 |
| The Wood Beyond the World 1894 http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/whats-on/exhibit/online/tw/Displays/drawn/browse_images_4 |
William Morris set up 3 printing presses in Hammersmith England in January of 1891. These presses became known as the Kelmscott Press. Morris was heavily influenced and inspired by medieval illuminate manuscripts which had been handcrafted. Morris wanted to achieve a type of printing of early presses, the fine hand crafted style. He wanted his books to be an object of art rather than just a tool. Morris made his own paper and designed his own font types and designed elaborate borders. Burne-Jones, Walter Crane and Charles March Gere did much of the hand crafted illustration work in Morris’s prints. Morris’s books were fine crafted combining work done by hand and that of the printing press; this made his books very expensive but also very beautiful.
 |
| Close Up of Above The Wood Beyond the World 1894 |
The Story of the Glittering Plain (1891), by William Morris was the first book published by the Kelmscott Press. Morris had originally established the press for his own personal enjoyment. His first prints were made for himself and a few friends. After some success he published nearly 200 to be sold. The Kelmscott Press eventually published some 53 books including ones written by Keats, Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Shelly. Of Morris many published books many consider his The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, to be his finest achievement.
Morris made three specific font types for his press. The Golden type was inspired by the 15th century printer Nicolas Jenson. The Troy type was a gothic style type inspired by early German printers. The last type he invented is called the Chaucer type because it was used in his publication of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. The Chaucer type is a smaller version of the Troy style.
After Morris died the Press continued for 2 years working on things that Morris had already planned but did not undertake any more titles to publish.
No comments:
Post a Comment