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Subscribe to my monthly newsletter here for all my latest writing. Who was Thomas Tallis? This is the question that nobody seems to know and everyone seems to ask. And it’s a good question. Wouldn't we all love to know just a little bit more about his personality, his daily habits, did he put milk in his tea first like Andy Burnham or not? But we don't, we can't and we never will. He was born in 1505 and died in 1585, or at least we think that's when he lived – again, nobody really knows....

William Blake, in 1809, wrote the following in response to 'Ruth – A Drawing': The great and golden rule of art, as well as of life, is this: That the more distinct, sharp, and wirey the bounding line, the more perfect the work of art; and the less keen and sharp, the greater is the evidence of weak imitation, plagiarism, and bungling…. What is it that builds a house and plants a garden, but the definite and determinate? What is it that distinguishes honesty from knavery, but the hard and...