BOOKS BY AND ABOUT WILLIAM MORRISCompiled by Florence Boos and Mark Samuels Lasner NOTE: This a but a representative sampling of available material. We have concentrated on books which can be found in most academic libraries and, occasionally, in bookshops. The sections are arbitrary and inclusion in one does not mean that an item is not relevant to another--Morris was, after all, many-sided and impossible to categorize. Two complementary sources for further information are:
Gary L. Aho, William Morris; A Reference Guide. Boston, 1987. David and Sheila Latham, An Annotated Critical Bibliography of William Morris. London, 1991.
See also
LITERARY AND ARTISTIC WORKS BY MORRIS
The Collected Works Of William Morris, ed. May Morris. London, 1910-14. 24 vols. Contains most of Morris's writings, available in libraries in the original set or in two modern reprints. William Morris, Artist, Writer, Socialist, ed. May Morris. Oxford, 1934. 2 vols. A supplement to the collected works. Sewter, A. C.,The Stained Glass Of William Morris And His Circle. New Haven, 1975. 2 vols. Catalogue and introductory volume (illustrated) describing Morris and Co.'s stained glass. A surprising number are in the United States and in Commonwealth countries. A Book of Verse: A Facsimile of the Manuscript Written in 1870 by William Morris. London, 1981. Facsimile of calligraphic manuscript of his poems presented by Morris to Georgiana Burne-Jones. The Ideal Book: Essays and Lectures on the Arts of the Book, ed. William S. Peterson. Berkeley, 1982. Collects all of Morris's writings on books, admirably designed and available in paperback. The Collected Letters Of William Morris, ed. Norman Kelvin. Princeton, 1984-96. 4 vols. (in 5). Essential for any serious work on Morris, with full annotations and--surprisingly for a scholarly edition--well-illustrated. William Morris by Himself: Designs and Writings, ed. Gillian Naylor.New York, 1988. A Handsome "coffee table" book with excellent illustrations (some of calligraphy and Kelmscott Press books) and a generous sampling of Morris's writings. The Tables Turned, ed. Pamela Bracken Wiens. Athens, OH, 1994. Edition of Morris's socialist play. Published under the auspices of the William Morris Society in the United States. A Note by William Morris on His Aims in Founding the Kelmscott Press, enlarged and corrected version ed. by William S. Peterson. New York, 1996. Definitive edition of the last Kelmscott Press book--incorporating Morris's seminal "Note" and Cockerell's checklist and history. Issued to accompany the exhibition William Morris: The Collector as Creator. Morris’s poetry, in preparation: http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/; The Life and Death of Jason may be viewed at http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/jason.html.
Mackail, J. W., The Life of William Morris. London, 1899. 2 vols. Unrevealing life by Burne-Jones's son-in-law, gives a good picture of Morris's friends and milieu. Thompson, E. P., William Morris: Romantic to Revolutionary. London, 1955. An essential study by a social historian which for the first time places Morris in his rightful position as a founder of the socialist/communist movement in Britain. A revised reprint (1977) adds a postscript dealing with material published after 1955. Henderson, Philip, William Morris, His Life, Work, and Friends. New York, 1967. Good all-round biography, with little attention, however, to Morris as a printer. Lindsay, Jack. William Morris: His Life and Work. London: Constable, 1975. Marsh, Jan, Jane and May Morris. London, 1986. Biography of Morris's wife and daughter, both of whom had an interest in book design--Jane started her husband's friend Thomas J. Cobden-Sanderson on bookbinding; May produced several book covers. MacCarthy, Fiona, William Morris: A Life for Our Time. London, 1994. Well-written, wide-ranging, and detailed, this is the definitive biography. Attention is paid to all Morris's varied activities and the research of the last 20 years is utilized. For a review of the book click here. Coote, Stephen. William Morris: His Life and Work. Smithwark Pub., 1995.
CRITICAL STUDIES AND LITERARY WRITINGS
Baissus, Jean-Marie. William Morris, Poete. (3 tom.) Lille: Universite de Lille, 1980. Boos, Florence. The Design of William Morris' The Earthly Paradise. Nyack, New York, 1990. Boos, Florence and Carole Silvers, eds., Socialism and the Literary Artistry of William Morris. Columbia, MO, 1990. Scholarly essays on the interconnections between Morris's writings and his politics. Published under the auspices of the William Morris Society in the United States. For information from the publisher and an order form click here. Calhoun, Blue. The Pastoral Vision of William Morris: The Earthly Paradise. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1975. Evans, B. Ifor. William Morris and His Poetry. London: G. G. Harrup and Co., 1925. Faulkner, Peter. Against the Age: An Introduction to William Morris. London, 1980. An excellent short work on Morris. Faulkner, Peter. William Morris: The Critical Heritage. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973. Reviews by Morris's contemporaries with helpful introductions. Ford, George. Keats and the Victorians: A Study of His Influence and Rise to Fame, 1821-1895. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1945. "William Morris and His Masters," 149-63. Frye, Northrop. "The Meeting of Past and Future in William Morris." Studies in Romanticism 21 (1982): 303-18. Gallasch, Linda. The Use of Compounds and Archaic Diction in the Works of William Morris. Berne: Peter Lang, 1979. Gardner, Delbert. An "Idle Singer'"and His Audience: A Study of William Morris' Poetic Reputation in England, 1858-1900. The Hague: Mouton, 1975. Grennan, Margaret R. William Morris: Medievalist and Revolutionary. New York: King's Crown Press, 1945 Hodgson, Amanda. The Romances of William Morris. Cambridge University Press, 1987. Hough, Graham. The Last Romantics. London: Gerald Duckworth, 1947. Rpt. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1961. "William Morris," 83-133. Kermode, Helen Sybil. "The Classical Sources of Morris's Life and Death of Jason." Primitiae: Essays in English Literature by Students of the University of Liverpool. Liverpool and London, 1912, 158-82. http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/jasonsuppbibliokermode.html. Kirchhoff, Frederick. William Morris. Boston: Twayne, 1979. Kirchhoff, Frederick. William Morris: The Construction of a Male Self, 1856-72. Ohio University Press, 1990. Kocmanova, Jessie. "The Poetic Maturing of William Morris: From 'The Earthy Paradise' to 'The Pilgrims of Hope.'" Brno Studies in English. Vol. 5 Prague: Statni Pedagogiake Nakladatelstri. Rpt. Folcroft, Pennyslvania: Folcroft Library Editions, 1970. LeMire, Eugene. A Bibliography of William Morris. Dover: Oak Knoll Press, 2006. Lewis, C. S. "William Morris." Rehabilitations and Other Essays. London: Oxford University Press, 1939. 37-55. Oberg, Charlotte. The Pagan Prophet: William Morris. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1978. Omerod James. The Poetry of William Morris. Folcroft, Pennsylvania: Folcroft, 1938. Saintsbury, George. From Blake to Mr. Swinburne. London: Macmillan, 1910. Vol. 3 of A Historical Manual of English Prosody. 3 vols. Book XI, Chapter 1, "The Pre-Raphaelite School: William Morris." Arguably the best discussion of Morris's metrics. Schultz, Edvig. Saggi, Saghe e Utopie Nell 'Opera di William Morris. Napoli: Liguori Ediore, 1987. Scott, Dixon. Men of Letters. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1916. 257-306. Silver, Carole. The Romance of William Morris. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1982. Skoblow, Jeffrey. Paradise Dislocated: Morris, Politics, Art. University Press of Virginia, 1993. Stevenson, Lionel. The Pre-Raphaelite Poets. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1972. "William Morris," 123-83. Swannell, J. N. William Morris and Old Norse Literature: A Lecture Given on 18 December 1958. London: William Morris Society, 1961. Symons, Arthur. "William Morris." Studies in Two Literatures. London: L. Sithers, 189. Tinker, Chauncy B. "William Morris as Poet." Essays in Retrospect: Collected Articles and Addresses. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1948. 62-74. Tompkins, J. M. S. William Morris: An Approach to the Poetry. London: Cecil Woolf, 1984.
Vallance, Aymer, The Art of William Morris. London, 1899. Contemporary account of Morris's work, better on decorative arts than on other aspects. Watkinson, Ray, William Morris as Designer. London, 1967. Deals primarily with Morris's role as part of a larger design movement, with Morris's own works in all media, and with his theories of art and design. Fairclough, Oliver and Emmeline Leary, Textiles by William Morris and Morris & Co., 1861-1940, introduction by Barbara Morris. London, 1981. Fully illustrated guide to Morris textiles. Parry, Linda. William Morris Textiles. New York, 1983. Another illustrated guide to Morris textiles. Stansky, Peter. William Morris. Oxford, 1983. With Faulkner this is the best short introduction to Morris. William Morris and the Middle Ages: A Collection of Essays,together with a Catalogue of Works exhibited at the Whitworth Art Gallery, 28 September-8 December 1984, ed. Joanna Banham and Jennifer Harris. Manchester, 1984. Essays dealing with Morris's relationship with medieval art and ideas, well illustrated. Stansky, Peter, Redesigning the world: William Morris, the 1880s, and the Arts and Crafts. Princeton, 1985. Study of Morris influence on the connection with the Arts and Crafts movement. Thompson, Paul. The Work of William Morris. Oxford, 1991. 3rd ed. General survey, strongest on decorative arts. William Morris & Kelmscott. London, 1981. Catalogue of the collection at Kelmscott Manor, Morris's country house. Includes essays on Morris's life, politics, and work in various fields. Harvey, Charles and Jon Press, William Morris: Design and Enterprise in Victorian England. Manchester, 1991. Account and analysis of "The Firm" which sees Morris as a businessman as well as an artist. Includes much new information. Wilhide, Elizabeth. William Morris: Decor and Design. New York, 1991. Aimed at the "decorating" market this nonetheless includes solid information on Morris, lists sources of Morris products. The Earthly Paradise: Arts and Crafts by William Morris and his Circle from Canadian Collections, ed. Katharine A. Lochnan, Douglas E. Schoenherr, Carole Silver. Toronto, 1993. Excellent essays and catalogue notes on the largest Morris exhibition ever held in Canada; covers all aspects of Morris work. William Morris, ed. Linda Parry. London, 1996. Published to accompany the major Centenary exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, this profusely illustrated volume may well remain the standard work on Morris for years to come. The text incorporates a detailed catalogue of the exhibition (over 500 items) amid 20 essays by internationally recognized Morris experts.
Buxton Forman, H., The Books of William Morris Described. London, 1897 [reprinted 1976]. Still the standard bibliography of Morris's books despite the inclusion of forgeries and piracies perpetrated by the author and his friend Thomas J. Wise. Cockerell, Sydney C., "History of the Kelmscott Press" and "An Annotated List of the Books Printed at the Kelmscott Press," in William Morris, A Note on His Aims in Founding the Kelmscott Press. [Kelmscott Press, 1898]]. Coupe, Robert L. M., Illustrated Editions of the Works of William Morris in English: A Descriptive Bibliography. London: Oak Knoll Press and the British Library, 2002. Sparling, Henry Halliday,The Kelmscott Press and William Morris, Master Craftsman. London, 1924. Standard history of the Kelmscott Press, incorporating Cockerell's checklist. Now entirely superseded by Peterson's History. The Typographical Adventure of William Morris. [London, 1957]. Catalogue of a traveling exhibition organized by the William Morris Society in 1957. Places Morris's work in context of other printers and designers from 1850 to 1940. Dunlap, Joseph, The Book That Never Was. New York, 1971. Account of the projected illustrated edition of Morris's The Earthly Paradise, which partially came to fruition a century later in the Rampant Lion Press version of The Story of Cupid and Psyche produced in 1974. Life, Alan, "Illustration of Morris's 'Ideal Book,'" and Joseph Dunlap, "Morris and the Book Arts Before the Kelmscott Press," articles in Victorian Poetry (1975). This was a special issue of the journal devoted to Morris, illustrated. William Morris And the Art of the Book, ed. Charles Ryskamp. Oxford, 1976. Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Pierpont Morgan Library in 1976. With essays: "William Morris: Book Collector" by Paul Needham; "William Morris: Calligrapher" by Joseph Dunlap; and "William Morris: Typographer" by John Dreyfus. Detailed and illustrated, an essential source. Thompson, Susan Otis, American Book Design and William Morris. New York, 1977; reprinted Newark, DE, 1996. Pioneering study of the influence of Morris's Kelmscott Press on American publishers and printers. Walsdorf, John, William Morris in Private Press And Limited Editions. Oryx Press, 1983. Useful bibliographical catalogue of books by and about Morris issued 1890-1982 in limited or fine editions. Peterson, William S., A Bibliography of the Kelmscott Press. Oxford, 1984. Definitive, detailed information on the Kelmscott Press: includes provenance information and notes on particular copies and related materials. The Kelmscott Press Golden Legend: A Documentary History of its Production, Together with a Leaf from the Kelmscott Edition, ed. William S. Peterson. [College Park], 1990. Leaf book with introduction and facsimiles of related documents. For an on-line version of the book The Kelmscott Press Golden Legend. Peterson, William S., The Kelmscott Press: A History of William Morris's Typographical Adventure. Oxford, 1991. By far the best book on the subject, offering not only a detailed history of the Press but analysis of Morris's aesthetic seen in the context of Victorian printing. An essential work, superseding almost everything else written on the subject. Samuels Lasner, Mark, William Morris: The Collector as Creator. New York, 1996. Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Grolier Club, 1996-97, listing books owned and read by Morris and examples of Morris's own works in literature, politics, and the book arts. Johnson, Herbert. Notes on the Elston Press. New York, 2001. This is a bibliography of the first press to bring the Kelmscott style to the States. The web site for this book has downloadable PDF files of pages from the book, which was designed and printed by Michael & Winifred Bixler. The full text of the prospectus is also included.
MORRIS'S POLITICAL AND SOCIAL THOUGHT
Anderson, Perry. "Utopias." In Arguments within English Marxism. London: New Left Books, 1980. Boos, Florence. "An Aesthetic Eco-communist: Morris the Red and Morris the Green," in William Morris: Centenary Essays, eds. Peter Faulkner and Peter Preston. University of Exeter Press, 1999. Boos, Florence, introduction to William Morris's Socialist Diary. http://www.marxists.org/archive/morris/works/1887/diary/index.htm Boos, Florence. "News from Nowhere and 'Garden Cities': Morris's Utopia and Nineteenth-Century Town Design." http://www.morrissociety.org/agregation/boos.html Brinton, Crane. Morris in English Political Thought in the Nineteenth Century. London: Ernest Benn, 1949. Cole, G. D. H., William Morris as a Socialist. London: William Morris Society, 1960. Coleman, Stephen and Paddy O'Sullivan eds. William Morris and News from Nowhere: A Vision for Our Time. Bideford, Devon: Green Books, 1990. Gadoin, Isabele. News from Nowhere: William Morris. Paris: Ellipses, 2004. [a collection of essays] Glasier, J. Bruce. William Morris and the Early Days of the Socialist Movement. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1921. Goode, John. "William Morris and the Dream of Revolution." In Literature and Politics of the Nineteenth Century, ed. John Lucas. London: Methuen, 1971. Gould, Peter C. Early Green Politics: Back to Nature, Back to the Land, and Socialism in Britain 1880-1900. Sussex: Harvester,1988. Grennan, Magaret R. William Morris: Medievalist and Revolutionary. New York: King's Crown Press, 1945. Hulse, James. Revolutionaries in London: A Study of Five Unorthodox Socialists. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970. Kinna, Ruth. William Morris. The Art of Socialism. University of Wales Press, 2000. Laurent, Beatrice. William Morris: News from Nowhere. Nantes: Editions du Temps, 2004. Levitas, Ruth. The Concept of Utopia. Syracuse University Press, 1990. Macdonald, Bradley J. William Morris and the Aesthetic Constitution of Politics. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Press, 1999. Meier, Paul. William Morris: The Marxist Dreamer. Translated by Frank Gubb. Atlantic Highlands, N. J.: Harvester Press, 1978. Morton, A. L. introduction to The Political Writings of William Morris. New York: International Press, 1973. Morton, A. L., introduction to Three Works by William Morris. New York: International Press, 1973. Payne, John. Journey Up the Thames: William Morris and Modern England. Nottingham: Five Leaves Publications, 2000. Pepper, David. Eco-socialism: From Deep Ecology to Social Justice. London: Routledge, 1993. Salmon, Nicholas, introduction to William Morris: Journalism, Contributions to Commonweal, 1885-1890. Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 1996. Salmon, Nicholas, introduction to William Morris: Political Writings, Contributions to Justice and Commonweal 1883-1890. Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 1994. Silver, Carole. "Eden and Apocalypse: William Morris's Marxist Vision in the 1880's." University of Hartford Studies in Literature 13 (1981). Thompson, E. P. William Morris: Romantic to Revolutionary. 2nd ed. New York: Pantheon, 1978. With an afterward by the author noting changes in his opinions in the 23 years since the first edition. Thompson, Paul. The Work of William Morris. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Thompson, Paul. Why William Morris Matters Today: Human Creativity and the Future World Environment. London: William Morris Society, 1991. von Helmhotz-Phelan, Anna A. The Social Philosophy of William Morris. Durham: Duke University Press 1927. Williams, Raymond. "Socialism and Ecology," in Robin Gable, ed., Resources of Hope: Culture: Democracy, Socialism. London: Verso, 1989. HOME · LIFE · ART · WRITING · SOCIAL THOUGHT NEWS/EVENTS · JOIN · THE SOCIETY · CONTACT US LAST UPDATE 21 NOV 2007 · PLEASE REPORT BROKEN LINKS TO WEBMASTER @ MORRISSOCIETY.ORG
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