Exhibition explores the legacy of English designer William Morris and the Kelmscott Press

Portrait of English designer William Morris.
Portrait of William Morris by F. Hollyer. Pickford Robert Waller collection on William Morris and the Kelmscott Press (MA-26-01)

When English designer William Morris died at the age of 62 in October 1896, his physician stated that the cause of his death was “simply being William Morris, and having done more work than most ten men.” The University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Archives and Rare Books Library are currently celebrating the life of Morris and his many roles  —  designer of stained glass, tapestries, wallpaper, chintzes, furniture, books, and typefaces, as well as preservationist, socialist, poet, novelist, lecturer, calligrapher, translator of Icelandic and English sagas, and founder of the Kelmscott Press – with an exhibition entitled “The Ideal Book: William Morris and the Kelmscott Press” in Blegen Library now through February 2027.

Associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of artists and critics of the mid-19th century, Morris went on to become a leading figure in the later Arts and Crafts movement. His great passions in life were design, aesthetics, and the production and preservation of cultural heritage. Morris was an incredibly detailed and thorough designer and craftsman, but he was motivated not by the end product itself, but rather by the values represented in their making.

image of a catalog for the company Morris & Company
Morris & Co. catalog for wallpaper designs. Pickford Robert Waller collection on William Morris and the Kelmscott Press (MA-26-01)

The exhibition touches upon Morris’ life; the founding of his design firm, Morris & Co.; and his interest in socialism, while focusing on the founding of the Kelmscott Press, Morris’ most enduring legacy, which produced 52 hand-printed books from 1891 to 1898. The Kelmscott Press was founded after Morris attended a lecture by printer Emery Walker in November 1888, and Morris’ goal was nothing less than to produce the “ideal book.” With a dislike for the mechanization of printing during that time, Morris and his associates found inspiration in 15th century book traditions.

The Archives and Rare Books Library preserves a small, but growing set of Kelmscott titles as well as pamphlets and books by Morris and manuscript materials about Morris. Stop by the fourth floor lobby of Blegen Library to view the exhibition and contact us at archives@ucmail.uc.edu to learn more about our Morris and Kelmscott holdings. We also wish to thank our colleagues at the DAAP Library for lending some of their holdings for display in the exhibition.

“I began printing books with the hope of producing some which would have a definite claim to beauty….
–W. Morris, “The Ideal Book”

opening pages of a book printed by the Kelmscott Press showing an illustration on the left side and text on the right, both within decorative borders.
The last book printed at the Kelmscott Press, which was sold by the trustees of William Morris. Note by William Morris on His Aims in Founding the Kelmscott Press [Z232.M87 M7]

 “America 250: Cincinnati in Transit(ion)” exhibition now open at the ARB

Postcard in color of "Island Queen" steamboat in the moonlight and being reflected off the river with the city skyline in the background.
“Island Queen at Moonlight” postcard, undated. From the Nelson and Florence Hoffman Cincinnati Postcard Collection US-12-03, Archives and Rare Books Library.

“America 250: Cincinnati in Transit(ion)” is an exploration of Cincinnati’s growth and transit transformation from its founding in 1788 to the present day. Over the last two hundred and thirty-eight years, Cincinnati has journeyed from steamboats to railroads, to interstate highways, and to international airports. The exhibition can be viewed inside and outside the Archive and Rare Book’s Library Reading Room in Blegen Library.

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Classics Library fall events: Talk and exhibition to usher in the ‘spooky’ season and a Greek music performance!

September 19 at 12:30 pm at The Klau Library, Hebrew Union College
Talk and Exhibition about “Imaginary Creatures” in literature and art from antiquity to the renaissance.

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She-Wolf Exhibition in the Burnam Classics Library, November 3

Place: Eden Park and the John Miller Burnam Classics Library, UC.
When: November 3. 1. Dedication ceremony in Eden Park at 10:00 am; 2. Exhibition in the Burnam Classics Library after the ceremony.

Exhibition and Dedication Ceremony: In connection with the dedication of the new She-Wolf nursing Romulus (the eponymous founder of ancient Rome) and Remus in Eden Park on November 3, 2023, at 10:00 am (rescheduled from October 20), the John Miller Burnam Classics Library is hosting an exhibition featuring ancient texts about the story underlying the statue, Roman original coins depicting the scene, and photos and a video of the making of the new statue in Tuscany, Italy, before its transport to Cincinnati, and posters with newspaper clippings and other historical materials from the late 1920s and early 1930s concerning the gift of the statue to the City of Cincinnati, the gifting of a “wrong” baby wolf, the explanation of its location in Eden Park, and much more.

Parking: Please plan to visit the Burnam Library after the dedication ceremony. Parking in Cincinnati is always an issue because there are few public transportation options. For the dedication ceremony, plan to arrive at 9:30 am and park at the Krohn Conservatory and walk to Eden Park. For the exhibition, look for parking along Straight Street opposite the Blegen Library building and above, i.e., south of, McMillan Street at the top of Clifton Avenue. There is also metered parking along Clifton Avenue.

Lemonade: Will be served outside the Blegen Library building if it’s a sunny day; inside the lobby if it rains. While enjoying a glass of lemonade, note the Lupa with twins on a relief on the pylon beneath the roof and above the outside entrance to the Blegen building from the 1930s, inspired by the Eden Park statue, which in turn was modeled on a statue now housed in the Capitoline Museums in Rome, Italy.

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“An Evening with Seneca,” October 5, 4:00-6:15 pm

“An Evening with Seneca,” October 5, 4:00-6:15 pm
  • After a hiatus because of a pandemic, the John Miller Burnam Classics Library is poised to host its third annual author celebration. The honoree this year is Seneca the Younger, author, politician, and Stoic philosopher. We aim to vary the format each year adapted to the author honored. With that in mind, this year we have organized a panel with leading experts on Seneca (James Romm, Bard, Gareth Williams, Columbia, Christopher Trinacty, Oberlin) discussing the curious case of a man promulgating a philosophy of mindfulness and reason while seemingly condoning the murderous behavior of a madman, Emperor Nero, whose advisor and amicus he was.
  • The panel is followed by a presentation of an interdepartmental group of undergraduate students and their participation in an experiment entailing living like a Stoic for one week.
  • As usual, there will be a music performance, this time with chamber music, and, also true to tradition, under the leadership of Yo Shionoya, a DMA candidate at CCM and long-time student worker in the Classics Library, who has chosen to perform works by Dmitri Shostakovich, a composer who had to balance his creative voice with the demands of another madman, Joseph Stalin.
  • Also, as customary, there will be an exhibition featuring rare books, this time of the works of Seneca from the 16th and 17th centuries (below is a 1651 edition of his philosophical works), an incunabulum of the works of Tacitus, a chief source for the life of Seneca,
“An Evening with Seneca,” October 5, 4:00-6:15 pm

an original copper coin of Emperor Nero (the copper as below from 65 CE of Nero on the obverse and the closed door to the temple of Janus, symbolizing peace, on the reverse. The phrase S[ENATVS] – C[ONSVLTO on the reverse shows that the issuing of money was still the prerogative of the Senate),

“An Evening with Seneca,” October 5, 4:00-6:15 pm

and a reception serving Mediterranean appetizers.

“An Evening with Seneca,” October 5, 4:00-6:15 pm
  • For a special treat, Professor Romm will be signing his best-seller, Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero.
“An Evening with Seneca,” October 5, 4:00-6:15 pm

Place: Reading Room, John Miller Burnam Classics Library, Blegen Library building, 2602 University Circle, off of Clifton Ave.
Date: October 5, 2023
Time: 4:00 – c. 6:15 pm

For additional details, please download the program, flyer, and post below.

Two New Exhibitions in the Reading Room

There are two new exhibitions in the Classics Library’s Reading Room:

One is to highlight our Modern Greek collection. Among the gems on display are, for example: Έρμῆς ὁ λόγιος (1811-21), the first journal published in “Modern Greek”; Constantine Cavafy’s Ποιήματα with the author’s signature; and Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas’ illustrations to Nikos Kazantzakis’ Ὀδύσσεια.

Two New Exhibitions in the Reading Room

Another exhibition is curated by the classics department and features Mycenaean so called psi, phi, and tau (because of their shapes resembling the Greek letters) female figurines as well as horse and other figurines dated to c. 1400-1200 BCE.

Two New Exhibitions in the Reading Room