Six Essential Books for Fans of William Morris

‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.’ William Morris

The Arts and Crafts movement may have arisen well over a century ago, but the talent and artistry of its leading figures left a legacy that flourishes to this day.

Originating from a reaction to the damaging effects of mass industrialization, the movement elevated the status of designers and manufacturers, created jobs in rural communities by reviving arts and crafts traditions, and brought beauty to everyday life.

One of the movement’s most recognised and celebrated designers was William Morris. While he is known worldwide for such iconic patterns as Strawberry Thief and Honeysuckle, he was a multi-faceted creative who was also a visual artist, poet, storyteller, socialist campaigner, successful businessperson, craftsman and decorator.

Many other faces made a vital contribution behind the scenes of the Arts and Crafts movement, promoting the work of artisans across all disciplines, from embroidery to architecture. If you love William Morris, we have six essential books that will help you delve deeper into the fabric of this vibrant, inspiring movement.

Women Pioneers of the Arts and Crafts Movement 

Published in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum, Women Pioneers of the Arts and Crafts Movement by Karen Livingstone is a celebration of the work and ambition of the women who were part of the art and design revolution in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Women were at the heart of the movement from the very outset. They found ways to defy expectations of the period and hone their craft, becoming notable experts and paving the way for women to use their creativity to challenge and to explore the female condition.

With each chapter focusing on a significant woman and her work, this book highlights the versatility and range of talented creators including Katharine Adams, a bookbinder whose bindery became a place of pilgrimage for tourists; Ethel Mary Charles, who became the first female professional architect in Britain; and Wilhelmina Geddes, an Irish stained-glass artist who was lauded in her obituary as the greatest of her time.

Featuring objects from the V&A’s renowned Arts and Crafts collection, the book also includes key pieces from other museums and private collections across the UK.

William Morris and the Arts & Crafts Home 

Hailed as ‘the definitive source book for anyone interested in the Arts & Crafts style’ by Period Living and Traditional Homes, William Morris and the Arts & Crafts Home by Pamela Todd both celebrates William Morris’s genius and offers a comprehensive overview of his life and career, showing how he envisaged and implemented schemes for interiors in his own homes and those of others.

A series of ‘Case Studies’ explores six contemporary houses – from a modern London townhouse to a traditional Arts and Crafts home in Massachusetts – that have followed and adapted Morris’s dicta, brilliantly demonstrating how the style can be applied to our environment today. Todd concludes with a comprehensive style-sourcing section, as well as a gazetteer of places to visit for inspiration.

Grand Designs said it best when it declared: ‘Get this if you’re tempted to introduce the true spirit of Morris to your home.’

May Morris: Arts & Crafts Designer

May Morris (1862–1938), younger daughter of William Morris, was a significant figure in the British Arts and Crafts movement and a pioneer of ‘art embroidery’. She ran the embroidery department of Morris & Co., as well as designing textiles, wallpapers and jewellery. May was also an influential teacher and lectured in the UK and America.

May Morris: Arts & Crafts Designer is the first publication to present the full range of May Morris’s work and reveals her exceptional skill and originality. It draws together her designs, exquisite embroideries, watercolours, costume and jewellery from museums around the world, and in particular the rich collections of the V&A Museum and the William Morris Gallery, London. The book contains more than 180 items in colour and detailed information on their materials and provenance compiled by leading experts. There are also new insights into May’s personal life and relationships, her social activism and her support for other craftswomen.

This authoritative and illuminating study places May Morris, whose reputation has been overshadowed by that of her father, firmly among the leading British designer-makers of the Arts and Crafts movement.

William Morris’s Flowers 

As a hugely talented and versatile individual, as well as a passionate advocate of craftmanship, William Morris designed a wide variety of objects including stained glass, furniture, tiles and tableware. Of all his creations, it is his collection of carpets, fabrics and wallpapers that continue to inspire interior designs and frequently appear in contemporary homes.

One might argue that the popularity of his designs can be attributed to his close observation of the natural world, which he transformed into subtle, stylised patterns. Many of his most enduring works such as Jasmine, Willow, and Marigold share common features such as decadent scrolling foliage and a carefully interwoven and background.

A lavishly illustrated gift book with almost 100 colour illustrations, William Morris’s Flowers by Rowan Bain is devoted to Morris’s floral designs. It features not only completed patterns but also working drawings in pen and watercolour, and examples of his pearwood, floral-pattern printing blocks.

It also explores the places that inspired these flower-based designs, including his own gardens at the Red House in Kent, 16th- and 17th-century herbals, medieval manuscripts, late medieval and Renaissance tapestries, and so much more.

Bitten By Witch Fever 

Selected as a BBC Culture ‘Design Book of the Year’, Lucinda Hawksley’s Bitten by Witch Fever traces the arresting story of the manufacture, uses and effects of arsenic in the 19th-century home and in particular, the pigments ingrained in many of the popular wallpapers of the period.

Hawksley reveals how such pigments as Scheele’s green and Schweinfurt green were created using arsenic to produce more vibrant and durable dyes, which became instant favourites with wallpaper designers and householders alike. Drawing on contemporary case studies and reports in the press, she highlights how, by the middle of the century, manufacturers were producing millions of rolls of arsenical wallpaper, with devastating consequences for those working in their factories and for those living in rooms decorated with the deadly designs.

Bitten by Witch Fever also features dazzling long-lost work from the great designers and printers of the age, including Christopher Dresser, Corbière, Son & Brindle, Charles Knowles & Co. and Morris & Co. – many of whom were famously dismissive of the fatal effects of living with arsenic-laden wallpapers.

William Morris

Published to mark the 125th anniversary of Morris’s death and named A Crafts Council ‘Best Craft Book of the Year’, William Morris is the widest ranging, comprehensive illustrated study of the designer ever published. Exploring the balance between Morris’s various spheres of activity and influence, it places his art in the context of its time and addresses his ongoing and far-reaching legacy.

As noted in the book, ‘William Morris was many kinds of man: visual artist, poet, political activist, Marxist theoretician. He was also many kinds of designer.’ Fittingly, this book includes contributions from a wide range of Morris experts, with chapters dedicated to painting, church decoration and stained glass, interior decoration, furniture, tiles and tableware, wallpaper, textiles, calligraphy and publishing.

Additional materials include a contextualized chronology of Morris’s life and a list of public collections around the world where examples of Morris’s work may be seen today. This study is a comprehensive, fully illustrated exploration of a great thinker and artist, and essential reading for anyone interested in the history of design.