Thomas Mosher is known as the ‘Pirate Prince of Publishers’. His first experiment in book publishing was the poem Modern Love by George Meredith, which Mosher printed without Meredith’s knowledge or approval. Mosher went on to publish 730 titles and sold his stationary business to focus on books full-time.
He reprinted several works published by Morris, even replicating the border and initial designs, the red and black color scheme, and Golden type. Though much is taken from Morris’s style, a closer look shows discrepancies. Mosher’s red ink is a different hue than Morris’s, and he does not share Morris’s care in handling and eliminating white space in the body of the text.
Title page from Mosher’s printing of Francis Thompson’s Poem 
A typical, simple Mosher cover design 
The title page from Mosher’s printing of The Defense of Guenevere 
A page from Mosher’s publication ‘Lyrics, by Arthur Symons’ 
Title page from Mosher’s printing of Francis Thompson’s Poem 
A spread from ‘The Sonnets of Micheal Angelo Buonarroti’ 
Title page from printing of Wordsworth by Mosher 
An example of Mosher’s Brocade series, with slipcover
