350 on
paper at five guineas, 8 on vellum at twenty guineas. Dated March 2,
issued June 4, 1896. Sold by William Morris. Bound in limp vellum.

This book, delayed for various reasons, was longer on hand than any
other. It appears in no less than twelve lists, from that of Dec., 1892,
to that of Nov. 26, 1895, as 'in the press.' Trial pages, including one
in a single column, were ready as early as September, 1892, and the
printing began on December 16 of that year. The edition of The Well at
the World's End published by Longmans was then being printed from the
author's manuscript at the Chiswick Press, and the Kelmscott Press
edition was set up from the sheets of that edition, which, though not
issued until October, 1896, was finished in 1894. The eight borders and
the six different ornaments between the columns, appear here for the
first time, but are used again in The Water of the Wondrous Isles, with
the exception of two borders.

40. THE WORKS OF GEOFFREY CHAUCER. Edited by F. S. Ellis. Folio. Chaucer
type, with headings to the longer poems in Troy type. In black and red.
Borders 20a to 26, woodcut title, and 87 woodcut illustrations designed
by Sir E. Burne-Jones. 425 on paper at twenty pounds, 13 on vellum at
120 guineas. Dated May 8, issued June 26, 1893. Published by William
Morris. Bound in half holland.

The history of this book, which is by far the most important achievement
of the Kelmscott Press, is as follows. As far back as June 11, 1891, Mr.
Morris spoke of printing a Chaucer with a black-letter fount which he
hoped to design. Four months later, when most of the Troy type was
designed and cut, he expressed his intention to use it first on John
Ball, and then on a Chaucer and perhaps a Gesta Romanorum. By January 1,
1892, the Troy type was delivered, and early in that month two trial
pages, one from The Cook's Tale and one from Sir Thopas, the latter in
double columns, were got out. It then became evident that the type was
too large for a Chaucer, and Mr. Morris decided to have it re-cut in the
size known as pica. By the end of June he was thus in possession of the
type which in the list issued in December, 1892, he named the Chaucer
type. In July, 1892, another trial page, a passage from The Knight's
Tale in double columns of 58 lines, was got out, and found to be
satisfactory. The idea of the Chaucer as it now exists, with
illustrations by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, then took definite shape.

In a proof