Morris, William — Birkett, Hugh (Buchbinder) :  The Roots of the Mountains Wherein is Told Somewhat of the Lives of the Men of Burgdale Their Friends Their Neighbours Their Foemen and Their Fellows in Arms. [bound with Announcement of the eight Volumes].

London: Chiswick Press for Longmans, Green and Co., 1901.  Quarto. ca. 286 x 205 mm. vi, [2], 284 pp. - Announcement: [1], [1 blank] pp.  Printed in red and black in the Golden Type.

Full green morocco letterred in gold on spine, five raised bands, with elaborate border of bisecting semi-circle, dots, rules and arrowheads on both covers, lettered in gold on upper cover. Bound by Hugh Birkett, 1970.
 

Limited edition of 315 copies. The Chiswick Press printed books by William Morris, using the Golden Type, designed by Morris and used by him at the Kelmscott Press. These books are unornamented, and allow the type to stand on its own. The handmade paper - as used in the editions of the Kelmscott Press, see Tomkinson p. 107 - was supplied by J. Batchelor & Son; with watermark, a Primrose between the initials W and M.
¶ „The subject is akin to that of The House of the Wolfings; but the period is considerably later, the Goths having passed from the tribal state to that of village communities, though retaining some of the noble primitive institutions of the tribal state as described by the poet. Here again the motive is defence of the land against invasion; ... For consistency of delineation these men and women leave nothing to desire; for realization of place, personality, costume, and institution, the work is unsurpassed;...“ (Forman pp. 12-13). Cf. Forman 109.

FROM THE LIBRARY OF HUGH BIRKETT; with his exlibris. Birkett was a furniture-maker and craftsman in wood who continued the traditions of fine workmanship and design of the Cotswold School. He was also an accomplished designer binder, working in the Arts & Crafts tradition of his aunt, Kathleen Stubbs. His parents, Thomas & Annie Birkett, were both at the heart of the Birmingham Arts & Crafts movement in the 1890s and 1900s. A fine copy.

Grünes Maroquin mit reicher Vergoldung, fünf erhabene Bünde, gebunden von Hugh Birkett. Eins von nur 315 Exemplaren, gedruckt bei Chiswick mit der Golden Type der Kelmscott Press.

Walsdorf 84.
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