The World Wide Web version of "William Morris and His Circle" incorporates selected images derived from the recent Ransom Center exhibit which contained over seventy-five items, including manuscripts of William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, D.G. Rossetti, examples of the Kelmscott Press's work, and four pastels by Rossetti. William Morris: Introduction Morris's Circle Morris As Socialist The Founding of the Kelmscott Press ... Links to Related Web Sites When William Morris (1834-1896) died one hundred years ago, at the age of sixty-two, his physician declared that the cause was "simply being William Morris, and having done more work than most ten men." This multi-faceted man was at one time or another (and sometimes simultaneously) a designer and manufacturer of furniture, stained glass, tapestries, wallpaper and chintzes; an accomplished weaver; a pioneering preservationist; an active Socialist and social reformer; a successful poet and novelist; and in his last years, the founder of the Kelmscott Press. Yet all of these activities were of a piece, unified by several threads in the tapestry of Morris's life. One continuity, dating from early childhood, was his love of nature, evidence of which may be found in the fond natural descriptions of his letters and poetry, the patterns of his tapestries, and the vining borders of the Kelmscott book. There was also his passionate devotion to the Middle Ages and to everything they represented; romantic Medievalism informs Morris's literary output, as well as his arts and crafts work and the books from his Kelmscott Press. | |
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