The Kelmscott Chaucer

The Kelmscott Chaucer is the most memorable and beautiful edition of the complete works of the first great English poet. Next to The Gutenberg Bible, it is considered the outstanding typographic achievement of all time. There are 87 full-page illustrations by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, and the borders, decorations and initials are drawn byWilliam Morris himself. Only 425 copies of this magnificent work were produced in 1896, and this beautiful monochrome facsimile, slightly smaller than the original, makes this glorious book available to all. A fascinating Introduction by Nicholas Barker places the book and its importance in context. The main text is followed by a black and white facsimile of ANoteby William Morris on his Aims in Founding the Kelmscott Press, together with a Short History of the Press by S C Cockerell.

The Kelmscott Chaucer is the most memorable and beautiful edition of the complete works of the first great English poet. Next to The Gutenberg Bible, it is considered the outstanding typographic achievement of all time. The Golden typeface used for the Kelmscott Chaucer was especially designed for the book, with its consistent thick and thin strokes, and with a view to blending as a harmonious.

Widely regarded as one of the most exquisite books ever printed, the Kelmscott Chaucer is the masterwork of William Morris (1834-1896) and Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898). Published in 1896, more than thirty years after the two Englishmen discovered a shared love of art and medieval literature while students at Oxford University, The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer now newly imprinted represents the peak of their artistic collaboration. Morris was a man of many passions: an artist, designer, poet, publisher, businessman, and social activist, as well as being a founder of the Arts & Crafts movement in England. After establishing the Kelmscott Press in 1891, he turned to his friend Burne-Jones, a painter then in great demand, to help him create an ideal book, one patterned after the artistry and typography of medieval illuminated manuscripts and the best of fifteenth-century handprinting. In its 556 pages, the Kelmscott Chaucer included 87 elegant narrative illustrations by Burne-Jones and 32 of Morris's lush floral and foliate border designs, along with his decorative frames and initials. It was printed to exacting specifications in black and red using the (appropriately named) Chaucer typeface Morris designed for it. The great book took four years to make. "If we live to finish it," wrote Burne-Jones, "it will be like a pocket cathedral-so full of design and I think Morris the greatest master of ornament in the world." The first two of the 438 books printed were presented to Morris and Burne-Jones in June 1896. Morris, who had been in declining health for several years, died four months later. Burne-Jones would survive him by less than two years. This colouring book's images are from a copy of the Kelmscott Chaucer in the collection of The British Library, which houses more than 150 million items representing every age of written civilization.

This book contains the introduction, glossary and indexes for the complete works of the well-known English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, considered one of the world's foremost and influential poets of all time. A lovely read for all the family, this collection deserves a place on the bookshelf of every home.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.

100 pages of beautiful copyright-free tailpieces, decorative letters, elaborate floral borders and frames, samples of body type, and all 98 delicate woodcut illustrations. A magnificent capsulation of fine printing beauty for browsing or for use by commercial artists.

"The Kelmscott Chaucer is widely held to be one of the most magnificent printed books ever produced. For forty years Morris and Burne-Jones had worked together on a variety of projects: this was their last and greatest venture. The book describes the growth of the monumental Chaucer from a more modest concept through its many production problems to its final form on publication in 1896. The author also traces the development of the ideas for the illustrations which were suggested by the text and modified by practical concern for page layout and reproduction quality. There are a number of illustrations of designs which Burne-Jones made but never used. The final drawings from which ink interpretations were made and the woodblocks engraved are reproduced to facsimile standards. There are a number of reproductions of the engravings themselves, and several of the full decorated pages are shown."--book jacket.