Robert Hartley Cromek (1770–1812) was an English engraver, editor, art dealer and entrepreneur who was most active in the early nineteenth century. He is best known for having allegedly cheated

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

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 Benjamin Heath Malkin ( – G. Martin Murphy, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) was a British scholar and writer notable for his connection to the artist and poet William Blake. Career and education Malkin was born in London, and wa ...

'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 Luigi Schiavonetti (1 April 1765 – 7 June 1810) was an Italian reproductive engraver and etcher. Life Luigi Schiavonetti was born at Bassano in Venetia. He was the maternal nephew of Teodoro Viero. After having studied art for several ...

. 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 Thomas Stothard (17 August 1755 – 27 April 1834) was an English painter, illustrator and engraver. His son, Robert T. Stothard was a painter ( fl. 1810): he painted the proclamation outside York Minster of Queen Victoria's accession to the t ...

. 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. 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?"

In 1809 Cromek published ''Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song'', a collection of Scottish ballads. The aspirant poet Allan Cunningham sent in poems of his own authorship, which Cromek included in the collection, even though he may have suspected their real authorship. About that time Cromek also compiled "RELIQUES OF ROBERT BURNS; Consisting Chiefly of Original Letters, Poems, and Critical Observations on Scottish Songs ". The original edition of 1808 contained a 4-page work by Thomas Stothard, "The Procession of Chaucer's Pilgrims to Canterbury", which did not appear in some later editions. His son was the artist Thomas Hartley Cromek.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cromek, Robert 1770 births 1812 deaths English engravers