tempera-picture. Something over a foot for the former, and towards two feet for the latter, may be assumed as the average minimum to which the sign of considerable
