Robert Cromek

Robert Hartley Cromek (1770-1812) was an engraver, art dealer and entrepreneur who was most active in the early nineteenth century. He is best known for having allegedly cheated William Blake out of the potential profits of his engraving depicting Chaucer's Canterbury Pilgrims.

In the early years of the nineteenth century Cromek had supported Blake, and had engraved Blake's design for Benjamin Heath Malkin's "A Father's Memoirs of his Child" in 1806. Cromek later commissioned Blake to illustrate Robert Blair's poem "The Grave". Blake had produced the designs, but his sample engraving was considered by Cromek to be too crude to attract subscribers. Cromek then gave the lucrative job of engraving Blake's designs to a rival engraver Luigi Schiavonetti.

In response, Blake proceeded to create a self-engraved illustration to Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales". Cromek, however, had also given the idea to Blake's friend Thomas Stothard. Stothard's print became far more popular than Blake's, at least during their lifetimes. It remains unclear whether Blake or Cromek originated this project, but Blake certainly believed that the idea was stolen from him. The incident destroyed the friendship between Blake and Stothard. [Blake v. Cromek: A Contemporary Ruling, J. B. Mertz, "Modern Philology", Vol. 99, No. 1 (Aug., 2001), pp. 66-77]

As a savagely humorous comment on these events Blake wrote epigrams attacking Cromek [Keynes, Geoffrey, "Blake: Complete Writings with variant readings", Oxford University Press, 1972, p.540] :

Cromek loves artists as he loves his meat:
He loves the Art; but 'tis the art to cheat.

A petty sneaking knave I knew--
"O! Mr. Cromek, how do ye do?"

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