William Morris Popular Books
William Morris Biography & Facts
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he helped win acceptance of socialism in fin de siècle Great Britain. Morris was born in Walthamstow, Essex, to a wealthy middle-class family. He came under the strong influence of medievalism while studying classics at Oxford University, where he joined the Birmingham Set. After university, he married Jane Burden, and developed close friendships with Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and with Neo-Gothic architect Philip Webb. Webb and Morris designed Red House in Kent where Morris lived from 1859 to 1865, before moving to Bloomsbury, central London. In 1861, Morris founded the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. decorative arts firm with Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, and others, which became highly fashionable and much in demand. The firm profoundly influenced interior decoration throughout the Victorian period, with Morris designing tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture, and stained glass windows. In 1875, he assumed total control of the company, which was renamed Morris & Co. Morris rented the rural retreat of Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire, from 1871 while also retaining a main home in London. He was greatly influenced by visits to Iceland with Eiríkur Magnússon, and he produced a series of English-language translations of Icelandic Sagas. He also achieved success with the publication of his epic poems and novels, namely The Earthly Paradise (1868–1870), A Dream of John Ball (1888), the Utopian News from Nowhere (1890), and the fantasy romance The Well at the World's End (1896). In 1877, he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings to campaign against the damage caused by architectural restoration. He was influenced by anarchism in the 1880s and became a committed revolutionary socialist activist. He founded the Socialist League in 1884 after an involvement in the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), but he broke with that organisation in 1890. In 1891, he founded the Kelmscott Press to publish limited-edition, illuminated-style print books, a cause to which he devoted his final years. Morris is recognised as one of the most significant cultural figures of Victorian Britain. He was best known in his lifetime as a poet, although he posthumously became better known for his designs. The William Morris Society founded in 1955 is devoted to his legacy, while multiple biographies and studies of his work have been published. Many of the buildings associated with his life are open to visitors, much of his work can be found in art galleries and museums, and his designs are still in production. Early life Youth: 1834–1852 Morris was born at Elm House in Walthamstow, Essex, on 24 March 1834. Raised into a wealthy middle-class family, he was named after his father, a financier who worked as a partner in the Sanderson & Co. firm, bill brokers in the City of London. His mother was Emma Morris (née Shelton), who descended from a wealthy bourgeois family from Worcester. Morris was the third of his parents' surviving children; their first child, Charles, had been born in 1827 but died four days later. Charles had been followed by the birth of two girls, Emma in 1829 and Henrietta in 1833, before William's birth. These children were followed by the birth of siblings Stanley in 1837, Rendall in 1839, Arthur in 1840, Isabella in 1842, Edgar in 1844, and Alice in 1846. The Morris family were followers of the evangelical Protestant form of Christianity, and William was baptised four months after his birth at St. Mary's Church, Walthamstow. As a child, Morris was kept largely housebound at Elm House by his mother; there, he spent much time reading, favouring the novels of Walter Scott. Aged 6, Morris moved with his family to the Georgian Italianate mansion at Woodford Hall, Woodford, Essex, which was surrounded by 50 acres of land adjacent to Epping Forest. He took an interest in fishing with his brothers as well as gardening in the Hall's grounds, and spent much time exploring the Forest, where he was fascinated both by the Iron Age earthworks at Loughton Camp and Ambresbury Banks and by the Early Modern Hunting Lodge at Chingford. He also took rides through the Essex countryside on his pony, and visited the various churches and cathedrals throughout the country, marveling at their architecture. His father took him on visits outside of the county, for instance to Canterbury Cathedral, the Chiswick Horticultural Gardens, and to the Isle of Wight, where he adored Blackgang Chine. Aged 9, he was then sent to Misses Arundale's Academy for Young Gentlemen, a nearby preparatory school; although initially riding there by pony each day, he later began boarding, intensely disliking the experience. In 1847, Morris's father died unexpectedly. From this point, the family relied upon continued income from the copper mines at Devon Great Consols, and sold Woodford Hall to move into the smaller Water House. In February 1848 Morris began his studies at Marlborough College in Marlborough, Wiltshire, where he gained a reputation as an eccentric nicknamed "Crab". He despised his time there, being bullied, bored, and homesick. He did use the opportunity to visit many of the prehistoric sites of Wiltshire, such as Avebury and Silbury Hill, which fascinated him. The school was Anglican in faith and in March 1849 Morris was confirmed by the Bishop of Salisbury in the college chapel, developing an enthusiastic attraction towards the Anglo-Catholic movement and its Romanticist aesthetic. At Christmas 1851, Morris was removed from the school and returned to Water House, where he was privately tutored by the Reverend Frederick B. Guy, Assistant Master at the nearby Forest School. Oxford and the Birmingham Set: 1852–1856 In June 1852 Morris entered Exeter College at Oxford University, although, since the college was full, he went into residence only in January 1853. He disliked the college and was bored by the manner in which they taught him Classics. Instead he developed a keen interest in Medieval history and Medieval architecture, inspired by the many Medieval buildings in Oxford. This interest was tied to Britain's growing Medievalist movement, a form of Romanticism that rejected many of the values of Victorian industrial capitalism. For Morris, the Middle Ages represented an era with strong chivalric values and an organic, pre-capitalist sense of community, both of which he deemed preferable to his own period. This attitude was compounded by his reading of Thomas Carlyle's book Past and Present (1843), in which Carlyle championed Medieval values as a corrective to the problems of.... Discover the William Morris popular books. Find the top 100 most popular William Morris books.
Best Seller William Morris Books of 2024
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William Morris
E.P. ThompsonWilliam Morristhe great 19thcentury craftsman, designer, poet and writerremains a monumental figure whose influence resonates powerfully today. As an intellectual (and author of th...
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A Selection from the Poems of William Morris
William MorrisThe book is A Selection from the Poems of William Morris. The poems in the Tauchnitz edition. Its influence on Morris's early work both in matter and form will strike every observa...
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William Morris
Arthur Clutton-BrockIncluding chapters on the artist and poet's childhood, early career and politics, this volume follows William Morris' life as a writer, printer, socialist and craftsman.
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The Executioner
Joseph de MaistreSince their first publication in 1821, de Maistre's dark writings have fascinated and appalled critics, with their relentless hatred of the Enlightenment and view of humans as murd...
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Days of Reading
Marcel Proust & John SturrockIn these inspiring essays about why we read, Proust explores all the pleasures and trials that we take from books, as well as explaining the beauty of Ruskin and his work, and the ...
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William Morris
Holbrook JacksonWritten by journalist Holbrook Jackson, this 1908 volume examines Morris' dual legacy as a craftsman and socialist.
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The Norman Conquest
Marc MorrisA riveting and authoritative history of the single most important event in English history: The Norman Conquest.An upstart French duke who sets out to conquer the most powerful and...
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Up the Down Volcano
Sloane CrosleyIn her first fulllength essay since her second book, How Did You Get This Number, New York Times bestselling author Sloane Crosley attempts to overcome the biggest hurdle of her li...
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William Morris
A. Clutton-BrockThis comprehensive read covers the life and works of William Morris. This book was created from a scan of the original artifact, and as such the text of the book is not selectable...
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William Morris
Victoria CharlesWilliam Morris (18341896), par son éclectisme, fut l’une des personnalités emblématiques du XIXe siècle. Peintre, architecte, poète et ingénieur, maniant avec autant de talent la p...
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Night Walks
Charles DickensCharles Dickens describes in Night Walks his time as an insomniac, when he decided to cure himself by walking through London in the small hours, and discovered homelessness, drunke...
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Good Hunting
Theodore RooseveltWritten in the late nineteenth century and first published in Harper’s Round Table magazine in 1896, this collection of articles details turnofthecentury America’s rugged wildernes...
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William Morris
Arthur Clutton-BrockWilliam Morris (18341896), par son éclectisme, fut l’une des personnalités emblématiques du XIXe siècle. Peintre, architecte, poète et ingénieur, maniant avec autant de talent la p...
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Human Happiness
Blaise PascalCreated by the seventeenthcentury philosopher and mathematician Pascal, the essays contained in Human Happiness are a curiously optimistic look at whether humans can ever find sati...
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William Morris
Peter FaulknerThe Critical Heritage gathers together a large body of critical sources on major figures in literature. Each volume presents contemporary responses to a writer's work, enabling st...
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The Gifts of Reading
Robert Macfarlane, William Boyd, Candice Carty-Williams, Chigozie Obioma, Philip Pullman, Imtiaz Dharker, Roddy Doyle, Pico Iyer, Andy Miller, Jackie Morris, Jan Morris, Sisonke Msimang, Dina Nayeri, Michael Ondaatje, David Pilling, Max Porter, Alice Pung, Jancis Robinson, SF Said, Madeleine Thien, Salley Vickers, John Wood & Markus ZusakWith contributions by: William Boyd, Candice CartyWilliams, Imtiaz Dharker, Roddy Doyle, Pico Iyer, Robert Macfarlane, Andy Miller, Jackie Morris, Jan Morris, Sisonke Msimang, Dina...
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Lives of the Artists
Giorgio Vasari & George BullBeginning with Cimabue and Giotto in the thirteenth century, Vasari traces the development of Italian art across three centuries to the golden epoch of Leonardo and Michelangelo. G...
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William Morris
Elisabeth Luther CaryWilliam Morris Elisabeth Luther Cary, American art and literary critic (18671936) This ebook presents «William Morris», from Elisabeth Luther Cary. A dynamic table of contents enab...
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William Wallace
Dr James MackaySir William Wallace of Ellerslie is one of history's greatest heroes, but also one of its greatest enigmas a shadowy figure whose edges have been blurred by myth and legend. E...
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William Morris
Frances Evelyn Maynard GrevilleThis 1912 volume provides an illustrated overview of the residences of William Morris, including the Red House and famous Kelmscott Manor.
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William Morris
John DrinkwaterWritten by famous poet and playwright John Drinkwater, this 1912 volume offers an analysis of Morris' early poems, narrative verses, translations, essays and more.
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William Morris Full-Color Patterns and Designs
William MorrisDefining beauty in art as the result of man's pleasure in his work, the noted English poet, designer, craftsman and pioneer Socialist William Morris (1834–1896) spent most of his l...
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William Morris
Elizabeth Luther Cary“The personal life of William Morris is already known to us through Mr. Mackail’s admirable biography as fully, probably, as we shall ever know it. My own endeavour has been to pre...
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The Saga of the Volsungs
Anonymous, Eirikr Magnusson (Translator), Morris William (Translator)The Saga of the Volsungs. The Volsunga saga is a legendary saga, a late 13th century Icelandic prose rendition of the origin and decline of the Volsung clan (including the story ...
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Wrestling With His Angel
Sidney BlumenthalThe “magisterial” (The New York Times Book Review) second volume of Sidney Blumenthal’s acclaimed, landmark biography, The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, reveals the future pre...
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William Morris
Arthur Clutton-BrockSeine eklektische Art machte William Morris (18341896) zu einem der eigenwilligsten und einflussreichsten Künstler des 19. Jahrhunderts. Er war gleichzeitig Maler, Architekt, Dicht...
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William Morris
Pia Valentinis & Giancarlo AscariLa storia di un artista unico ambientata in una città unica, Londra, in un secolo di grandi cambiamenti, raccontati attraverso la raffinatezza dei disegni di Pia Valentinis e Gianc...
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Theodore Roosevelt on Bravery
Theodore RooseveltTeddy Roosevelt is the only president in history to deliver a ninetyminute speech directly after being shot in the chest. He’s a Nobel Prize recipient, a Harvard graduate, and he w...
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The Sunjata Story
Bamba Suso & Banna KanuteA child is born who will overthrow a king...After the leader of a great African kingdom hears that a baby has been born who will destroy him, he hides behind a mighty army and surr...
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William Morris
Elisabeth Luther CaryWith centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world. Who are w...
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William Morris
John William MackailThis volume offers a 1900 address on Morris delivered at the Kelmscott House before the Hammersmith Socialist Society by his friend and biographer, J. W. Mackail.
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The Tale of Beowulf, Sometime King of the Folk of Wider Geats
William MorrisVerse translation of the medieval classic. According to Wikipedia: "William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English architect, furniture and textile designer, artis...
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The Poems of William Morris
William MorrisThis 1904 volume offers a selection of significant Morris verse, including poems like "A Garden by the Sea," "Ogier the Dane" and "The Son's Sorrow."
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What Beauty There Is
Cory AndersonA 2022 William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist, What Beauty There Is is Cory Anderson's stunning novel about brutality and beauty, and about broken people trying to survive"Inte...
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William Morris
John DrinkwaterWith centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world. Who are w...
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The Invisible Hand
Adam SmithAdam Smith’s landmark treatise on the free market paved the way for modern capitalism, arguing that competition is the engine of a productive society, and that selfinterest will ev...
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The History of the Kings of Britain
Geoffrey of MonmouthCompleted in 1136, The History of the Kings of Britain traces the story of the realm from its supposed foundation by Brutus to the coming of the Saxons some two thousand years late...
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The Histories
Herodotus & Aubrey De Selincourt'The first example of nonfiction, the text that underlies the entire discipline of history ... it is above all a treasure trove' Tom HollandOne of the masterpieces of classical lit...
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Selected Essays
Samuel JohnsonThis volume contains a generous selection from the essays Johnson published twice weekly as 'The Rambler' in the early 1750s. It was here that he first created the literary charact...
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The Final Testament of the Holy Bible
James FreyFor two thousand years people have spent their lives waiting, praying, fighting, begging, and going to war for the Messiah. They continue to do so, every minute of every day, every...
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The Unfortunate Traveller and Other Works
Thomas Nashe & J. SteaneWritten in the late sixteenth century, at the pinnacle of the English Renaissance, the rich and ingenious works of Thomas Nashe uniquely reveal the ambivant nature of the Elizabeth...
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William Morris
Arthur Clutton-BrockThrough his eclecticism, William Morris (18341896) was one of the most emblematic personalities of the nineteenth century. Painter, architect, poet and engineer, wielding the quill...