How did Alexander Gilchrist’s 1863 biography change William Blake’s reputation?

Alexander Gilchrist’s 1863 two-volume biography, Life of William Blake, “Pictor Ignotus,” was instrumental in transforming William Blake’s reputation from an obscure, largely ignored figure into a recognized major force in English poetry and art.1

Prior to this publication, Blake had been scarcely noticed during his lifetime and was even disparaged by critics as an "unfortunate lunatic". Gilchrist’s work, completed posthumously by a group of Pre-Raphaelites including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, fundamentally shifted this perception. The biography focused on Blake as an unknown artist, while the second volume provided the public with access to many of his poems and designs in conventional typography for the first time.21

By "opening the floodgates of criticism," the book sparked significant interest, leading to influential studies by figures such as Algernon Charles Swinburne. Since 1863, Blake has been firmly established as a major poet, an original thinker, and one of the most fascinating British artists in history.1