The Tale Of King Florus And The Fair Jehane by [KELMSCOTT PRESS] Morris, William - 1893

Hammersmith: The Kelmscott Press,, 1893. Gothic Architecture is the most completely organic form of the Art which the world has seen First edition of the author's examination of architecture and its relationship with art, literature, and politics. The entire first edition was printed in public during the Arts and Crafts Exhibition at the New Gallery in London, "under the eyes of an interested and constantly renewed crowd, whose presence imposed a severe strain upon the pressman Collins's Celtic modesty" (Sparling, p. 87). It was also the first Kelmscott Press book printed in sextodecimo. This is one of 1,500 copies on paper; there were also 45 copies printed on vellum. The present example has the misprint "Van Eyk" for "Van Eyck" (page 45, line 1) but "gilds" corrected to "guilds" (page 41, line 16). Sextodecimo. Original holland-backed boards, front cover lettered in black, edges untrimmed. Title and side-notes printed in red. Text printed in Golden type. Binding lightly rubbed, contents fresh, a… Read More

Hammersmith, Kelmscott Press., 1895. 8mo. Upper Mall, Hammersmith Printed by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press. 1895. Limited Edition. Octavo. 98pp. Original quarter linen and blue-gray paper covered boards; a few pencil notations on the front free endpaper, else a fine copy. One of three hundred fifty copies. Printed in black and red from Chaucer types, title-page woodcut border after Burne-Jones, with the first line of text in red.'Overseen by F.S. Ellis. 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches, One of 350 copies (of a whole edition of 358). Frontispiece by Edward Burne-Jones. Printed in Chaucer type, with titles and shoulder notes in red, and with numerous borders and initials designed by William Morris. Interior fine. Linen backed boards, very good: spine extremities a bit worn, two bottom corners worn, covers a bit faded, edges damp stained.. Printed in red and black, wood engraved frontispiece, ornamental woodcut borders and initials. (Peterson A33).

Upper Mall, Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1892. leather_bound. Orig. limp vellum, yapp edges and cloth ties. Fine. 251 pages. 21 x 14.5 cm. Limited edition, one of 300 copies, printed in red and black in Golden Type. There is a separate title to each of the four parts into which the poems are divided. William Morris border on page one. The only Kelmscott book with initials in red. Gilt spine lettering bright, partly unopened. PETERSON 3. SCOTT pp.83-84.

Upper Mall, Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1893. leather_bound. Orig. limp vellum, yapp edges and cloth ties. Near fine. 287 pages. 20.8 x 14.5 cm. Limited edition, one of 250 printed in red and black in Golden type. Woodcut ornaments and initials designed by William Morris. Transcribed after the autograph manuscript of the author, now in the British Museum. PETERSON A14. Slight fade to gilt of "Life" on spine title. Interior contents very fresh and clean.

Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press,, 1897. An early fantasy novel First edition, one of 250 copies from a total edition of 256 copies. Morris first started writing his romance in verse. He then experimented with prose and verse, before deciding on prose alone. The work can, therefore, be seen as an early fantasy novel. The work tells of the adventures of a naked heroine, Birdalone, who escapes from the claws of a witch and travels to a series of fantasy lands, including the Isle of Increase Unsought, which holds a critical mirror to Victorian Britain. Large octavo. Original limp vellum, spine lettered in gilt, green silk ties. Elaborate woodcut borders and ornaments entirely designed by William Morris, "except the initial words Whilom & Empty, which were completed from his unfinished designs by R. Catterson-Smith" (colophon). Text printed in red and black Chaucer type in double columns, with a few lines in Troy type and shoulder-notes in red. Spine toned, as usual, minor foxing, offsetting from silk ties;… Read More

Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1891. First, Limited Edition. near fine. Small 4to, 8 x 5 7/8 inches (205 x 145 mm); pp. vi +197. One of 300 on Flower paper; printed in Golden type, THIS IS THE FIRST book printed by KELMSCOTT IN TWO COLORS; it is also the first book to feature the famous Kelmscott printer's mark, which in fact appears twice - at the end of the table of contents and on the colophon leaf at the end. Wood-engraved borders and initials designed by Morris. Original stiff vellum, yapp edges, gilt titling on spine, uncut, with four silk ties, (one is detached but present), a little soiling on the spine, pristine interiors. This is an AUTOGRAPHED PRESENTATION COPY from WILLIAM MORRIS, in ink on front free endpaper "to Robert Smith, from William Morris, Nov. 5th 1891 [Peterson A2; Forman 126; Tomkinson, p. 108, no. 2; Ransom p. 325, no. 2]. The recipient, Robert Smith, was one of two business-like brothers employed originally in the London shop of Morris and Co., but later promoted to junior… Read More

Quarto., Hammersmith., 1897. 4to. 91pp. One of only two Kelmscott Press titles printed in blue, as well as red and black ink. Beautiful opening spread borders and two illustrations by Sir Edward Burne-Jones along with ornamental initials and borders throughout. Limited to 300 copies. (Sparling, 52, Peterson A52). Fine in limp full vellum with some original ties, four missing. Morris profoundly influenced the typographical revival of the late 19th century by showing that printing was an art and its details worth infinite trouble. "The Kelmscott Press...was far and away the most splendid of all private presses." Colin Franklin. A Beautiful copy bound in vellum.

Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press,, 1892. With a Cotswold Arts and Crafts provenance First Kelmscott edition, one of 300 copies on paper from a total edition of 310. Originally published in serial form in 1890, Morris's influential combination of socialist utopian fantasy and science fiction was one of the earliest books which he planned for his Kelmscott Press. During the production of the book, Sydney Cockerell suggested that a picture of Kelmscott Manor should be given as a frontispiece. This was designed by C. M. Gere, engraved by W. H. Hooper, and printed with a border designed by Morris. Charles March Gere was also responsible for a painting of Holcombe House in 1926. The House, located near Painswick in Gloucestershire, was rebuilt in an arts and crafts style by Detmar Blow in the 1920s and this copy of Morris's book bears a Holcombe House booklabel. Loosely inserted is a note that this copy was exhibited by the William Morris Society and the Society of Designer Craftsmen in a 1996 touring… Read More