12th March 2019
In 1891, William Morris rented a cottage near Kelmscott House and set up three printing presses. These formed the Kelmscott Press where Morris and the Press team designed, printed and manufactured beautifully intricate editions of over fifty books which equalled 18,000 volumes. The images within this blog were kindly sent to us by our friends at the William Morris Society and are photos from editions; ‘News from Nowhere’, ‘Nature of Gothic’ and ‘Well at the World’s End.’
Morris is famed for his interest in all the details and during this time of the Victorian industrialisation, he was passionate about keeping the traditional methods of craftsmanship and artistry. Printing books was no different and before he set up the press he was interested in fine books and their printing – it makes sense when you remember that he was a writer himself. In fact, during his lifetime he was actually best known as a poet. The medieval works that he was a fan of were full of intricate details and illustrations that you can see on the photos below. The books that he printed included the works of Shelley, Keats and Tennyson to name a few – as well as his own work of course.
It goes without saying that books such as these, printed and bound with such precision and care were expensive. The Kelmscott Press had typefaces designed by Morris himself, he made his own paper and each page was printed by hand. The result is stunning but of course, the cost was high to be able to enjoy these works. They’re works of art in their own right and are made to be treated as such. Each page is meant to be read slowly, to view the details of the designs that surround it – it’s not just the words that are important here but everything that has made up the book. We don’t appreciate these in modern books but you can see how the below builds that relationship between words and art and really makes the words more treasured as an art form as they should be.
The knowledge he already had at this time of block printing as well as his talent at calligraphy ensured his success as a type designer – at the Kelmscott Press he designed three type faces named, “Chaucer,” “Golden” and “Troy.” He was hugely inspired by 15th Century type when he designed all three fonts and studied them to see how they overcame the difficulties with using such delicate and intricate lettering.
He made over 600 designs for these borders, title pages and inscriptions throughout the final years of his life. As always, he made his work to impeccable standards – using pure linen rag instead of paper to model it on 15th century Bolognese paper. The ink used named from Jaenecke (a German firm.) He wanted to make his own but gave up on the idea because he wanted to be absolutely sure of the quality of ingredients and their longevity.
The Kelmscott Press was one of the last projects Morris worked on before his death in 1896. The Kelmscott Press was, of course, named after his beloved country house, Kelmscott Manor. You can see below the actual Press, a photo sent to us by friends at the William Morris Society.
Posted in News by Laura
For the keen baker or chef, a beautiful oven glove is such a perfect Christmas gift 🫶🏻🎄 This is our beautiful William Morris Daisy design ✨
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Black Friday Giveaway! ✨ We thought we’d do a fun little giveaway of a bundle of half metres of our licensed William Morris fabrics to celebrate there being 20% off our entire website for Black Friday! 🤎 Whether you want to win them to create some beautiful crafts or to give to your favourite quilter and crafter this Christmas, we hope you enter! 🎄
To enter, just:
- make sure you’re following us
- like this post
- tag everyone you think would love this prize (every comment is an entry)
- for an extra entry, share on your stories
Winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday 4th December so be quick to enter! 🫶🏻
What’s included; a half metre of Blue Strawberry Thief, Pimpernel Green, Willow Bough blue, Sweet Briar, Brother Rabbit blue and Daisy, all cotton fabric 🪡🧵
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We made these little Christmas trees using our Morris fabrics a few years ago and this year altered them from a garland to ornaments for our tree 🎄 Aren’t they so cute, they add so much colour ✨
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How to fold our favourite napkin fold of the year- a Christmas tree! 🎄 Super easy but super effective, we love putting it on the plates to lay the table with some little chocolate coins slotted in as if they’re baubles! 🎄✨ Will you try this napkin fold? ✨
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Can’t stop posting this Christmas table set up 🎄 Christmas table florals have our heart! 🫶🏻
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#flowerarranging #yorkshirebusiness #williammorris #williammorrisdesign #mallow #flowersmakethehome #florals #christmasflorals #christmastable
Free gift wrap? Oh go on then! 🎁 From now until Christmas, if you message us immediately after ordering with your order number and your gift wrap message (optional!) we will wrap your order for free ✨ We just want to make Christmas as easy as possible for everyone so if you find wrapping a faff, want us to write the tag to keep secret Santa a suprise or you’d like to send the gift straight to your loved one, we’re here to help 🎄 From our website straight under the tree, spend more time enjoying Christmas and less trying to find the sellotape 👏🏼
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Did you know all our fabrics are printed in the UK and all our products manufactured in the UK too? 🇬🇧 We hope you enjoy shopping small this Christmas 🎄✨
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We think you’d be very popular if you made one of these beautiful Morris advent calendars for your loved ones! 🫶🏻 So easy to make, let us know if you would like a tutorial on how to make your own using our Morris fabric🎄
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Isn’t this time of year so beautiful, we love our candle table floral arrangement, perfect for dressing up for dinner or down for hot chocolates! ☕️🍫
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We love the idea of setting the table with a little stocking gift hanging from everyone’s chair ✨
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We absolutely love setting the table this time of year, aren’t Christmas tablescapes so magical ✨ This central floral arrangement is the star of the show this week 🫶🏻🕯️ Anyone want a tutorial on how to fold these Christmas tree napkins? 🎄
On the table; William Morris Mallow Wine pvc fabric and matching napkins ✨
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Beautiful Strawberry Thief ovengloves are back in stock! 🍓 A perfect Christmas gift, remember you can always gift wrap your items at checkout to make Christmas a little easier, then either send it to yourself or we’ll write the tag with your message and send it straight to your loved one 🥰
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Christmas tablescapes are a go! ✨ Our Brother Rabbit blue pvc fabric and napkins are on the table and look so beautiful paired with our dressed up garland! 🎄 If you’re planning your Christmas table, remember there’s 20% off everything right now with code: floralfriday at checkout 🌿
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Every Morris lovers best friend needs one of our new beautiful dog bandanas! 🐾 Hand made in Yorkshire, aren’t they adorable! 🐕🦺
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Beautiful Willow Bough, one of our all time fave Morris designs 🌿 The matching set is a beautiful Christmas gift to brighten up their home all year! 🫧 20% off now for Black Friday too if you use code; floralfriday 🌷
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Yippee it’s here! ✨ Use code: FLORALFRIDAY at checkout on our website only for 20% off everything - including sale items! 🫧
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Get ready for flower arranging class with us 🌷 Our beautiful Willow Bough William Morris pvc apron is perfect to protect your outfit from splashes when cooking, crafting or cutting your stems! 🌿🫶🏻
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We couldn’t resist another pic of our bonfire night set up! 🫶🏻 our PVC fabric is such a popular option for the table as it’s wipe clean, so any spills can just be quickly fixed 🫧 We wouldn’t reccomend lighting sparklers in the house or over your tablecloth though! 🙃
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🎆 Take 15% off our whole website for 48 hours only using code: BONFIRE at checkout 🔥 (we’ve also launched gift sets including half metre gift sets for the quilters and crafters in your life, you get a half metre free when you purchase the set and they come gift wrapped… this is is soft launching Christmas Incase everyone says we’re too early.. but also our Christmas trees are already up so we’re ready to talk about it when you are? Let us know?) 🎄
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Had to video us cutting beautiful William Morris Willow Bough today, this heavyweight fabric is off to be made into curtains, it’ll look so stunning! 🫶🏻 If you’d like a free sample just let us know ☺️
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