Description

The Kelmscott Chaucer

The book for which William Morris had such high hopes was The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Published in 1896 at Morris’s Kelmscott Press, it was immediately hailed as a masterpiece of book production the finest publication to emerge from the Arts and Crafts movement and universally acclaimed as the zenith of private press publishing. The Kelmscott Chaucer, as it has become known, represents the pinnacle of Morris’s career as a typographer and designer. The medieval style ‘Chaucer’ fount, lavish ornamental borders, decorative capitals and frames he created, combined with the stunning woodcut illustrations of Edward Burne-Jones, provide an exquisite setting for the poetic works of Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Criseyde, The Parliament of Fowls, The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Romaunt of the Rose. A handsome facsimile example of what was widely considered to be one of the finest books produced during the entire nineteenth century.

Only 425 copies of the original book, illuminated by William Morris and published by the Kelmscott Press in 1896, were printed. It was the last work illustrated by Morris as he died very soon after its publication. Most pages are fairly plain text decorated with illuminated capitals, but about 15% are illustrated with lavishly detailed engravings.

The book is an exact facsimile, with only one small paragraph on page 554 indicating that it was printed for the Folio Society by Cambridge University Press on Oxenford twin-wire laid paper specially commissioned from James Cropper, a small mill in the Lake District. A five page essay by William S. Peterson at the back of the book, explains its history.

This book was originally published by the Folio Society in 2002 as a limited edition, which was bound in white leather gilded with a design, but a different design to this fine edition. The texts and paper of the two books are identical, but the LE has an added colophon page.

Features;

• Folio Society Reprint No. 1117
• Publisher Folio Society, London; 2008
• Gold Blocked Brown Buckram Hardback, 568 pp
• Decorations and drawings by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris
• Size 430 x 290mm, 8kg

Condition: Near Fine – Slight Fade to Edge of Slipcase, Otherwise Unmarked Copy

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