Geoffrey Chaucer "The Kelmscott Chaucer" Deluxe Leather Bound Limited Edition No. 304 of 1,896 w/COA [Very Fine]

A luxurious deluxe leather bound volume. The Kelmscott Chaucer has been hailed as the most beautiful book ever published, and this edition will merit a treasured place in your home.

Charles Winthrope and Sons. Geoffrey Chaucer "The Kelmscott Chaucer". Limited & Numbered Deluxe Edition, this being number 306 of 1,896. Authentic Reproduction of the First Edition of the Kelmscott Chaucer. Handcrafted in pigskin leather. Includes Certificate of Authenticity, signed by both Robert Graham, Publisher, and Richard H Thomas, Board of Governors. Also included is a letter signed by Robert Graham, describing the process of recreating this beautiful rare work.

This edition was strictly limited to 1,896 books in honor of the year it was originally printed. In 1896, only 425 copies were printed on paper. This replica is so exact, even the original rich paper stock is replicated.

This is a limited edition facsimile of the Kelmscott Press production of Chaucer's works, held by many to be the most exquisite book of printed English literature. It was originally published in 1896 by William Morris with illustrations by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. It was the final book printed by the Kelmscott Press under Morris and remains the only major effort to illustrate all of Chaucer's works. Morris had a clear goal in mind when creating this edition: "A book ornamented with pictures that are suitable for that book, and that book only, may become a work of art second to none, save a fine binding duly ornamented or a fine piece of literature."

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales. Sometimes called the father of English literature, Chaucer is credited by some scholars as the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular English language, rather than French or Latin.

Presenting The Kelmscott Press's The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, re-created from the rare and beautiful masterpiece originally published in 1896. The Kelmscott Chaucer is often referred to as one of the most beautiful printed books in existence. Some of the features of this unusual book include: 556 pages, 87 illustrations by Edward Burne-Jones, 14 large and 18 smaller borders, 26 large initial words, printed in black and red in Chaucer type.

Features

• Replica of the paper first selected by Morris, with the deckled edges and the gilding, allowing the width of spine, and the "lay flat" binding.
• Recreation of the Debossed decorations to the leather
• Pigskin tinting to get cream color of the original leather
• Exact reproduction of the metal clasp on the original, meticulously molded for accurate look, even to the thickness of the metal, and the measure of the leather strap and the degree of tension
• Same stunning type, ornaments, and initials, designed by Morris. Down to the shade of red he used.
• Weight: 20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 17.5" x 12" x 3"
• 576pp

Size Comparison next to a standard 6"x9" leather bound volume:

Timeline of Events

Gutenberg invents the press in 1452. The first press reaches England in 1476.

Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" first published in 1477 purchased by Sir John Radcliffe (a knight and member of Parliament). Purchase price was unknown, but clearly printed for the wealthy.

Next known sale is 1776 by Christie's auction to Earl Fitzwilliam for £6. This amount was more than 1.5 years salary for the average worker.

In 1896, Kelmscott Chaucer sold the original 425 first edition copies for £20 and 13 copies on Vellum for £120. At that time, £20 was equal to $100 US when the average salary in the US was $3.52 per week or $183 per year. Vellum £120 is approx. $600, or 9 years salary for the average worker

The next sale of that copy last sold at Christie's auction in 1996 for £4,665,321

A Pocket Cathedral: The Kelmscott Chaucer

The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer published in 1896 by the Kelmscott Press was the culmination of William Morris's vision for an ideal book. It embodied his love of medieval literature and art, as well as his love of beauty. Its vast scope and magnificence inspired his friend and collaborator Edward Burne-Jones to compare it to a "pocket cathedral."

William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones discovered and developed a love for Chaucer as undergraduates at Oxford University. After Morris established the Kelmscott Press in 1891, the two old friends agreed that The Canterbury Tales and other works by Chaucer would be a major goal for the enterprise. Morris spent four years working on the book. Trial pages were printed in 1892, while final production began on August 8, 1894. The first two copies of the book were delivered to Morris and Burne-Jones on June 2, 1896. Morris was already in failing health; he died four months later on October 3, 1896.

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He was the first writer to be buried in what has since come to be called Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific A Treatise on the Astrolabe for his 10-year-old son Lewis. He maintained a career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier, diplomat, and member of parliament.

Among Chaucer's many other works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, and Troilus and Criseyde. He is seen as crucial in legitimising the literary use of Middle English when the dominant literary languages in England were still Anglo-Norman French and Latin. Chaucer's contemporary Thomas Hoccleve hailed him as "the firste fyndere of our fair langage" (i.e., the first one capable of finding poetic matter in English). Almost two thousand English words are first attested to in Chaucerian manuscripts. As scholar Bruce Holsinger has argued, charting Chaucer's life and work comes with many challenges related to the "difficult disjunction between the written record of his public and private life and the literary corpus he left behind". His recorded works and his life show many personas that are "ironic, mysterious, elusive [or] cagey" in nature, ever-changing with new discoveries.