William Morris
Artist, Writer, Socialist

This two-volume work, first published in 1936, illuminates the artistic, literary and political passions of a Victorian polymath.

May Morris (Author)

9781108054614, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 25 October 2012

690 pages, 4 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.9 cm, 1 kg

A tireless champion of her father William, and a gifted designer and craftswoman in her own right, Mary (May) Morris (1862–1938) had a unique insight into his extraordinary career and creativity. It was she who undertook the exacting task of editing the twenty-four volumes of her father's collected works (also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection). In 1936, towards the end of her life, she published this supplementary two-volume work, which includes further writings and sympathetic commentary, revealing 'the development of a mind which was singularly of one piece, however many-sided'. Volume 1 addresses William Morris' artistic and literary achievements. It contains May's introductory remarks and chapters of analysis, nearly fifty miscellaneous pieces by Morris on arts and crafts, items of verse juvenilia, several poems of the Earthly Paradise period, two translations from Icelandic, and several letters.

Part I. The Art of William Morris: Introduction
1. The spring-time of the firm
2. Morris as a designer
3. Morris and his circle
4. Morris as an inspiration
5. Arts and crafts
Papers chiefly on art and the crafts
Part II. William Morris as a Writer: Introduction
1. Experiment
2. Dramatic verse
3. Narrative poetry
4. Love Is Enough
5. The influence of the north
6. Later years
Juvenilia
Poems of the 'Earthly Paradise' period
From the Icelandic
Appendix.

Subject Areas: The arts: general issues [AB]