The Kelmscott Chaucer
Yesterday, we attended a talk at Sterling Memorial Library about the legendary Kelmscott-Goudy press, which is currently housed at the Cary Graphic Arts Collection of the Rochester Institute of Technology. Amelia Fontanel, associate curator of the Cary Collection, provided a fascinating overview of the history and legacy of the press, which has passed through the hands of a number of typographic luminaries.
Manufactured in London in 1891, the simple iron press, Albion no. 6551, was acquired in 1895 by William Morris, pioneer of the British Arts and Crafts Movement and founder of the Kelmscott Press. In 1896 he used the press to print several hundred copies of the magnificently illustrated Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. A tour de force of book design that took years to produce, it has become known, simply, as the Kelmscott Chaucer.
In 1924 the famed American type designer Frederic Goudy acquired the press and shipped it to Marlborough, New York, where it was used to print books for his Village Press imprint. Between 1932 and 1941, the press was owned by Melbert B. Cary Jr., director of the Continental Type Founders Association, former president of the AIGA, and namesake of the Cary Collection.
Albion no. 6551 spent more than five decades under the care of the Lieberman family; in 1960 J. Ben (founder of the American Printing History Association) and Elizabeth Lieberman acquired it for their Herity Press. They renamed it the Kelmscott-Goudy Press, in recognition of its storied provenance, and topped it with a miniature Liberty Bell, a “reminder of the vital role that private presses play in the freedom of the press.” The Liebermans would encourage visitors to their home in New Rochelle, New York, to ring the bell after printing something on the press.
The Liebermans with the Kelmscott-Goudy
In December 2013 the Lieberman family auctioned the press at Christie’s, in hopes that it would be put back in service after years of dormancy. With the support of RIT trustee Brooks Bower, the Cary Collection acquired the press for $233,000, well over its original $100,000–150,000 estimate—a testament to its historic import. At RIT the press is, in a way, back at “home” with the rest of the Cary Collection, and it is once again in active use, over a century after Morris printed the Kelmscott Chaucer.
After the talk, we went over to the Yale University Library Bibliographical Press, which has an Albion hand press similar to the Kelmscott-Goudy, for a demonstration. Amelia had prepared a plate featuring a quote by William Morris set in Weiss types from RIT, and framed by a beautifully intricate border. See an image of our keepsake print below!
The plate that Amelia prepared using metal types from RIT
Voilà!