Little Tom the Sailor

Currently not on view

Little Tom the Sailor

1800

William Blake (English, 1757–1827) Text by William Hayley (English, 1745–1820) Printed by the artist or his wife, Catherine Blake (English, 1762–1831)

This broadsheet was made to raise money to aid a widow and her children, the eldest of whom was ten-year-old Tom, a young sailor. William Hayley, who wrote the verse, asked William Blake to create the accompanying images and do the printing. This is one of only eight known impressions.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Titles:

Little Tom the Sailor
Broadsheet

Date:

1800

Artists:

William Blake (English, 1757–1827) Text by William Hayley (English, 1745–1820) Printed by the artist or his wife, Catherine Blake (English, 1762–1831)

Medium:

Relief etching (including text) and white line engraving printed from four plates; areas of loss at the top and bottom have been filled with parts of a late nineteenth-century facsimile

Dimensions:

Image (top): 4 3/8 x 6 3/8 inches (11.1 x 16.2 cm) Image (bottom): 4 3/8 x 6 1/4 inches (11.1 x 15.9 cm) Sheet (overall, including text): 19 × 6 5/8 inches (48.3 × 16.8 cm)

Classification:

Prints

Credit Line:

Purchased with the Katharine Levin Farrell Fund and the Edgar Viguers Seeler Fund, 1960

Accession Number:

1960-139-77

Geography:

Printed in England, Europe

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Currently not on view