{"id":54288,"date":"2026-10-13T16:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T20:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/?p=54288"},"modified":"2026-10-15T12:45:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T16:45:31","slug":"exhibition-explores-the-legacy-of-english-designer-william-morris-and-the-kelmscott-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/2026\/10\/exhibition-explores-the-legacy-of-english-designer-william-morris-and-the-kelmscott-press\/","title":{"rendered":"Exhibition explores the legacy of English designer William Morris and the Kelmscott Press"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Portrait
Portrait of William Morris by F. Hollyer. Pickford Robert Waller collection on William Morris and the Kelmscott Press (MA-26-01)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When English designer William Morris died at the age of 62 in October 1896, his physician stated that the cause of his death was \u201csimply being William Morris, and having done more work than most ten men.\u201d The University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Archives and Rare Books Library are currently celebrating the life of Morris and his many roles \u00a0— \u00a0designer 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 \u2013 with an exhibition entitled “The Ideal Book: William Morris and the Kelmscott Press” in Blegen Library now through February 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of artists and critics of the mid-19th<\/sup> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"image
Morris & Co. catalog for wallpaper designs. Pickford Robert Waller collection on William Morris and the Kelmscott Press (MA-26-01)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The exhibition touches upon Morris\u2019 life; the founding of his design firm, Morris & Co.; and his interest in socialism, while focusing on the founding of the Kelmscott Press, Morris\u2019 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\u2019 goal was nothing less than to produce the \u201cideal book.\u201d With a dislike for the mechanization of printing during that time, Morris and his associates found inspiration in 15th<\/sup> century book traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Archives and Rare Books Library preserves a small, but growing set of Kelmscott titles<\/a> as well as pamphlets and books by Morris and manuscript materials<\/a> about Morris. Stop by the fourth floor lobby of Blegen Library to view the exhibition and contact us at archives@ucmail.uc.edu<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI began printing books with the hope of producing some which would have a definite claim to beauty\u2026.
–W. Morris, \u201cThe Ideal Book\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n

\n
\"opening
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<\/em> [Z232.M87 M7]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When English designer William Morris died at the age of 62 in October 1896, his physician stated that the cause of his death was \u201csimply being William Morris, and having done more work than most ten men.\u201d The University of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,600,31,13],"tags":[2358,1466,3119],"class_list":["post-54288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arb","category-special-collections-2","category-uc","category-uclibraries","tag-archives-and-rare-books","tag-exhibitions","tag-william-morris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/462"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54288"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54314,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54288\/revisions\/54314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}