CHAPTER XII.

THE END.

The end with Morris seemed to come suddenly, although for months and even for years there had been warnings of its approach. He had enjoyed--and greatly enjoyed--unusual strength and vitality up to almost his sixtieth year. The seeds of gout were in his constitution, and from attacks of this disease he occasionally suffered, but not until the one occurring in the spring of 1891, just as the Kelmscott Press was getting under way, did they give reason for alarm. At that time other complications were discovered and he was told that he must consider himself an invalid. After this, as we have seen, he plunged with rapture into new undertakings involving the use of all his faculties, and carried them on with no apparent lessening of intellectual vigour. But he had too long overtaxed his physical frame by his extraordinary labours, and especially by his activity in the cause of Socialism, which had led him out in all weathers and under the most adverse conditions. By the beginning of 1895 he began to show plainly the weakness that had been gaining on him, and to admit it, though still keeping busy at his various occupations. His increasing illness brought home to him the thought of that final check upon his activities which he had always found so difficult to conceive. "If," he said, "it merely means that I am to be laid up for a little while, it doesn't so much matter, you know; but if I am to be caged up here for months, and then it is to be the end of all things, I shouldn't like it at all. This has been a jolly world to me and I find plenty to do in it."

As the folio _Chaucer_ advanced through the Press, he grew impatient, no doubt fearing that he would not see its completion, and it is pleasant to read of his gratification when a completed copy reached him, bound in the cover designed by himself. Late in July, 1896, by the recommendation of his physician he took a sea voyage, going to Norway for the bracing influences of its air and associations. No benefit was gained, however, and on his return a congestion of one lung set in that proved unyielding, while his general weakness was such that he was unable to cross the threshold of his room. We find him responding to an old friend who had urged him to try the effect of the pure air of Swainslow, that this was the case and he could not come, but was "absolutely delighted to find another beautiful place which is still in its untouched loveliness." Up to the last he did a little work, dictating the final passage of _The Sundering Flood_ less than a month before his death, which occurred in his home at Hammersmith on the morning of the 3rd of October, 1896. He died without apparent suffering, and surrounded by his friends. He had lived almost sixty-three years in the "jolly world" wherein he had found so much to do, but he left the impression of having been cut down in the flower of his life.

His burial was in keeping with those tastes and preferences that had meant so much to him. The strong oak coffin in which he was laid was of an ancient, simple shape, with handles of wrought iron, and the pall that covered it was a strip of rich Anatolian velvet from his own collection of textiles. He was carried from Lechlade station to the little Kelmscott church in an open hay-cart, cheerful in colour, with bright red wheels, and festooned with vines, alder, and bulrushes. The bearers and the drivers of the country waggons in which his friends followed him to his grave were farmers of the neighbourhood clad in their moleskins, people who had lost, said one of them, "a dear good friend in Master Morris." The hearse, with its bright decorations and the little group of mourners wound their way along pleasant country roads, beaten upon by a storm of unusual fury. "The north-west wind bent trees and bushes," writes one of those who were present, "turning the leaves of the bird maples back upon their footstalks, making them look like poplars, and the rain beat on the straggling hedges, the lurid fruit, such as only grows in rural England,--the fruit of privet with ripe hips and haws; the foliage of the Guelder roses hung on the bushes; along the road a line of slabs of stone extended, reminding one of Portugal; ragweed and loosestrife, with rank hemp agrimony, were standing dry and dead, like reeds beside a lake, and in the rain and wind the yokels stood at the cross-roads, or at the openings of the bridle-paths."

In _News from Nowhere_ Morris describes Kelmscott Church, with its little aisle divided from the nave by three round arches, its windows, "mostly of the graceful Oxfordshire fourteenth-century type," and the interior trimmed with flowers for a village merrymaking. On the day of his burial, by a curious coincidence it was trimmed with fruits of the harvest in preparation for the autumn festival. The service was read by an old schoolfellow and friend, and Morris was left to his rest "from patience and from pain" in the place he had best loved and to which in his final weakness he had longed to return.

In regarding Morris through the medium of his work it is difficult to gain a coherent impression. He turned one side and another to the world with such rapidity of succession as to give a sense of kaleidoscopic change. What new combination of colour and form his activities would take was always impossible to forecast. And the thing that he was doing seemed to him at the time the one thing in the world that was worth doing, the one thing that "a reasonable and healthy man" would make it his pleasure to do. Yet, as we have seen, all these pursuits taken up by him with so much zest and laid down by him with such suddenness, fitted harmoniously and accurately into the plan of his life, which, with the decade of militant Socialism deducted, presented a smooth and even surface, unbroken by any violent change of circumstance or method or motive. He has been described by nearly all who have written of him as "a rebel," and a rebel he was in the true Quixotic sense, his lance in rest to charge at any moment against any windmill of convention that might offend him. A friend who was once talking with him about a forthcoming election to the London School Board, expressing a hope that the progressive party would win,--"Well," said Morris, striding up and down, "I am not sure that a clerical victory would not be a good thing. I was educated at Marlborough under clerical masters, and I naturally rebelled against them. Had they been advanced men, my spirit of rebellion would probably have led me to conservatism merely as a protest. One naturally defies authority, and it may be well that the London School Board should be controlled by Anglican parsons, in order that the young rebels in the schools may grow up to defy and hate church authority." His own "natural" defiance of authority entailed what seems to the ordinary toiler in harness a waste of his extraordinary gifts. His work was most of it in the experimental stage when he left it. He was too content to point the road without following to the end his own direction. "He did not learn a trade in the natural way, from those who knew, and seek then to better the teaching of his masters," says one of his fellow-workers in arts and crafts, "but, acknowledging no master, except perhaps the ancients, he would worry it out always for himself. He had a wonderful knack of learning that way."[4] He had a wonderful knack also of persuading himself that there was no other to learn, and Goldsmith's criticism of Burke--that he spent much of his time "cutting blocks with a razor"--has been happily applied to him. But it is doubtful whether he would have made as strong an impression on his generation as he did if he had devoted his time to one branch of art and worked along conventional lines. His greatest gift was not so much the ability to produce art, artistic though he was in faculty and feeling, as it was the ability to make people see the difference between the kind of beauty to which his eyes were open and the ugliness commonly preferred to it. Nothing is so convincing as to see a man accomplish with his own hands what he has declared possible for anyone to accomplish. Morris's continual illustration of his theories was perhaps more useful in awakening interest in just the matters which he had at heart than any more patient pursuit of an ideal less readily achieved. He had the habit when listening to questions and criticisms after his lectures of tracing charming rapid designs on paper. On a large scale that is what he did throughout his life: lecture people about the way to make things, and by way of proving his point, turn off delightful examples of the things he describes. "It is very easy" he seems to say; "watch me for a moment, and we will then pass on."

Considered superficially, he appeared the very prince of paradox. Art was a word continually on his lips, the future and fortunes of art were constantly in his mind, yet for the greatest art of the world he had few words, and the most passing interest. The names of Raphael and Leonardo, Giotto, Dürer, Rembrandt, Velasquez, were seldom if ever on his lips. Art had for him an almost single meaning, namely, the beauty produced by humble workers as an every-day occurrence and for every day's enjoyment, art by the people and for the people. So individual that he will never be forgotten by those who have once seen him and heard his voice raised in its inevitable protest, he nevertheless preached a kind of communism in which any high degree of individuality must have been submerged.

His preferences among books, as might be assumed, were clearly marked, and a list of his favourite authors contains many contrasts. Once asked to contribute to the _Pall Mall Gazette_ his opinions on "the best hundred books," he complied by naming those which, he said, had most profoundly impressed him, excluding all which he considered merely as tools and not as works of art. True to himself, he starts the list with books "of the kind Mazzini calls Bibles," books which are "in no sense the work of individuals, but have grown up from the very hearts of the people." Among these are "the Hebrew Bible (excluding some twice-done parts and some pieces of mere Jewish ecclesiasticism), _Homer_, _Hesiod_, _The Edda_ (including some of the other early old Norse romantic genealogical poems), _Beowulf_, _Kalevale_, _Shahnameh_, _Mahabharata_, collections of folk tales headed by Grimm and the Norse ones, Irish and Welsh traditional poems."

After these "Bibles" follow the "_real_ ancient imaginative works: _Herodotus_, _Plato_, _Æschylus_, _Sophocles_, _Aristophanes_, _Theocritus_, _Lucretius_, _Catullus_." The greater part of the Latins were esteemed "_sham_ classics." "I suppose," says Morris in his character of reasonable man, "that they have some good literary qualities; but I cannot help thinking that it is difficult to find out how much. I suspect superstition and authority have influenced our estimate of them till it has become a mere matter of convention. Of course I admit the archæological value of some of them, especially _Virgil_ and _Ovid_."

Next in importance to the Latin masterpieces he puts mediæval poetry, Anglo-Saxon lyrical pieces (like the _Ruin_ and the _Exile_), Dante, Chaucer, _Piers Plowman_, _Nibelungenlied_, the Danish and Scotch-English Border Ballads, _Omar Khayyam_, "though I don't know how much of the charm of this lovely poem," he says, "is due to Fitzgerald, the translator"; other Arab and Persian poetry, _Reynard the Fox_, and a few of the best rhymed romances. Mediæval story books follow, the _Morte d'Arthur_, _The Thousand and One Nights_, Boccaccio's _Decameron_, and the _Mabinogion_. After these, "modern poets" up to his own generation, "Shakespeare, Blake (the part of him which a mortal can understand), Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, Byron." German he could not read, so he left out German masterpieces. Milton he left out on account of his union of "cold classicalism with Puritanism" ("the two things which I hate most in the world," he said).

_Pilgrim's Progress_ heads the department of modern fiction, in which is also included _Robinson Crusoe_, _Möll Flanders_, _Colonel Jack_, _Captain Singleton_, _Voyage Round the World_, Scott's novels, "except the one or two which he wrote when he was hardly alive," the novels of the elder Dumas (the "good" ones), Victor Hugo, Dickens, and George Borrow. The list concludes with certain unclassified works, Ruskin, Carlyle, the _Utopia_, and Grimm's _Teutonic Mythology_. It may safely be assumed that no other list sent in by the "best judges" who responded to Mr. Stead's request in the least resembled this one, which was compiled with high sincerity and represented Morris quite fairly on the bookish side of his mind. Mr. Mackail mentions also among the volumes oftenest in his hands and "imposed upon his friends unflinchingly" Surtees's famous _Mr. Jorrocks_, and records that he considered _Huckleberry Finn_ America's masterpiece. For the Uncle Remus stories he had also a peculiar fondness, and for one of his cotton prints he designed what he called a "Brer Rabbit pattern."

The perversity that one marks in Morris beneath--or, perhaps, on the surface of--his essential seriousness, the tendency to whim and paradox so freely noted by his critics, may be attributed to his extraordinarily childlike spirit. His lack of restraint, his dislike of subtlety, his love of spontaneity, his inability to conform to conventions, his hatred of gloom, austerity, and introspection, his readiness to throw himself into enjoyment of the smallest subject that happened to come within the range of his interest, his unflagging vigour, his unjaded humour, all qualities copiously commented upon by his friends, testify to the youthfulness of his temperament, which was like that of a child, also in a certain apparently unpremeditated reticence, an inability to reveal itself fully or satisfactorily to even his closest intimates. What is most attractive and appealing in him is doubtless due to his freedom from artificialities and from the sophistries that ordinarily come with age, but what is noblest in him, and most impressive in the effect produced by his accomplishment, is due to a quality of which a child is and should be ignorant, a sense of personal responsibility. Without this he would have been a pitiful figure, disoriented, and inharmonious with the world into which he was born. It was his persistent unwearying effort to set the crooked straight by example as well as by precept, and in defiance of a certain paradoxical mental languor that flowed by the side of his energy and impulse, which made him an influence to be counted with among the many conflicting influences of his generation. While he counselled he produced, while he preached he laboured. Declaring that work could and should be lovely, he demonstrated in his own life how intensely one man loved it. He fought for the principle of art with the ardour other men have shown in fighting for the principle of political liberty. He held himself bound to justify his theories in his own action, and while it would be absurd to claim for him complete consistency and freedom from error in even this, it certainly guided him safely past the quicksands of empty and inflated rhetoric by which the expressed philosophy of his own great masters is marred. It will be remembered by those who share his admiration for Dickens that when the proprietor of Dotheboys Hall wished to teach his pupils to spell "window" he had them clean one. The effectiveness of such a method is deeper than the satire, and Morris was its most convincing exponent. What he learned out of books he tried at once to put into practice. He had the highest ideal of service:

How crown ye excellence of worth? With leave to serve all men on earth,

and nothing deflected him from his efforts thus to serve in his own person the most crying needs of humanity as he conceived them.

Pretentiousness was his least defect. No priggish sense of virtue interfered with his consecration to what he believed were the highest interests of his fellow-men. The cant of the moralist was absolutely unused by him, and he was innocent of any intention to improve the morals of his companions. Get them happy, he thought, with a faith little less than magnificent, get them happy and they will be good. Nor was he guilty of æsthetic priggishness. Art was the concern of his mind and the desire of his heart, but it was by no means his meat and drink. He liked good food, and was proud of his connoisseurship in matters of cookery, and wines. Few things pleased him better than himself to take the cook's place and prove his practical skill. When asked for his opinions on the subject of temperance, he replied that so far as his own experience went he found his victuals dull without something to drink, and that tea and coffee were not fit liquors to be taken with food. He smoked his briarwood pipe with much satisfaction. In his daily habits he was thoroughly, aggressively human, and in nothing more so than in his candid admiration of the work of his own hands, a feeling in which there was no fatuity.

His biographer comments on the singular element of impersonality in his nature, speaking of him as moving among men and women "isolated, self-centred, almost empty of love or hatred," and quotes his most intimate friend's extreme statement that he lived "absolutely without the need of man or woman." In this idea of him those who knew him best seemed to agree, but from his own letters as represented in the biography, a stranger to him gains a different impression. His letters to his invalid daughter are in themselves sufficient to evoke in the mind of the reader an image of unlimited and poignant tenderness impossible to associate with the aloofness and lack of keen personal sympathy said to be characteristic of him. He did not give himself readily or rashly to intense feelings; but he seemed to feel within himself capacity for emotions of force so violent as to be destructive. When his friend Faulkner was stricken with paralysis and other trouble came upon the family, we find him writing: "It is such a grievous business altogether that, rightly or wrongly, I try not to think of it too much lest I should give way altogether, and make an end of what small use there may be in my life." Leaving out the case of Rossetti, there is no record of his having relinquished any friendship of importance, nor did he weary of constant intercourse with his friends. His habit of breakfasting with Burne-Jones on Sunday mornings and dining with him on Wednesdays was unbroken for many years. "The last three Sundays of his life," says this oldest and closest friend, "I went to him."

Loyalty, sincerity, simplicity, and earnestness, these are the qualities conspicuous in the fabric of his life. His influence upon his generation, so far as it may now be observed, has been definite but diffused. It may be doubted whether he would not have been best pleased to have it so, to know that his name will live chiefly as that of one who stimulated others toward art production of and interest in beautiful handiwork. But the last word to be said about him is that he was greater than his work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY[5]

1. _The Story of the Glittering Plain. Which has been also called The Land of Living Men or The Acre of the Undying._ Written by WILLIAM MORRIS. Small 4to. Golden type. Border 1. 200 paper copies at two guineas, and 6 on vellum. Dated April 4, issued May 8, 1891. Sold by Reeves & Turner. Bound in stiff vellum with wash leather ties.[6]

This book was set up from Nos. 81-84 of _The English Illustrated Magazine_, in which it first appeared; some of the chapter headings were rearranged, and a few small corrections were made in the text. A trial page, the first printed at the Kelmscott Press, was struck off on January 31, 1891, but the first sheet was not printed until about a month later.[7] The border was designed in January of the same year, and engraved by W. H. Hooper. Mr. Morris had four of the vellum copies bound in green vellum, three of which he gave to friends. Only two copies on vellum were sold, at twelve and fifteen guineas. This was the only book with wash leather ties. All the other vellum bound books have silk ties, except _Shelley's Poems_ and _Hand and Soul_, which have no ties.

2. _Poems by the Way._ Written by WILLIAM MORRIS. Small 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Border 1. 300 paper copies at two guineas, thirteen on vellum at about twelve guineas. Dated September 24, issued October 20, 1891. Sold by Reeves & Turner. Bound in stiff vellum.

This was the first book printed at the Kelmscott Press in two colours, and the first book in which the smaller printer's mark appeared. After _The Glittering Plain_ was finished, at the beginning of April, no printing was done until May 11th. In the meanwhile the compositors were busy setting up the early sheets of _The Golden Legend_. The printing of _Poems by the Way_, which its author first thought of calling _Flores Atramenti_, was not begun until July. The poems in it were written at various times. In the manuscript, _Hafburg and Signy_ is dated February 4, 1870; _Hildebrand and Hillilel_, March 1, 1871; and _Love's Reward_, Kelmscott, April 21, 1871. _Meeting in Winter_ is a song from _The Story of Orpheus_ an unpublished poem intended for the _Earthly Paradise_. The last poem in the book, _Goldilocks and Goldilooks_, was written on May 20, 1891, for the purpose of adding to the bulk of the volume, which was then being prepared. A few of the vellum covers were stained at Merton red, yellow, indigo, and dark green, but the experiment was not successful.[8]

3. _The Love-Lyrics and Songs of Proteus, by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, with the Love Sonnets of Proteus, by the same author, now reprinted in their full text with many sonnets omitted from the earlier editions._ London, MDCCCXCII. Small 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Border 1. 300 paper copies at two guineas, none on vellum. Dated January 26, issued February 27, 1892. Sold by Reeves & Turner. Bound in stiff vellum.

This is the only book in which the initials are printed in red. This was done by the author's wish.

4. _The Nature of Gothic, a Chapter of the Stones of Venice._ By JOHN RUSKIN. With a preface by William Morris. Small 4to. Golden type. Border 1. Diagrams in text. 500 paper copies at thirty shillings, none on vellum. Dated in preface, February 15, issued March 22, 1892. Published by George Allen. Bound in stiff vellum.

This chapter of the Stones of Venice, which Ruskin always considered the most important in the book, was first printed separately, in 1854, as a sixpenny pamphlet. Mr. Morris paid more than one tribute to it in _Hopes and Fears for Art_. Of him Ruskin said, in 1887, "Morris is beaten gold."

5. _The Defence of Guenevere, and Other Poems._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Small 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 2 and 1. 300 paper copies at two guineas, 10 on vellum at about twelve guineas. Dated April 2, issued May 19, 1892. Sold by Reeves & Turner. Bound in limp vellum.

This book was set up from a copy of the edition published by Reeves & Turner in 1880, the only alteration, except a few corrections, being in the eleventh line of _Summer Dawn_.[9] It is divided into three parts, the poems suggested by Malory's _Morte d'Arthur_, the poems inspired by Froissart's _Chronicles_, and poems on various subjects. The two first sections have borders, and the last has a half border. The first sheet was printed on February 17, 1892. It was the first book bound in limp vellum, and the only one of which the title was inscribed by hand on the back.

6. _A Dream of John Ball and a King's Lesson._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Small 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 3a, 4, and 2. With a woodcut designed by Sir E. Burne-Jones. 300 paper copies at thirty shillings, 11 on vellum at ten guineas. Dated May 13, issued September 24, 1892. Sold by Reeves & Turner. Bound in limp vellum.

This was set up with a few alterations from a copy of Reeves & Turner's third edition, and the printing was begun on April 4, 1892. The frontispiece was redrawn from that to the first edition, and engraved on wood by W. H. Hooper, who engraved all Sir E. Burne-Jones's designs for the Kelmscott Press, except those for _The Wood Beyond the World_ and _The Life and Death of Jason_. The inscription below the figures,[10] and the narrow border, were designed by Mr. Morris and engraved with the picture on one block, which was afterwards used on a leaflet printed for the Ancoats Brotherhood in February, 1894.

7. _The Golden Legend._ By JACOBUS DE VORAGINE. Translated by William Caxton. Edited by F. S. Ellis. 3 vols. Large 4to. Golden type. Borders 5a, 5, 6a and 7. Woodcut title and two woodcuts designed by Sir E. Burne-Jones. 500 copies at five guineas, none on vellum. Dated September 12, issued November 3, 1892. Published by Bernard Quaritch. Bound in half Holland, with paper labels printed in the Troy type.

In July, 1890, when only a few letters of the Golden type had been cut, Mr. Morris bought a copy of this book, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1527. He soon afterwards determined to print it, and on September 11th entered into a formal agreement with Mr. Quaritch for its publication. It was only an unforeseen difficulty about the size of the first stock of paper that led to _The Golden Legend_ not being the first book put in hand. It was set up from a transcript of Caxton's first edition, lent by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Library for the purpose. A trial page was got out in March, 1891, and fifty pages were in type by May 11th, the day on which the first sheet was printed. The first volume was finished, with the exception of the illustrations and the preliminary matter, in October, 1891. The two illustrations and the title (which was the first woodcut title designed by Mr. Morris) were not engraved until June and August, 1892, when the third volume was approaching completion. About half a dozen impressions of the illustrations were pulled on vellum. A slip asking owners of the book not to have it bound with pressure, nor to have the edges cut instead of merely trimmed, was inserted in each copy.

8. _The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye._ By RAOUL LEFEVRE. Translated by William Caxton. Edited by H. Halliday Sparling. 2 vols. Large 4to. Troy type, with table of chapters and glossary in Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 5a, 5, and 8. Woodcut title. 300 paper copies at nine guineas, 5 on vellum at eighty pounds. Dated October 14, issued November 24, 1892. Published by Bernard Quaritch. Bound in limp vellum.

This book, begun in February, 1892, is the first book printed in Troy type, and the first in which Chaucer type appears. It is a reprint of the first book printed in English. It had long been a favourite with William Morris, who designed a great quantity of initials and ornaments for it, and wrote the following note for Mr. Quaritch's catalogue: "As to the matter of the book, it makes a thoroughly amusing story, instinct with mediæval thought and manners. For though written at the end of the Middle Ages and dealing with classical mythology, it has in it no token of the coming Renaissance, but is purely mediæval. It is the last issue of that story of Troy which through the whole of the Middle Ages had such a hold on men's imaginations; the story built up from a rumour of the Cyclic Poets, of the heroic City of Troy, defended by Priam and his gallant sons, led by Hector the Preux Chevalier, and beset by the violent and brutal Greeks, who were looked on as the necessary machinery for bringing about the undeniable tragedy of the fall of the City. Surely this is well worth reading, if only as a piece of undiluted mediævalism." 2000 copies of a 4to announcement, with specimen pages, were printed at the Kelmscott Press in December, 1892, for distribution by the publisher.[11]

9. _Biblia Innocentium: Being the Story of God's Chosen People before the Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ upon Earth._ Written anew for children, by J. W. MACKAIL, Sometime Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. 8vo. Border 2. 200 on paper at a guinea, none on vellum. Dated October 22, issued December 9, 1892. Sold by Reeves & Turner. Bound in stiff vellum.

This was the last book issued in stiff vellum except _Hand and Soul_, and the last with untrimmed edges. It was the first book printed in 8vo.

10. _The History of Reynard the Foxe._ By WILLIAM CAXTON. Reprinted from his edition of 1481. Edited by H. Halliday Sparling. Large 4to. Troy type, with Glossary in Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 5a and 7. Woodcut title. 300 on paper at three guineas, 10 on vellum at fifteen guineas. Dated December 15, 1892, issued January 25, 1893. Published by Bernard Quaritch. Bound in limp vellum.

About this book, which was first announced as in the press in the list dated July, 1892, William Morris wrote the following note for Mr. Quaritch's catalogue: "This translation of Caxton's is one of the very best of his works as to style; and being translated from a kindred tongue is delightful as mere language. In its rude joviality, and simple and direct delineation of character, it is a thoroughly good representative of the famous ancient Beast Epic." The edges of this book, and of all subsequent books, were trimmed in accordance with the invariable practice of the early printers. Mr. Morris much preferred the trimmed edges.

11. _The Poems of William Shakespeare_, printed after the original copies of _Venus and Adonis_, 1593. _The Rape of Lucrece_, 1594. _Sonnets_, 1609. _The Lover's Complaint._ Edited by F. S. Ellis. 8vo. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 1 and 2. 500 paper copies at twenty-five shillings, 10 on vellum at ten guineas. Dated January 17, issued February 13, 1893. Sold by Reeves & Turner. Bound in limp vellum.

A trial page of this book was set up on November 1, 1892. Though the number was large, this has become one of the rarest books issued from the Press.[12]

12. _News from Nowhere: or, An Epoch of Rest, Being Some Chapters from a Utopian Romance._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. 8vo. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 9a and 4, and a woodcut engraved by W. H. Hooper from a design by C. M. Gere. 300 on paper at two guineas, 10 on vellum at ten guineas. Dated November 22, 1892, issued March 24, 1893. Sold by Reeves & Turner. Bound in limp vellum.

The text of this book was printed before Shakespeare's _Poems and Sonnets_, but it was kept back for the frontispiece, which is a picture of the old manor-house in the village of Kelmscott by the upper Thames, from which the Press took its name. It was set up from a copy of one of Reeves & Turner's editions, and in reading it for the press the author made a few slight corrections. It was the last book except the _Savonarola_ (No. 31) in which he used the old paragraph mark [Illustration], which was discarded in favour of the leaves, which had already been used in the two large 4to books printed in the Troy type.

13. _The Order of Chivalry._ Translated from the French by William Caxton and reprinted from his edition of 1484. Edited by F. S. Ellis. And _L'Ordene de Chevalerie_, with translation by William Morris. Small 4to. Chaucer type, in black and red. Borders 9a and 4, and a woodcut designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. 225 on paper at thirty shillings, 10 on vellum at ten guineas. _The Order of Chivalry_ dated November 10, 1892, _L'Ordene de Chevalerie_ dated February 24, 1893, issued April 12, 1893. Sold by Reeves & Turner. Bound in limp vellum.

This was the last book printed in small 4to. The last section is in 8vo. It was the first book printed in the Chaucer type. The reprint from Caxton was finished while _News from Nowhere_ was in the press, and before Shakespeare's _Poems and Sonnets_ was begun. The French poem and its translation were added as an afterthought, and have a separate colophon. Some of the three-line initials which were designed for _The Well at the World's End_ are used in the French poem, and this is their first appearance. The translation was begun on December 3, 1892, and the border round the frontispiece was designed on February 13, 1893.

14. _The Life of Thomas Woolsey, Cardinal Archbishop of York._ Written by GEORGE CAVENDISH. Edited by F. S. Ellis from the author's autograph MS. 8vo. Golden type. Border 1. 250 on paper at two guineas, 6 on vellum at ten guineas. Dated March 30, issued May 3, 1893. Sold by Reeves & Turner. Bound in limp vellum.

15. _The History of Godefrey of Boloyne and of the Conquest of Iherusalem._ Reprinted from Caxton's edition of 1841. Edited by H. Halliday Sparling. Large 4to. Troy type, with list of chapter headings and glossary in Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 5a and 5, and woodcut title. 300 on paper at six guineas, 6 on vellum at twenty guineas. Dated April 27, issued May 24, 1893. Published by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in limp vellum.

This was the fifth and last of the Caxton reprints, with many new ornaments and initials, and a new printer's mark. It was first announced as in the press in the list dated December, 1892. It was the first book published and sold at the Kelmscott Press. An announcement and order form, with two different specimen pages, was printed at the Press, besides a special invoice. A few copies were bound in half holland, not for sale.

16. _Utopia._ Written by SIR THOMAS MORE. A reprint of the second edition of Ralph Robinson's translation, with a foreword by William Morris.[13] Edited by F. S. Ellis. 8vo. Chaucer type, with the reprinted title in Troy type. In black and red. Borders 4 and 2. 300 on paper at thirty shillings, 8 on vellum at ten guineas. Dated August 4, issued September 8, 1893. Sold by Reeves & Turner. Bound in limp vellum.

This book was first announced as in the press in the list dated May 20, 1893.

17. _Maud, A Monodrama._ By ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON. 8vo. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 10a and 10, and woodcut title. 500 on paper at two guineas, 5 on vellum, not for sale. Dated August 11, issued September 30, 1893. Published by Macmillan & Co. Bound in limp vellum.

The borders were specially designed for this book. They were both used again in the Keats, and one of them appears in _The Saundering Flood_. It is the first of the 8vo books with a woodcut title.

18. _Gothic Architecture: A Lecture for the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. 16mo. Golden type. In black and red. 1500 on paper at two shillings and sixpence, 45 on vellum at ten and fifteen shillings. Bound in half holland.

This lecture was set up at Hammersmith and printed at the New Gallery during the Arts and Crafts Exhibition in October and November, 1893. The first copies were ready on October 21st and the book was twice reprinted before the Exhibition closed. It was the first book printed in 16mo. The four-line initials used in it appear here for the first time. The vellum copies were sold during the Exhibition at ten shillings, and the price was subsequently raised to fifteen shillings.[14]

19. _Sidonia the Sorceress._ By WILLIAM MEINHOLD. Translated by Francesca Speranza, Lady Wilde. Large 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Border 8. 300 paper copies at four guineas, 10 on vellum at twenty guineas. Dated September 15, issued November 1, 1893. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

Before the publication of this book a large 4to announcement and order form was issued, with a specimen page and an interesting description of the book and its author, written and signed by William Morris. Some copies were bound in half holland not for sale.

20. _Ballads and Narrative Poems by Dante Gabriel Rossetti._ 8vo. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 4a and 4, and woodcut title. 310 on paper at two guineas, 6 on vellum at ten guineas. Dated October 14, issued in November, 1893. Published by Ellis & Elvey. Bound in limp vellum.

This book was announced as in preparation in the list of August 1, 1893.

21. _The Tale of King Florus and the Fair Jehane._ Translated by William Morris from the French of the 13th century. 16mo. Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 11a and 11, and woodcut title. 350 on paper at seven shillings and sixpence, 15 on vellum at thirty shillings. Dated December 16, issued December 28, 1893. Published by William Morris. Bound in half holland.

This story, like the three other translations with which it is uniform, was taken from a little volume called _Nouvelles Françoises en prose du XIIIe siècle_, Paris, Jannet, 1856. They were first announced as in preparation under the heading _French Tales_ in the list dated May 20, 1893. Eighty-five copies of _King Florus_ were bought by J. & M. L. Tregaskis, who had them bound in all parts of the world. These are now in the Rylands Library at Manchester.

22. _The Story of the Glittering Plain. Which has been also called The Land of Living Men or The Acre of the Undying._ Written by WILLIAM MORRIS. Large 4to. Troy type, with list of chapters in Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 12a and 12, 23 designs by Walter Crane, engraved by A. Leverett, and a woodcut title. 250 on paper at five guineas, 7 on vellum at twenty pounds. Dated January 13, issued February 17, 1894. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum. Neither the borders in this book nor six out of the seven frames round the illustrations appear in any other book. The seventh is used round the second picture in _Love is Enough_. A few copies were bound in half holland.

23. _Of the Friendship of Amis and Amile._ _Done out of the ancient French by_ WILLIAM MORRIS. 16mo. Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 11a and 11, and woodcut title. 500 on paper at seven shillings and sixpence, 15 on vellum at thirty shillings. Dated March 13th, issued April 4, 1894. Published by William Morris. Bound in half holland.[15]

A poem entitled _Amys and Amillion_, founded on this story, was originally to have appeared in the second volume of the _Earthly Paradise_, but, like some other poems announced at the same time, it was not included in the book.

20a. _Sonnets and Lyrical Poems by Dante Gabriel Rossetti._ 8vo. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 1a and 1, and woodcut title. 310 on paper at two guineas, 6 on vellum at ten guineas. Dated February 20, issued April 21, 1894. Published by Ellis & Elvey. Bound in limp vellum.

This book is uniform with No. 20, to which it forms a sequel. Both volumes were read for the press by Mr. W. M. Rossetti.

24. _The Poems of John Keats._ Edited by F. S. Ellis. 8vo. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 10a and 10, and woodcut title. 300 on paper at thirty shillings, 7 on vellum at nine guineas. Dated March 7, issued May 8, 1894. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

This is now (January, 1898) the most sought after of all the smaller Kelmscott Press books. It was announced as in preparation in the lists of May 27 and August 1, 1893, and as in the press in that of March 31, 1894, when the woodcut title still remained to be printed.[16]

25. _Atalanta in Calydon: A Tragedy._ By ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE. Large 4to. Troy type, with argument and _dramatis personæ_ in Chaucer type; the dedication and quotation from Euripides in Greek type designed by Selwyn Image. In black and red. Borders 5a and 5, and woodcut title. 250 on paper at two guineas, 8 on vellum at twelve guineas. Dated May 4, issued July 24, 1894. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

In the vellum copies of this book the colophon is not on the eighty-second page as in the paper copies, but on the following page.

26. _The Tale of the Emperor Coustans and of Over Sea._ Done out of ancient French by WILLIAM MORRIS. 16mo. Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 11a and 11, both twice, and two woodcut titles. 525 on paper at seven shillings and sixpence, 20 on vellum at two guineas. Dated August 30, issued September 26, 1894. Published by William Morris. Bound in half holland.

The first of these stories, which was the source of _The Man Born to be King_ in _The Earthly Paradise_, was announced as in preparation in the list of March 31, 1894.

27. _The Wood Beyond the World._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. 8vo. Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 13a and 13, and a frontispiece designed by Sir E. Burne-Jones, and engraved on wood by W. Spielmeyer. 350 on paper at two guineas, 8 on vellum at ten guineas. Dated May 30, issued October 16, 1894. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

The borders in this book, as well as the ten half borders, are here used for the first time. It was first announced as in the press in the list of March 31, 1894. Another edition was published by Lawrence & Bullen in 1895.

28. _The Book of Wisdom and Lies. A Book of Traditional Stories from Georgia and Asia._ Translated by Oliver Wardrop from the original of Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani. 8vo. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 4a and 4, and woodcut title. 250 on paper at two guineas, none on vellum. Finished September 20, issued October 29, 1894. Published by Bernard Quaritch. Bound in limp vellum.

The arms of Georgia, consisting of the Holy Coat, appear in the woodcut title of this book.[17]

29. _The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley._ Volume 1. Edited by F. S. Ellis. 8vo. Golden type. Borders 1a and 1, and woodcut title. 250 on paper at twenty-five shillings, 6 on vellum at eight guineas. Not dated, issued November 29, 1894. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum without ties.

Red ink is not used in this volume, though it is used in the second volume, and more sparingly in the third. Some of the half borders designed for _The Wood Beyond the World_ reappear before the longer poems. The Shelley was first announced as in the press in the list of March 31, 1894.[18]

30. _Psalmi Penitentiales. An English rhymed version of the Seven Penitential Psalms._ Edited by F. S. Ellis. 8vo. Chaucer type. In black and red. 300 on paper at seven shillings and sixpence, 12 on vellum at three guineas. Dated November 15, issued December 10, 1894. Published by William Morris. Bound in half holland.

These verses were taken from a manuscript Book of Hours, written at Gloucester in the first half of the fifteenth century, but the Rev. Professor Skeat has pointed out that the scribe must have copied them from an older manuscript, as they are in the Kentish dialect of about a century earlier. The half border on p. 34 appears for the first time in this book.

31. _Epistolade Contemptumundi di Frate Hieronymo da Ferrara Dellordinede Frati Predicatori la Quale Manda ad Elena Buonaccorsi Sua Madre._ Per CONSOLARLA DELLA MORTE DEL FRATELLO, _Suo Zio_. Edited by Charles Fairfax Murray from the original autograph letter. 8vo. Chaucer type. In black and red. Border 1. Woodcut on title designed by C. F. Murray and engraved by W. H. Hooper. 150 on paper and 6 on vellum. Dated November 30, ready December 12, 1894. Bound in half holland.

This little book was printed for Mr. C. Fairfax Murray, the owner of the manuscript, and was not for sale in the ordinary way. The colophon is in Italian, and the printer's mark is in red.

32. _The Tale of Beowulf._ Done out of the old English tongue by WILLIAM MORRIS and A. J. WYATT. Large 4to. Troy type, with argument, side-notes, list of persons and places, and glossary in Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 14a and 14, and woodcut title. 300 on paper at two guineas, 8 on vellum at ten pounds. Dated January 10, issued February 2, 1895. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

The borders in this book were only used once again, in the Jason. A note to the reader printed on a slip in the Golden type was inserted in each copy. _Beowulf_ was first announced as in preparation in the list of May 20, 1893. The verse translation was begun by Mr. Morris, with the aid of Mr. Wyatt's careful paraphrase of the text, on February 21, 1893, and finished on April 10, 1894, but the argument was not written by Mr. Morris until December 10, 1894.

33. _Syr Perecyvelle of Gales._ Overseen by F. S. Ellis, after the edition edited by J. O. Halliwell from the Thornton MS. in the Library of Lincoln Cathedral. 8vo. Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 13a and 13, and a woodcut designed by Sir E. Burne-Jones. 350 on paper at fifteen shillings, 8 on vellum four guineas. Dated February 16, issued May 2, 1895. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

This is the first of the series to which _Sire Degrevaunt and Syr Isumbrace_ belong. They were all reprinted from the Camden Society's volume of 1844, which was a favourite with Mr. Morris from his Oxford days. _Syr Perecyvelle_ was first announced in the list of December 1, 1894. The shoulder-notes were added by Mr. Morris.

34. _The Life and Death of Jason_, A Poem by WILLIAM MORRIS. Large 4to. Troy type, with a few words in Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 14a and 14, and two woodcuts designed by Sir E. Burne-Jones and engraved on wood by W. Spielmeyer. 200 on paper at five guineas, 6 on vellum at twenty guineas. Dated May 25, issued July 5, 1895. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

This book, announced as in the press in the list of April 21, 1894, proceeded slowly, as several other books, notably the Chaucer, were being printed at the same time. The text, which had been corrected for the second edition of 1868, and for the edition of 1882, was again revised by the author. The line fillings on the last page were cut on metal for the book, and cast like type.

29a. _The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley._ Volume 11. Edited by F. S. Ellis. 8vo. Golden type. In black and red. 250 on paper at twenty-five shillings, 6 on vellum at eight guineas. Not dated, issued March 25, 1895. Published by William Morris, Bound in limp vellum without ties.

35. _Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. 2 vols. 16mo. Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 15a and 15, and woodcut title. 600 on paper at fifteen shillings, 12 on vellum at four guineas. Dated July 25, issued September 25, 1895. Published by William Morris. Bound in half holland, with labels printed in the Golden type.

The borders designed for this book were only used once again, in _Hand and Soul_. The plot of the story was suggested by that of Havelok the Dane, printed by the Early English Text Society.

29b. _The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley._ Volume III. Edited by F. S. Ellis. 8vo. Golden type. In black and red. 250 on paper at twenty-five shillings, 6 on vellum at eight guineas. Dated August 21, issued October 28, 1895. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum without ties.

36. _Hand and Soul._ By DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI. Reprinted from _The Germ_, for Messrs. Way & Williams, of Chicago. 16mo. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 15a and 15, and woodcut title. 300 paper copies and 11 vellum copies for America. 225 paper copies for sale in England at ten shillings, and 10 on vellum at thirty shillings. Dated October 24, issued December 12, 1895. Bound in stiff vellum, without ties.

This was the only 16mo book bound in vellum. The English and American copies have a slightly different colophon. The shoulder-notes were added by Mr. Morris.

37. _Poems Chosen out of the Works of Robert Herrick._ Edited by F. S. Ellis. 8vo. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 4a and 4, and woodcut title. 250 on paper at thirty shillings, 8 on vellum at eight guineas. Dated November 21, 1895, issued February 6, 1896. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

This book was first announced as in preparation in the list of December 1, 1894, and as in the press in that of July 1, 1895.

38. _Poems Chosen out of the Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge._ Edited by F. S. Ellis. 8vo. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 13a and 13. 300 on paper at a guinea, 8 on vellum at five guineas. Dated February 5, issued April 12, 1896. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.[19]

This book contains thirteen poems. It was first announced as in preparation in the list of December 1, 1894, and as in the press in that of November 26, 1895. It is the last of the series to which Tennyson's _Maud_, and the poems of Rossetti, Keats, Shelley, and Herrick belong.

39. _The Well at the World's End._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Large 4to. Double columns. Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 16a, 16, 17a, 17, 18a, 18, 19a, 19, and four woodcuts designed by Sir E. Burne-Jones. 350 on paper at five guineas, 8 on vellum at twenty guineas. Dated March 2, issued June 4, 1896. Sold by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

This book, delayed for various reasons, was longer on hand than any other. It appears in no less than twelve lists, from that of December, 1892, to that of November 26, 1895, as "in the press." Trial pages, including one in a single column, were ready as early as September, 1892, and the printing began on December 16th, of that year. The edition of _The Well at the World's End_, published by Longmans, was then being printed from the author's manuscript at the Chiswick Press, and the Kelmscott Press edition was set up from the sheets of that edition, which, though not issued until October, 1896, was finished in 1894. The eight borders and the six different ornaments between the columns appear here for the first time, but are used again in _The Water of the Wondrous Isles_, with the exception of two borders.

40. _The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer._ Edited by F. S. Ellis. Folio. Chaucer type, with headings to the longer poems in Troy type. In black and red. Borders 20a to 26, woodcut title, and eighty-seven woodcut illustrations designed by Sir E. Burne-Jones. 425 on paper at twenty pounds, 13 on vellum at 120 guineas. Dated May 8, issued June 26, 1896. Published by William Morris. Bound in half holland.

The history of this book, which is by far the most important achievement of the Kelmscott Press, is as follows:

As far back as June 11, 1891, Mr. Morris spoke of printing a Chaucer with a black-letter fount, which he hoped to design. Four months later, when most of the Troy type was designed and cut, he expressed his intention to use it first on John Ball, and then on a Chaucer, and perhaps a _Gesta Romanorum_. By January 1, 1892, the Troy type was delivered, and early in that month two trial pages, one from _The Cook's Tale_ and one from _Sir Thopas_, the latter in double columns, were got out. It then became evident that the type was too large for a Chaucer, and Mr. Morris decided to have it re-cut in the size known as pica. By the end of June he was thus in possession of the type which, in the list issued in December, 1892, he named the Chaucer type. In July, 1892, another trial page, a passage from _The Knight's Tale_, in double columns of fifty-eight lines, was got out, and found to be satisfactory. The idea of the Chaucer as it now exists, with illustrations by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, then took definite shape.

In a proof of the first list, dated April, 1892, there is an announcement of the book as in preparation, in black-letter, large quarto, but this was struck out, and does not appear in the list as printed in May, nor yet in the July list. In that for December, 1892, it is announced for the first time as to be in Chaucer type "with about sixty designs by E. Burne-Jones." The next list, dated March 9, 1893, states that it will be a folio, and that it is in the press, by which was meant that a few pages were in type. In the list dated August 1, 1893, the probable price is given as twenty pounds. The next four lists contain no fresh information, but on August 17, 1894, nine days after the first sheet was printed, a notice was sent to the trade that there would be 325 copies at twenty pounds, and about sixty woodcut designs by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. Three months later it was decided to increase the number of illustrations to upwards of seventy, and to print another 100 copies of the book. A circular letter was sent to the subscribers on November 14th, stating this, and giving them an opportunity of cancelling their orders. Orders were not withdrawn, the extra copies were immediately taken up, and the list for December 1, 1894, which is the first containing full particulars, announces that all paper copies are sold.[20]

Mr. Morris began designing his first folio border on February 1, 1893, but was dissatisfied with the design and did not finish it. Three days later he began the vine border for the first page, and finished it in about a week, together with the initial word "Whan," the two lines of heading, and the frame for the first picture, and Mr. Hooper engraved the whole of these on one block. The first picture was engraved at about the same time. A specimen of the first page (differing slightly from the same page as it appears in the book) was shown at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition in October and November, 1893, and was issued to a few leading booksellers, but it was not until August 8, 1894, that the first sheet was printed at 14, Upper Mall. On January 8, 1895, another press was started at 21, Upper Mall, and from that time two presses were almost exclusively at work on the Chaucer. By September 10th, the last page of _The Romaunt of the Rose_ was printed. In the middle of February, 1896, Mr. Morris began designing the title. It was finished on the 27th of the same month and engraved by Mr. Hooper in March. On May 8th, a year and nine months after the printing of the first sheet, the book was completed. On June 2nd, the first two copies were delivered to Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Mr. Morris. Mr. Morris's copy is now at Exeter College, Oxford, with other books printed at the Kelmscott Press.

Besides the eighty-seven illustrations designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, and engraved by W. H. Hooper, the Chaucer contains a woodcut title, fourteen large borders, eighteen different frames around the illustrations, and twenty-six large initial words designed for the book by William Morris. Many of these were engraved by C. E. Keats, and others by W. H. Hooper and W. Spielmeyer.

In February, 1896, a notice was issued respecting special bindings, of which Mr. Morris intended to design four.

Two of these were to have been executed under Mr. Cobden-Sanderson's direction at the Doves Bindery, and two by Messrs. J. & J. Leighton. But the only design that he was able to complete was for a full white pigskin binding, which has now been carried out at the Doves Bindery on forty-eight copies, including two on vellum.[21]

41. _The Earthly Paradise._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Volume I. _Prologue: The Wanderers._ March: _Atalanta's Race. The Man Born to be King._ Medium 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 27a, 27, 28a, and 28, and woodcut title. 225 on paper at thirty shillings, 6 on vellum at seven guineas. Dated May 7, issued July 24, 1896. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

This was the first book printed on the paper with the apple water-mark. The seven other volumes followed it at intervals of a few months. None of the ten borders used in the _Earthly Paradise_ appear in any other book. The four different half-borders round the poems to the months are also not used elsewhere. The first border was designed in June, 1895.

42. _Laudes Beatæ Mariæ Virginis._ Latin poems taken from a Psalter written in England about A.D. 1220. Edited by S. C. Cockerell. Large 4to. Troy type. In black, red, and blue. 250 on paper at ten shillings, 10 on vellum at two guineas. Dated July 7, issued August 7, 1896. Published by William Morris. Bound in half holland.

This was the first book printed at the Kelmscott Press in three colours.[22] The manuscript from which the poems were taken was one of the most beautiful of the English books in Mr. Morris's possession, both as regards writing and ornament. No author's name is given to the poems, but after this book was issued the Rev. E. S. Dewick pointed out that they had already been printed at Tegernsee in 1579, in a 16mo volume in which they are ascribed to Stephen Langton. A note to this effect was printed in the Chaucer type in December 28, 1896, and distributed to the subscribers.

41a. _The Earthly Paradise._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Volume II. April: _The Doom of King Acrisius. The Proud King._ Medium 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 29a, 29, 28a, and 28. 225 on paper at thirty shillings, 6 on vellum at seven guineas. Dated June 24, issued September 17, 1896. Published by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

43. _The Floure and the Leafe, and The Boke of Cupide, God of Love, or The Cuckow and the Nightingale._ Edited by F. S. Ellis. Medium 4to. Troy type, with note and colophon in Chaucer type. In black and red. 300 on paper at ten shillings, 10 on vellum at two guineas. Dated August 21, issued November 2, 1896. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in half holland.

Two of the initial words from the Chaucer are used in this book, one at the beginning of each poem. These poems were formerly attributed to Chaucer, but recent scholarship has proved that _The Floure and the Leafe_ is much later than Chaucer, and that _The Cuckow and the Nightingale_ was written by Sir Thomas Clanvowe about A.D. 1405-10.

44. _The Shepheardes Calender: Conteyning Twelve Aeglogues, Proportionable to the Twelve Monethes._ By EDMUND SPENCER. Edited by F. S. Ellis. Medium 4to. Golden type. In black and red. With twelve full page illustrations by A. J. Gaskin. 225 on paper at a guinea, 6 on vellum at three guineas. Dated October 14, issued November 26, 1896. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in half holland.

The illustrations in this book were printed from process blocks by Walker & Boutall. By an oversight, the names of author, editor, and artist were omitted from the colophon.

41b. _The Earthly Paradise._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Volume III. May: _The Story of Cupid and Psyche. The Writing on the Image._ June: _The Love of Alcestis. The Lady of the Land._ Medium 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 30a, 30, 27a, 27, 28a, 28, 29a, and 29. 225 on paper at thirty shillings, 6 on vellum at seven guineas. Dated August 24, issued December 5, 1896. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in limp vellum.

41c. _The Earthly Paradise._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Volume IV. July: _The Son of Croesus. The Watching of the Falcon._ August: _Pygmalion and the Image. Ogier the Dane._ Medium 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 31a, 31, 29a, 29, 28a, 28, 30a, and 30. Dated November 25, 1896, issued January 22, 1897. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in limp vellum.

41d. _The Earthly Paradise._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Volume V. September. _The Death of Paris. The Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon._ October: _The Story of Acontius and Cydippe. The Man Who Never Laughed Again._ Medium 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 29a, 29, 27a, 27, 28a, 28, 31a, and 31. Finished December 24, 1896, issued March 9, 1897. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in limp vellum.

41e. _The Earthly Paradise._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Volume VI. November: _The Story of Rhodope. The Lovers of Gudrun._ Medium 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 27a, 27, 30a, and 30. Finished February 18, issued May 11, 1897. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in limp vellum.

41f. _The Earthly Paradise._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Volume VII. December: _The Golden Apples. The Fostering of Aslaug._ January: _Bellerophon at Argos. The Ring Given to Venus._ Medium 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 29a, 29, 31a, 31, 30a, 30, 27a, and 27. Finished March 17, issued July 29, 1897. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in limp vellum.

45. _The Water of the Wondrous Isles._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Large 4to. Chaucer type, in double columns, with a few lines in Troy type at the end of each of the seven parts. In black and red. Borders 16a, 17a, 18a, 19, and 19a. 250 on paper at three guineas, 6 on vellum at twelve guineas. Dated April 1, issued July 29, 1897. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in limp vellum.

Unlike _The Well at the World's End_, with which it is mainly uniform, this book has red shoulder-notes and no illustrations. Mr. Morris began the story in verse on February 4, 1895. A few days later he began it afresh in alternate prose and verse; but he was again dissatisfied, and finally began it a third time in prose alone, as it now stands. It was first announced as in the press in the list of June 1, 1896, at which date the early chapters were in type, although they were not printed until about a month later. The designs for the initial words "Whilom" and "Empty" were begun by William Morris shortly before his death, and were finished by R. Catterson-Smith. Another edition was published by Longmans on October 1, 1897.

41g. _The Earthly Paradise._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Volume VIII. February: _Bellerophon in Lycia. The Hill of Venus. Epilogue. L'Envoi._ Medium 4to. Golden type. In black and red. Borders 28a, 28, 29a, and 29. Finished June 10, issued September 27, 1897. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in limp vellum.

The colophon of this final volume of _The Earthly Paradise_ contains the following note: "The borders in this edition of _The Earthly Paradise_ were designed by William Morris, except those on page 4 of Volumes ii., iii., and iv., afterwards repeated, which were designed to match the opposite borders, under William Morris's direction, by R. Catterson-Smith, who also finished the initial words 'Whilom' and 'Empty' for _The Water of the Wondrous Isles_. All the other letters, borders, title-pages, and ornaments used at the Kelmscott Press, except the Greek type in _Atalanta in Calydon_, were designed by William Morris."

46. Two trial pages of the projected edition of Lord Berners's Translation of Froissart's Chronicles. Folio. Chaucer type, with heading in Troy type. In black and red. Border 32, containing the shields of France, the Empire, and England, and a half-border containing those of Reginald, Lord Cobham, Sir John Chandos, and Sir Walter Manny. 160 on vellum at a guinea, none on paper. Dated September, issued October 7, 1897. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Not bound.

It was the intention of Mr. Morris to make this edition of what was since his college days almost his favourite book a worthy companion to the Chaucer. It was to have been in two volumes folio, with new cusped initials and heraldic ornament throughout. Each volume was to have had a large frontispiece designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones; the subject of the first was to have been St. George, that of the second Fame. A trial page was set up in the Troy type soon after it came from the foundry, in January, 1892. Early in 1893 trial pages were set up in the Chaucer type, and in the list for March 9th of that year the book is erroneously stated to be in the press. In the three following lists it is announced as in preparation. In the list dated December 1, 1893, and in the three next lists, it is again announced as in the press, and the number to be printed is given as 150. Meanwhile the printing of the Chaucer had been begun, and as it was not feasible to carry on two folios at the same time, the Froissart again comes under the heading "in preparation" in the lists from December 1, 1894, to June 1, 1896. In the prospectus of _The Shepheardes Calender_, dated November 12, 1896, it is announced as abandoned. At that time about thirty-four pages were in type, but no sheet had been printed. Before the type was broken up, on December 24, 1896, thirty-two copies of sixteen of these pages were printed and given as a memento to personal friends of the poet and printer whose death now made the completion of the book impossible. This suggested the idea of printing two pages for wider distribution. The half-border had been engraved in April, 1894, by W. Spielmeyer, but the large border only existed as a drawing. It was engraved with great skill and spirit by C. E. Keates, and the two pages were printed by Stephen Mowlem, with the help of an apprentice, in a manner worthy of the designs.

47. _Sire Degrevaunt._ Edited by F. S. Ellis after the edition printed by J. O. Halliwell. 8vo. Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 1a and 1, and a woodcut designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. 350 on paper at fifteen shillings, 8 on vellum at four guineas. Dated March 14, 1896, issued November 12, 1897. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in half holland.

This book, subjects from which were painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones on the walls of the Red House, Upton, Bexley Heath, many years ago, was always a favourite with Mr. Morris. The frontispiece was not printed until October, 1897, eighteen months after the text was finished.

48. _Syr Ysambrace._ Edited by F. S. Ellis after the edition printed by J. O. Halliwell from the MS, in the Library of Lincoln Cathedral, with some corrections. 8vo. Chaucer type. In black and red. Borders 4a and 4, and a woodcut designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. 350 on paper at twelve shillings, 8 on vellum at four guineas. Dated July 14, issued November 11, 1897. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in half holland.

This is the third and last of the reprints from the Camden Society's volume of Thornton Romances. The text was all set up and partly printed by June, 1896, at which time it was intended to include _Sir Eglamour_ in the same volume.

49. _Some German Woodcuts of the Fifteenth Century. Being thirty-five reproductions from books that were in the library of the late William Morris._ Edited, with a list of the principal woodcut books in that library, by S. C. Cockerell. Large 4to. Golden type. In red and black. 225 on paper at thirty shillings, 8 on vellum at five guineas. Dated December 15, 1897, issued January 6, 1898. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in half holland.

Of these thirty-five reproductions twenty-nine were all that were done of a series chosen by Mr. Morris to illustrate a catalogue of his library, and the other six were prepared by him for an article in the fourth number of _Bibliographical_ part of which is reprinted as an introduction to the book. The process blocks (with one exception) were made by Walker & Boutall, and are of the same size as the original cuts.

50. _The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs._ By WILLIAM MORRIS. Small folio. Chaucer type, with title and headings to the four books in Troy type. In black and red. Borders 33a and 33, and two illustrations designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and engraved by W. H. Hooper. 160 on paper at six guineas, 6 on vellum at twenty guineas. Dated January 19, issued February 25, 1898. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in limp vellum, with blue silk ties.

The two borders used in this book were almost the last that Mr. Morris designed. They were intended for an edition of _The Hill of Venus_, which was to have been written in prose by him and illustrated by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. The foliage was suggested by the ornament in two Psalters of the last half of the thirteenth century in the library at Kelmscott House. The initial A at the beginning of the third book was designed in March, 1893, for the Froissart, and does not appear elsewhere.

An edition of _Sigurd the Volsung_, which Mr. Morris justly considered his masterpiece, was contemplated early in the history of the Kelmscott Press. An announcement appears in a proof of the first list, dated April, 1892, but it was excluded from the list as issued in May. It did not reappear until the list of November 26, 1895, in which, the Chaucer being near its completion, _Sigurd_ comes under the heading "in preparation," as a folio in Troy type, "with about twenty-five illustrations by Sir Edward Burne-Jones." In the list of June 1, 1896, it is finally announced as "In the press," the number of illustrations is increased to forty, and other particulars are given. Four borders had then been designed for it, two of which were used on pages 470 and 471 of the Chaucer. The other two have not been used, though one of them has been engraved. Two pages only were in type, thirty-two copies of which were struck off on January 11, 1897, and given to friends, with the sixteen pages of Froissart mentioned above.

51. _The Sundering Flood._ Written by WILLIAM MORRIS. Overseen for the press by May Morris. 8vo. Chaucer type. In black and red. Border 10, and a map. 300 on paper at two guineas. Dated November 15, 1897, issued February 25, 1898. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in half holland.

This was the last romance by William Morris. He began to write it on December 21, 1895, and dictated the final words on September 8, 1896. The map pasted into the cover was drawn by H. Cribb for Walker & Boutall, who prepared the block. In the edition that Longmans are about to issue the bands of robbers called in the Kelmscott edition Red and Black Skinners appear correctly as Red and Black Skimmers. The name was probably suggested by that of the pirates called "escumours of the sea" on page 154 of _Godfrey of Boloyne_.

52. _Love is Enough, or the Freeing of Pharamond; A Morality._ Written by William Morris. Large 4to. Troy type, with stage directions in Chaucer type. In black, red, and blue. Borders 6a and 7, and two illustrations designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. 300 on paper at two guineas, 8 on vellum at ten guineas. Dated December 11, 1897, issued March 24, 1898. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in limp vellum.

This was the second book printed in three colours at the Kelmscott Press. As explained in the colophon, the final picture was not designed for this particular edition.

53. _A Note by William Morris on his Aims in Founding the Kelmscott Press. Together with a Short Description of the Press_, by S. C. COCKERELL. And an Annotated List of the Books Printed Thereat. Octavo. Golden type, with five pages in the Troy and Chaucer types. In black and red. Borders 4a and 4, and a woodcut designed by Sir E. Burne-Jones. 525 on paper at ten shillings, 12 on vellum at two guineas. Dated March 4, issued March 24, 1898. Published at the Kelmscott Press. Bound in half holland.

Various Lists, Leaflets, and Announcements Printed at the Kelmscott Press:

Eighteen lists of the books printed or in preparation at the Kelmscott Press were issued to booksellers and subscribers. The dates of these are May, July, and December, 1892; March 9, May 20, May 27, August 1, and December 1, 1893; March 31, April 21, July 2, October 1 (a leaflet), and December 1, 1894; July 1 and November 26, 1895; June 1, 1896; February 16 and July 28, 1897. The three lists for 1892, and some copies of that for March 9, 1893, were printed on Whatman paper, the last of the stock bought for the first edition of _The Roots of the Mountains_. Besides these, twenty-nine announcements, relating mainly to individual books, were issued; and eight leaflets, containing extracts from the lists, were printed for distribution by Messrs. Morris & Co. The following items, as having a more permanent interest than most of these announcements, merit a full description:

1. Two forms of invitation to the annual gatherings of the Hammersmith Socialist Society on January 30, 1892, and February 11, 1893. Golden type.

2. A four-page leaflet for the Ancoats Brotherhood, with the frontispiece from the Kelmscott Press edition of _A Dream of John Ball_ on the first page. March, 189 Golden type. 2500 copies.

3. An address to Sir Lowthian Bell, Bart., from his employees, dated 30th June, 1894. Eight pages. Golden type. 250 on paper and 2 on vellum.

4. A leaflet, with fly-leaf, headed _An American Memorial to Keats_, together with a form of invitation to the unveiling of his bust in Hampstead Parish Church on July 16, 1894. Golden type. 750 copies.

5. A slip giving the text of a memorial tablet to Dr. Thomas Sadler, for distribution at the unveiling of it in Rosslyn Hill Chapel, Hampstead. November, 1894. Golden type. 450 copies.

6. Scholarship certificates for the technical Education Board of the London County Council, printed in the oblong borders designed for the pictures in Chaucer's Works. One of these borders was not used in the book, and this is its only appearance. The first certificate was printed in November, 1894, and was followed in January, 1896, by eleven certificates; in January, 1897, by six certificates; and in February, 1898, by eleven certificates, all differently worded. Golden type. The numbers varied from 12 to 2500 copies.

7. Programmes of the Kelmscott Press annual _Wayzgoose_ for the years 1892-95. These were printed without supervision from Mr. Morris.

8. Specimen showing the three types used at the Press for insertion in the first edition of Strange's _Alphabets_ March, 1895. 2000 ordinary copies and 60 on large paper.

9. Cards for Associates of the Deaconess Institution for the Diocese of Rochester. One side of this card is printed in Chaucer type; on the other there is a prayer in the Troy type enclosed in a small border which was not used elsewhere. It was designed for the illustrations of a projected edition of _The House of the Wolfings_, April, 1897. 250 copies.

INDEX.

A

_Æneid, The_, 122-124, 144

_Æschylus_, 262

_Agamemnon_, Browning's, 124

Allingham, William, 42, 48, 70

Amiens Cathedral, article on, by Morris, 34, 36-39

_Amis and Amile_, translation by Morris, 229

Archbishop of Canterbury, 177

Aristophanes, 262

Arnold, Matthew, 149

Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, The, 191

Art Worker's Guild, The, 192

_Atalanta in Calydon_, Swinburne's, 229

_Athenæum, The_, 152

B

Bagehot, Walter, quoted, 36

_Ballads and Narrative Poems_, Rossetti's, 229

Batchelor, Mr., 221

Bax, E. Belfort, 218

_Beata Beatrix_, picture by Rossetti, 55

_Beauty of Life, The_, Morris's lecture on, 65

Belgium, 110

_Beowulf, The Tale of_, 230, 231, 262

Besant, Mrs., 180

Bethel, Alfred, article on, by Morris, 34

Bible, the, 262

_Biblia Innocentium_, Mackail's, 228

Bibliographical Society, The, 192

Birkbeck Hill, Dr., 47, 73

Birmingham Society of Artists, lecture to, 62

Blackburn, 168

Blake, William, 263

"Bloody Sunday," 179

Boccaccio, 263

_Book of Wisdom and Lies, The_, 230

Borrow, George, 263

British Museum, the woodblocks of Kelmscott Press in possession of, 235

Brown, Madox, 113

Browning, Robert, his poems, 37, 39, 40, 57-59

Bryant, William Cullen, his translation of _The Odyssey_ compared with Morris's translation, 142

Bulgaria, 146

Burne-Jones, Edward, 1; his first meeting with Morris, 23, 24; the beginning of his art, 26; his trip with Morris and Fulford through Northern France, 26, 27; his decision to leave college and study art, 27; his admiration for Rossetti, 26, 27 _et seq._

Bury Wood, 15, 16

Byron, 236

C

Cambridge University Library, 221

Canterbury Cathedral, Morris's early visit to, 6

_Canterbury Tales, The_, 115

_Captain Singleton_, 263

Carlyle, Thomas, 24, 150, 263

_Carmagnole, The_, song, 178

Carpets, 89

Catterson-Smith, R., 233

Catullus, 262

_Chants for Socialists_, 218

Chartres, 27

Chaucer, 115, 116, 119, 137, 231-234, 237, 238, 256, 262

Chaucer type, the, 224

_Child Christopher and Goldilands the Fair_, 231

Chingford Hotel, 15

Chiswick Press, the, 33, 205, 206

Clarke, William, 166

Clay Road, 15

Cockerell, S. C., 234

Coleridge's _Poems_, selection from, by Morris, 232, 263

_Colonel Jack_, 263

Colour, Morris's opinions on, 83, 84, 92

_Commonweal, The_, organ of the Socialist League, 175, 183, 185, 195, 201, 203, 209, 210, 218

Crane, Walter, 175, 192, 229

D

_Daily Chronicle, The_, Morris's letters to, concerning Epping Forest, 12-18; letter by Morris on Socialism, 186-189

_Daily News, The_, quotation from, 146-148

_Daisy Chain, The_, its influence on Morris, 24

Dante, 262

Day, Lewis, 31, 78

_Defence of Guenevere, The_, 54, 59, 228

Democratic Federation, the, 157, 168, 170, 174, 180

De Vinne, Th., on the Kelmscott Press, 224

Dickens, Charles, 263

Dixon, Canon, 34

_Dream of John Ball, A_, 195, 201-203, 228

Dumas, Alexandre, 263

Dürer, 261

Dyes, Morris's preferences in, 91

E

_Earthly Paradise, The_, 59, 115, 116-120, 144, 219, 233

Eastern Question Association, The, 148

_Edda, The_, 262

Ellis, F. S., 221-232, 237

_English Illustrated Magazine, The_, 218

_Epistola de Contemptu Mundi_, 230

Epping Forest, Morris's early familiarity with, 7, 11; his letters concerning its destruction, 11-18

_Erewhon_, Kingsley's, 163

_Eve of Crecy_, poem by Morris, 55

Exeter College, 193

_Exile, The_, 262

_Eyrbyggja Saga, The_, 144

F

Fair Mead Bottom, 15

Farringdon Road, 101, 177

Faulkner, Charles, 47, 70, 73, 108, 111, 263

_Floure and the Leafe, The_, 233

Forman, Buxton, 205, 206

Freeman, E. A., 149

Froissart, 57, 233

G

_Germ, The_, 33

_Gertha's Lovers_, 36

_Ghirlandata, The_, picture by Rossetti, 55

Giotto, 261

Gisli, 109

Glasgow, 168

_Glittering Plain, The_, 221, 229, 246, 248

Godefrey of Boloyne, Caxton's history of, 228

_Golden Legend_, Caxton's, 221, 223, 227, 228

Golden type, the, 221

_Goldilocks and Goldilocks_, 7, 228

_Good King Wenceslas_, ballad printed at the Kelmscott Press, 4, 5

_Gothic Architecture_, lecture by Morris, 228

Green, J. R., 149

Grettir, 109

Grimm, 263

Gudrun, 109

H

Hammersmith, 97, 107, 108, 176, 181, 257

Hammersmith Socialist Society, The, 185, 189

_Hand and Soul_, Rossetti's, 231

_Hardy Norseman's Home of Yore_, 149

Havre, 27

_Heir of Redclyffe, The_, 24

Herodotus, 262

Herrick's _Poems_, 231

Hesiod, 262

High Beach, 17

_History of Florence_, Arezzo's, 220

_History of Oversea_, translated by Morris, 230

_Historyes of Troye_, Caxton's, 223, 228

_Hollow Land, The_, 36, 40

Homer, 262

Hornbeams, Morris's liking for, 13

_House of the Wolfings, The_, 195, 203-205, 207, 239, 246

_Huckleberry Finn_, 263

Hughes, Arthur, 49

Hugo, Victor, 263

I

Iceland, Morris's first voyage to, 108-110; second voyage, 110

_Idylls of the King_, Tennyson's, 126, 136

Irish National League, The, 180

J

_Jorrocks, Mr._, 263

_Justice_, organ of the Democratic Federation, 168, 169

K

Kalevala, 262

Keats, John, 24, 27, 34, 229, 238, 263

Kelmscott Church, 258

Kelmscott House, 108, 221

Kelmscott Books, prices of, 238

Kelmscott Manor House, 101-108

Kelmscott Press, The, 177, 219-239, 255

_King's Lesson, A_, 203

Kingsley, Charles, 24, 25

Koburger, Anthony, 223

L

Lang, Andrew, 122-124

_Laudes Beatæ Mariæ Virginis_, 233

_Laxdæla Saga, The_, 116

Lechlade, 101

Leeds, 168

Leicester, 168

Leonardo, 261

_Lesser Arts, The_, lecture by Morris on, 94

_Life and Death of Jason, The_, 114, 231, 238

_Life of Cardinal Wolsey_, Cavendish's, 228

Linnell, Alfred, 180, 181

_Looking Backward_, Bellamy's, 209

Loughton, 15

_Love is Enough_, 120-122, 219, 234

_Lovers of Gudrun, The_, 116

Lowell, J. R., quoted, 57, 229

Lucretius, 262

M

_Mabinogion_, 263

Mackail, Mr., 24, 33, 62, 71, 97, 110, 111, 120, 122, 150, 191, 193, 229, 263

Maeterlinck, Morris compared to, 57

Madox-Brown, Ford, 70

Magnusson, Mr., 108, 125

_Mahabbarata_, 262

_Making the Best of It_, lecture by Morris on house-decoration, 83

Manchester, 168

Marlborough College, Morris a student in, 6, 9

Marshall, Peter Paul, 70

_Maud_, Tennyson's, 228

Meinhold, William, 229

_Men and Women_, Browning's, reviewed by Morris, 34, 39

Merton Abbey, 175, 190

Milton, 263

_Moll Flanders_, 263

Monk Wood, 15

Morris, May (Mrs. Sparling), daughter of Wm. Morris, 177

Morris, Mrs., wife of William Morris, 51, 53, 59, 66

Morris and Co., 69; formation of the firm, 69; prospectus of, 71, 72; dissolution of, 111-113

_Morte d'Arthur_, painting from, at Oxford Union, 49, 263

Murray, Fairfax, 230

N

_Nature of the Gothic, The_, 160, 228

_Newcomes, The_, quotation from, 30

Newman, Jno., 25

_News from Nowhere_, 98, 102; quotation from, 103-107, 163-165, 195, 200, 209-212, 213, 238, 258

_Nibelungen Lied_, 262

Njal, 109

O

_Odyssey, The_, 142-144, 210

_Old Story Retold, An_, see _A King's Lesson_

_Omar Khayyam_, 262

Orbeliani, Sulkhan-Saba, 230

_Order of Chivalry, The_, Caxton's translation of, 228

_Ordination of Knighthood_, Morris's translation of, 228

Ovid, 262

Oxford, 191; Morris's life at, 1-29; abuses at, 22-23, 31, 41, 168, 193

_Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, The_, 33

Oxford Union, paintings for, 49-52, 54

P

_Pall-Mall Gazette, The_, 189, 261

Paper used at Kelmscott Press, 222

Patmore, Coventry, on Oxford Union paintings, 52, 120

_Penitential Psalms, The_, 230

Pennell, Joseph, 181

_Percyvelle of Gales, Syr_, 231

_Piers Plowman_, 262

_Pilgrims of Hope, The_, poem by Morris, 195-201

_Pilgrim's Progress_, 263

Plato, 262

_Pliny_, Jensen's 220

_Poems_, Keats's, 229

_Poems_, Shakespeare's, 228

_Poems by the Way_, 7, 227

Pollen, J. Hungerford, 49

_Praise of My Lady_, poem by Morris, 52, 53

_Prinsep_, Valentine, 49

_Prioress's Tale, The_, Burne-Jones's paintings from, 47

Professorship of Poetry at Oxford, Morris declines, 149

_Proserpine_, picture by Rossetti, 54

Pugin, 31

Q

Queen Square, Morris's residence in, 97, 101

_Quest, The_, article by Morris in, 102

R

Raphael, 261

_Rapunzel_, poem by Morris, 57

Red Lion Square, 46, 71, 81

Red House, The, 61-68, 96, 97, 101, 114

Rembrandt, 261

Restoration of ancient buildings, 32

_Reynard the Fox_, 263

_Robinson Crusoe_, 263

Robinson, Ralph, 213, 228

Rome, 61

_Roots of the Mountains, The_, 195, 207-209, 246

_Rosamond_, Swinburne's, 54

Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, 1, 9, 27; Morris's first meeting with, 40-42; his service to Morris, 43-46; at Oxford, 49-51; and Jane Burden, 51; _The Defence of Guenevere_ dedicated to, 54, 55; his part in the formation of the firm "Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, & Co.," 69-74; at Kelmscott, 101-103, 108; his attitude respecting the dissolution of the firm, 111-113; his _Hand and Soul_, 231

Rossetti, William, 70, 112, 113

_Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, The_, 144

Rubens, Jacobus, 220

_Ruin, The_, 262

Ruskin, 19, 23, 24, 27, 151, 160, 263

S

St. Mark's Cathedral, 154

Savernake Forest, Morris's early familiarity with, 7

Savonarola, 230

Schoeffer, Peter, 223

Scott, Gilbert, 31, 152

Scott, Walter, 5, 19, 263

_Shahnameh_, 262

Shakespeare, 24, 137

Shaw, Bernard, on _Nupkins Awakened_, 31, 179

Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 24, 101, 230, 263

_Shepherde's Calender, The_, 233

_Sidonia the Sorceress_, Lady Wilde's, 228

_Signs of Change_, lectures by Morris, 218

Sigurd, 109

_Sir Galahad_, 54

_Sire Degravaunt_, 66, 234

Socialism, 162-218

_Socialism from the Root Up_, book by Morris and Bax, 218

Socialist League, The, 175-177, 180, 182, 185

Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings, The, 153, 157

Society of Antiquaries, 192

Sophocles, 262

_Spectator, The_, letter from Morris in, 252

Stanhope, Spencer, 49

Stanmore Tapestry, The, 99

Stead, William, 263

Stevenson, Robert Louis, his letter to his father, 9, 124

_Stones of Venice, The_, 27, 160, 228

_Story of the Glittering Plain, The_, 109, 218, 227, 243

_Story of Sigur the Volsung, The_, 125-142, 144, 146, 227, 234, 238

Street, George Edmund, 31, 42, 63

_Sundering Flood, The_, 234, 239, 240, 242, 257

Surts-hellir, cave at, 109

_Svend and his Brethren_, 36, 37

Swainslow, 256

Swinburne, A. C., 229

_Syr Ysambrace_, 234

T

_Tables Turned, The; or, Nupkins Awakened_, farce by Morris, 177

_Tale of the Emperor Constans, The_, translated by Morris, 230

_Tale of King Florus and Fair Tehane_, translated by Morris, 227

Taylor, George Warrington, Morris's business manager, 97

Tennyson, Alfred, 24, 177

_Teutonic Mythology_, 263

Tewkesbury, restoration of the Abbey Church at, 152

Thackeray, William M., 24

Theocritus, 262

_Thousand and One Nights, The_, 263

_Three Northern Love-Stories and Other Tales_, translations by Morris, 125

Trafalgar Square, 161, 179-181

Troy Type, The, 223, 225

Tyndall, Prof., 177

U

_Uncle Remus_, 263

Upton, Morris's residence at, 62, 96

_Useful Work versus Useless Toil_, lecture by Morris, 165

_Utopia_, More's, 213-217, 228, 263

V

Van Eyck, his motto chosen by Morris, 68

Velasquez, 261

Verona, 61

Viollet-le-Duc, 31

Virgil, 122-124, 262

_Volsunga Saga, The_, 125

_Voyage Round the World_, 263

W

Wagner, Richard, 135, 141

_Wake, London Lads!_ ballad by Morris, 148

Walker, Emery, 22, 205, 209

Wall-papers, 81-83

Wallace, Alfred, his suggestion that Epping Forest be planted with North American trees, 11

Walthamstow, 3, 10

Wardrop, Oliver, 230

Warren, Sir Charles, 179

_Water of the Wondrous Isles, The_, 233, 240, 245, 248-251

Watts-Dunton, Theodore, 69

Waverley Novels, the, Morris's early fondness for, 3

Weaving, 85, 86

Webb, Philip, architect of the Red House, 61, 70, 75, 82, 111

_Well at the World's End, The_, 232, 245, 248

Westminster Abbey, 154, 181

White Horse, The, 30

Whitney, Miss Anne, 229

Whittingham, Charles, 33

Wilde, Lady, 228

_Women and Roses_, Browning's, 39

_Wood beyond the World, The_, Morris's, 7, 230, 242, 252

Woodford Hall, home of the Morrises, 3

Working Men's College, Burne-Jones's visit to, 40

Wyatt, A. J., 230

Y

Yonge, Miss, 24

Z

Zainer, Gunther, 223

Messrs. MORRIS & COMPANY have appointed as their general agent Mr. A. E. Bulkley of 42 East 14th St., New York City, and he will be pleased to give all information respecting the various fabrics, etc., designed by the late Mr. Morris and sold by MORRIS & COMPANY. These may also be obtained of Mr. A. H. Davenport, 96-98 Washington St., Boston.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] When the _Utopia_ appeared with this introduction an Eton master who had ordered forty copies in advance, intending the books to be used as prizes for the boys in his school, withdrew his order, Young England not being allowed at that time to keep such Socialistic company.

[2] The trustees are now publishing the remainder of Morris's own works in the type of the Kelmscott Press, though without the ornaments, that a uniform edition may be had.

[3] The reader here is expected to note the correspondence between the names of the ladies and the titles of their lovers, and the same correspondence is carried out in the colour of the ladies' garments and the armour of the knights.

[4] Lewis F. Day.

[5] This bibliography is reprinted, with certain slight additions, from the bibliography prepared by S. C. Cockerell for the monograph entitled, "A Note by William Morris on his Aims in Founding the Kelmscott Press."

[6] At the Ellis Sale (1901) a presentation vellum copy brought £114.

[7] The first sheet was printed on the 2d of March, the last on the 4th of April.

[8] At the Ellis Sale a presentation vellum copy brought £60.

[9] In this line as it originally stood, "dawn" was the rhyme provided for "corn." In the new line the rhyme for corn is "daylight new-born;" but Mr. Buxton Forman writes that Morris was wont to declare that "No South Englishman makes any difference in ordinary talk between dawn and morn for instance."

[10] "When Adam dalf and Eve span, who was thanne the gentleman."

[11] This book realised at the Ellis Sale £8.5s. for the paper copy, and £61 in vellum. Since its publication it has sold as low as £2.15s. for paper copies, and £29 for vellum.

[12] Mr. Ellis's presentation copy sold for £91.

[13] This "foreword" is a socialist document occupying pp. III to VIII.

[14] At the Ellis Sale a copy on vellum (not presentation) brought £9.10s.

[15] This story Morris said he translated in a day and a quarter.

[16] At the Ellis Sale a paper copy brought £25.10s., while in 1900 one brought £27.5s.

[17] Mr. Vallance says, "This is noteworthy as being the sole instance of a heraldic device among the _published_ designs of William Morris."

[18] In the list of Dec. 1st, 1894, the 2d and 3d volumes are announced to follow "early in the New Year." The third volume did not, however, appear until the autumn of 1895.

[19] Dull red silk ties. Gold lettering on back.

[20] Also that 7 of the 8 vellum copies have been subscribed for.

[21] In the prospectus the price for full white tooled pigskin binding executed under Mr. Cobden-Sanderson's direction is given at £13.

[22] The quotations heading each stanza are in red, the initial letters pale blue, the remaining text in black.