Portrait, William Hayley, poet and author

R. Cooper

Line and stipple engraving portrait of the poet, playwrite and author William Hayley (1745-1820). (His work was only moderately successful but he was a great patron of the arts and of artists such as William Blake. He was offered the poet laureateship in 1790, an honour which, for reasons unknown, he declined. An advocate of fresh air and a teetotaller, he was intrigued by medicine and eager to use new inventions such as the ‘electrical machine’ and the ‘shower-bath’. Generous with his knowledge, unhesitatingly he would doctor villagers and friends alike.)