Printing. An essay by William Morris & Emery Walker. From "Arts & crafts essays by members of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society
Report an issue
Tell us what's wrong and we'll take a look.
Thanks – we got it. We'll review and follow up if needed.
Before a word is read, it is seen. In this luminous printing and typography essay, William Morris and Emery Walker argue for pages that honour the eye as much as the mind. Their case is simple: the book is an artefact, and its making carries meaning. Walker, a master typographer, and Morris, designer and reformer, write with the urgency of people who have made books with their hands every day too. Good printing is a pleasure. Drawn from an arts and crafts anthology, this classic essay collection piece distils the history of printing into practical, forceful ideas: clear type, generous margins, truthful ornament, and the quiet discipline behind fine press printing. It speaks to graphic design students as readily as to seasoned printers and bookbinders, bridging workshop know-how with aesthetic conviction. They show how spacing creates rhythm, why ornament must serve the text, and why readers trust pages built with restraint. Read it for its crisp account of nineteenth century typography and for its fierce defence of craftsmanship amid the pressures of Victorian England printing, where speed and cheapness threatened beauty. Morris's influence helped ignite the private press movement, and this essay sits close to the Kelmscott Press legacy: a manifesto in miniature for book typography principles that still shape how we judge a well-made page. Republished by Alpha Editions in a careful modern edition, this volume preserves the spirit of the original while making it effortless to enjoy today -- a heritage title prepared for readers and collectors alike.
William Morris
William Morris (1834-1896) was an accomplished writer, textile designer and artist. A utopian socialist, he was associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Craft Movement, and was a founding member of the Socialist League in Britain. Greatly influenced by the medieval period, Morris helped establish the modern fantasy genre though his works The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems, A Dream of John Ball, and The Well at the World’s End. Authors like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were greatly influenced by works like The House of the Wolfings, The Roots of the Mountains, and The Wood Beyond the World. Morris was also an accomplished publisher, founding the Kelmscott Press in 1891, whose 1896 edition of the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer is considered a masterpiece of book design.
More by William Morris
Why Readwise Books?
Readwise Books is an ebook & audiobook platform that automatically logs how much you and your friends read, making it fun and easy to read more. Learn more →