Skip to main content
LibApps staff login

Kelmscott Press and Victorian Medievalism

An Online Exhibit of the Kelmscott Press

International Kelmscott Press Day 2021

Saturday, June 26, 2021 is International Kelmscott Press Day. This date marks the 125th anniversary of the printing of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer: Now Newly Imprinted. 2021 also marks the 130th anniversary of the founding of Kelmscott Press. 

The William Morris Society in the United States in partnership with the William Morris Societies in the United Kingdom and Canada have invited libraries, museums, and other institutions to participate in an international celebration of the Press. Events will include printing demonstrations, talks, physical and online exhibits, and other activities featuring topics and themes related to the Press.

ASU Distinctive Collections will participate in International Kelmscott Press Day by hosting a two-day event. On Friday, June 25, selected works from the Kelmscott Press will be on display from 11:00am to 1:00pm in the Wurzburger Reading Room on the first level of Hayden Library near the West entrance with presentations by students and staff. Then, on Saturday, January 26, we will host a virtual presentation featuring three speakers from across campus:

  • Julie Codell (Professor of Art History), “The Friendship of Morris and Burne-Jones“
  • Jacob Robertson (ASU grad student, Art History), “Edward Burne-Jones: Aestheticizing the Medieval"
  • Daniel Mayer (Director of Pyracantha Press), “Behind the Book: Aesthetic Influences in Creating the Kelmscott Chaucer”

Presentations from Our Friday Display of Kelmscott Press Works

On Friday, June 25, selected works from ASU's collection of Kelmscott Press books were on display in the Wurzburger Reading Room. This event featured four guests who gave presentations. Recorded versions of these presentations are available below.

Suzy Morgan on the Bindings of the Kelmscott Press

Karina Wilhelm on Insights into Walter Crane and Kelmscott Press Books

Naomi Cadena and Channing Schoneberger on Biophilia, Biomimicry, and William Morris

The ASU Library acknowledges the twenty-three Native Nations that have inhabited this land for centuries. Arizona State University's four campuses are located in the Salt River Valley on ancestral territories of Indigenous peoples, including the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and Pee Posh (Maricopa) Indian Communities, whose care and keeping of these lands allows us to be here today. ASU Library acknowledges the sovereignty of these nations and seeks to foster an environment of success and possibility for Native American students and patrons. We are advocates for the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge systems and research methodologies within contemporary library practice. ASU Library welcomes members of the Akimel O’odham and Pee Posh, and all Native nations to the Library.