Morris, William; Cockerell, Sydney Carlyle: A note by William Morris on his aims in founding the Kelmscott Press (1898)

large frontispiece designed by Sir E. Burne/Jones;
the subject of the first was to have been St. George,
that of the second, Fame. A trial page was set up in
theTroy type soon after it came from the foundry,
in Jan., 1892. Early in 1893 trial pages were set up
in the Chaucer type, and in the list for March 9 of
that year the book is erroneously stated to be in the
press. In thethree followinglists it is announced as
in preparation. In thelist dated Dec. 1,1893,& in the
three next lists,it is again announced as in the press,
& the number to be printedis given as 150. Mean/
while the printing of the Chaucer had been begun,
&as it was not feasible tocarryontwofoliosatthe
same time, the Froissart again comes under the
heading ‘in preparation* in the lists from Dec. 1,
1894, toj une 1,1896. In the prospectus of the Shep/
heardes Calender, dated Nov. 12,1896, it is an'
nouncedas abandoned. At that time about thirty/
four pages were in type, but no sheet had been
printed. Before the type was broken up, on Dec.
24,1896,32 copies of sixteen of these pages were
printed & given as a memento to personal friends
of the poet and printer whose death now made
the completion of the book impossible.This sug/
gestedthe idea of printingtwo pages for wider dis/
tribution. The half/border had been engraved in
April, 1894, by'W. Spielmeyer, but the large bor/
der only existed as a drawing. It was engraved
with great skill and spirit by C. E. Keates, and
the two pages were printed by Stephen Mowlem,
54