William Morris

Tips for researching William Morris:

1. Focus your search. Relevant materials may be found in the Art Museum and the Library's rare book collections, archives and manuscript holdings, and general collections. Researchers must review the Library and Art collections in situ.  

2. Keyword searches in Summon Discovery can locate materials across Library and Art collections.

3. Carefully read the cataloger's notes in the finding aid for a useful index of terms, subjects and added entries. 

The complete finding aid for the William Morris papers can be found here in the Online Archive of California (OAC). This collection, consisting of manuscripts, correspondence, ephemera, and oversized material, was part of the Berger acquisition in 1999. The bulk of the Library's archival holdings related to William Morris is within these papers.

The Correspondence series of the William Morris papers contain letters by notable people in the literary, arts, fine printing, publishing and architectural fields in England during the 19th and 20th centuries, including Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, Georgiana Burne-Jones, T.J. Cobden-Sanderson, Sydney C. Cockerell, Walter Crane, Evelyn De Morgan, William F. De Morgan, H. Buxton Forman, Arthur Hughes, Edward R. Hughes, William Holman Hunt, W.R. Lethaby, J.W. Mackail, John Everett Millais, Jane Burden Morris, May Morris, William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Simeon Solomon, Emery Walker, Philip Webb and Charles Canning Winmill. Organized by the author to the addressee, the personal and business letters often blend the boundaries between work and life. 

Please also see:

The collected letters of William Morris, edited by Norman Kelvin.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1984-1987.
Call number: PR5083 .A6 1984

Notable Correspondents and Creators:

• Thomas James (T.J.) Cobden-Sanderson (1840-1922). English artist, bookbinder and friend of William Morris. Cobden-Sanderson established Doves Bindery before founding Doves Press with Emery Walker. 
• Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-1898). English painter, designer and lifelong friend of Morris. Burne-Jones worked closely with Morris as a designer of a wide variety of crafts, most notably stained glass. Related Collection: Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones letters, call number: mssHM 32345-32425
• Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell (1867-1962). Secretary to Morris and the Kelmscott Press from 1892 to 1898. Cockerell was Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, from 1908 to 1937. Related Collection: Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell papers, call number: mssHM 63186-63262
• John Dearle (1859-1932). English stained-glass and textile designer. Dearle designed many of the wallpapers and textiles released by Morris & Co. in its later years. Dearle began training with Morris as a teen, and in his early 20s, he became Morris & Co.’s Art Director following the death of Morris. He also became Morris & Co.’s primary stained-glass designer after the death of Burne-Jones.
• William Frend De Morgan (1839-1917). English ceramicist, writer and lifelong friend of Morris. De Morgan designed stained glass, furniture and tiles for Morris & Co. from 1863 to 1872. He drew upon Middle Eastern and medieval designs for inspiration.
• Mary (May) Morris (1862-1938). Daughter to William and Jane Morris. May managed the Morris & Co. embroidery department during her father’s lifetime. An artist in her own right, May was responsible for many of Morris & Co.’s designs, some of which were attributed to her father.
• Emery Walker (1851-1933). English printer, engraver and photographer. A key figure in the Arts & Crafts movement, Walker helped found Kelmscott Press and co-founded Doves Press with T.J. Cobden Sanderson.
• Philip Webb (1831-1915). English architect and partner of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. Webb co-founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) with Morris and others.

The Manuscripts series of the William Morris papers includes the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. minutebook, business meeting notes, personal reminiscences, lectures, poems, prose narratives and essays. Additionally, the series includes manuscripts by William Morris and many notable authors within his circle, including: Edward Burne-Jones, Sydney C. Cockerell, Walter Crane, John Henry Dearle, William F. De Morgan, Frederick E. Startridge, Alice Macdonald Fleming, William Minto, Eden Phillpotts and Charles Canning Winmill. 

The Ephemera series within the William Morris papers comprises approximately 300 items and includes photocopies of account books and various letters, printed material, scrapbook materials, photographs and clippings. Additionally, Ephemera related to Philip Henderson’s Morris biography, and material related to Peter Stansky’s work on The House of Wolfings.

The Huntington's holdings related to Morris & Company's business records often blur the line between art objects and business tools. Some items, like wallpaper and textile samples, could belong in either category. The following list provides examples of the types of material held by the Library (see Art Museum for additional materials).

N.B. Library manuscripts and archival objects are identified by call numbers, while Art Museum objects are identified by object numbers.

• Correspondence by William Morris and others covering various topics, including a blend of business and personal matters. See: William Morris papers, Boxes 3-13.
• Minutebook of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (1862-1874). See: William Morris papers, Box 2.  
• Documents concerning stained glass window designs, notes, indices, lists, and classifications, as well as handwritten and typed manuscripts. See: William Morris papers, Box 19.
• Photocopies of a small sampling of Morris & Co. business records. See: Sanford L. Berger papers, Box 48.