R.R. Donnelley introduced an exhibition of fine printed books thusly: “William Morris was the author of a revival of interest in fine printing in England in the 1890s. Because of his great influence on the arts of the book then and since, it is fitting that an exhibition of some of the better books of the past thirty-five years start with examples of the work of the Kelmscott Press.”

Morris’s style was widely imitated by both small print houses as well as large commercial publishers. In general, his influence was greater in revitalizing the interest in and the market for fine printing than it was in the aesthetic focus of his work.