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NEW YORK — In the publishing world, the Kelmscott Press was in operation for a mere blip’s worth of time, only publishing 50-some books between 1891-1898. Yet these elegantly appointed books with lavish pictorial decorations, typefaces and fine bindings have been collectors’ favorites ever since.
An influential figure in the Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris had a lifelong interest in how books were printed and designed. In the late 1880s he established the Kelmscott Press to develop what he called the ideal book — a tome that would be easy to read, but also a work of art.
“Morris immersed himself in every aspect of book production and gave careful consideration to the materials used,” notes the Wiliam Morris Society on its website, adding that Kelmscott Press titles were only printed on Albion hand-printing presses instead of modern presses. “This was because Morris initially assumed the Press would be a small operation, only of interest to himself and a small set of friends and colleagues.”
Morris could not have been more wrong. Book collectors avidly seek out Kelmscott Press titles, especially ones owned by Morris himself.
The Kelmscott Press, established by Morris as his final creative endeavor, was heavily influenced by the Gothic Revival movement and set out to produce books in the way they had been produced by hand in the 15th century, explained Gretchen Hause, the vice president and director of the Books & Manuscripts department at Hindman in Chicago. “The Kelmscott Press is considered the founder of the contemporary Fine Press movement, and they focused on the craft and design of the production of books. Works published by the Kelmscott Press were elaborately decorated but produced simply, of superior materials, contributing to their broad commercial appeal today.”
The Kelmscott Press market has been very strong in recent years, she said, adding, “Competitive bidding has driven prices to new levels in the market, leading to an uptick in the category across the board.”
One of Kelmscott’s most important titles was the 1896 release of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, a copy of which sold for £48,000 ($58,311) plus the buyer’s premium in February 2023 at Lyon & Turnbull. The book, one of 425 copies, took two years to print and Morris was in ill health by the time it appeared. It had “an unparalleled influence on book design and typography throughout the following century,” according to Lyon & Turnbull’s catalog description.
Most books are printed on paper, but select Kelmscott titles were also printed on vellum, and these are very much in demand. One example is Sydney C. Cockerell’s Some German Woodcuts of the Fifteenth Century, printed in 1897 on vellum. It brought $44,000 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2019 at Hindman. “Of the 233 copies of this work that were printed, only eight copies were printed on vellum. Further, this book was in a very rare variant binding produced by the Kelmscott Press, presumably for one of their most important clients,” Hause said. “The condition of the copy was superlative, and the signature of William Morris, the founder of the Kelmscott Press, was accomplished on a small slip of paper and tipped into the book.”
Morris carefully chose which titles to publish, selecting those he personally liked to read and keep, so it’s little surprise that historically important authors such as Shakespeare would make the cut. A copy of The Poems of William Shakespeare realized $14,000 plus the buyer’s premium in October 2022 at Potter & Potter Auctions.
Christopher D. Brink, director and senior specialist in the Fine Books & Manuscripts department at Potter & Potter Auctions, Inc. in Chicago, explains that the house has numerous clients who collect for various reasons. “Fine press is a bit different in that bidders buy the book for its production as opposed to what the author wrote. Some enjoy how the letterpress feels when they glide their fingers across a page. Some enjoy the weight of the bright hand-made paper with its large margins, which makes the text easier to read and is memorable when one turns the page. Others collect a fine press book for the master bindery work that is well-thought out and matches the artistry of the printing,” he said. “Kelmscott embodies all of these traits, but was the first to really do so, which is why they are the most sought-after of all the fine presses from the Arts and Crafts movement. The latter is what made Kelmscott’s Poems of Shakespeare desirable.”
As noted above, a Kelmscott book instantly becomes more valuable if it is one of Morris’s personal copies, such as his 1893 copy of Gothic Architecture: A Lecture for the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, which brought $12,000 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2019 at Hindman.
“This copy of this work is one of 45 copies printed on vellum of a total edition of 1,545, and is bound in a plain Kelmscott Press binding,” Hause said. “What makes this copy special is that it was William Morris’s own copy, with his signature and bookplate. A copy of a Kelmscott work in an original binding will always be appealing to collectors in the category, but the copy of the book belonging to the founder of the press is an ‘ultimate copy’ — that provenance led to the strong price realized.”
An 1893 copy of a Morris-written tract, News from Nowhere Or, an Epoch of Rest, Being Some Chapters from a Utopian Romance, owned by Thomas B. Mosher, another Arts and Crafts proponent, went out at $9,500 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2023 at PBA Galleries. The woodcut frontispiece designed by Charles March Gere depicts Kelmscott Manor, Morris’s country home, for which he named the press.
Kelmscott Press’s final book, A Note On His Aims in Founding the Kelmscott Press Together with a Short Description of the Press & An Annotated List of the Books Printed Thereat, written by Morris and one of 525 copies printed on Flower paper, earned £3,800 ($4,614) plus the buyer’s premium in May 2022 at Forum Auctions.
Much of the appeal of Kelmscott Press books is that they are superlative examples of fine press printing, which collectors still adore. “The fine press book market has shown strength in recent years,” Hause said. “And simply put, Kelmscotts are among the most beautiful examples that can be acquired.”
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