Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1885 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 volume
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born 1834; educated Marlborough College and Exeter College, Oxford University, 1853-1856, where he met Edward Coley Burne-Jones; entered Oxford office of the gothic revivalist architect, George Edmund Street, 1856; financed first 12 monthly issues of The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, 1856; persuaded by Dante Gabriel Rossetti to give up architecture for painting, and joined a group painting the walls of the Oxford Union with scenes from Arthurian legend, 1856; shared a studio in Red Lion Square with Burne-Jones, 1856-1859; married Jane Burden, 1859; commissioned Philip Speakman Webb to build the Red House at Bexleyheath, 1859-1860; founded the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company, 1861, which included Ford Madox Brown, Rossetti, Webb and Burne-Jones and produced fine art furniture, stained glass and embroideries; moved to Bloomsbury, 1865; published various works of poetry, including The defence of Guenevere, 1858, the Death of Jason, 1867, The Earthly Paradise, 1868-1870, and the Book of Verse, 1870; moved to Kelmscott, Oxfordshire, 1871; visited Iceland, 1871 and 1873; reorganised the firm under his sole proprietorship as Morris and Co, 1874, and began revolutionary experiments with vegetable dyes; gave first public lecture on 'The Decorative Arts', 1877, and published Hopes and fears for Art, 1882; founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, 1877; moved to Kelmscott House, Hammersmith, 1878; moved the firm to Merton Abbey, Surrey, 1881; joined the Democratic (later Social Democratic) Federation, 1883; formed the Socialist League and the Hammersmith Socialist Society, 1884; started the Kelmscott Press, 1891; died 1896.
Archival history
GB 0097 ARC 002 1885 Collection (fonds) 1 volume Morris , William , 1834-1896 , designer, craftsman, poet and socialist
Born 1834; educated Marlborough College and Exeter College, Oxford University, 1853-1856, where he met Edward Coley Burne-Jones; entered Oxford office of the gothic revivalist architect, George Edmund Street, 1856; financed first 12 monthly issues of The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, 1856; persuaded by Dante Gabriel Rossetti to give up architecture for painting, and joined a group painting the walls of the Oxford Union with scenes from Arthurian legend, 1856; shared a studio in Red Lion Square with Burne-Jones, 1856-1859; married Jane Burden, 1859; commissioned Philip Speakman Webb to build the Red House at Bexleyheath, 1859-1860; founded the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company, 1861, which included Ford Madox Brown, Rossetti, Webb and Burne-Jones and produced fine art furniture, stained glass and embroideries; moved to Bloomsbury, 1865; published various works of poetry, including The defence of Guenevere, 1858, the Death of Jason, 1867, The Earthly Paradise, 1868-1870, and the Book of Verse, 1870; moved to Kelmscott, Oxfordshire, 1871; visited Iceland, 1871 and 1873; reorganised the firm under his sole proprietorship as Morris and Co, 1874, and began revolutionary experiments with vegetable dyes; gave first public lecture on 'The Decorative Arts', 1877, and published Hopes and fears for Art, 1882; founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, 1877; moved to Kelmscott House, Hammersmith, 1878; moved the firm to Merton Abbey, Surrey, 1881; joined the Democratic (later Social Democratic) Federation, 1883; formed the Socialist League and the Hammersmith Socialist Society, 1884; started the Kelmscott Press, 1891; died 1896.
Letter from William Morris, 1885, to an unknown recipient (addressed as 'Comrade') relating to the Social Democratic Federation; Justice, the weekly propaganda paper produced by the Federation and financed for a time by Morris; and The Commonweal, the organ of the Socialist League, formed by Morris following a split from the Social Democratic Federation in 1884.
Single item.
Open.
No copyright restrictions. No documents may be photocopied.
English
On-line catalogue available.
The BLPES holds other material relating to William Morris in the papers of the Social Democratic Federation (Ref: Coll Misc 0522), The Commonweal (Ref: Coll Misc 0897), the Fabian Society (Ref: Fabian Society/A8/2), the Independent Labour Party (Ref: ILP/4/1894, 7/1/5, 7/11/2, 8/A, 8/1898, 8/1910, 16/1878, 16/1879, 16/1884, and 16/1900-01), and Graham Wallas (Ref: Wallas/1/6/6-7 and 1/7/5).
Further papers relating to William Morris may be found at the British Library, the William Morris Gallery, London, the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, the Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis, Netherlands, the Society of Antiquaries, London, Hammersmith and Fulham Archives and Local History Centre, the King's School, Canterbury, the Brotherton Library at Leeds University, the Houghton Library at Harvard University, USA, Staffordshire Record Office, the Library of Congress Manuscripts Division in Washington, USA, the Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, California, USA, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, London, and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Library, University of Texas at Austin, USA.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 1995); British Library On-Line Public Access Catalogue 97; Historical Manuscripts Commission National Register of Archives. Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. Journalism Justice , newspaper of the Social Democratic Federation Morris , William , 1834-1896 , poet artist and socialist Political doctrines Social Democratic Federation Socialist League The Commonweal , newspaper of the Socialist League
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Letter from William Morris, 1885, to an unknown recipient (addressed as 'Comrade') relating to the Social Democratic Federation; Justice, the weekly propaganda paper produced by the Federation and financed for a time by Morris; and The Commonweal, the organ of the Socialist League, formed by Morris following a split from the Social Democratic Federation in 1884.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Single item.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open.
Conditions governing reproduction
No copyright restrictions. No documents may be photocopied.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
The BLPES holds other material relating to William Morris in the papers of the Social Democratic Federation (Ref: Coll Misc 0522), The Commonweal (Ref: Coll Misc 0897), the Fabian Society (Ref: Fabian Society/A8/2), the Independent Labour Party (Ref: ILP/4/1894, 7/1/5, 7/11/2, 8/A, 8/1898, 8/1910, 16/1878, 16/1879, 16/1884, and 16/1900-01), and Graham Wallas (Ref: Wallas/1/6/6-7 and 1/7/5).
Finding aids
On-line catalogue available.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Further papers relating to William Morris may be found at the British Library, the William Morris Gallery, London, the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, the Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis, Netherlands, the Society of Antiquaries, London, Hammersmith and Fulham Archives and Local History Centre, the King's School, Canterbury, the Brotherton Library at Leeds University, the Houghton Library at Harvard University, USA, Staffordshire Record Office, the Library of Congress Manuscripts Division in Washington, USA, the Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, California, USA, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, London, and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Library, University of Texas at Austin, USA.
Publication note
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
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Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English