Manuscript Leaf from "Of the Translacion of Seynt Thomas of Caunterbury" from the Golden Legend

Poet, painter, textile and book designer, architectural preservationist, pioneering Socialist, and founder of the British Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris demonstrated astonishing intellectual and creative prowess. Revolting against mechanization, he advocated a return to traditional, hand-made techniques and a respect for the artist-craftsman. His Kelmscott Press, founded in 1891, revolutionized printed books by using handmade materials and processes, and creating harmonious relationships between text, ornament, and image. Morris's 1892 edition of The Golden Legend - a thirteenth-century chronicle of the lives of the saints - was the Press's seventh book. The translation is that of William Caxton, the first English printer; an avid collector, Morris owned a copy of Wynken de Worde's 1512 version of Caxton's Golden Legend.