library session 2/10/2014 – Emily Benton private press movement Book production, along with so many other things, had become highly mechanised during the . The that ensued led to private presses reviving the craft of book making. They sourced hand-made , high quality inks, and often designed their own typefaces. kelmscott press

Kelmscott Press (Founded by 1834–96) published Morris was inspired by medievel illuminated manuscripts. He editions between 1890–1896. It was located in and designed all the decorations and capitals himself, but illustrations named after Kelmscott village (or Kelmscott House) in Oxfordshire, were mostly carried out by Edward Burne-Jones and others. He where Morris live beofre moving to Hammersmith. The press nearly always used English blue Holland paper for the bindings. ceased to function beyond his death in 1896. Morris was known as a socialist, and a decent employer, often Kelmscott Press published 66 volumes in seven years. The first of organising outings for his employees and paying them above average which was The Story of the Glittering Plain, a fantasy novel written wages for the time. This mentality spread amongst other private by Morris himself. presses, many who took their business inspiration from Morris.

‘I began printing books with the hope of producing some which would have a definite claim to beauty, while at the same time they should be easy to read and should not dazzle the eye, or trouble The Golden Legend of Master William Caxton the intellect of the reader by eccentricity of form in the letters.’ Done Anew Published September 1892. William Caxton’s Golden Legend originally published 1483. Wood engraved illustrations designed by Burne-Jones. Woodcut borders and ornamental initial letters designed by Morris. Engraved by William Harcourt Hooper. 500 copies. UIN: bll01001839374

The tale of the Emperor Coustans and of Over sea Published August 1894. Translated out of ancient French into English by William Morris. Ornamental initial capitals all designed by William Morris. Chaucer type on Batchelor handmade paper. 525 paper copies and 20 vellum copies. UIN: bll01000769200

The Shepheardes Calender: conteyning twelve aeglogues, proportionable to the twelve monethes. Published October 1896. Written by Edmund Spenser. Ornamental initial capitals designed by Gaskin, and printed from blocks made by Walker & Boutall. , on Batchelor handmade paper. UIN: bll01003461796

Two Kelmscott Press Colophons, designed by Morris. (Below) Found in The Well at the World’s End, 1896. doves press and bindery

Cobden-Sanderson and set up the Doves Bindery in 1893 which was named after the nearby Doves Tavern in Hammersmith. The bindery bound many of theKelmscott Press books. In 1901 the bindery explanded to incorporate the press, Doves Press. Walker, Cobden-Sanderson and Sydney Cockerell created a new typeface for the Press (based on Nicolas Jenson’s Roman type). Doves Press books look different to most private press books of the time becuase of their stark simplicity, their lack of decoration. Edward Johnston and Graily Hewitt designed the capitals, adding hand-drawn flourishes sparingly. The two sides of the business produced drastically different products... DovesPress books were simply bound in vellum, where Doves Bindery books were often ornate and elaborate. The partnership between Cobden-Sanderson and Walker dissolved in 1908 and In 1909 they drew up an agreement regarding the use of the typefaces.

‘Cobden-Sanderson was allowed to continue to use it, and ownership would go to whoever outlived the other. But Cobden- Sanderson broke the agreement with a dramatic gesture. In 1916 he began to throw bits of the type into the Thames at Hammersmith Bridge.’

They were luxury goods, relatively expensive to produce and to buy. The books often had short print runs and were of classics that were already widely available. By the 1930s the market dwindled due to the depression. A very good resource for information these presses can be found at www.artsandcraftsmuseum.org.uk

The English Bible. Containing the Old Testament & The New Translated Out of the Original Tongues by Special Command of His Majesty King James the First And Now Reprinted With the Text Revised by a Collation of Its Early and Other Principal Editions and Edited by the Late Rev. F.H. Scrivener M.A. LL.D. for the Syndics of the Bible 1903–5

500 copies of five volumes on one press with one compositor. Vol. 1: opening line, and initials to each book, printed in red. Edited by F.H. Scrivener Composed by J.H. Mason UIN: BLL01000314742

Cobden–Sanderson and Walker at Doves Press. bremer presse (1911–1939)

The Bremer Presse was founded in Bremen in 1911 (moving to Munich on 1924), taking as its model the Doves Press. It was conducted by Willy Wiegand, just like the Doves Press, rejected ornament (except for initials) and relied upon carefully chosen types and perfect presswork. They published in German, Greek and English, and were known to publish in response to Doves Press publications, for example Bremer Presse produced a Faust in response to the Doves Press Faust which was issued in two parts in 1906 and 1910. Initials were often produced by Anna Simons and binding by Frieda Thiersch. Typefaces produced include Bremer Presse Roman (1912, Willy Wiegand, matrices cut by Louis Höll), and Bremer Antiqua type. Images of many rare Bremer Presse books can be found at www.ssrbooks.com

La divina commedia Published by Bremer Presse in 1921 Original author: Dante Alighieri, 1265–1321. Title and initials drawn by Anna Simons. Edition of 300 copies.

Der arme Heinrich Publishished by Bremer Presse, in Munich in 1925. Author: Hartmann in the 12th cent. Title and initials drawn throughout by Anna Simons. Edition of 200 copies.

BREMER PRESSE. AUGUSTINE. De Civitate Dei. Munich, Bremer Presse. 1925 erangy press (1894)

After deciding to move to England from in 1890, Lucien Pissarro met William Morris (who started Kelmscott Press in 1894). Pissarro and his wife were inspired to start their own private press back in France, which he named after the village Eragny-Sur-Epte, where his family were from. Lucien was the typesetter, designer, and cutter of woodblock illustrations. His wife was responsible for the . Rickets at the Vale Press lent them his Vale type and when the Vale Press closed Eragny press began to use Brook type. Eragny press produced around 30 books in total. Other Eragny Press publications at MERL; Song from Zapolya (1904). The little school : a posy of rhymes, by T. Sturge Moore (1905).

Christabel, Kubla Khan, Fancy in nubibus and Song from Zapolya Poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Hammersmith. Eragny Press, 1904. Around 100 years after they were originally published. Frontispiece designed and engraved on wood by Lucien Pissarro; border and initial letters, designed by Lucien and engraved by Esther Pissarro. Christabel is a long narrative poem by Coleridge, in two parts. Written in 1797 and 1800. Kubla Khan is a poem first published in 1816. Fancy in nubibus a short poem written in 1819. Song from Zapolya. Zapolya is a play written by Coleridge in 1817 and the title of the book refers to one of the songs from this play.

Eragny Press . Charles Perrault: Histoire de Peau d’ane; printed by Lucien Pissaro at the Eragny Press