The Works of Chaucer [Facsimile of the Kelmscott Chaucer] by Chaucer, Geoffrey - 2002: Now Revised by F.S. Ellis & Printed Again by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press, Hammersmith

London: Folio Society, 2002. Limited First Edition. hardcover. As New/As New. 17 12 3/8 3. Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones. The Works of Chaucer [Facsimile of the Kelmscott Chaucer]: Now Revised by F.S. Ellis & Printed Again by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press, Hammersmith; by Chaucer, Geoffrey. Edited by Frederick Startridge Ellis. Illustrated by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones. London: Folio Society. Printed by Cambridge University Press. 2002. Limited First Edition. First Thus. Folio: 17" x 12 3/8" x 3" (43.2 x 31.4 x 7.6 cm). Bound in publisher's original hardcover full Nigerian goatskin with elaborate gilt-stamped decoration, raised cords, etc., from the binding designed by T.J. Cobden-Sanderson, at the Doves Bindery in 1900, and executed by Smith Settle at Otley, Yorkshire. Hand-made laid endpapers from the Fabriano Mill, Italy. One of 1,010 numbered copies (1,000 were for sale) copies. Printed on fine, specially made, Oxenford twin-wire laid paper, at the James Cropper Mill at Burneside in Cumbria and supplied by John Purcell, in imitation of the original Kelmscott hand-made Perch paper. Colophon and special printer's device designed by Morris especially for this book. Gilt top edge. iv, 552(4) pp. Number 612 of 1,000. Based on the best of the Kelmscott Chaucer facsimiles, the Basilisk Press facsimile. The clamshell box (or solander) is sturdy blue buckram over boards, with gilt, cream leather label on the spine that matches the binding. Small, bound essay by William S. Peterson present, tucked into its sleeve in the case.Speaking of Morris's" Kelmscott Chaucer," Burne-Jones said of the work, "Indeed when the book is done, if we live to finish it, it will be like a pocket cathedral - so full of design and I think Morris the greatest master of ornament in the world." Today, it is still held by many to be the most exquisite book of printed English literature. [Edward Burne-Jones, Letter to Charles Eliot Norton, 1894]A tremendous effort by The Folio Society of reproducing in facsimile the famed "Kelmscott Chaucer," including all of Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones's illustrations and woodcut borders and initials designed by Morris. This may have been the Folio Society's most ambition publication to date. It was successful enough that they reprinted it in a slightly cheaper form in 2008--but this is the 2002 edition. Completed on the 20th day of February, 2002. Original note regarding natural leather and its possible defects, and the Peterson essay are present. Original note regarding natural leather and its possible defects, and the Peterson essay are present. Dust jacket condition: As New. Condition overall: As New.