Kelmscott Canterbury Tales

‘The books that I would like to print are the books I love to read and keep’, William Morris, 1895
A literary and artistic masterpiece combined in an exquisite edition of Geoffrey Chaucer’s (c.1345-1400) ‘The Canterbury Tales’, illustrated with 31 plates by Edward Burne-Jones (1833-98) and William Morris (1834-96) originally created for ‘The Kelmscott Chaucer’, 1896. Presented in large format, enjoy Chaucer’s ‘General Prologue’ and the 24 ‘Tales’ written with humour, pathos and acute social observation: bringing to life the adventures of 14th century pilgrims through verse and prose. Type-set in a legible, modern English font with the translation by Frank Ernest Hill from 1935, enjoy the Tales of the Knight, the Miller, the Pardoner, Clerk and Wife of Bath, and more; mixing themes of faith and morality, power and corruption, love and sex, and the changing social order. Illustrated with 31 black-and-white plates for ‘The Canterbury Tales’ created by William Morris for The Kelmscott Press edition of Chaucer’s works. The illustrations were designed in pencil before being inked and transferred to wooden blocks and finely engraved. This sumptuous edition echoes the Arts and Crafts heritage of the illustrations, with vegetal and animal motifs decorating the page edges, end papers and a handsome, gold foil stamped cover.

Hardback
30 x 24cm
383 pages
Illustrated with 31 black-and-white plates from the Kelmscott Chaucer