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
LATE PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY: CONTAINING HIS DISCOURSES, IDLERS, A JOURNEY TO FLANDERS AND HOLLAND, AND HIS COMMENTARY ON DU FRESNOY’S ART OF PAINTING
PRINTED FROM HIS REVISED COPIES,
(WITH HIS LAST CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS,)
IN THREE VOLUMES.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED
AN ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF THE
AUTHOR, By EDMOND MALONE, Esq.
ONE OF HIS EXECUTORS,
THE SECOND EDITION CORRECTED,
—QUASI NON EA PRAXIPIAM AEIIS, QUÆ MIHI IPSI DESUNT, CICERO.
VOLUME THE FIRST.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR T. CABELL, JUN. AND W. DAVIES, IN THE STRAND.
1798.
12017-03-04T11:22:24-08:00Back of Title Page7plain2018-06-06T12:06:07-07:00 Having spent the Vigour of my Youth & Genius under the Opression of S Joshua & his gang of Cunning Hired Knaves Without Employment & as much as could possibly be Without Bread. The Reader must Expect to Read in all my Remarks on these Books Nothing but Indignation & Resentment. While S Joshua was rolling in Riches Barry was Poor & Unemployd except by his own Energy Mortimer was calld a madman & only Portrait Painting applauded & rewarded by the Rich & Great. Reynolds & Gainsborough Blotted and Blurred One against the other & Divided all the English world between them Fuseli Indignant almost hid himself — I am hid
Editorial Note: "His gang of Cunning Hired Knaves" may refer to The Club, co-founded by Reynolds. The Club began as a cultural discussion gathering in 1764 with the following original members: Sir Joshua Reynolds, artist; Samuel Johnson, lexicographer and essayist; Oliver Goldsmith, author; John Hawkins, author; Edmund Burke, writer; Bennet Langton, scholar of ancient literature; and Anthony Chamier, politician. The Club became a long-standing English tradition, including members like Spencer Walpole, Alfred Tennyson, and Thomas Huxley.
