William Blake Cottage on the Market

A cottage where English poet and painter William Blake once lived recently came on the market for the first time since 1928.

The cottage in Felpham, West Sussex, is currently listed for £650,000 -- which is close to $1,000,000 US -- and is described as ”A most picturesque 17th Century brick and flint period cottage set in a sheltered walled garden in the heart of the old village within 250 yards of the foreshore.” However, MobyLives suggests some copy possibilities if Blake were, himself, writing copy for the Felpham cottage:

NEW LISTING, ABSOLUTELY OUT OF THIS WORLD: Away to sweet Felpham for heaven is there: / The Ladder of Angels descends through the air / On the turrett its spiral does softly descend / Through the village it winds, at my cot it does end. 

You can see more cottage sales copy as would possibly be submitted by Blake here.

According to Wikipedia, Blake moved into the cottage in 1800 “to take up a job illustrating the works of William Hayley, a minor poet. It was in this cottage that Blake began Milton: a Poem (the title page is dated 1804 but Blake continued to work on it until 1808). The preface to this work includes a poem beginning "And did those feet in ancient time", which became the words for the anthem, "Jerusalem". Over time, Blake began to resent his new patron, believing that Hayley was uninterested in true artistry, and preoccupied with "the meer drudgery of business".