Book Description

"The Kelmscott Chaucer is widely held to be one of the most magnificent printed books ever produced. For forty years Morris and Burne-Jones had worked together on a variety of projects: this was their last and greatest venture. The book describes the growth of the monumental Chaucer from a more modest concept through its many production problems to its final form on publication in 1896. The author also traces the development of the ideas for the illustrations which were suggested by the text and modified by practical concern for page layout and reproduction quality. There are a number of illustrations of designs which Burne-Jones made but never used. The final drawings from which ink interpretations were made and the woodblocks engraved are reproduced to facsimile standards. There are a number of reproductions of the engravings themselves, and several of the full decorated pages are shown."--book jacket.