The Book

The Kelmscott Press and William Morris Master-Craftsman.

H. Hallyday Sparling

Published by Macmillan & Co., 1924. 1st Edition, pp.x,177 + advert.;
Illustrated with a portrait frontispiece and many fine black and white engravings of frontispieces, book illustrations, typefaces, manuscript facsimiles, border designs and more.
As Morris's assistant during the first years of the Kelmscott Press, Sparling traces the development of Morris's interest in the craft of printing, dating it to 1888, and chronicling his work with Jacobi at The Chiswick Press, with Edward P. Prince for punch cutting, W. H. Hooper for wood-engraving and his further efforts to get paper and type made to his exacting standards of craftsmanship. Four appendices include Morris's note on his aims in founding the Press, Cockerells description of the Kelmscott Press, an annotated list of the books published there, and a list of various ephemera printed at the Press.
A classic work on the Kelmscott Press.

This is a book about William Morris and the Kelmscott Press, written by one of the closest collaborators of the years of the existence of the Press: H. Hallyday Sparling. It includes some valuable image of the work of William Morris as well many interesting observations of the work of the “Master-Craftsman”
Here follow few lines of the introduction of the book by H. Hallyday Sparling written coincidentally in the ninetieth anniversary of William Morris birth at Walthamstow, March 24th, 1834.

……. Planned and written as a contribution toward towards the understanding of his work and of himself, it is based upon some ten years of intimate contact, and of wholehearted participation in many of his activities.
Assistant-editor and then co-editor of the Commonweal; aiding him in dealing with his correspondence; his companion upon many journeys; proof-reader, secretary and general handyman of the Kelmscott Press from its foundation until 1894; editing the Historyes of Troye, Reynard the Foxe, Godefrey of Boloyne, and the unfinished Froissart, under his direction, work upon Froissart ending only with his death; an adoring and eager disciple throughout, I may claim to be especially qualified as an interpreter of his teaching.

William Morris The Kelmscott Chaucer The works of Geoffrey Chaucer newly imprinted Borders and illuminated initial capital letters from the most important book of the modern age. All the borders that are in the book. 14 large borders and 17 small borders, plus 113 illuminated initial capital letters that ornate the pages of this book have been hand drawn in EPS vector format by Alfredo Malchiodi and are available as a clip art CD collection at alfredom.com.