William Morris - pics & illustrations

[mariab]

Hi all. Got my hands on some sketches/caricatures representing William Morris in the 1870s plus some other photos related to the activities of his Press courtesy of http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/ and of my friend and colleague Florence Alibert (a doctoral candidate in lit/history at the Sorbonne).

[mariab]

During our recent conf at the Musée d'Orsay/Institut Finlandais in Paris (http://birchandstar.org/symposia-and-seminars/the-north-a-literary-musical-and-artistic-myth/93-2/) I found out (courtesy of my friend and colleague Florence Alibert) that William Morris visited Iceland twice. He was a great admirer of not just Northern landscapes, but also of Icelandic politics (!), having developed a fascination with the simplicity and freshness of a culture far away and unspoiled from European urbanism in the Fin de siècle.

[mariab]

Below a sketch/caricature of William Morris (drawn by his friend Edward Burne-Jones) riding a poney on vulcanic ground in Iceland and climbing an ice wall during his second trip there in the summer of 1873, plus an extract from his Icelanding Journal.

[lynn cates]

young

Hello Maria. Thanks for posting this.

My, but he looks young. I am so used to seeing the superannuated version.

(Trivia: what famous Renoir is hanging in the Musee D'Orsay?)

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

cartoons

Hello Maria. Thanks also for the cartoons.

I always get a laugh when I read his letters. Although a Socialist, he bargains with customers like a very Tory.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Kelmscott Press

William Morris' Kelmscott Press, a sample of the typography he manually designed himself and introduced in his Press, and the first edition of his Poems.

(PS.: Apologies for the editing, but I'm currently at the feet of the Bavarian Alps, spotting a pretty slow internet connection.)

[mariab]

Hello Lynn. Have to admit I was quite a bit surprised when I heard about Iceland. Asked Florence twice to be sure it was the same William Morris.

Trivia: what famous Renoir is hanging in the Musee D'Orsay?

Are you referring to the Bal au moulin de La galette? I'm more of a Cézanne/van Gogh person myself (and not necessarily as Ripper candidates).

Although a Socialist, he bargains with customers like a very Tory.

Yep, as well-known, that's the true essence of a publisher.

If you check our conf program (link in my post #2) you can see my contribution with Glaciers and polar landscapes in 19th century opera and lit as a metaphor for the “end“ of human civilization, discussing the first seeds of environmental thought in the 19th century (as experienced by Rossini, Berlioz, Poe, and Verne). Plus there's a real cool painting of a tree and a star as the logo for the Franco-Finnish Association The Birch and the Star. (Which has nothing whatsoever to do with Maria Birchwood, lol.) ;-)

[lynn cates]

yes

Hello Maria. Thanks. Yes, that's the one.

Cheers.
LC