Last December, Duke's Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library received a magnificent and rare copy of the "Kelmscott Chaucer." According to John Crichton of the Brick Row Book Shop in San Francisco, this book "is widely and indisputably recognized as one of the finest productions ever of a private press."
In the late nineteenth century, William Morris--professional designer, decorator, and writer--founded the Kelmscott Press in Hammersmith, England. In his own words, he hoped to print books that "would have a definite claim to beauty."
Morris abhorred most aspects of modern civilization, which he found mechanical and spiritually deadening. One of the beliefs that directed his many artistic passions was that a revival of values and practices of the Middle Ages could serve as an alternative to these pernicious modern influences.

The carefully crafted and ornate style of Morris' presentation of Chaucer is both a loving and personal appreciation of the medieval master and a key piece of evidence in the study of how interpretations of the Middle Ages have affected Western culture over the last 200 years.
For his edition of Chaucer's works, Morris focused on myriad details of the bookmaking process. He commissioned hand-made, wire-molded, linen paper similar to that used in fifteenth-century Bologna. On the paper, one can find a watermark of a perch holding a spray in its mouth. Having already designed two font types that were, according to him, pure in form and easy to read, Morris reworked his Gothic font to better accommodate the double-columned format he planned for the Chaucer. He set his type by hand, insisting upon a standard spacing between letters, words, and lines.
As for the positioning of material on the page, he followed the patterns of medieval bookmakers: His margins increased in width by increments of 20 percent, with the inner margin the narrowest followed by the top margin, fore-edge margin, and the bottom and largest margin.
In addition to planning the layout of the Chaucer, he designed fourteen large borders, eighteen different frames for the illustrations, and twenty-six large initial words for the text. He also commissioned eighty-seven illustrations from Sir Edward Burne-Jones, an artist who had worked on earlier projects with him. Morris devoted two hand presses and twenty-one months to the printing of his Chaucer edition.
Meanwhile, in March 1893, Morris persuaded T.J. Cobden-Sanderson to enter the world of bookbinding and to found the Doves Bindery. With workshops close by, Morris and Cobden-Sanderson planned a special binding for forty-eight copies of the Chaucer, including two copies printed on vellum. Cobden-Sanderson chose for his binding oak boards covered with white pigskin leather--a material perfect for displaying intricate detailing.
Morris designed the binding's upper cover and selected a pattern from an early German binding for its bottom cover. The outer covers together took six days for one worker to hand-stamp.
The publication of the Kelmscott Chaucer was completed in 1896, just a few weeks before Morris' death. Without question, he had achieved his goal of making a book with a "definite claim to beauty." This treasure was a gift from Elizabeth Hamilton Willis, widow of William Hailey Willis, a pre-eminent papyrologist and professor emeritus of Greek at Duke. During Willis' twenty-three years at Duke, he built the university's collection of ancient writings on papyrus. His father, William Wallace Willis of Meridian, Mississippi, had corresponded with T.J. Cobden-Sanderson and even commissioned bindings from him.
The Kelmscott Chaucer was among the fine-press books the elder Willis acquired and left to his son.