GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE: A LECTURE FOR THE ARTS AND CRAFTS EXHIBITION SOCIETY

1893 · Hammersmith

by (VELLUM PRINTING). (KELMSCOTT PRESS). MORRIS, WILLIAM

Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1893. ONE OF 45 COPIES ON VELLUM (and 1,500 on paper). FIRST STATE, with "Van Eyk" instead of "Van Eyck.. 150 x 105 mm. (5 7/8 x 4 1/8"). 1 p.l., 68 pp.
20th century black coarse-grain morocco, gilt lettering on upper cover done to match that printed on publisher's boards, vellum endleaves, edges untrimmed and UNOPENED. Housed in (later?) slipcase of marbled paper and black buckram. Woodcut initials and small woodcut decorations in the text. Headlines and sidenotes printed in red. Front flyleaf with ink inscription: "To Jo Knight / All good wishes for / 1898 from / Henry Arthur." Peterson A18; Sparling 18; Cockerell (truncated) 18; Forman 146; Tomkinson, p. 112. Naturally occurring variation in grain on vellum of final page, but AN OUTSTANDING COPY, entirely clean, bright, and obviously unread, in an unworn binding with none of the bowing or splaying that so frequently affects the covers of vellum copies.

This is a copy, in the very rare first state, of a Kelmscott Press book in the especially desirable luxury edition printed on vellum. To demonstrate the craft of hand-printing, Morris and the Kelmscott printers set up their Albion press at the 1893 Arts and Crafts Exhibition held in the New Gallery to produce copies of a lecture Morris gave to the Crafts Exhibition Society in 1889. According to Sparling, it "was printed in public, under the eyes of an interested and constantly renewed crowd, whose presence imposed a severe strain upon the pressman." Sydney Cockerell noted that it was Kelmscott's first book printed in sextodecimo (it is 150 mm. tall), and its four-line initials by Morris were used here for the first time. The earliest printings of this volume have a misspelling that was corrected during production: "Van Eyk" was amended to "Van Eyck." According to the usually very reliable Peterson, all vellum copies were in the second state, but Morris' own copy (sold as "possibly unique") and at least one other copy we have seen are in the first state. We were unable to identify the Henry Arthur who presented this copy to a friend as a New Year's gift in 1898, but we know that Henry was not ungenerous. Vellum copies at the Exhibition were sold for 10 shillings (paper copies for two shillings) and after the exhibition, the price rose to 15 shillings. The paper and vellum copies produced at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition were put in the usual Kelmscott Press bindings of holland-backed blue paper boards, with the title printed on the upper cover. Our copy has been rebound in black morocco, probably before the mid-20th century, and judging from the presence of an acute accent above the "e" in "lecture," the binding was likely done in France. It is only goatskin and lettering, but the morocco is of a high quality, and any sturdy, pleasing leather binding can be seen as a desirable alternative to the original very fragile and easily soiled holland-backed paper boards. All vellum copies of this work are scarce at auction: since 1976, we could trace just two other such copies sold. The extraordinarily fine, unread condition here makes this copy especially attractive.. (Inventory #: ST20121)

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