WILLIAM BLAKE PAINTER AND POET

London: Seeley and Co, 1895. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. 8vo, custom bound in blue pebbled cloth, gilt titles to spine darkened, 80p, illustrated in color. Newspaper clipping of book review mounted to rear pastedown reveals this a monograph from the October 1895 issue of PORTFOLIO published by Macmillan. Student copy owned by American educator, literary critic, civil rights activist, military intelligence officer, and horticulturalist Joel Spingarn (1875 - 1939) with his ownership stamp ffe and his ownership signature in blue ink on the title page "J. E. Spingarn Cambridge 1895" where apparently Spingarn studied after his graduation from Columbia University in 1895. Spingarn was instrumental in the founding of the NAACP, the earliest meetings of which occurred at his estate called Troutbeck (now an upscale resort) in Amenia, NY.