First page of The Nature of Gothic by John Ruskin, set in William Morris’ Golden Type, Kelmscott Press.
After studying the works of Nicolas Jenson, William Morris finally used the characters created by Jenson’s friend Jacques le Rouge as a base for his Golden Type. Morris also designed floriated borders and initials for the books, drawing inspiration from incunabula and their woodcut illustrations.
Selection of paper and ink, and concerns for the overall integration of type and decorations on the page, made the Kelmscott Press the most famous of the private presses of the Arts and Crafts movement, and the main inspiration for what became known as the “Private Press Movement”. It operated until 1898, producing more than 18,000 copies of 53 different works, comprising 69 volumes, and inspired numerous other private presses, notably the Vale Press, Caradoc Press, Ashendene Press and Doves Press.
