Tagged: fine printing

Kelmscottiana: Books Owned and Published by William Morris

Special Collections and University Archives has recently enlarged its holdings of materials related to British designer William Morris (1834-1896), including the purchase of two printed leaves from Kelmscott Press’s The works of Geoffrey Chaucer and the cataloguing of a sixteenth century book printed by Wynken de Worde that was previously part of Morris’s personal library at Kelmscott House.

Ex libris: From the library of William Morris

Bookplate
[Bookplate on interior cover, Andrew Chertsey, The floure of the commaundementes of god (London: Wynken de Worde, 1510), BV4655 .F55 1510, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.]
During recent conservation work, staff noted the presence of William Morris’s bookplate in a copy of Andrew Chertsey’s translated Floure of the commandments of God (ESTC S117724). The notable printer Wynken de Worde (d. 1534) printed this book at his London print shop on Fleet Street on September 13, 1510. The text was translated from the French La fleur des commandements de Dieu (1496), and it recounts stories of disobedient behavior and terrible punishments, with the aim to frighten readers into virtuous living. The bookseller’s description is tipped in on the inside cover which states that, “every story almost, partakes of the marvellous to a greater or less extent, and as persuasives they should prove successful, provided of course the receptive mind had a little of the 15th century credulity in such matters.”

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Library Acquires a Doves Bible Leaf on Vellum

Special Collections and University Archives has recently acquired a printed leaf from a vellum copy of the esteemed Doves Press English Bible.

This leaf from the first book of Chronicles (p. 119-120, vol. II) is an excellent example of the fine presswork and craftsmanship of Arts and Crafts bookmaking, an international art movement that emulated forms and decorations of the past and championed social and economic reform.

Doves Press was founded in 1900 by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker, a bookbinder and photo-engraver respectively. The works of the Doves Press and earlier established Doves Bindery were aligned with the overall aim of reviving fine printing and bookmaking of the past. Cobden-Sanderson did not adhere as closely to the Medieval codex model as his famous contemporary, William Morris and the Kelmscott Press. Morris wanted to copy the scribal tradition wherein the two-column design, illumination and rubrication was used. In Cobden-Sanderson’s idealized book, he sought to create a work that elegantly wove typography, printing, and binding together.

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