Kelmscott Press Day is Today

125 years of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer.

On June 26th, 2021, The William Morris Society in the United States is organizing International Kelmscott Press Day, a celebration commemorating the 130th anniversary of the founding of the Kelmscott Press and the 125th anniversary of the publication of the Press’s edition of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer.

Four years in the making, with illustrations by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones and with fonts, ornaments, and layout by Morris, who oversaw every detail, the Kelmscott Chaucer, as it is commonly known, was published on June 26, 1896. It is universally considered one of the most beautiful books ever printed.

The title pages of "The works of Geoffrey Chaucer now newly imprinted", published by Kelmscott Press in 1896 in an edition of 425 copies. These pages were designed by William Morris. This copy is owned by the California State Library. Photo by Jim Heaphy.

425 copies were printed and sold at £20 each. A further 13 copies printed on vellum were priced at 120 guineas (£126), and 48 were specially bound in white pig’s skin with silver clasps.¹ 

The University of Delaware has on online exhibition curated by Mark Samuels Lasner and Alexander Johnston.

William Morris (1834-1896), arguably the greatest designer-craftsman that England has ever produced, remains a perennially topical influence – not only in the field of arts and crafts but also as a pioneer of conservation and a visionary social thinker. During his lifetime, his lectures, writing and practical example gave birth to the Arts & Crafts Movement, which advocated the vigorous regeneration of the handicrafts and an emphatic rejection of industrialism and commercialism.²

1. The Kelmscott Chaucer by William Morris. British Museum.

2. William Morris and His Influence on the Arts and Crafts Movement. Arts & Crafts Tour.