A Portrait of Milton Engraved by William Blake 'When Three Years of Age'? A Speculation by Samuel Palmer

In March 1879 Samuel Palmer wrote a letter to George Richmond. Both Samuel Palmer and George Richmond had of course known Blake intimately in his last years, though they were only twenty-two and eighteen when Blake died, and they both cherished their memories of him and told others gladly what they knew of him. In matters of fact concerning Blake they are very reliable, and especially so when they talked of Blake to one another, for each could test the accuracy of his memory of Blake against that of the other. Assuming that Samuel Palmer did write such a letter, I think we are justified in taking at face value his report of his conversation with Blake.