Decorative printed title, "Kelmscott" - black gothic script text with large foliate details springing from it. On cream paper.

On November 6th, 2021, the William Morris Society (UK) will host a one-day symposium, “The Kelmscott Press and Its Legacies,” co-sponsored by the William Morris Society in the United States.

This event will take place simultaneously online and in person in London.

Keynote speakers: Dr Marcus Waithe (University of Cambridge), ‘Pocket Cathedrals: Craftsmanship, Architecture, and the Kelmscott Press’; Yoshiko Yamamoto (Arts & Crafts Press, Tacoma). WMS-US board member Brandiann Molby will also present a paper.

Event information from the WMS-UK:

Throughout 2021 The William Morris Society has been celebrating 125 years since the publication of the Kelmscott Chaucer, the crowning glory of Morris’s book printing venture, the Kelmscott Press.

The Kelmscott Press was Morris’s last great artistic undertaking. With the support and expertise of his friend and collaborator Emery Walker, Morris established a book printing operation near his home on the River Thames in Hammersmith. Morris’s respect for traditional craftsmanship, his search for perfection in design and his love of literature all came together in the works of the Kelmscott Press. The Press’s most ambitious endeavour was the Kelmscott Chaucer. Described by Edward Burne Jones as ‘like a pocket cathedral’, and published just months before Morris’s death, it embodies Morris’s highest design ideals.

This full day Symposium will examine a wide range of aspects of the Press’s activities, history and legacies. Keynote talks by Dr Marcus Waithe and Yoshiko Yamamoto will be complemented by three panel sessions each comprising of three shorter papers followed by discussion.

Both the in-person and digital symposium will take place from 10:00am-6:00pm GMT on November 6th. (US start times: 6:00 am EDT, 3:00 am PDT.)

Registration

Tickets:

  • £25.00 members (including WMS-US members – join today for this benefit)
  • £35.00 early bird registration (until September 30th)
  • £45.00 standard registration (beginning October 1st)

The in-person event will take place at St Bride Foundation, Fleet St, London. Lunch and tea/coffee will be provided.

Register for online symposium.

Register for in-person symposium.