Kelmscott Press: The Tale of the Emperor Coustans; and Of Over Sea: Done out of Ancient French by William Morris
by Morris, William (1834-1896) (translator) London/Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1894. Limited First Edition. Leather-bound. Fine. 16mo: 5 13/16" x 4 1/8" x 3/4" (14.8 x 10.5 x 1.9 cm).
$41,500 US
Limited First Edition. First Printing. Printed by and sold by William Morris. Bound in green goatskin finely tooled in gilt, by Deborah Evetts, with a diaper pattern of alternating small, Kelmscott flowers and dots across covers and spine, title running across top and bottom of upper cover, uncut, stamp-signed "DE'08" on rear turn-in. One of 20 [at two guineas] velum copies (plus 525 [at seven shillings and sixpence] on paper); (this copy on vellum). Colophon in red and black. [iv], 130 pp. Printed in black and red throughout in the Chaucer type designed by Morris for his press. Woodcut frontispiece title within a floral border, and facing page with full woodcut floral page-border (borders 11a and 11). Numerous 7-, 6-, and 3-line woodblock initial capitals all designed by Morris, engraved by William Harcourt Hooper. Shoulder notes and some lines (including colophon) in red. A medieval French tale translated by Morris, who found them in a collection of medieval romances printed in Paris in 1856, NOUVELLES FRANcAISES EN PROSE DU XIIIEME SIeCLE. The Kelmscott Press also published two other works from the same source. THE TALE OF EMPEROR COUSTANS was the source of THE MAN BORN TO BE KING, in THE EARTHLY PARADISE. The second story is A TALE OF OVER SEA. [Cockerell 26. Peterson A26. Walsdorf 26.] Housed in green buckram drop-back box, brown goatskin label titled in gilt on spine. Condition overall: Fine.
Inventory #
1307