Reading between the lines
hen William Morris set up Kelmscott Press in 1891, he wanted to create beautiful books whose quality was every bit as good as the literary content within. Reacting against . Artist Edward Burne-Jones drew all the book’s 87 black and white illustrations, which were transferred to blocks and engraved (above right). Morris designed the typeface, red headings and decorative borders, which bear his distinctive touch while referencing the pages of medieval books. ‘If we live to finish it,’ Burne-Jones wrote, ‘it will be like a pocket cathedral – so full of design and I think Morris the greatest master of ornament in the world.’
