“an excellent saleswoman”: The Last Years of Catherine Blake

Abstract

This essay presents and explores new information concerning the life, residences, and circle of Catherine Blake in the period immediately following her departure from Linnell’s town house, c. March 1828, until her death in mid-October 1831. It revises a number of Bentley’s assertions regarding the chronology and location of her residences. The essay will also explore her relationship with Frederick Tatham, the member of the Ancients with whom she had most contact after Blake’s death, and who—rightly or wrongly—inherited the Blakes’ earthly possessions after Catherine’s demise.