Research Guides: Lasting Impressions: Hand Printing in Practice: Welcome

This resource is a companion research guide to the virtual event "Lasting Impressions: Hand Printing in Practice," aired on January 31, 2024. Drawing upon The Huntington's rich William Morris and Kelmscott Press book collections, library staff discussed Morris' artistic philosophy and unique printing techniques. Attendees learned how a rare book cataloger describes these collections for online discovery and how to start their research by exploring William Morris resources available online and at the Library.

Further questions about research, accessing materials, or navigating digital resources can be directed to the Library.

Image Credit: William Morris, Illustrations of Morris's Cupid & Psyche (detail), 1887. RB 608720. Gift of Sanford and Helen Berger.

Related Resources

Find William Morris and Kelmscott Press Collections:

Summon Discovery
Summon Discovery allows users to browse and refine their search results across Huntington catalogs and databases.
Classic Catalog
Search the "classic" catalog for a more narrow result within Huntington Library collections.
WorldCat
WorldCat.org is a great resource for locating unique, trustworthy materials that you often can’t find anywhere except in a library. Sources mentioned in the talk can be searched for on WorldCat.org.

Printing, Papermaking and Bookmaking:

Arion Press
Founded in San Francisco in 1974, Arion Press publishes a series of limited-edition books printed by letterpress and bound by hand.
The Atlas of Early Printing
An interactive site designed to be used as a tool for teaching the early history of printing in Europe during the second half of the fifteenth century.
Basic Care of Books – Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) Notes 11/7
This CCI Note is an introduction to the care of books, focusing on handling books of significance to their owners.
Caring for Paper Collections
An introduction to paper care and creation by the Northeast Document Conservation Center.
European Papermaking Techniques 1300-1800 by Timothy Barrett
An essay on the materials and techniques used to make paper by hand in Europe between 1300 and 1800 CE.
Latin Paleography
The Hill Museum and Manuscript Library's research guides on Latin scripts from Classical Antiquity to Humanist writing of the 15th century.
Parchment
Tips on caring for works on parchment by the Carnegie Historical Museum of Fairfield for the Iowa Conservation and Preservation Consortium.
Recorded Demonstration of Traditional Paper Making Process
A brief YouTube video showing the traditional papermaking process.
Recorded Printing Demonstration by Museum Plantin-Moretus.
A brief YouTube video showing an early printing technique as employed by the Kelmscott Press.

Cataloging Resources:

Getty Vocabularies This link opens in a new window
The Getty vocabularies contain structured terminology for art, architecture, decorative arts and other material culture, archival materials, visual surrogates, and bibliographic materials.
Incunabula Short Title Catalogue This link opens in a new window
The Incunabula Short-Title Catalogue (ISTC) is an international database of fifteenth-century printing which has been in development at the British Library since 1980. As well as the British Library, major contributors to ISTC include the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich; the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Rome; the Bibliographical Society of America, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague; and the Bibliothèque Royal Albert Ier, Brussels.

Controlled Vocabulary for Rare Materials Cataloging.
The RBMS Controlled Vocabulary for Rare Materials Cataloging (RBMS CVRMC) comprises terms specific to the needs of the rare materials community.
Library of Congress Authorities
Browse and view authority headings for Subject, Name, Title and Name/Title combinations; and download authority records in MARC format for use in a local library system.

Continued Learning:

Armory Center for the Arts
Pasadena's Armory Center for the Arts is a leader for contemporary art exhibitions and community-based arts education.
ArtCenter Extension
ArtCenter Extension offers more than 125 hands-on, non-degree courses for adults, teens and kids.
International Printing Museum
The International Printing Museum is a dynamic museum devoted to bringing the history of printing and books to life for diverse audiences. The museum's Book Arts Institute offers classes in letterpress printing, bookbinding, paper marbling, typecasting, paper making, and more.

Other Morrisian Resources:

The William Morris Society
The William Morris Society aims to perpetuate the memory, life, work and ideas of William Morris (1834-1896). The Society exists to make them as widely known as possible. See the "About" page for information on the U.S. and Canadian branches.
Victoria & Albert Museum
The V&A's article "William Morris: Literature and Book Design" discusses the significance of the Kelmscott Press in British Printing History.
William Morris Archive
The official database for the William Morris Archive, a text-searchable scholarly edition of the poetry and selected prose of William Morris.
Kehinde Wiley: “A Portrait of a Young Gentleman”
Read the Huntington press release for Kehinde Wiley's “A Portrait of a Young Gentleman,” a large-scale work in the Grand Manner style that also draws inspiration from wallpaper and textile designs by William Morris and Co.
The Kelmscott press and William Morris master-craftsman
See the Digital copy of "The Kelmscott press and William Morris master-craftsman" by H. Halliday Sparling and Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell, 1924.