From the holdings of the Archives & Rare Books Library, here are a few typical examples of the ornamentation, layout, style, and type used at the press. Many of the illustration and intricate borders were printed as woodcuts. Morris used only red and black inks and he designed three typefaces for use in the Kelmscott books: Chaucer, Troy, and Golden. All three are largely medieval in style. This look was later imitated by fine presses and commercial printers in England and the United States.

  • A black and white printers marker with a vine motif and the words "Kelmscott, sold by William Moris at the Kelmscott press"
    A later printers mark, used on large folio format books
  • William Morris' printers mark. The design included a vine motif and the words "Kelmscot" and "William Morris"
    William Morris’ printers mark, this appeared in nearly all of the books published at Kelmscott
  • A two page spread from the book "Poem Chosen Out of the Works of Robert Herrick" The book is illustrated with vine motifs over certain letters
    A spread from “Poems Chosen Out of the Works of Robert Herrick
  • A two page spread from "Child Christopher" the text is in black with text highlights in the margins in red
    A spread from “Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair,” Kelmscott Press, 1895
  • An embrodered book cover with red and pink flowers and vines
    A very rare book in the Archives and Rare Books Library collection. This copy of Sire Degrevaunt has an elaborate embroidered cover.
  • A poem with the text mainly in black but red is used as an emphasis on some words
    An instance where red is used to provide emphasis on words in the text, instead of only for subtitles and headings.
  • One page of text with a vine motif on the edges and black, blue ,and red text
    A page from “Laudes Beatae Mariae Virginius” which is very rare among Morris’s works that uses blue ink in addition to the typical black and red.
  • A title page with the word "The" illuminated with a leaf motif. The text is black with the beginning of the title in red.
    A title page from ‘The Boke of Cupid’ with an exceptionaly large illuminated word – ‘the’
  • A page of text with the margins covered in a vine illustration. The text is largely in black with the chapter title in red.
    The first page of the Waters of the Wondrous Isles’
  • A book cover that is gray with the title in block letters at the top center
    The cover of ‘Art and its Producers, and the Arts & Crafts of Today: Two Addresses Delivered Before the National Association for the Advancement of Art byy William Morris
  • A two page spread showing two people on the left page and a grape vine motif on the right page
    The title spread of ‘The Order of Chivalry’, printed on vellum
  • A two page spread with a vine motif in the margins and black block letters
    The title page spread from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s ‘Maud’
  • A two page spread with angels on the left page and text and a vine motif on the right
    This was the last book printed at the Kelmscott Press, and was sold by the trustees of William Morris
  • A two page spread with red illuminated letters
    Two poems from ‘The Love-Lyrics and Songs of Proteus’. This layout is rare because it uses red illuminates characters
  • A title page with a vine and flower motif
    Title page from ‘The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye’
  • A page with samples of three fonts in black
    Typographic samples of the three fonts William Morris designed and used at Kelmscott
  • A two page spread. The main text is in black and the margin notes are in red.
    A spread from More’s ‘Utopia’. In this case the red margin notes summarize the corresponding text