OXFORD, England—A series of boyhood doodles engraved on copper plates by English poet and painter William Blake around 250 years ago have been discovered by researchers using new technology capable of picking up the almost invisible etchings.
Blake, who became one of the greatest poets in the English language, had worked as an apprentice to engraver James Basire, who made pictorial prints, one of the main ways to print illustrated books at the time.
