Hired to Depress: A Digital Scholarly Edition of William Blake's Annotations to Sir Joshua Reynolds' DiscoursesMain MenuWho is William Blake?Just who is William Blake? And why does his scribbling in a book matter?Who is Sir Joshua Reynolds?Important FiguresTitle PageContents of The First VolumeDedication and To the KingSome Account of the Life and Writings of Sir Joshua ReynoldsWritten by Edmond Malone, Esq.The First DiscourseBibliographyElizabeth Pottera6e9fb7ea6eda3e5063e2aee73ca5f372e99b8f3
12017-01-10T23:41:01-08:00Some Account xxii2Some Account of the Life and Writings of Sir Joshua Reynoldsplain2017-01-16T11:07:12-08:00 After an absence of near three years, he began to think of returning home; and a slight circumstance which heused to mention, may serve to shew, that however great may have been the delight which he derived from residence in a country that Raffaelle and Michael Angelo had embellished by their genius and their works, the prospect of re- visiting his native land was not unpleasing. When he was at Venice, in compliment to the English gentlemen then residing there, the manager of the opera one night ordered the band to play an English ballad-tune. Happening to be the popular air which was played or sung in almost every street, just at the time of their leaving London, by sug- gesting to them that metropolis with all its connexions and endearing circumstances, it immediately brought tears into our author's eyes, as well as into those of his countrymen who were present.
On his arrival in London in 1752, 15 he very soon attracted the publick notice ; and