SPARLING, H. Haliday. The Kelmscott Press and William Morris. London: Macmillan and Co., 1924.
8vo. Original linen-backed paper boards; paper title label to spine; outer and lower edges untrimmed; pp. [x], 177, [2] (advertisements); with a photogravure frontispiece and plates throughout; with a second paper title label loosely inserted at the end; slight toning to linen backstrip; minimal toning to lower edge, and light bumping to extremities; a little discolouration to endpapers, and light even toning to paperstock; a very good copy.
First edition. Henry Halliday Sparling was a British socialist at the turn of the twentieth century, and assisted William Morris in editing the newspaper Commonwealth, established in 1885 by the Socialist League, which was founded by Morris. In this work, Sparling details Morris's 'The Kelmscott Press,' which was prolific in publishing books at the end of the nineteenth century. With an interest in medieval book design, The Kelmscott Press sought to replicate the style of fifteenth century printing, and its publications were a part of the Gothic revival movement. Sparling provides an in depth account of the conception of the Press, printing practices of the time, and how the Press's distinct style came into being in its printed works.
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