William Morris (1834–96) was an English poet, decorative artist, translator, romance writer, book designer, preservationist, socialist theorist, and political activist, whose admirers have been drawn to the sheer intensity of his artistic endeavors and efforts to live up to radical ideals of social justice.
This Companion draws together historical and critical responses to the impressive range of Morris’s multi-faceted life and activities: his homes, travels, family, business practices, decorative artwork, poetry, fantasy romances, translations, political activism, eco-socialism, and book collecting and design. Each chapter provides valuable historical and literary background information, reviews relevant opinions on its subject from the late-nineteenth century to the present, and offers new approaches to important aspects of its topic.
Morris’s eclectic methodology and the perennial relevance of his insights and practice make this an essential handbook for those interested in art history, poetry, translation, literature, book design, environmentalism, political activism, and Victorian and utopian studies.
Author(s): Florence S. Boos
Series: Routledge Art History and Visual Studies Companions
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 556
City: Abingdon
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
List of illustrations
List of contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Visions Not Dreams: Morris as Designer, Socialist, Entrepreneur, Poet …
Part I: Morris’s Life, Family, and Environs
Part II: Art: Preservation, Interior Design, and Adaptation
Part III: Literature: Poetry, Art, Translation, and Fantasy
Part IV: Literature and Socialism
Part V: Books: Collecting and Design
Note
Part I Morris’s Life, Family, and Environs
Chapter 1 Morris Biographies
Notes
References
Chapter 2 Business in the Creative Life of William Morris
Introduction
The Morris Family in Business
Morris and the Firm
Morris the Business Leader
Establishing the Morrisian Community of Taste
Morris as Cultural Icon
The Kelmscott Press
Conclusion
Notes
References
Chapter 3 Morris, Gender, and the Woman Question
The Women in Morris’s Life
Morris and Socialist Feminism
Patterns in Morris’s Literary Portrayals of Women
Conclusion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Chapter 4 ‘Kelmscott Manor. Mr Morris’s Country Place’ (1871–1896)
The Question of Sources
PART I. Literature Review: State of Knowledge on Morris at Kelmscott
PART II. New Study on Morris’s Relationship with Kelmscott
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Notes
References and Further Reading
Chapter 5 ‘What came we forth for to see that our hearts are so hot with desire’: Morris and Iceland
Synopsis
Introduction: Why Morris Went to Iceland and Why It Matters
Iceland in the Victorian Imagination
Earlier Discussions of the Icelandic Journals
The Personal and the Spiritual
The Journalist, the Poet and the ‘Travel Writer’
Morris’s Impact in Iceland
Sustaining Morris’s Legacy
The 1960s Revival of Fantasy Fiction
Morris the ‘Travel Writer’ Rediscovered
Morris’s Influence on Fantasy Genres: Literature, Games, Comics and Film
Iceland Today
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography of Readings and Works Cited
Part II Art: Preservation, Interior Design, and Adaptation
Chapter 6 Morris and Architecture
Literature Review
Notes
Chapter 7 William Morris and Stained Glass
Morris’s Role in the Manufacture of Windows
Art, Decoration and Medievalism: The Status of the Medium
All Saints Selsley
All Saints Middleton Cheney
St. John, Torquay
The Later Years
Notes
List of Works Cited
Chapter 8 William Morris and Interior Design
Design in Britain 1850
William Morris and Design
Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (1861–1875)
Morris & Co. (1875–1940)
Conclusion
Notes
References and Further Reading
Chapter 9 William Morris and the Culture Industry: Appropriation, Art, Critique
Introduction
1 Gardens
2 The Red House
3 The William Morris Gallery
4 Kelmscott House
5 Kelmscott Manor
6 Morris & Co.
7 The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
8 The Bauhaus
9 William Morris and the Atom
10 Morris Kitsch
11 Jewel Point
12 Big Red Propeller
13 Announcer
14 We sit starving amidst our gold
15 Love is Enough: William Morris & Andy Warhol
16 The World Stage: Jamaica
17 ‘I do not want art for a few any more than I want education for a few or freedom for a few’
References and Further Reading
Part III Literature: Poetry, Art, Translation, and Fantasy
Chapter 10 A Question of Ornament: Poetry and the (Lesser) Arts
Notes
References and Further Reading
Chapter 11 Making Pictures: Morris’s Pre-Raphaelite Poetics and Its Reception
Notes
References and Further Reading
Chapter 12 William Morris and the Classical Tradition
Formation
Translations
Adaptations
Polemics
Calligraphy: Horace and Virgil
Notes
References and Further Reading
Chapter 13 A Very Animated Conversation on Icelandic Matters: The Saga Translations of William Morris and Eiríkr Magnússon
Notes
References and Further Reading
Chapter 14 Rewilding Morris: Wilderness and the Wild in the Last Romances
Wild Writing
Wild Places
Wild Selves
Wild Societies
Notes
References and Further Reading
Chapter 15 Windy, Tangible, Resonant Worlds: The Nonhuman Fantasy of William Morris
Hope, But Not For Us
Disconnections
Subcreation and Secondary Worlds
Battle of the Books
After Morris
Conclusion: The Case for Anemia
Notes
References and Further Reading
Part IV Literature and Socialism
Chapter 16 William Morris and British Politics: From the Liberal Party to the Socialist League
William Morris and the Liberal Party 1876–1883
The Shift to Socialism
Morris’s Engagement with Politics as a Socialist
Notes
Further Reading
Chapter 17 News from Nowhere in the Museum of Literary Interpretations
Objects
Role of William Guest
Genre
Characters
Gothic
Conclusion
Notes
Further Reading
Chapter 18 William Morris and THE Literature and Socialism of the Commonweal
The Pilgrims of Hope
A Dream of John Ball
News from Nowhere
Conclusion
Notes
Works Cited:
Further Reading:
Chapter 19 Desire and Necessity: William Morris and Nature
Introduction
Development of Morris’s ‘Green’ Thought
Acknowledgements
Notes
Further Reading
Chapter 20 Morris and Marxist Theory
I. Marx, Morris and the Socialist Movement in Fin-de-Siècle Britain
II. ‘Socialism from the Root Up’
III. Romanticism and Marxism: Morris’s and Marx’s Elective Affinities
IV. Alienation, Production and Sensuous Emancipation
V. Revolution, Dual Power and the Transition beyond Capitalism
Notes
References and Further Reading
Part V Books: Collecting and Design
Chapter 21 William Morris’s Book Collecting
Notes
References and Further Reading
Chapter 22 William Morris and The Kelmscott Press: Towards an Aesthetics of Environment
Notes
References and Further Reading: William Morris and the Kelmscott Press
Index of Proper Nouns
Index of Places
Index of Selected Titles of Creative Works
