Locke and Blake

Locke and Blake is a composite critical biography of two giants of 18th-century culture. Organized by topics of cultural significance for the period, it weaves together two lives, focusing on critical topics as opposed to biographical details, in order to illuminate ideas of Locke and Blake and the cultural contexts and transformations of the ""period"" they shared. Glausser begins each chapter by sketching a biographical connection between the two men, which in turn leads to a broader discussion of textual as well as cultural significance. From their shared experience of having had paintings stolen by a friend, for instance, Glausser details the two men's angry responses and then explores the larger social issue of private property at each end of the 18th century. Other points of correspondence include mothers and lovers, charges of sedition, medicine and the body, slavery and printing. Glausser's approach to the lives and ideas of Locke and Blake offers a balanced treatment of their relationship. Through this juxtaposition and rethinking of the two traditional ""antagonists"" of the period, he moves beyond adversarial caricatures of temperamant, faculty, ideology and intention and illuminates both the century and the two intellectual giants who stood at either end of it.