The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer now newly imprinted.
[Hammersmith: Printed by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press, 1896]. London: The Folio Society, 2002.
Large folio (16 3/8 x 11 3/8 inches; 415 x 288 mm.). [4, blank], ii, [2], 554, [1, limitation], [1, blank] pp. Printed in black and red in William Morris's Chaucer type, with titles of the longer poems in Troy type, the text arranged in double columns and edited by F.S. Ellis. Illustrated throughout with eighty-seven magnificent woodcuts after the designs of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, redrawn by Robert Catterson-Smith and engraved by W. H. Hooper, together with the celebrated woodcut title-page, fourteen variously repeated ornamental borders, eighteen repeated frames, twenty-six large decorative initial words, numerous smaller initials, and Morris's famous printer's device. The decorative woodcuts were engraved by C. E. Keates, W. H. Hooper, and W. Spielmeyer. Guard sheet between title and first text leaf. Both volumes housed in the original blue cloth clamshell case with cream morocco spine label lettered in gilt. Clamshell with only minor wear and light soiling to the lower spine; the book itself in fine condition.
§ An extraordinary achievement in modern fine printing and bookbinding. Printed by Cambridge University Press for The Folio Society and completed on 20 February 2002, this magnificent edition is widely regarded as the finest facsimile ever produced of William Morris's Kelmscott Chaucer. Every aspect of the original masterpiece - its monumental format, typography, illustrations, paper, and sumptuous binding—has been recreated with remarkable fidelity. Issued in a strictly limited edition of only 1,010 copies, of which just 1,000 were offered for sale, this is copy number 125.
The Kelmscott Chaucer occupies a unique position in the history of the printed book. Published in 1896 in an edition of only 425 copies on paper and 13 on vellum, it represents the crowning achievement of William Morris's Kelmscott Press and the supreme expression of the Arts and Crafts movement. Morris united typography, illustration, ornament, paper, and binding into a harmonious whole unequaled in the history of private press printing. As Gordon N. Ray observed, it is "not only the most important of the Kelmscott Press's productions; it is also one of the great books of the world."
Rather than producing a simple photographic facsimile, The Folio Society undertook one of the most ambitious acts of modern fine printing ever attempted. Every significant feature of Morris's masterpiece was painstakingly recreated-from the specially manufactured laid paper and monumental page size to the intricate Burne-Jones illustrations and the sumptuous Cobden-Sanderson binding. The result is not merely a reproduction but a remarkable tribute to the original, preserving with extraordinary fidelity both its visual magnificence and its physical presence.
Original Kelmscott Chaucers have long been among the great trophies of nineteenth-century book collecting, with fine examples today commanding well into six figures. This magnificent Folio Society edition offers perhaps the closest experience possible to owning Morris's masterpiece without entering that rarified market. Produced with exceptional scholarship, craftsmanship, and attention to detail, it stands not simply as the finest facsimile of the Kelmscott Chaucer ever published, but as one of the outstanding achievements of modern book production in its own right.
References (original 1896 edition): Peterson A40; Ray, The Illustrator and the Book in England, p. 258; Ransom, p. 329; Sparling 40; Tomkinson 40; Waldorf 40; The Clark Library, pp. 46-48; The Artist & the Book 45. Item #127168
Price: $3,750.00