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{{Short description|English textile artist, author, and socialist (1834–1896)}}
{{Other people}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = William Morris
| image              = William Morris age 53.jpg
| caption            = William Morris by [[Frederick Hollyer]], 1887
| birth_date         = {{birth date|df=y|1834|03|24}}
| birth_place        = [[Walthamstow]], [[Essex]], England
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Jane Burden]]|1859}}
| children           = [[Jane Alice Morris|Jenny Morris]]<br />[[May Morris]]
| signature          = William Morris Signature.jpg
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1896|10|03|1834|03|24|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Hammersmith]], England
| education          = [[Exeter College, Oxford]]
| occupation         = {{hlist|Textile designer|poet|translator|socialist activist}}
| known_for          = {{hlist|[[Wallpaper]] and [[textile design]]|fantasy fiction|medievalism|socialism}}
| notable_works      = ''[[News from Nowhere]]'', ''[[The Well at the World's End]]''
}}

'''William Morris''' (24 March 1834&nbsp;– 3 October 1896) was an English [[textile design]]er, poet, artist,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tate |title=William Morris 1834–1896 |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-morris-388 |access-date=2021-06-24 |website=Tate}}</ref> writer, and socialist activist associated with the British [[Arts and Crafts movement]]. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British [[textile arts]] and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he campaigned for [[socialism]] in ''[[fin de siècle]]'' Great Britain.

Morris was born in [[Walthamstow]], [[Essex]],<!--DO NOT CHANGE TO EAST LONDON; WALTHAMSTOW WAS IN ESSEX PRIOR TO 1966--> to a wealthy middle-class family. He came under the strong influence of [[medievalism]] while studying [[Literae Humaniores|classics]] at [[Oxford University]], where he joined the [[Birmingham Set]]. After university, he married [[Jane Morris|Jane Burden]], and developed close friendships with [[Pre-Raphaelite]] artists and poets such as [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]], [[Algernon Charles Swinburne]], and [[Edward Burne-Jones]], as well as with [[Gothic Revival architecture|Neo-Gothic]] architect [[Philip Webb]]. Webb and Morris designed [[Red House, Bexleyheath|Red House]] in Kent<!--DO NOT CHANGE TO SOUTH-EAST LONDON; UPTON WAS IN KENT PRIOR TO 1966--> where Morris lived from 1859 to 1865, before moving to [[Bloomsbury]], central London. In 1861, Morris founded the [[Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.]] decorative arts firm with Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, and others, which became highly fashionable and much in demand. The firm profoundly influenced interior decoration throughout the [[Victorian period]], with Morris designing tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture, and stained glass windows. In 1875, he assumed total control of the company, which was renamed Morris & Co.

From 1871, Morris rented the rural retreat of [[Kelmscott Manor]], [[Oxfordshire]], while also retaining a main home in London. He was greatly influenced by visits to Iceland with [[Eiríkur Magnússon]], and he produced a series of English-language translations of Icelandic Sagas. He also achieved success with the publication of his epic poems and novels, namely ''[[The Earthly Paradise]]'' (1868–1870), ''[[A Dream of John Ball]]'' (1888), the utopian ''[[News from Nowhere]]'' (1890), and the fantasy romance ''[[The Well at the World's End]]'' (1896). In 1877, he founded the [[Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings]] to campaign against the damage caused by architectural restoration. By the influence of medievalism and Christian socialism in the 1850s he became a sceptic of industrial capitalism. After reading works of [[Henry George]], [[Alfred Russel Wallace]], and [[Karl Marx]] in the 1880s Morris became a committed [[revolutionary socialist]] activist {{clarify|date=May 2025}} until his final acceptance of parliamentary socialism at 1896. He founded the [[Socialist League (UK, 1885)|Socialist League]] in 1884 after an involvement in the [[Social Democratic Federation]] (SDF), but he broke with that organisation in 1890. In 1891, he founded the [[Kelmscott Press]] to publish limited-edition, [[illumination (manuscript)|illuminated]]-style print books, a cause to which he devoted his final years.

Morris is recognised as one of the most significant cultural figures of [[Victorian Britain]]. He was best known in his lifetime for his poetry, although he posthumously became better known for his designs. The [[William Morris Society]] founded in 1955 is devoted to his legacy, while multiple biographies and studies of his work have been published. Many of the buildings associated with his life are open to visitors, much of his work can be found in art galleries and museums, and his designs are still in production.

== Early life ==

=== Youth: 1834–1852 ===
Morris was born at Elm House in [[Walthamstow]], [[Essex]], on 24 March 1834.{{sfnm|1a1=Vallance|1y=1897|1p=2|2a1=Mackail|2y=1901|2pp=1–2|3a1=Thompson|3y=1955|3pp=1–2|4a1=MacCarthy|4y=1994|4pp=1–2|5a1=Rodgers|5y=1996|5p=20}} Raised into a wealthy middle-class family, he was named after his father, a financier who worked as a partner in the Sanderson & Co. firm, bill brokers in the [[City of London]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=2–3|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=1–2, 7}} His mother was Emma Morris (née Shelton), who descended from a wealthy bourgeois family from [[Worcester, England|Worcester]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=3|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=1–2, 10}} Morris was the third of his parents' surviving children; their first child, Charles, had been born in 1827 but died four days later. Charles had been followed by the birth of two girls, Emma in 1829 and Henrietta in 1833, before William's birth. These children were followed by the birth of siblings Stanley in 1837, Rendall in 1839, Arthur in 1840, [[Isabella Gilmore|Isabella]] in 1842, Edgar in 1844, and Alice in 1846.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=4|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=2|3a1=Rodgers|3y=1996|3p=20}} The Morris family were followers of the [[Evangelicalism|evangelical]] [[Protestantism|Protestant]] form of Christianity, and William was [[baptism|baptised]] four months after his birth at [[St Mary's Church, Walthamstow]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=10|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=2|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3p=11}}

[[File:William Morris Gallery-001 crop.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|Water House, Morris's childhood home; renovated in 2012, it now houses The [[William Morris Gallery]].]]

As a child, Morris was kept largely housebound at Elm House by his mother; there, he spent much time reading, favouring the novels of [[Walter Scott]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=5–6}} Aged six, Morris moved with his family to the [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]] mansion at [[Woodford Hall]], [[Woodford, London|Woodford, Essex]], which was surrounded by 50 acres of land adjacent to [[Epping Forest]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=5|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=6–7|3a1=Rodgers|3y=1996|3p=20}} He took an interest in fishing with his brothers as well as gardening in the Hall's grounds,{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=8–9}} and spent much time exploring the Forest, where he was fascinated both by the Iron Age earthworks at [[Loughton Camp]] and [[Ambresbury Banks]] and by the Early Modern [[Epping Forest#Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge|Hunting Lodge]] at [[Chingford]].{{sfnm|1a1=Vallance|1y=1897|1pp=2–3|2a1=Mackail|2y=1901|2p=11|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=14–17|4a1=Rodgers|4y=1996|4pp=21–22}} He also took rides through the Essex countryside on his pony,{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=6–7|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=13|3a1=Rodgers|3y=1996|3p=20}} and visited the various churches and cathedrals throughout the country, marveling at their architecture.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=10|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=4–5|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=17–18}} His father took him on visits outside of the county, for instance to [[Canterbury Cathedral]], the Chiswick Horticultural Gardens, and to the [[Isle of Wight]], where he adored [[Blackgang Chine]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=9, 18}} Aged nine, he was then sent to Misses Arundale's Academy for Young Gentlemen, a nearby preparatory school; although initially riding there by pony each day, he later began boarding, intensely disliking the experience.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=11|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=20–21}}

In 1847, Morris's father died unexpectedly. From this point, the family relied upon continued income from the copper mines at [[Devon Great Consols]], and sold Woodford Hall to move into the smaller [[William Morris Gallery|Water House]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=11, 14, 18|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=22|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=26–27|4a1=Rodgers|4y=1996|4p=22}} In February 1848 Morris began his studies at [[Marlborough College]] in [[Marlborough, Wiltshire]], where he gained a reputation as an eccentric nicknamed "Crab". He despised his time there, being bullied, bored, and homesick.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=15–16|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=3–5|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=29–34|4a1=Rodgers|4y=1996|4p=22}} He did use the opportunity to visit many of the prehistoric sites of Wiltshire, such as [[Avebury]] and [[Silbury Hill]], which fascinated him.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=16|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=5|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=37–40|4a1=Rodgers|4y=1996|4p=22}} The school was [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] in faith and in March 1849 Morris was confirmed by the [[Bishop of Salisbury]] in the college chapel, developing an enthusiastic attraction towards the [[Anglo-Catholic movement]] and its [[Romanticism|Romanticist]] aesthetic.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=17|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=23–24|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=43–44}} At Christmas 1851, Morris was removed from the school and returned to Water House, where he was privately tutored by the Reverend Frederick B. Guy, Assistant Master at the nearby [[Forest School, Walthamstow|Forest School]].{{sfnm|1a1=MacCarthy|1y=1994|1pp=48–50|2a1=Rodgers|2y=1996|2p=23}}

=== Oxford and the Birmingham Set: 1852–1856 ===
[[File:William Morris 23.jpg|thumb|William Morris at 23]]

In June 1852 Morris entered [[Exeter College, Oxford|Exeter College]] at [[Oxford University]], although, since the college was full, he went into residence only in January 1853.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=25–26|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=52–53}} He disliked the college and was bored by the manner in which they taught him [[Classics]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=53–55}} Instead he developed a keen interest in medieval history and medieval architecture, inspired by the many medieval buildings in Oxford.{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1955|1p=6|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=53–55, 60–61}} This interest was tied to Britain's growing [[Medievalism|Medievalist]] movement, a form of [[Romanticism]] that rejected many of the values of Victorian [[industrial capitalism]].{{sfn|Thompson|1955|pp=9–10}} For Morris, the Middle Ages represented an era with strong [[chivalry|chivalric values]] and an organic, pre-capitalist sense of community, both of which he deemed preferable to his own period.{{sfn|Thompson|1955|p=28}} This attitude was compounded by his reading of [[Thomas Carlyle]]'s book ''[[Past and Present (book)|Past and Present]]'' (1843), in which Carlyle championed medieval values as a corrective to the problems of Victorian society.{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1955|1pp=29–32|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=71}} Under this influence, Morris's dislike of contemporary capitalism grew, and he came to be influenced by the work of [[Christian socialism|Christian socialists]] [[Charles Kingsley]] and [[Frederick Denison Maurice]].{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1955|1pp=3, 40|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=64–65}}

At the college, Morris met fellow first-year undergraduate [[Edward Burne-Jones]], who became his lifelong friend and collaborator. Although from very different backgrounds, they found that they had a shared attitude to life, both being keenly interested in Anglo-Catholicism and [[King Arthur|Arthurianism]].{{sfnm|1a1=Vallance|1y=1897|1pp=10–11|2a1=Mackail|2y=1901|2pp=34–35|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=52, 56–58}}
Through Burne-Jones, Morris joined a group of undergraduates from [[Birmingham]] who were studying at [[Pembroke College, Oxford|Pembroke College]]: William Fulford (1831–1882), [[Richard Watson Dixon]], [[Charles Joseph Faulkner|Charles Faulkner]], and [[Cormell Price]]. They were known among themselves as the "Brotherhood" and to historians as the [[Birmingham Set]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=35–36, 41–42|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=59–60}} Morris was the most affluent member of the Set, and was generous with his wealth toward the others.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=65}} Like Morris, the Set were fans of the poet [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]], and would meet together to recite the plays of [[William Shakespeare]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=45, 47|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=61–62}}

[[File:William morris self-portrait 1856.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|William Morris self-portrait, 1856; he grew his beard that year, after leaving university.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=112}}]]

Morris was heavily influenced by the writings of the art critic [[John Ruskin]], being particularly inspired by his chapter "On the Nature of Gothic Architecture" in the second volume of ''[[The Stones of Venice (book)|The Stones of Venice]]''; he later described it as "one of the very few necessary and inevitable utterances of the century".{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=38|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=32–35|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=69–71}} Morris adopted Ruskin's philosophy of rejecting the tawdry industrial manufacture of decorative arts and architecture in favour of a return to hand-craftsmanship, raising [[artisan]]s to the status of artists, creating art that should be affordable and hand-made, with no hierarchy of artistic mediums.{{sfn|Thompson|1955|pp=35–38}}<ref name="EB1911" /> Ruskin had achieved attention in Victorian society for championing the art of a group of painters who had emerged in London in 1848 calling themselves the [[Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood]]. The Pre-Raphaelite style was heavily Medievalist and Romanticist, emphasising abundant detail, intense colours and complex compositions; it greatly impressed Morris and the Set.{{sfnm|1a1=Vallance|1y=1897|1p=11|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=73–74}} Influenced both by Ruskin and by [[John Keats]], Morris began to spend more time writing poetry, in a style that was imitative of much of theirs.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=51–53|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=74–77}}

Both he and Burne-Jones were influenced by the Romanticist milieu and the Anglo-Catholic movement, and decided to become clergymen in order to found a monastery where they could live a life of [[chastity]] and dedication to artistic pursuit, akin to that of the contemporary [[Nazarene movement]]. However, as time went on Morris became increasingly critical of Anglican doctrine and the idea faded.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=62–64|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=25–26|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=65–68}} In summer 1854, Morris travelled to Belgium to look at medieval paintings,{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=48|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=82}} and in July 1855 went with Burne-Jones and Fulford across northern France, visiting medieval churches and cathedrals.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=71–78|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=26–27|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=82–94}} It was on this trip that he and Burne-Jones committed themselves to "a life of art".{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=95}} For Morris, this decision resulted in a strained relationship with his family, who believed that he should have entered either commerce or the clergy.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=83|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=96}} On a subsequent visit to Birmingham, Morris discovered [[Thomas Malory]]'s ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'', which became a core Arthurian text for him and Burne-Jones.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=81|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=96–97}} In January 1856, the Set began publication of ''[[The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine]]'', designed to contain "mainly Tales, Poetry, friendly critiques and social articles". Funded mainly by Morris, who briefly served as editor and heavily contributed to it with his own stories, poems, reviews and articles, the magazine lasted for twelve issues, and garnered praise from Tennyson and Ruskin.{{sfnm|1a1=Vallance|1y=1897|1pp=20–23|2a1=Mackail|2y=1901|2pp=88, 92|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=98–102}}

=== Apprenticeship, the Pre-Raphaelites, and marriage: 1856–1859 ===
[[File:William Morris 001.jpg|thumb|upright|Morris's 1858 painting ''La belle Iseult'', also inaccurately called ''Queen Guinevere'', is his only surviving easel painting, now in the [[Tate Gallery]]. The model is [[Jane Morris|Jane Burden]], who married Morris in 1859.]]

Having passed his finals and been awarded a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], Morris began an apprenticeship with the Oxford-based [[Gothic Revival architecture|Neo-Gothic]] architect [[G. E. Street|George Edmund Street]] in January 1856. His apprenticeship focused on architectural drawing, and there he was placed under the supervision of the young architect [[Philip Webb]], who became a close friend.{{sfnm|1a1=Vallance|1y=1897|1pp=16–20|2a1=Mackail|2y=1901|2pp=82, 87, 102|3a1=Thompson|3y=1955|3p=43|4a1=MacCarthy|4y=1994|4pp=102–108}} Morris soon relocated to Street's London office, in August 1856 moving into a flat in [[Bloomsbury]] in [[Central London]] with Burne-Jones, an area perhaps chosen for its avant-garde associations.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=102|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=108–110}} Morris was fascinated by London but dismayed at its pollution and rapid expansion into neighbouring countryside, describing it as "the spreading sore".{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=111–112}}

William Morris became increasingly fascinated with the idyllic Medievalist depictions of rural life which appeared in the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites, and spent large sums of money purchasing such artworks. Burne-Jones shared this interest, but took it further by becoming an apprentice to one of the foremost Pre-Raphaelite painters, [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]]; the three soon became close friends.{{sfnm|1a1=Vallance|1y=1897|1pp=12–15|2a1=Mackail|2y=1901|2pp=100–102, 105|3a1=Thompson|3y=1955|3pp=42–44|4a1=MacCarthy|4y=1994|4pp=113–115}} Through Rossetti, Morris came to associate with poet [[Robert Browning]], and the artists [[Arthur Hughes (artist)|Arthur Hughes]], [[Thomas Woolner]], and [[Ford Madox Brown]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=106|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=116}} Tired of architecture, Morris abandoned his apprenticeship, with Rossetti persuading him to take up painting instead, which he chose to do in the Pre-Raphaelite style.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=105, 109|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=44–45|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=115, 122–123}} Morris aided Rossetti and Burne-Jones in painting the [[Oxford Union murals|Arthurian murals]] at the [[Oxford Union]], although his contributions were widely deemed inferior and unskilled compared to those of the others.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=117–126|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=46–47|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=129–134}} At Rossetti's recommendation, Morris and Burne-Jones moved in together to the flat at Bloomsbury's [[Red Lion Square|No. 17 Red Lion Square]] by November 1856. Morris designed and commissioned furniture for the flat in a medieval style, much of which he painted with Arthurian scenes in a direct rejection of mainstream artistic tastes.{{sfnm|1a1=Vallance|1y=1897|1p=20|2a1=Mackail|2y=1901|2pp=112–114|3a1=Thompson|3y=1955|3p=45|4a1=MacCarthy|4y=1994|4pp=117–122}}

Morris also continued writing poetry and began designing illuminated manuscripts and embroidered hangings.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=123–125}} In March 1857 Bell and Dandy published a book of Morris's poems, ''The Defence of Guenevere'', which was largely self-funded by the author. It did not sell well and garnered few reviews, most of which were unsympathetic. Disconcerted, Morris would not publish again for a further eight years.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=129–135|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=76, 85|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=142–147}} In October 1857 Morris met [[Jane Morris|Jane Burden]], a woman from a poor working-class background, at a theatre performance. Rossetti initially asked her to model for him. Controversially both Rossetti and Morris were smitten with her; Morris, however, began a relationship with her and they were engaged in spring 1858; Burden would later admit that she had never loved Morris.{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1955|1pp=48, 74–76|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=135–141}} They were married in a low-key ceremony held at [[St Michael at the North Gate]] church in Oxford on 26 April 1859, before honeymooning in [[Bruges]], Belgium, and settling temporarily at 41 Great Ormond Street, London.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=138–139|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=76|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=151–152}}

== Career and fame ==

=== Red House and the Firm: 1859–1865 ===
[[File:Philip Webb's Red House in Upton.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Red House, Bexleyheath|Red House]] in [[Bexleyheath]]; it is now owned by [[The National Trust]] and open to visitors.]]

Morris desired a new home for himself and his family resulting in the construction of the [[Red House, Bexleyheath|Red House]] in the Kentish hamlet of Upton near [[Bexleyheath]], ten miles from central London. The building's design was a co-operative effort, with Morris focusing on the interiors and the exterior being designed by Webb, for whom the House represented his first commission as an independent architect.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=129–130, 141|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=154–156}} Named after the red bricks and red tiles from which it was constructed, Red House rejected architectural norms by being L-shaped.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=141–142}} Influenced by various forms of contemporary Neo-Gothic architecture, the House was nevertheless unique,{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=161–162}} with Morris describing it as "very mediaeval in spirit".{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=154–156}} Situated within an orchard, the house and garden were intricately linked in their design.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=140–144|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=164–165}} It took a year to construct,{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=157}} and cost Morris £4000 at a time when his fortune was greatly reduced by a dramatic fall in the price of his shares.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=171}} Burne-Jones described it as "the beautifullest place on Earth."{{sfn|Thompson|1955|p=92}}

After construction, Morris invited friends to visit, most notably Burne-Jones and his wife [[Georgiana Burne-Jones|Georgiana]], as well as Rossetti and his wife [[Elizabeth Siddal|Lizzie Siddal]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=159–160|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=157–158}} They aided him in painting decoration on the furniture, walls, and ceilings, much of it based on Arthurian tales, the [[Trojan War]], and [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s stories, while he also designed floral embroideries for the rooms.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=158–159|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=92|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=158–160}} They also spent much time playing tricks on each other, enjoying games like [[hide and seek]], and singing while accompanied by the piano.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=162–163}} Siddall stayed at the House during summer and autumn 1861 as she recovered from a traumatic miscarriage and an addiction to [[laudanum]]; she would die of an overdose in February 1862.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=186–187}}

In April 1861, Morris founded a [[decorative arts]] company, [[Morris & Co.|Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.]], with six other partners: Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, Ford Madox Brown, Charles Faulkner, and [[Peter Paul Marshall]]. Operating from premises at No. 6 [[Red Lion Square]], they referred to themselves as "the Firm" and were intent on adopting Ruskin's ideas of reforming British attitudes to production. They hoped to reinstate decoration as one of the fine arts and adopted an ethos of affordability and anti-elitism.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=144–148|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=92–93|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=166–169}} For additional staff, they employed boys from the [[Industrial Home for Destitute Boys]] in [[Euston Road|Euston]], central London, many of whom were trained as apprentices.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=175}}

Although working within the Neo-Gothic school of design, they differed from Neo-Gothic architects like [[George Gilbert Scott]] who simply included certain Gothic features on modern styles of building; instead they sought to return completely to Medieval Gothic methods of craftmanship.{{sfn|Thompson|1955|pp=99–100}} The products created by the Firm included furniture, architectural carving, metalwork, stained glass windows, and murals.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=151–152|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=94|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3p=172}} Their stained glass windows proved a particular success in the firm's early years as they were in high demand for the surge in the Neo-Gothic construction and refurbishment of churches, many of which were commissioned by the architect [[George Frederick Bodley]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=176–177}} Despite Morris's anti-elitist ethos, the Firm soon became increasingly popular and fashionable with the bourgeoisie, particularly following their exhibit at the [[1862 International Exhibition]] in [[South Kensington]], where they received press attention and medals of commendation.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=154–155|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=96–97|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=179–181}} However, they faced much opposition from established design companies, particularly those belonging to the [[Neoclassical architecture|Neo-Classical]] school.{{sfn|Thompson|1955|p=96}}

[[File:William Morris design for Trellis wallpaper 1862.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.8|Design for ''Trellis'' wallpaper, 1862]]

Morris was slowly abandoning lithography and painting, recognising that his work lacked a sense of movement; none of his paintings are dated later than 1862.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=181}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Lithograph Archives - William Morris Gallery |work=William Morris Gallery |url=https://wmgallery.org.uk/technique/lithograph/ |access-date=6 September 2024 |date=2024}}</ref> Instead he focused his energies on designing wallpaper patterns, the first being "Trellis", designed in 1862. His designs were produced from 1864 by Jeffrey and Co. of [[Islington]], who created them for the Firm under Morris's supervision.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=156|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=182–183}} Morris retained an active interest in various groups, joining the [[Hogarth Club]], the Mediaeval Society, and the Corps of Artist Volunteers, the latter in contrast to his later pacifism.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=170}}

Meanwhile, Morris's family continued to grow. In January 1861, Morris and Janey's first daughter was born: named [[Jane Alice Morris]], she was commonly known as "Jenny".{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=160–161|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=185–186}} Jenny was followed in March 1862 by the birth of their second daughter, [[May Morris|Mary "May" Morris]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=161|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=187}} Morris was a caring father to his daughters, and years later they both recounted having idyllic childhoods.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=192–193}} However, there were problems in Morris's marriage as Janey became increasingly close to Rossetti, who often painted her. It is unknown if their affair was ever sexual, although by this point other members of the group were noticing Rossetti and Janey's closeness.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=221–223}}

Imagining the creation of an artistic community at Upton, Morris helped develop plans for a second house to be constructed adjacent to Red House in which Burne-Jones could live with his family; the plans were abandoned when Burne-Jones's son Christopher died from [[scarlet fever]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=163|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=94|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=193–195|4a1=Allen|4y=2001|4pp=22–23}} By 1864, Morris had become increasingly tired of life at Red House, being particularly unhappy with the 3 to 4 hours spent commuting to his London workplace on a daily basis.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=162|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=193|3a1=Allen|3y=2001|3p=22}} He sold Red House, and in autumn 1865 moved with his family to No. 26 [[Queen Square, London|Queen Square]] in Bloomsbury, the same building to which the Firm had moved its base of operations earlier in the summer.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=164–165|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=94|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=196–197}}

=== Queen Square and ''The Earthly Paradise'': 1865–1870 ===
[[File:George Frederic Watts portrait of William Morris 1870.jpg|thumbnail|upright| Portrait of William Morris by George Frederic Watts, 1870]]

At Queen Square, the Morris family lived in a flat directly above the Firm's shop.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=198}} They were joined by Janey's sister [[Elizabeth Burden]] and a number of household servants.{{Sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=198–199}} Meanwhile, changes were afoot at the Firm as Faulkner left, and to replace him they employed a business manager, Warrington Taylor, who would remain with them till 1866. Taylor pulled the Firm's finances into order and spent much time controlling Morris and ensuring that he worked to schedule.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=175–176|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=207–210}} During these years the Firm carried out a number of high-profile designs; from September 1866 to January 1867, they redecorated the Armoury and Tapestry Room in [[St James's Palace]],{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=211}} in the latter year also designing the Green Dining Room at the [[South Kensington Museum]] (it is now the Morris Room at the Victoria and Albert Museum).{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=176–177|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=96|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=212–213}} The Firm's work received increasing interest from people in the United States, resulting in Morris's acquaintance with [[Henry James]] and [[Charles Eliot Norton]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=229–230}} However, despite its success, the Firm was not turning over a large net profit, and this, coupled with the decreasing value of Morris's stocks, meant that he had to decrease his spending.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=241}}

Janey's relationship with Rossetti had continued, and by the late 1860s gossip regarding their affair had spread about London, where they were regularly seen spending time together.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=224, 253–254}} Morris biographer [[Fiona MacCarthy]] argued that it was likely that Morris had learned of and accepted the existence of their affair by 1870.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=259}} In this year he developed an affectionate friendship with Aglaia Coronio, the daughter of wealthy Greek refugees, although there is no evidence that they had an affair.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=290|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=270–273}} Meanwhile, Morris's relationship with his mother had improved, and he would regularly take his wife and children to visit her at her house in [[Leyton]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=214–215}} He also went on various holidays; in the summer of 1866 he, Webb, and Taylor toured the churches of northern France.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=215}}

[[File:Morris by Rossetti.jpg|left|thumb|A caricature sketch of Morris by Rossetti, ''The Bard and Petty Tradesman'', reflecting his behaviour at the Firm]]

In August 1866 Morris joined the Burne-Jones family on their holiday in [[Lymington]], while in August 1867 both families holidayed together in Oxford.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=216}} In August 1867 the Morrises holidayed in [[Southwold]], [[Suffolk]],{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=217}} while in the summer of 1869 Morris took his wife to [[Bad Ems]] in [[Rhineland-Palatinate]], central Germany, where it was hoped that the local health waters would aid her ailments. While there, he enjoyed walks in the countryside and focused on writing poetry.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=401–204|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=231–246}}

Morris had continued to devote much time to writing poetry. In 1867 Bell and Dandy published Morris's epic poem, ''The Life and Death of Jason'', at his own expense. The book was a retelling of the ancient Greek myth of the hero [[Jason]] and his quest to find the [[Golden Fleece]]. In contrast to Morris's former publication, ''The Life and Death of Jason'' was well received, resulting in the publishers paying Morris a fee for the second edition.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=183–186|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=204}}
From 1865 to 1870, Morris worked on another epic poem, ''[[The Earthly Paradise]]''. Designed as a homage to Chaucer, it consisted of 24 stories, adopted from an array of different cultures, and each by a different narrator; set in the late 14th century, the synopsis revolved around a group of Norsemen who flee the [[Black Death]] by sailing away from Europe, on the way discovering an island where the inhabitants continue to venerate the ancient Greek gods. Published in four parts by [[Frederick Startridge Ellis|F. S. Ellis]], it soon gained a cult following and established Morris's reputation as a major poet.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=179–183, 192–197, 204–208|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=110–150|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=199–203, 259–264}}

=== Kelmscott Manor and Iceland: 1870–1875 ===
[[File:KelmscottManor1.JPG|thumbnail|right|Main entrance to [[Kelmscott Manor]]]]

By 1870, Morris had become a [[public figure]] in Britain, resulting in repeated press requests for photographs, which he despised.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=269–270}} That year, he also reluctantly agreed to sit for a portrait by establishment painter [[George Frederic Watts]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=213|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=270}} Morris was keenly interested in Icelandic literature, having befriended the Icelandic theologian [[Eiríkur Magnússon]]. Together they produced prose translations of the [[Eddas]] and Sagas for publication in English.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=200–201|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=176–179|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=290–291, 325}} Morris also developed a keen interest in creating handwritten illuminated manuscripts, producing 18 such books between 1870 and 1875, the first of which was ''A Book of Verse'', completed as a birthday present for Georgina Burne-Jones. 12 of these 18 were handwritten copies of Nordic tales such as ''[[Halfdan the Black]]'', ''[[Frithiof the Bold]]'', and ''The Dwellers of Eyr''. Morris deemed [[calligraphy]] to be an art form, and taught himself both Roman and italic script, as well as learning how to produce gilded letters.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=276–280|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=264–269}} In November 1872 he published ''Love is Enough'', a poetic drama based on the story ''[[The Dream of Macsen Wledig]]'' in the Medieval [[Welsh literature|Welsh]] text, the ''[[Mabinogion]]''. Illustrated with Burne-Jones woodcuts, it was not a popular success.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=280–288|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=151–153|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=323–324}} By 1871, he had begun work on a novel set in the present, ''The Novel on Blue Paper'', which was about a love triangle; it would remain unfinished and Morris later asserted that it was not well written.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=273–275}}

By early summer 1871, Morris began to search for a house outside London where his children could spend time away from the city's pollution. He settled on [[Kelmscott Manor]] in the village of [[Kelmscott]], [[Oxfordshire]], obtaining a joint tenancy on the building with Rossetti in June.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=225|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=161, 173|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=275–276}} Morris adored the building, which was constructed ''circa'' 1570, and would spend much time in the local countryside.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=225|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=174–175|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=311–314}} In contrast, Rossetti was unhappy at Kelmscott, and eventually suffered a mental breakdown.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=319–321}} Morris divided his time between London and Kelmscott; however, when Rossetti was there he would not spend more than three days at a time at the latter.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=335}} He became fed up with his family home in Queen Square, deciding to obtain a new house in London. Although retaining a personal bedroom and study at Queen Square, he relocated his family to Horrington House in Turnham Green Road, West London, in January 1873.{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1955|1p=165|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=325–326}} This allowed him to be far closer to the home of Burne-Jones, with the duo meeting on almost every Sunday morning for the rest of Morris's life.{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1955|1p=165|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=361}}

{{multiple image
| align = left
| total_width = 300
| image1 = Morris Acanthus Wallpaper 1875.jpg
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = Rubaiyat Morris Burne-Jones Manuscript.jpg
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| footer = Morris's ''[[Acanthus (ornament)|Acanthus]]'' wallpaper design, (1875, left) and a page from Morris's illuminated manuscript of the ''[[Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam]]'', illustrated by Edward Burne-Jones
}}
Leaving Jane and his children with Rossetti at Kelmscott, in July 1871 Morris left for Iceland with Faulkner, W. H. Evans, and Eiríkur. Sailing from the Scottish port of [[Granton, Edinburgh|Granton]] aboard a Danish [[mail boat]], they proceeded to the island via [[Tórshavn]] in the [[Faroe Islands]] before arriving at [[Reykjavík]], where they disembarked. There they met the President of the [[Althing]], [[Jón Sigurðsson]], with Morris being sympathetic to the [[Icelandic nationalism|Icelandic independence movement]]. From there, they proceeded by [[Icelandic horse]] along the south coast to [[Bergþórshvoll]], [[Þórsmörk]], [[Geysir]], [[Þingvellir]], and then back to Reykjavík, where they departed back to Britain in September.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=240–274|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=179–182|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=279–309}} In April 1873, Morris and Burne-Jones holidayed in Italy, visiting [[Florence]] and [[Siena]]. Although generally disliking the country, Morris was interested in the Florentine Gothic architecture.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=293–294|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=307–308}} Soon after, in July, Morris returned to Iceland, revisiting many of the sites he had previously seen, but then proceeding north to [[Vatnajökull|Vatna glacier]] and [[Fljótsdalur]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=294–298|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=330–334}} His two visits to the country profoundly influenced him, in particular in his growing leftist opinions; he would comment that these trips made him realise that "the most grinding poverty is a trifling evil compared with the inequality of classes."{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1955|1p=184|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=278}}

Morris and Burne-Jones then spent time with one of the Firm's patrons, the wealthy [[George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle]] and his wife Rosalind, at their medieval home in [[Naworth Castle]], [[Cumberland]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=304|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=336–340}} In July 1874, the Morris family then took Burne-Jones's two children with them on their holiday to [[Bruges]], Belgium.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=304|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=336}} However, by this point Morris's friendship with Rossetti had seriously eroded, and in July 1874 their acrimonious falling out led Rossetti to leave Kelmscott, with Morris's publisher [[Frederick Startridge Ellis|F.S. Ellis]] taking his place.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=308|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=162–163|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=335–336}} With the company's other partners drifting off to work on other projects, Morris decided to consolidate his own control of the Firm and become sole proprietor and manager. In March 1875, he paid £1000 each in compensation to Rossetti, Brown, and Marshall, although the other partners waived their claims to financial compensation. That month, the Firm was officially disbanded and replaced by [[Morris & Co]], although Burne-Jones and Webb would continue to produce designs for it in future.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=305–308|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=97|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=341–344}} This accomplished, he resigned his directorship of the Devon Great Consols, selling his remaining shares in the company.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=324|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=192|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3p=347}}

=== Textile experimentation and political embrace: 1875–1880 ===
{{multiple image
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| total_width = 300
| image1 = Morris Snakeshead printed textile 1876 v 2.jpg
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = Morris Peacock and Dragon Fabric 1878 v2.jpg
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| footer = Two of Morris's designs: ''Snakeshead'' printed textile (1876) and "Peacock and Dragon" woven wool furnishing fabric (1878)
}}
Now in complete control of the Firm, Morris took an increased interest in the process of textile dyeing and entered into a co-operative agreement with [[Thomas Wardle (industrialist)|Thomas Wardle]], a silk dyer who operated the Hencroft Works in [[Leek, Staffordshire]]. As a result, Morris would spend time with Wardle at his home on various occasions between summer 1875 and spring 1878.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=311–317|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=348–350}} Deeming the colours to be of inferior quality, Morris rejected the chemical [[aniline]] dyes which were then predominant, instead emphasising the revival of organic dyes, such as [[indigo]] for blue, walnut shells and roots for brown, and [[cochineal]], [[kermes (dye)|kermes]], and [[Rose madder|madder]] for red.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=351–352}} Living and working in this industrial environment, he gained a personal understanding of production and the lives of the proletariat, and was disgusted by the poor living conditions of workers and the pollution caused by industry; these factors greatly influenced his political views.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=350, 356–357}} After learning the skills of dyeing, in the late 1870s Morris turned his attention to weaving, experimenting with silk weaving at Queen's Square.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=351|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=400–402}}

In the Spring of 1877, the Firm opened a store at No. 449 Oxford Street and obtained new staff who were able to improve its professionalism; as a result, sales increased and its popularity grew.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=353|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=409}} By 1880, Morris & Co. had become a household name, having become very popular with Britain's upper and middle classes.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=412}} The Firm was obtaining increasing numbers of commissions from aristocrats, wealthy industrialists, and provincial entrepreneurs, with Morris furnishing parts of [[St James's Palace]] and the chapel at [[Eaton Hall, Cheshire|Eaton Hall]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=411–412}} As a result of his growing sympathy for the working-classes and poor, Morris felt personally conflicted in serving the interests of these individuals, privately describing it as "ministering to the swinish luxury of the rich".{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=412}}

Continuing with his literary output, Morris translated his own version of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', titling it ''The Aeneids of Vergil'' (1876). Although many translations were already available, often produced by trained Classicists, Morris claimed that his unique perspective was as "a poet not a pedant".{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=320–323|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=361–362}} He also continued producing translations of Icelandic tales with Magnússon, including ''Three Northern Love Stories'' (1875) and ''Völuspa Saga'' (1876).{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=310–311, 330–335|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=371–372}} In 1877 Morris was approached by [[Oxford University]] and offered the largely honorary position of Professor of Poetry. He declined, asserting that he felt unqualified, knowing little about scholarship on the theory of poetry.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=336–337|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=pp=374–375}}

In summer 1876, Jenny Morris was diagnosed with [[epilepsy]]. Refusing to allow her to be societally marginalised or institutionalised, as was common in the period, Morris insisted that she be cared for by the family.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=328–330|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=368–371}} When Janey took May and Jenny to [[Oneglia]] in Italy, the latter suffered a serious seizure, with Morris rushing to the country to see her. They then proceeded to visit a number of other cities, including [[Venice]], [[Padua]], and [[Verona]], with Morris attaining a greater appreciation of the country than he had on his previous trip.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=359, 366–370|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=387–390}} In April 1879 Morris moved the family home again, this time renting an 18th-century mansion on [[Hammersmith]]'s Upper Mall in West London that was owned by the novelist [[George MacDonald]]. Morris named it Kelmscott House and re-decorated it according to his own taste.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=371–373|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=391–398}} In the House's grounds he set up a workshop, focusing on the production of hand-knotted carpets.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=373|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=403–406}} Excited that both of his homes were along the course of the [[River Thames]], in August 1880 he and his family took a boat trip along the river from Kelmscott House to Kelmscott Manor.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=8–16|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=424–428}}

[[File:William Morris by Sir William Blake Richmond retouched.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Portrait of William Morris by [[William Blake Richmond]]]]

Morris became politically active in this period, coming to be associated with the [[Radicalism (historical)|radicalist]] current within British [[liberalism]]. He joined the [[Eastern Question Association]] (EQA) and was appointed the group's treasurer in November 1876. EQA had been founded by campaigners associated with the centre-left [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] who opposed Prime Minister [[Benjamin Disraeli]]'s alliance with the [[Ottoman Empire]]; the Association highlighted [[Batak massacre|the Ottoman massacre of Bulgarians]] and feared that the alliance would lead Disraeli to join the Ottomans in [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|going to war]] with the [[Russian Empire]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=347–351|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=192–193, 202–225|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=378–382}} Morris took an active role in the EQA campaign, authoring the lyrics for the song "Wake, London Lads!" to be sung at a rally against military intervention.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=351|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=384}} Morris eventually became disillusioned with the EQA, describing it as being "full of wretched little personalities".{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=362|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=385–386}} He nevertheless joined a regrouping of predominantly working-class EQA activists, the [[National Liberal League (United Kingdom)|National Liberal League]], becoming their treasurer in summer 1879; the group remained small and politically ineffective, with Morris resigning as treasurer in late 1881, shortly before the group's collapse.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=7|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=261–265|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=421–422}}

However, his discontent with the British liberal movement grew following the election of the Liberal Party's [[William Ewart Gladstone]] to the Premiership in 1880. Morris was particularly angered that [[Second Gladstone ministry|Gladstone's government]] did not reverse the Disraeli regime's [[First Boer War|occupation of the Transvaal]], introduced the [[Protection of Person and Property Act 1881|Coercion Bill]], and oversaw the [[Bombardment of Alexandria]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=7–8|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=264–266|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3p=423}} Morris later related that while he had once believed that "one might further real Socialistic progress by doing what one could on the lines of ordinary middle-class Radicalism", following Gladstone's election he came to realise "that Radicalism is on the wrong line, so to say, and will never develope [sic] into anything more than Radicalism: in fact that it is made for and by the middle classes and will always be under the control of rich capitalists".{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=103|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=266–267|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=422–423}}

In 1876, Morris visited the [[Church of St John the Baptist, Burford]], where he was appalled at the [[Building restoration|restoration]] conducted by his old mentor, G. E. Street. He recognised that these programs of architectural restoration led to the destruction or major alteration of genuinely old features in order to replace them with "sham old" features, something which appalled him.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=340|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=226–228|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=375–377}} To combat the increasing trend for restoration, in March 1877 he founded the [[Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings]] (SPAB), which he personally referred to as "Anti-Scrape". As he adopted the role of honorary secretary and treasurer, most of the other early members of SPAB were his friends, while the group's program was rooted in Ruskin's ''[[The Seven Lamps of Architecture]]'' (1849).{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=339–346|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=228|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=375–377}} As part of SPAB's campaign, Morris tried to build connections with art and antiquarian societies and the custodians of old buildings, and also contacted the press to highlight his cause. He was particularly strong in denouncing the ongoing restoration of [[Tewkesbury Abbey]] and was vociferous in denouncing the architects responsible, something that deeply upset Street.{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1955|1p=229|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=377–378}} Turning SPAB's attention abroad, in Autumn 1879 Morris launched a campaign to protect [[St Mark's Basilica]] in [[Venice]] from restoration, garnering a petition with 2000 signatures, among whom were Disraeli, Gladstone, and Ruskin.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=5–6|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=229|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=415–416}}

== Later life ==

=== Merton Abbey and the Social Democratic Federation: 1881–1884 ===
[[File:LL Pocock The Pond at William Morris's Works at Merton.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|''The Pond at Merton Abbey'' by [[Lexden Lewis Pocock]] is an idyllic representation of the works in the time of Morris.]]

In summer 1881, Morris took out a lease on the seven-acre former silk weaving factory, the [[Merton Abbey Works]], next to the River Wandle on the High Street at [[Merton, London (parish)|Merton]], Southwest London (not to be confused with the adjacent [[Merton Abbey Mills]], home of the Liberty Print Works.) After he moved his workshops to the site, the premises were used for weaving, dyeing, and creating stained glass; within three years, 100 craftsmen were employed there.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=31–37|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=429–433}} Working conditions at the Abbey were better than at most Victorian factories. However, despite Morris's ideals, there was little opportunity for the workers to display their own individual creativity.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=453}} Morris had initiated a system of [[profit sharing]] among the Firm's upper clerks, however this did not include the majority of workers, who were instead employed on a [[piecework]] basis. Morris was aware that, in retaining the division between employer and employed, the company failed to live up to his own egalitarian ideals, but he defended this, asserting that it was impossible to run a socialist company within a competitive capitalist economy.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=61|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=319–322|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=454–458}} The Firm itself was expanding, opening up a store in [[Manchester]] in 1883 and holding a stand at that year's Foreign Fair in [[Boston]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=452}}

Janey's relationship with Rossetti had continued through a correspondence and occasional visits, although she found him extremely paranoid and was upset by his addiction to [[chloral hydrate|chloral]]. She last saw him in 1881, and he died in April the following year.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=438–442}} Morris described his mixed feelings toward his deceased friend by stating that he had "some of the very greatest qualities of genius, most of them indeed; what a great man he would have been but for the arrogant misanthropy which marred his work, and killed him before his time".{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=442}} In August 1883, Janey was introduced to the poet [[Wilfrid Scawen Blunt]], with whom she embarked on a second affair, which Morris might have been aware of.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=447–451}}

In January 1881, Morris was involved in the establishment of the Radical Union, an amalgam of radical working-class groups which hoped to rival the Liberals, and became a member of its executive committee.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=423}} However, he soon rejected [[Radicalism (historical)|liberal radicalism]] completely and moved toward [[socialism]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=351|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=462}} In this period, British socialism was a small, fledgling and vaguely defined movement, with only a few hundred adherents. Britain's first socialist party, the [[Social Democratic Federation|Democratic Federation]] (DF), had been founded in 1881 by [[Henry Hyndman]], an adherent of the socio-political ideology of [[Marxism]], with Morris joining the DF in January 1883.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=82–84|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=269, 292–297|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=462–467}} Morris began to read voraciously on the subject of socialism, including [[Henry George]]'s ''[[Progress and Poverty]]'', [[Alfred Russel Wallace]]'s ''Land Nationalisation'', and [[Karl Marx]]'s ''[[Das Kapital]]'', although admitted that Marx's economic analysis of capitalism gave him "agonies of confusion on the brain". Instead he preferred the writings of [[William Cobbett]] and [[Sergius Stepniak]], although he also read the critique of socialism produced by [[John Stuart Mill]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=89|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=269, 306|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=467–471}}

[[File:David's Charge to Solomon, by Burne-Jones and Morris, Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts.JPG|thumb|upright=0.8|left|''David's Charge to Solomon'' (1882), a stained-glass window by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris in [[Trinity Church, Boston]], Massachusetts]]

In May 1883, Morris was appointed to the DF's executive committee, and was soon elected to the position of treasurer.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=472}} Devoting himself to the socialist cause, he regularly lectured at meetings across Britain, hoping to gain more converts, although was regularly criticised for doing so by the mainstream press.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=123|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=308–311|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=274–275}} In November 1883 he was invited to speak at [[University College, Oxford]], on the subject of "Democracy and Art" and there began espousing socialism; this shocked and embarrassed many members of staff, earning national press coverage.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=117–120|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=270–271|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=477–479}} With other DF members, he travelled to [[Blackburn, Lancashire]] in February 1884 amid the great cotton strike, where he lectured on socialism to the strikers.{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1955|1p=314|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=487}} The following month he marched in a central London demonstration commemorating the first anniversary of Marx's death and the thirteenth anniversary of the [[Paris Commune]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=488}}

Morris aided the DF using his artistic and literary talents; he designed the group's membership card,{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=484}} and helped author their manifesto, ''Socialism Made Plain'', in which they demanded improved housing for workers, free [[compulsory education]] for all children, free school meals, an [[Eight-hour day|eight-hour working day]], the abolition of national debt, [[Nationalization|nationalisation]] of land, banks, and railways, and the organisation of agriculture and industry under state control and co-operative principles.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=472}} Some of his DF comrades found it difficult to reconcile his socialist values with his position as proprietor of the Firm, although he was widely admired as a man of integrity.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=471}} The DF began publishing a weekly newspaper, ''[[Justice (newspaper)|Justice]]'', which soon faced financial losses that Morris covered. Morris also regularly contributed articles to the newspaper, in doing so befriending another contributor, [[George Bernard Shaw]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=121|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=313|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=485–497}}

His socialist activism monopolised his time, forcing him to abandon a translation of the Persian ''[[Shahnameh]]''.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=92|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=482}} It also led to him seeing far less of Burne-Jones, with whom he had strong political differences; although once a [[republicanism|republican]], Burne-Jones had become increasingly conservative, and felt that the DF were exploiting Morris for his talents and influence.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=481–482}} While Morris devoted much time to trying to convert his friends to the cause, of Morris's circle of artistic comrades, only Webb and Faulkner fully embraced socialism, while Swinburne expressed his sympathy with it.{{sfn|Thompson|1955|p=274}}

In 1884, the DF renamed itself the [[Social Democratic Federation]] (SDF) and underwent an internal reorganisation. However, the group was facing an internal schism between those (such as Hyndman), who argued for a parliamentary path toward socialism, and those (like Morris) who deemed the [[Houses of Parliament]] intrinsically corrupt and capitalist. Personal issues between Morris and Hyndman were exacerbated by their attitude to British foreign policy; Morris was staunchly [[Anti-imperialism|anti-imperialist]] while Hyndman expressed patriotic sentiment encouraging some foreign intervention.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=125–128|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2pp=331–357|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3pp=493–496}} The division between the two groups developed into open conflict, with the majority of members sharing Morris's position. In December 1884 Morris and his supporters – most notably [[Ernest Belfort Bax]] and [[Edward Aveling]] – left the SDF; the first major schism of the British socialist movement.{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1955|1pp=357–365|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=499–503}}

=== Socialist League: 1884–1889 ===
{{multiple image
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| image1 = Socialist League Manifesto 1885.jpg
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| image2 = Morris Woodpecker tapestry detail.jpg
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| footer = Left: the cover of the Socialist League's manifesto of 1885 featured art by Morris. Right: detail of ''Woodpecker'' tapestry, 1885.
}}

In December 1884, Morris founded the [[Socialist League (UK, 1885)|Socialist League]] (SL) with other SDF defectors.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=131–132, 140|2a1=Thompson|2y=1955|2p=366|3a1=MacCarthy|3y=1994|3p=504}} He composed the SL's manifesto with Bax, describing their position as that of "Revolutionary International Socialism", advocating [[proletarian internationalism]] and [[world revolution]] while rejecting the concept of [[Socialism in One Country|socialism in one country]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=140|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=504–505}} In this, he committed himself to "making Socialists" by educating, organising, and agitating to establish a strong socialist movement; calling on activists to boycott elections, he hoped that socialists would take part in a [[proletariat revolution]] and help to establish a [[socialism|socialist society]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=532}} Bax taught Morris more about [[Marxism]], and introduced him to Marx's collaborator, [[Friedrich Engels]]; Engels thought Morris honest but lacking in practical skills to aid the proletarian revolution.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=506–507, 509}} Morris remained in contact with other sectors of London's leftist community, being a regular at the socialist [[International Club]] in [[Shoreditch]], [[East London]],{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=541}} however he avoided the recently created [[Fabian Society]], deeming it too middle-class.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=510}} Although a Marxist, he befriended prominent anarchist activists Stepniak and [[Peter Kropotkin]],{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=543–545}}<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Kropotkin |first=P. |title=In Memory of William Morris |magazine=Freedom pamphlets |date=Nov 1896 |volume=10 |number=110}}</ref> and came to be influenced by their anarchist views, to the extent that biographer Fiona MacCarthy described his approach as being "Marxism with visionary libertarianism".{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=509}}
[[File:News From Nowhere.jpg|thumb|340x340px|William Morris, ''News from Nowhere: Or, an Epoch of Rest'' (London: [[Kelmscott Press]], 1892); [[Pequot Library]] Special Collections]]
As the leading figure in the League, Morris embarked on a series of speeches and talks on street corners, in [[working men's club]]s, and in lecture theatres across England and Scotland.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=510, 520}} He also visited [[Dublin]], there offering his support for [[Irish nationalism]],{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=156–157|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=540–541}} and formed a branch of the League at his Hammersmith house.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=217}} By the time of their first conference in July 1885, the League had eight branches across England and had affiliations with several socialist groups in Scotland.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=524}} However, as the British socialist movement grew it faced increased opposition from the establishment, with police frequently arresting and intimidating activists. To combat this, the League joined a Defence Club with other socialist groups, including the SDF, for which Morris was appointed treasurer.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=526–530}} Morris was passionate in denouncing the "bullying and hectoring" that he felt socialists faced from the police, and on one occasion was arrested himself after fighting back against a police officer; a magistrate dismissed the charges.{{sfnm|1a1=Vallance|1y=1897|1p=1|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=527–528}} The [[West End Riots|Black Monday riots of February 1886]] led to increased political repression against left-wing agitators, and in July Morris was again arrested and fined for public obstruction while preaching socialism on the streets.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=151–153, 161, 190–191|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=533–538}}

Morris oversaw production of the League's monthly—soon to become weekly—newspaper, ''[[Commonweal (UK)|Commonweal]]'', serving as its editor for six years, during which time he kept it financially afloat. First published in February 1885, it would contain contributions from such prominent socialists as Engels, Shaw, [[Paul Lafargue]], [[Wilhelm Liebknecht]], and [[Karl Kautsky]], with Morris also regularly writing articles and poems for it.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=139|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=504, 511–514}} In ''Commonweal'' he [[Serial (literature)|serialised]] a 13-episode poem, ''[[The Pilgrims of Hope]]'', which was set in the period of the Paris Commune.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=512}} From November 1886 to January 1887, Morris's novel ''[[A Dream of John Ball]]'' was serialised in ''Commonweal''. Set in Kent during the [[Peasants' Revolt]] of 1381, it contained strong socialist themes, although it proved popular among those of different ideological viewpoints, resulting in its publication in book form by [[Reeves and Turner]] in 1888.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=168, 205|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=546–549}} Shortly after, a collection of Morris's essays, ''Signs of Change'', was published.{{sfn|Mackail|1899|p=205}}

{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=Our business&nbsp;[...] is the making of Socialists, ''i.e.'' convincing people that Socialism is good for them and is possible. When we have enough people of that way of thinking, ''they'' will find out what action is necessary for putting their principles in practice. Therefore, I say, make Socialists. We Socialists can do nothing else that is useful."|source=— William Morris{{sfn|Mackail|1899|p=236}} }}

From January to October 1890, Morris serialised his novel ''[[News from Nowhere]]'' in ''Commonweal'', resulting in improved circulation for the paper. In March 1891 it was published in book form, before being translated into Dutch, French, Swedish, German and Italian by 1900 and becoming a classic among Europe's socialist community.{{sfn|Holland|2015}} Combining [[utopian socialism]] and [[soft science fiction]], the book tells the tale of a contemporary socialist, William Guest, who falls asleep and awakens in the early 21st century, discovering a future society based on [[common ownership]] and democratic control of the [[means of production]]. In this society there is no [[private property]], no big cities, no authority, no monetary system, no divorce, no courts, no prisons, and no class systems; it was a depiction of Morris's ideal socialist society.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=243–244|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=583–588}}

Morris had also continued with his translation work; in April 1887, Reeves and Turner published the first volume of Morris's translation of [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'', with the second following in November.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=164, 180–181 |2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=562–564}} Venturing into new territory, Morris also authored and starred in a play ''The Tables Turned; Or Nupkins Awakened'', which was performed at a League meeting in November 1887. It told the story of socialists who are put on trial in front of a corrupt judge; the tale ends with the prisoners being freed by a proletariat revolution.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=187–190|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=564–566}} In June 1889, Morris travelled to [[Paris]] as the League's delegate to the [[International Workers Congresses of Paris, 1889|International Socialist Working Men's Congress]], where his international standing was recognised by his being chosen as English spokesman by the Congress committee. The [[Second International]] emerged from the Congress, although Morris was distraught at its chaotic and disorganised proceedings.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=223|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=579–580}}

At the League's Fourth Conference in May 1888, factional divisions became increasingly apparent between Morris's anti-parliamentary socialists, the parliamentary socialists, and the [[Anti-statism|anti-statist]] anarchists; the Bloomsbury Branch were expelled for supporting parliamentary action.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=576–577}} Under the leadership of [[Charles Mowbray]], the League's anarchist wing was growing and called on the League to embrace [[Propaganda of the deed|violent action]] in trying to overthrow the capitalist system.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=577–578}} By autumn 1889 the anarchists had taken over the League's executive committee and Morris was stripped of the editorship of ''Commonweal'' in favour of the anarchist [[Frank Kitz]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=230|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=580–581}} This alienated Morris from the League, which had also become a financial burden for him; he had been subsidising its activities with £500 a year, a very large sum of money at the time.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=231|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=581}} By the autumn of 1890, Morris left the Socialist League, with his Hammersmith branch seceding to become the independent Hammersmith Socialist Society in November 1890.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=238–239|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=583}}

=== The Kelmscott Press and Morris's final years: 1889–1896{{anchor|The Kelmscott Press}} ===
[[File:Frederick Hollyer Burne-Jones and Morris 1890.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|Morris (right) with [[Edward Burne-Jones|Burne-Jones]], 1890]]

The work of Morris & Co. continued during Morris's final years, producing an array of stained glass windows designed by Burne-Jones and the six narrative tapestry panels depicting the quest for the [[Holy Grail]] for [[Stanmore Hall]], [[Shropshire]].{{Sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=646–647}} Morris's influence on Britain's artistic community became increasingly apparent as the [[Art Workers' Guild]] was founded in 1884, although at the time he was too preoccupied with his socialist activism to pay it any attention. Although the proposal faced some opposition, Morris was elected to the Guild in 1888, and to the position of master in 1892.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=198–199|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=592–595, 598}} Morris similarly did not offer initial support for the [[Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society]], but changed his opinion after the success of their first exhibit, held in [[Regent Street]] in October 1888. Giving lectures on tapestries for the group, in 1892 he was elected president.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=199–203, 212, 225|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=596–598}} At this time, Morris re-focused his attentions on preservation campaigning; those causes he championed including the structures of [[University Church of St Mary the Virgin|St Mary's Church]] in Oxford, [[Blythburgh Priory|Blythburgh Church]] in Suffolk, [[Peterborough Cathedral]], and [[Rouen Cathedral]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=269–270, 285–286, 313, 315–316|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=598, 653}}

Although his socialist activism had decreased, he remained involved with the Hammersmith Socialist Society, and in October 1891 oversaw the creation of a short-lived newsletter, the ''Hammersmith Socialist Record''.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=640}} Coming to oppose factionalism within the socialist movement, he sought to rebuild his relationship with the SDF, appearing as a guest lecturer at some of their events and supporting SDF candidate [[George Lansbury]] when he stood in the [[Wandsworth]] by-election of February 1894.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=645}} In 1893 the Hammersmith Socialist Society co-founded the Joint Committee of Socialist Bodies with representatives of the SDF and Fabian Society; Morris helped draw up its "Manifesto of English Socialists".{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=288–289|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=645–646}} He offered support for leftist activists on trial, including a number of [[Insurrectionary anarchism|militant anarchists]] whose violent tactics he nevertheless denounced.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=641–642}} He also began using the term "[[communism]]" for the first time, stating that "Communism is in fact the completion of Socialism: when that ceases to be militant and becomes triumphant, it will be communism."{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=642–643}} In December 1895 he gave his final open-air talk at Stepniak's funeral, where he spoke alongside the socialist [[Eleanor Marx]], trade unionist [[Keir Hardie]], and anarchist [[Errico Malatesta]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=655–656}} Liberated from internal factional struggles, he retracted his anti-parliamentary position and worked for socialist unity, giving his last public lecture in January 1896 on the subject of "One Socialist Party."<ref name="EB1911" />

In December 1888, the [[Chiswick Press]] published Morris's ''[[The House of the Wolfings]]'', a fantasy story set in Iron Age Europe which provides a reconstructed portrait of the lives of Germanic-speaking [[Goths|Gothic tribes]]. It contained both prose and aspects of poetic verse.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=212–213|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=606–608}} A sequel, ''[[The Roots of the Mountains]]'', followed in 1889.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Bibliography of William Morris |last=LeMire |first=Eugene |year=2006 |publisher=British Library |isbn=978-0-7123-4926-0}}</ref>{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=213–214, 218|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=608}} Over the coming years he would publish a string of other poetic works: ''[[The Story of the Glittering Plain]]'' (1890), ''[[The Wood Beyond the World]]'' (1894), ''[[The Well at the World's End]]'' (1896), ''[[The Water of the Wondrous Isles]]'' (1897) and ''[[The Sundering Flood]]'' (1898).{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=633}} He also embarked on a translation of the Anglo-Saxon tale ''[[Beowulf]]''; because he could not fully understand [[Old English]], his poetic translation was based largely on that already produced by [[Alfred John Wyatt]]. On publication, Morris's archaizing ''Beowulf'' was critically panned.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=648–649}} Following the death of the sitting [[Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom|Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland]], Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in October 1892, Morris was offered the position but turned it down, disliking its associations with the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|monarchy]] and political establishment; instead the position went to [[Alfred Austin]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=287–288|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=631–633}}

[[File:KelmscottPressColophone.jpg|thumb|left|Morris's design for the Kelmscott Press [[trademark]]]]
{{Main|Kelmscott Press}}

In January 1891, Morris founded the [[Kelmscott Press]], a [[private press]] which would go on to publish the celebrated ''Kelmscott Chaucer''. By the early 1890s, Morris was increasingly ill and living largely as an invalid; aside from his [[gout]], he also exhibited signs of [[epilepsy]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=624}} In August 1891, he took his daughter Jenny on a tour of Northern France to visit the medieval churches and cathedrals.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=626–627}} Back in England, he spent an increasing amount of time at Kelmscott Manor.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=627}} Seeking treatment from the prominent doctor [[William Broadbent]], he was prescribed a holiday in the coastal town of [[Folkestone]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=329|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=658–662}} In December 1894 he was devastated upon learning of his 90-year-old mother's death.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=300|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=652}}

In July 1896, Morris went on a cruise to Norway with construction engineer [[John Carruthers (engineer)|John Carruthers]], during which he visited [[Vadsø (town)|Vadsø]] and [[Trondheim (city)|Trondheim]]; during the trip his physical condition deteriorated and he began experiencing hallucinations.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1p=330|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=664–666}} Returning to Kelmscott House, he became a complete invalid, being visited by friends and family, before dying of [[tuberculosis]] on the morning of 3 October 1896.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=331, 335|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=667–670|3a1=Rodgers|3y=1996|3pp=10, 15}} Obituaries appearing throughout the national press reflected that at the time, Morris was widely recognised primarily as a poet. Mainstream press obituaries trivialised or dismissed his involvement in socialism, although the socialist press focused largely on this aspect of his career.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=671}} His funeral was held on 6 October, during which his corpse was carried from Hammersmith to [[Paddington rail station]], where it was transported to Oxford, and from there to Kelmscott, where it was buried in the churchyard of St George's Church.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=347–349|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=673–676|3a1=Rodgers|3y=1996|3pp=10–15}}

== Personal life ==
[[File:Dante Gabriel Rossetti The Salutation of Beatrice 1869.jpg|thumb|upright|''The Salutation of Beatrice'', [[Jane Morris]] portrayed by [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]] as [[Dante Alighieri]]'s muse, [[Beatrice Portinari|Beatrice]], 1869]]

Morris's biographer [[E. P. Thompson]] described him as having a "robust bearing, and a slight roll in his walk", alongside a "rough beard" and "disordered hair".{{sfn|Thompson|1955|p=89}} The author Henry James described Morris as "short, burly, corpulent, very careless and unfinished in his dress&nbsp;... He has a loud voice and a nervous restless manner and a perfectly unaffected and businesslike address. His talk indeed is wonderfully to the point and remarkable for clear good sense."{{sfn|Thompson|1955|p=89}} Morris's first biographer Mackail described him as being both "a typical Englishman" and "a typical Londoner of the middle class" albeit one who was transformed into "something quite individual" through the "force of his genius".{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1p=214}} MacCarthy described Morris's lifestyle as being "late Victorian, mildly bohemian, but bourgeois",{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=602}} with Mackail commenting that he exhibited many of the traits of the bourgeois Victorian class: "industrious, honest, fair-minded up their lights, but unexpansive and unsympathetic".{{sfn|Mackail|1899|pp=94–95}} Although he generally disliked children,{{sfn|Mackail|1899|p=308}} Morris also exhibited a strong sense of responsibility towards his family.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=171}} Mackail nevertheless thought he "was interested in things much more than in people" and that while he did have "lasting friendships" and "deep affections", he did not allow people to "penetrate to the central part of him."{{sfnm|Mackail|1899|p=93}}

Politically, Morris was a staunch revolutionary socialist and anti-imperialist,{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=47}} and although raised a Christian he came to be an [[atheism|atheist]].{{sfnm|1a1=MacCarthy|1y=1994|1p=309|2a1=Rodgers|2y=1996|2p=15}} He came to reject [[state socialism]] and large centralised control, instead emphasising localised administration within a socialist society.{{sfn|Mackail|1899|pp=244–245}} Later political activist [[Derek Wall]] suggested that Morris could be classified as an [[ecosocialism|ecosocialist]].{{sfn|Wall|2010|p=18}} Morris was greatly influenced by [[Romanticism]], with Thompson asserting that Romanticism was "bred into his bones, and formed his early consciousness."{{sfn|Thompson|1955|p=1}} Thompson argued that this "Romantic Revolt" was part of a "passionate protest against an intolerable social reality", that of the [[industrial capitalism]] of Britain's [[Victorian era]]. He believed that it led to little more than a "yearning nostalgia or a sweet complaint" and that Morris became "a realist and a revolutionary" only when he adopted socialism in 1882.{{sfn|Thompson|1955|pp=1–2}} Mackail was of the opinion that Morris had an "innate Socialism" which had "penetrated and dominated all he did" throughout his life.{{sfn|Mackail|1901|p=338}} Given the conflict between his personal and professional life and his socio-political views, MacCarthy described Morris as "a conservative radical".{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=605}}

Morris's behaviour was often erratic.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=213}} He was of a nervous disposition, and throughout his life relied on networks of male friends to aid him in dealing with this.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=170}} Morris's friends nicknamed him "Topsy" after a character in ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]]''.{{sfn|Thompson|1955|p=47}} He had a wild temper and when sufficiently enraged could suffer seizures and blackouts.{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1901|1pp=215–216|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2pp=77–78}} Rossetti was known to taunt Morris to enrage him for the amusement of himself and their other friends.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=128}} Biographer [[Fiona MacCarthy]] suggests that Morris suffered from a form of [[Tourette's syndrome]].{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=49–50}} In later life he suffered from [[gout]], a common complaint among middle-class men in the Victorian period.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=388–390}}

Morris's ethos was that one should "have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."{{sfnm|1a1=Mackail|1y=1899|1pp=62–63|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=185}} He also held to the view that "No work which cannot be done with pleasure in the doing is worth doing"{{sfn|Mackail|1899|p=64}} and adopted as his motto "As I can" from the fifteenth-century Flemish painter [[Jan van Eyck]].{{sfn|Rodgers|1996|p=16}}

== Work ==

=== Literature ===

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| footer = Left: ''The Nature of Gothic'' by [[John Ruskin]], printed by Kelmscott Press. First page of text, with typical ornamented border. Right: [[Troilus and Criseyde]], from the Kelmscott ''Chaucer''. Illustration by Burne-Jones and decorations and typefaces by Morris.
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Besides being an artist William Morris was a prolific writer of poetry, fiction, essays, and translations of ancient and medieval texts. His first poems were published when he was 24 years old, and he was polishing his final novel, ''[[The Sundering Flood]]'', at the time of his death. His daughter May's edition of Morris's ''Collected Works'' (1910–1915) runs to 24 volumes, and two more were published in 1936.{{sfn|Faulkner|1983|pp=44–45}}

Morris began publishing poetry and short stories in 1856 through ''[[The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine]]'' which he founded with his friends and financed while at university. His first volume, ''The Defence of [[Guenevere]] and Other Poems'' (1858), was the first book of Pre-Raphaelite poetry to be published.{{sfn|Faulkner|1983|pp=44–45}} The dark poems, set in a sombre world of violence, were coolly received by the critics, and he was discouraged from publishing more for a number of years. "[[The Haystack in the Floods]]", one of the poems in that collection, is probably now one of his better-known poems. It is a grimly realistic piece set during the [[Hundred Years War]] in which the doomed lovers Jehane and Robert have a last parting in a convincingly portrayed rain-swept countryside.{{sfn|Faulkner|1983|pp=44–45}} One early minor poem was "[[Masters in this Hall]]" (1860), a Christmas carol written to an old French tune.<ref name="architect" /> Another Christmas-themed poem is "The Snow in the Street", adapted from "The Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon" in ''[[The Earthly Paradise]]''.<ref name="composers" />

Morris met [[Eiríkur Magnússon]] in 1868, and began to learn the [[Icelandic language]] from him. Morris published translations of ''[[Gunnlaugs saga|The Saga of Gunnlaug Worm-Tongue]]'' and ''[[Grettis Saga]]'' in 1869, and the ''[[The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs|Story of the Volsungs and Niblungs]]'' in 1870. An additional volume was published under the title of ''Three Northern Love Stories'' in 1873.{{sfn|Faulkner|1983|pp=44–45}}<ref name="DNB" />
{{further|English translations of Homer#Morris}}

In the last nine years of his life, Morris wrote a series of imaginative fictions usually referred to as the "prose romances".{{sfn|Faulkner|1983|p=47}} These novels&nbsp;– including ''[[The Wood Beyond the World]]'' and ''[[The Well at the World's End]]''&nbsp;– have been credited as important milestones in the history of [[fantasy]] fiction, because, while other writers wrote of foreign lands, or of dream worlds, or the future (as Morris did in ''News from Nowhere''), Morris's works were the first to be set in an entirely invented [[fantasy world]].<ref name="doubleday" /> These were attempts to revive the genre of [[medieval romance]], and written in imitation of medieval prose. Morris's prose style in these novels has been praised by [[Edward James (historian)|Edward James]], who described them as "among the most lyrical and enchanting fantasies in the English language."<ref name="william3" />

On the other hand, [[L. Sprague de Camp]] considered Morris's fantasies to be not wholly successful, partly because Morris eschewed many literary techniques from later eras.{{sfn|Sprague de Camp|1976|p=46}} In particular, De Camp argued the plots of the novels are heavily driven by coincidence; while many things just happened in the romances, the novels are still weakened by the dependence on it.{{sfn|Sprague de Camp|1976|p=40}} Nevertheless, large subgenres of the field of fantasy have sprung from the romance genre, but indirectly, through their writers' imitation of William Morris.{{sfn|Sprague de Camp|1976|p=26}}

Early fantasy writers like [[Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany|Lord Dunsany]], [[E. R. Eddison]]<ref name="encyclopedia" /> and [[James Branch Cabell]]<ref name="supernatural" /> were familiar with Morris's romances. ''[[The Wood Beyond the World]]'' is considered to have heavily influenced [[C. S. Lewis]]'s [[Chronicles of Narnia|Narnia]] series, while [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] was [[Tolkien's modern sources|inspired by Morris's reconstructions]] of early Germanic life in ''[[The House of the Wolfings]]'' and ''The Roots of the Mountains''. The young Tolkien attempted a retelling of the story of Kullervo from the ''[[Kalevala]]'' in the style of ''The House of the Wolfings'';<ref name="companion" /> Tolkien considered much of his literary work to have been inspired by an early reading of Morris, even suggesting that he was unable to better Morris's work; the names of characters such as "[[Gandalf|Gandolf]]" and the horse Silverfax appear in ''[[The Well at the World's End]]''.

Sir [[Henry Newbolt]]'s medieval [[allegorical]] novel ''[[Aladore]]'' was influenced by Morris's fantasies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Reginald |first=Robert |chapter=Sir Henry Newbolt's ''Aladore'' |title=Xenograffiti: Essays on Fantastic Literature |publisher=Wildside Press |year=1996 |isbn=0-8095-1900-3 |pages=95–99}}</ref> [[James Joyce]] also drew inspiration from his work.<ref name="stephen" />

=== Textile design ===
{{See also|William Morris textile designs|William Morris wallpaper designs}}
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| footer = Left: Cabbage and vine tapestry, 1879. Right: Design for "Tulip and Willow" [[indigo dye|indigo]]-discharge wood-block printed fabric, 1873.
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[[File:A Wooden Pattern for Textile Printing from William Morris's Company.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|A wooden pattern for textile printing from William Morris's company]]

During his lifetime, Morris produced items in a range of crafts, mainly those to do with furnishing,{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=590}} including over 600 designs for wall-paper, textiles, and embroideries, over 150 for stained glass windows, three typefaces, and around 650 borders and ornamentations for the Kelmscott Press.{{sfn|Rodgers|1996|p=16}} He emphasised the idea that the design and production of an item should not be divorced from one another, and that where possible those creating items should be designer-craftsmen, thereby both designing and manufacturing their goods.{{sfnm|1a1=Parry|1y=1983|1p=6|2a1=MacCarthy|2y=1994|2p=590}} In the field of textile design, Morris revived a number of dead techniques,{{sfn|Parry|1983|p=6}} and insisted on the use of good quality raw materials, almost all natural dyes, and hand processing.{{sfn|Parry|1983|p=9}} He also observed the natural world first hand to gain a basis for his designs,{{sfn|Parry|1983|p=8}} and insisted on learning the techniques of production prior to producing a design.{{sfn|Parry|1983|p=8}}

Mackail asserted that Morris became "a manufacturer not because he wished to make money, but because he wished to make the things he manufactured."{{sfn|Mackail|1899|p=60}} Morris & Co.'s designs were fashionable among Britain's upper and middle-classes, with biographer [[Fiona MacCarthy]] asserting that they had become "the safe choice of the intellectual classes, an exercise in [[political correctitude]]."{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|p=413}} The company's unique selling point was the range of different items that it produced, as well as the ethos of artistic control over production that it emphasised.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=409–410}}

It is likely that much of Morris's preference for medieval textiles was formed&nbsp;– or crystallised&nbsp;– during his brief apprenticeship with G. E. Street. Street had co-written a book on ''Ecclesiastical Embroidery'' in 1848, and was a staunch advocate of abandoning faddish [[Berlin wool work|woolen work on canvas]] in favour of more expressive embroidery techniques based on [[Opus Anglicanum]], a [[surface embroidery]] technique popular in [[medieval England]].{{sfn|Parry|1983|pp=10–11}}

He was also fond of hand-knotted [[Persian carpet]]{{sfn|Parry|1983|p=89}} and advised the [[Victoria and Albert Museum|South Kensington Museum]] in the acquisition of fine [[Kerman carpet]]s.<ref name="Oriental carpets and their structure: highlights from the V&A collection" />

Morris taught himself embroidery, working with wool on a [[embroidery hoop|frame]] custom-built from an old example. Once he had mastered the technique he trained his wife Jane, her sister Bessie Burden and others to execute designs to his specifications. When "embroideries of all kinds" were offered through Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. catalogues, church embroidery became and remained an important line of business for its successor companies into the twentieth century.{{sfn|Parry|1983|pp=16–17}} By the 1870s, the firm was offering both embroidery patterns and finished works. Following in Street's footsteps, Morris became active in the growing movement to return originality and mastery of technique to embroidery, and was one of the first designers associated with the [[Royal School of Needlework|Royal School of Art Needlework]] with its aim to "restore Ornamental Needlework for secular purposes to the high place it once held among decorative arts."{{sfn|Parry|1983|pp=18–19}}

Morris took up the practical art of dyeing as a necessary adjunct of his manufacturing business. He spent much of his time at [[Staffordshire]] dye works mastering the processes of that art and making experiments in the revival of old or discovery of new methods. One result of these experiments was to reinstate [[indigo dye]]ing as a practical industry and generally to renew the use of those vegetable dyes, such as the red derived from [[Rubia|madder]], which had been driven almost out of use by the [[aniline dyes|anilines]]. Dyeing of wools, silks, and cottons was the necessary preliminary to what he had much at heart, the production of woven and printed fabrics of the highest excellence; and the period of incessant work at the dye-vat (1875–1876) was followed by a period during which he was absorbed in the production of textiles (1877–1878), and more especially in the revival of carpet-weaving as a fine art.<ref name="DNB" />{{sfn|Parry|1983|pp=36–46}}

Morris's patterns for woven textiles, some of which were also machine made under ordinary commercial conditions, included intricate [[double cloth|double-woven]] furnishing fabrics in which two sets of [[warp (weaving)|warps]] and [[weft]]s are interlinked to create complex gradations of colour and texture.{{sfn|Waggoner|Kirkham|2003|p=54}} Morris long dreamed of weaving tapestries in the medieval manner, which he called "the noblest of the weaving arts." In September 1879 he finished his first solo effort, a small piece called "Cabbage and Vine".{{sfn|Parry|1983|pp=103–104}}{{sfn|Waggoner|Kirkham|2003|p=86}}

While Morris is well known for his opposition to industrial production techniques he none the less designed and produced several textile pieces for the Jacquard loom.<ref>{{Cite web |title=textile Archives |url=https://wmgallery.org.uk/object-type/textile/ |access-date=November 2, 2025 |website=Victoria and Alberts William and Morris textile collection}}</ref>

=== Book illustration and design ===
Nineteenth- and twentieth-century avant-garde artistic movements took an interest in the [[typographic]]al arts, greatly enriching book design and illustration. Morris's designs, like the work of the Pre-Raphaelite painters with whom he was associated, referred frequently to medieval motifs. In 1891, he founded the Kelmscott Press, which by the time it closed in 1898 had produced more than fifty works using traditional printing methods, a hand-driven press and hand-made paper. They included his masterpiece, an edition of the ''Works of Geoffrey Chaucer'' with illustrations by Edward Burne-Jones. Morris invented three distinctive typefaces&nbsp;– Golden, Troy, and Chaucer, with the text being framed with intricate floral borders similar to illuminated medieval manuscripts. His work inspired many small private presses in the following century.{{sfn|Lyons|2011|pp=190–191}}

Morris's aesthetic and social values became a leading force in the Arts and Crafts Movement. The Kelmscott Press influenced much of the fine press movement in England and the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It brought the need for books that were aesthetic objects as well as words to the attention of the reading and publishing worlds.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Horowitz |first=Sarah|date=Fall 2006|title=The Kelmscott Press and William Morris: A Research Guide|journal=Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|volume=25 |issue=2|pages= 60–65 |doi=10.1086/adx.25.2.27949442 |s2cid=163588697}}</ref>

At Kelmscott Press, the book-making was under his constant supervision and practical assistance. It was his ambition to produce a perfect work to restore all the beauty of illuminated lettering, richness of gilding and grace of binding that used to make a volume the treasure of a king. His efforts were constantly directed towards giving the world at least one book that exceeded anything that had ever appeared. Morris designed his type after the best examples of early printers, what he called his "[[golden type]]" which he copied after Jenson, Parautz, Coburger and others. With this in mind, Morris chose the paper which he adapted to his subject with the same care with which he selected his material for binding. As a result, only the wealthy could purchase his lavish works; Morris realized that creating works in the manner of the Middle Ages was difficult in a profit-grinding society.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=November 1896|title=William Morris, Artist, Poet, Craftsman|journal=Bradley, His Book|volume=2 |pages=7–11}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:WilliamMorrisTombstone.JPG|thumb|Morris family tombstone at [[Kelmscott]], designed by Webb]]

President of the William Morris Society Hans Brill referred to Morris as "one of the outstanding figures of the nineteenth century",{{sfn|Brill|1996|p=7}} while Linda Parry termed him the "single most important figure in British textile production".{{sfn|Parry|1983|p=6}}
At the time of Morris's death, his poetry was known internationally and his company's products were found all over the world.{{sfn|Vallance|1897|p=1}} In his lifetime, he was best known as a poet, although by the late twentieth century he was primarily known as a designer of wallpapers and fabrics.{{sfn|Brill|1996|p=7}}

He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British [[textile arts]] and methods of production.<ref>{{cite book |title=William Morris in the Twenty-First Century |first1=Phillippa |last1=Bennett |first2=Rosie |last2=Miles |publisher=Peter Lang |location=Oxford |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-0343-0106-0 |page=136 }}</ref> Morris's ethos of production was an influence on the [[Bauhaus]] movement.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=604–605}} Another aspect of Morris's preservationism was his desire to protect the natural world from the ravages of [[pollution]] and [[industrialism]], causing some historians of the [[Green politics|green movement]] to regard Morris as an important forerunner of modern [[environmentalism]].<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Derek Wall |last=Wall |first=Derek |title=Green history: a reader in environmental literature, philosophy and politics |place=London |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |pages=9–12, 240, 242–243 |isbn=978-0-415-07925-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-link=Ramachandra Guha |last=Guha |first=Ramachandra |title=Environmentalism: A Global History |place=London |publisher=Longman |year=2000 |pages=15–16 |isbn=978-0-19-565117-1}}</ref>

Aymer Vallance was commissioned to produce the first biography of Morris, published in 1897, after Morris's death, per the latter's wishes.{{sfn|Vallance|1897|p=vii}} This presented the creation of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings as Morris's greatest achievement.{{sfn|Vallance|1897|p=267}} Morris's next biographer was Burne-Jones's son-in-law [[John William Mackail]], who authored the two-volume ''Life of William Morris'' (1899) in which he provided a sympathetic portrayal of Morris that largely omitted his political activities, treating them as a passing phase that Morris overcame.{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994|pp=viii, x}}

MacCarthy's biography, ''William Morris: A Life for Our Time'', was first published by [[Faber and Faber]] in 1994,{{sfn|MacCarthy|1994}} and a paperback edition was published in 2010.{{sfn|MacCarthy|2010}} For the 2013 [[Venice Biennale]], artist Jeremy Deller selected Morris as the subject of a large-scale mural titled "We Sit Starving Amidst our Gold", in which Morris returns from the dead to hurl the yacht of Russian billionaire [[Roman Abramovich]] into the waves of an ocean.<ref name="Mac" /><ref>{{cite news |author=Adrian Searle|title=Venice Biennale: Jeremy Deller's British pavilion declares war on wealth |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/may/28/venice-biennale-jeremy-deller-british-pavilion |access-date=5 October 2014|work=The Guardian|date=28 May 2013}}</ref>

MacCarthy curated the "Anarchy & Beauty" exhibition—a commemoration of Morris's legacy—for the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] in 2014, for which she recruited around 70 artists who were required to undertake a test on Morris's ''News from Nowhere'' to be accepted.<ref name="Mac" /> Writing for ''[[The Guardian]]'' prior to the opening of the exhibition on 16 October 2014, MacCarthy asserted:

<blockquote>
Morris has exerted a powerful influence on thinking about art and design over the past century. He has been the constant niggle in the conscience. How can we combat all this luxury and waste? What drove him into revolutionary activism was his anger and shame at the injustices within society. He burned with guilt at the fact that his "good fortune only" allowed him to live in beautiful surroundings and to pursue the work he adored.<ref name="Mac">{{cite news|author1=Fiona MacCarthy|title=William Morris: Beauty and anarchy in the UK|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/03/how-william-morris-beauty-and-anarchy-uk|access-date=5 October 2014|work=The Guardian|date=3 October 2014}}</ref></blockquote>

"Anarchy & Beauty"{{'}}s arts and crafts section featured Morris's own copy of the French edition of Karl Marx's ''Das Kapital'' handbound in a gold-tooled leather binding that MacCarthy describes as "the ultimate example of Morris's conviction that perfectionism of design and craftsmanship should be available to everyone."<ref name="Mac" />

In 2014, the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] exhibited ''William Morris: Textiles and Wallpaper'', displaying early decorative arts the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company and later Morris & Company produced.<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Morris |url=https://localhost:5000/exhibitions/listings/2014/william-morris |access-date=2025-08-21 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref>

In 2016, [[Arts Catalyst]] commissioned British artist and academic David Mabb to produce a work responding to the use of Morris' designs in the living quarters aboard British [[Vanguard-class submarine|nuclear submarines]] from the 1960s to the 1990s.<ref name="ArtsCatalyst">{{cite web |title=A Provisional Memorial to Nuclear Disarmament |url=http://www.artscatalyst.org/provisional-memorial-nuclear-disarmament |website=Arts Catalyst |access-date=7 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626022644/http://www.artscatalyst.org/provisional-memorial-nuclear-disarmament |archive-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> The resulting work, ''A Provisional Monument to Nuclear Disarmament'', was exhibited first at [[Culture of Plymouth#Museums, art galleries and historic buildings|KARST]] in Plymouth and later at the Bildmuseet in Umea, Sweden.<ref name="bulletin">{{cite web |last1=Mabb |first1=David |title=Protest and survive: Reclaiming William Morris from Britain's nuclear fleet |url=https://thebulletin.org/2016/09/protest-and-survive-reclaiming-william-morris-from-britains-nuclear-fleet/ |website=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]] |date=20 September 2016 |access-date=7 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Perpetual Uncertainty |url=https://www.bildmuseet.umu.se/en/exhibition/perpetual-uncertainty/22269 |website=Bildmuseet.umu.se |access-date=7 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712162605/https://www.bildmuseet.umu.se/en/exhibition/perpetual-uncertainty/22269 |archive-date=12 July 2017 |date=2016}}</ref>

In 2025, the [[William Morris Gallery]] opened the exhibition ''Morris Mania'', examining how Morris' designs became globally recognised.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wainwright |first1=Oliver |title=Curtains, wellies, nuclear subs and a tsar's palace: how William Morris mania swept the world |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/apr/07/william-morris-mania-nuclear-subs-tsars-palace |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 April 2025 |access-date=7 April 2025}}</ref>

=== Notable collections and house museums ===
[[File:Blue plaque outside Red House.jpg|thumb|The [[blue plaque]] erected outside the Red House]]

A number of galleries and museums house important collections of Morris's work and decorative items commissioned from Morris & Co. The [[William Morris Gallery]] in [[Walthamstow]], England, is a public museum devoted to Morris's life, work and influence.<ref>{{Cite news |title=News from Waltham Forest |date=21 April 2007 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/apr/21/art1 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name="walthamforest8" /><ref name="walthamforest9" /> The [[William Morris Society]] is based at Morris's final London home, [[Kelmscott House]], [[Hammersmith]], and is an international members society, museum and venue for lectures and other Morris-related events.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://williammorrissociety.org/|title=Welcome|website=The William Morris Society|access-date=10 August 2018}}</ref> The [[Art Gallery of South Australia]] is "fortunate in holding the most comprehensive collection of Morris & Co. furnishings outside Britain".<ref name="Menz 2002" /> The collection includes books, embroideries, tapestries, fabrics, wallpapers, drawings and sketches, furniture and stained glass, and forms the focus of two published works (produced to accompany special exhibitions).<ref name="Menz 2002" /><ref name="Menz 1994" />

The former "green dining room" at the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] is now its "Morris Room". The V&A's British Galleries house other decorative works by Morris and his associates.<ref name="william0" />

One of the meeting rooms in the [[Oxford Union]], decorated with the wallpaper in his style, is named the Morris Room.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://conference-oxford.com/venues/conference/the-oxford-union|title=The Oxford Union |website=Conference Oxford|access-date=10 August 2018}}</ref>

[[Wightwick Manor]] in the [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]], England, is a notable example of the Morris & Co. style, with lots of original Morris wallpapers, fabrics, carpets, and furniture, May Morris art and embroidery, De Morgan tiles, and Pre-Raphaelite works of art, managed by the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]]. [[Standen]] in [[West Sussex]], England, was designed by Webb between 1892 and 1894 and decorated with Morris carpets, fabrics and wallpapers. The illustrator [[Edward Linley Sambourne]] chose to decorate his London family home [[18 Stafford Terrace]] with many Morris & Co wallpapers, which have been preserved and can still be seen today. Morris's homes [[Red House, Bexleyheath|Red House]] and [[Kelmscott Manor]] have been preserved. Red House was acquired by the National Trust in 2003 and is open to the public. Kelmscott Manor is owned by the [[Society of Antiquaries of London]] and is open to the public.<ref name="kelmscottmanor" />

[[The Huntington Library]], Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in [[San Marino, California]], acquired the collection of Morris materials amassed by Sanford and Helen Berger in 1999. The collection includes stained glass, wallpaper, textiles, embroidery, drawings, ceramics, more than 2000 books, original woodblocks, and the complete archives of both Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. and Morris & Co.<ref name="cornered" /> These materials formed the foundation for the 2002 exhibition ''William Morris: Creating the Useful and the Beautiful'' and the 2003 exhibition ''The Beauty of Life: William Morris and the Art of Design'' and accompanying publication.<ref name="huntington" />

A [[Greater London Council]] [[blue plaque]] at Red House commemorates Morris and architect [[Philip Webb]].<ref name="EngHet">{{cite web| url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/blue-plaques/search/red-house|title=MORRIS, WILLIAM (1834–1896) & WEBB, PHILIP (1831–1915)|publisher=English Heritage| access-date=22 October 2012}}</ref>

[[7, Hammersmith Terrace]] is the former home of [[Emery Walker|Sir Emery Walker]], a close friend and colleague of Morris. The house is decorated in the Arts & Crafts style, including with extensive collections of Morris wallpaper, furniture, and textiles. 7, Hammersmith Terrace is operated by the Emery Walker Trust, and is open to the public for tours.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://emerywalker.org.uk/|title=Emery Walker's House|website=Emery Walker's House|access-date=10 August 2018}}</ref>

In 2013, the [[Cary Graphic Arts Collection]] at [[Rochester Institute of Technology]] bought William Morris's London-built Hopkinson & Cope Improved [[Albion press]] (No. 6551) at auction for $233,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://printinghistory.org/kelmscott-goudy-press/|title=RIT Wins Auction of the Kelmscott-Goudy Press |website=American Printing History Association|date=10 December 2013|access-date=10 August 2018}}</ref> This printing press was specially reinforced to produce Morris's ''Chaucer'' in 1896. Other owners of Morris's [[Albion press]] include [[Frederic Goudy]] and J. Ben Lieberman.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://printinghistory.org/kelmscottgoudy-press/|title=Christie's to Auction Famed Kelmscott-Goudy Hand Press |website=American Printing History Association|date=16 October 2013|access-date=10 August 2018}}</ref>

In 2023, [[Walthamstow F.C.]] launched a new home football shirt with [[Admiral Sportswear|Admiral Sports]] featuring a William Morris print.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jul/31/east-london-football-club-walthamstow-fc-releases-william-morris-inspired-kit|title=East London football club releases William Morris-inspired kit|first=Caroline|last=Davies|date=31 July 2023|access-date=9 August 2024|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> The shirt was widely regarded as one of the best kit launches of the year and eventually won the Wood Pencil [[Design and Art Direction|D&AD]] award for Printed Graphic.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dandad.org/awards/professional/2024/238184/william-morris-gallery-x-walthamstow-fc-william-morris-inspired-football-kit-by-admiral/|title=William Morris Gallery x Walthamstow FC - William Morris Inspired Football Kit by Admiral &#124; D&AD Awards 2024 Pencil Winner &#124; Applied Print Graphics &#124; D&AD|website=www.dandad.org|access-date=9 August 2024}}</ref>

== Literary works ==
[[File:Printing by William Morris.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Morris's essay "Printing" as reprinted by the Village Press in Chicago run by [[Will Ransom]] and [[Frederic Goudy]], c. 1903]]
<small>Source:William [http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/ Morris Archive] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014224227/http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/ |date=14 October 2007 }}. Morris's literary works, translations, life and images, the Book Arts</small>

=== Collected poetry, fiction, and essays ===
Although best known for textile designs, Morris was notable for his work within the field of literature. His writings include:

* ''[[The Hollow Land]]'' (1856)
* ''[[The Defence of Guenevere, and other Poems]]'' (1858)
* ''[[The Life and Death of Jason]]'' (1867)
* ''[[The Earthly Paradise]]'' (1868–1870)
* A Book of Verse (1870)
* ''[[Love is Enough, or The Freeing of Pharamond: A Morality]]'' (1872)
* ''[[The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs]]'' (1877)
* ''[[Hopes and Fears For Art]]'' (1882)
* ''[[The Pilgrims of Hope]]'' (1885)
* ''[[A Dream of John Ball]]'' (1888)
* ''[[Signs of Change (poem)|Signs of Change]]'' (1888)
* ''[[The House of the Wolfings|A Tale of the House of the Wolfings, and All the Kindreds of the Mark Written in Prose and in Verse]]'' (1889)
* ''[[The Roots of the Mountains]]'' (1889)
* ''[[News from Nowhere]] (or, An Epoch of Rest)'' (1890)
* ''[[The Story of the Glittering Plain]]'' (1891)
* ''[[Poems By the Way]]'' (1891)
* ''[[Socialism: Its Growth and Outcome]]'' (1893) (with E. Belfort Bax)
* ''[[The Wood Beyond the World]]'' (1894)
* ''[[Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair]]'' (1895)
* ''[[The Well at the World's End]]'' (1896)
* ''[[The Water of the Wondrous Isles]]'' (1897)
* ''[[The Sundering Flood]]'' (1897) (published posthumously)
* ''[[A King's Lesson]]'' (1901)
* ''[[The World of Romance]]'' (1906)
* ''Chants for Socialists'' (1935)
* ''[[Golden Wings and Other Stories]]'' (1976)

=== Translations ===
* ''Grettis Saga: The Story of Grettir the Strong'' with Eiríkur Magnússon (1869)
* ''The Story of Gunnlaug the Worm-tongue and Raven the Skald'' with Eiríkur Magnússon (1869)
* ''The Völsunga Saga: The Story of the Volsungs and Niblungs, with Certain Songs from the Elder Edda'' with Eiríkur Magnússon(1870) (from the ''[[Volsunga saga]]'')
* ''Three Northern Love Stories, and Other Tales'' with Eiríkur Magnússon (1875)
* ''The Aeneids of Virgil Done into English'' (1876)
* ''The Odyssey of Homer Done into English Verse'' (1887)
* ''Of King Florus and the Fair Jehane'' (1893)
* ''The Tale of Beowulf Done out of the Old English Tongue'' (1895)
* ''Old French Romances Done into English'' (1896)

Morris's ''[[Beowulf]]'' was one of the first translations of the Old English poem into modern English.

{| style="margin:1em auto;"
|+ '''[[Grendel]] reaches [[Heorot]]: ''[[Beowulf]]'' 710–714'''
|-
! [[Old English]] verse !! Morris's translation
|-
| Ðá cóm of móre &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; under misthleoþum || &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Came then from the moor-land, all under the mist-bents,
|-
| Grendel gongan· &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; godes yrre bær· || &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Grendel a-going there, bearing God's anger.
|-
| mynte se mánscaða &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; manna cynnes || &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The scather the ill one was minded of mankind
|-
| sumne besyrwan &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; in sele þám héan· || &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; To have one in his toils from the high hall aloft.
|}

=== Published lectures and papers ===
* ''Lectures on Art delivered in support of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings'' (Morris lecture on The Lesser Arts). London, Macmillan, 1882
* ''Architecture and History & Westminster Abbey''. Papers read to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 1884 and 1893. Printed at The Chiswick Press. London, Longmans, 1900
* ''[https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/Documents/Detail/communism-a-lecture-1903/94731 Communism: a lecture]'' London, Fabian Society, 1903
* Related: William Morris's Socialist Diary, ed. Florence Boos. 1st ed. Journeyman Press; revised edition, Five Leaves Press, 2018.

== List of stained-glass works ==

=== England ===

* St Peter's Church, [[Brooke, Norfolk]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norfolk Churches |url=http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/brooke/brooke.htm |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=www.norfolkchurches.co.uk}}</ref>
* [[All Saints' Church, Middleton Cheney|All Saints' Church]], [[Middleton Cheney]], [[Northamptonshire]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://allsaints-mc.church/ |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=All Saints Church - Middleton Cheney |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Channel Islands ===

* [https://st-stephens-guernsey.org/347/History St Stephen’s Church, Guernsey]

=== United States ===

* [[Second Presbyterian Church (Chicago)|Second Presbyterian Church]], [[Chicago, Illinois]]

== Gallery ==

=== Morris & Co. stained glass ===
<gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="160">
File:MIDDLETON CHENEY,NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.jpg|[http://allsaints-mc.church/ All Saints, Middleton Cheney, Northamptonshire]
File:MIDDLETON CHENEY All Saints (48496349741).jpg|[http://allsaints-mc.church/ All Saints, Middleton Cheney – Solomon]
File:William Morris King Arthur and Sir Lancelot.png|William Morris King Arthur and Sir Lancelot, (1862)
File:William Morris Queen Guenevere and Isoude Les Blanches Mains.png|William Morris Queen Guenevere and Isoude, (1862)
File:Detail, William Morris window, Cattistock Church.jpg|Detail, William Morris window, Cattistock Church, (1882).
File:USA Massachusetts Boston Trinity Nativity-detail-1.jpg|Detail from ''The Worship of the Shepherds'' window (1882).
File:St Cecilia narthex.jpg|Burne-Jones-designed and Morris & Co.-executed ''Saint Cecilia'' window at [[Second Presbyterian Church (Chicago, Illinois)]]
File:William Morris window Malmesbury Abbey.jpg|Burne-Jones-designed and Morris & Co.-executed ''Luce Memorial Window'' in [[Malmesbury Abbey]], [[Malmesbury]], [[Wiltshire]], England (1901).
</gallery>

=== Morris & Co. patterns ===
<gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="160">
File:Morris Windrush textile design 1881-83.jpg|Design for ''Windrush'' printed textile, 1881–1883
File:Embroidered Panel Morris and Company.jpg|''Acanthus'' embroidered panel, designed Morris, 1890
File:Strawberrythief.jpg|[[Strawberry Thief (William Morris)|Strawberry Thief]], furnishing fabric, designed Morris, 1883
File:Morris Strawberry Thief 1883 detail.jpg|Morris Strawberry Thief 1883 detail
File:Brooklyn Museum - Wallpaper Sample Book 1 - William Morris and Company - page029r.jpg|Wallpaper – Hyacinth, pattern #480 – 1915–1917
File:Brooklyn Museum - Wallpaper Sample Book 1 - William Morris and Company - page025r.jpg|Wallpaper – Blackberry, pattern #388 – 1915–1917
File:Morris Little Flower carpet design detail.jpg|Detail of a watercolour design for the Little Flower [[carpet]] showing a portion of the central medallion, by William Morris
File:Morris tiles de Morgan 1876.jpg|Panel of ceramic tiles designed by Morris and produced by [[William De Morgan]], 1876
File:Galahad grail.jpg|''The Vision of the Holy Grail'' tapestry, 1890
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Poetry|Fantasy|Socialism|Biography}}
* [[Merry England]]
* [[Robert Steele (medievalist)|Robert Steele]] – medievalist who was a disciple of Morris
* [[Simple living]]
* [[Sydney Cockerell]] – friend of Morris and secretary of Kelmscott Press
* [[Victorian decorative arts]]
* [[William Morris wallpaper designs]]
* [[List of works by the Kelmscott Press]]
* [[Anarchism and the arts]]
<!--Please do not add items here that are already used/linked in main text; and if they're relevant, please put them there, not here-->

== References ==

=== Footnotes ===
{{Reflist|20em| refs=

<ref name="architect">{{cite book |quote=The words were written for the old French carol tune shortly before 1860 by Morris, who was in Street's office with Edmund Sedding (architect and compiler of carols, brother of the more famous J. D. Sedding; he died early, in 1868). Sedding had obtained the tune from the organist at Chartres Cathedral, and he published the words and tune in his ''Antient Christmas Carols'', 1860. |title=The Oxford Book of Carols |year=1928 |page=277}}</ref>

<ref name="companion">{{cite book |author1=Christina Scull |author2=Wayne G Hammond |name-list-style=amp |year=2006 |title=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide]] |series=2 volumes |page=816 |publisher=HarperCollins}} Vol. 1 {{ISBN|978-0-6183-9101-1}}. Vol. 2 {{ISBN|978-0-6183-9102-8}}.</ref>

<ref name="composers">{{cite book |quote=Set to music by composers including [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]]. |title=The Oxford Book of Carols |year=1928 |page=406}}</ref>

<ref name="cornered">"Crafts Cornered", ''Los Angeles Times'', 15 December 1999, p.&nbsp;F1.</ref>

<ref name="DNB">''Dictionary of National Biography'', 1901, "William Morris"</ref>

<ref name="doubleday">Lin Carter, ed. ''Kingdoms of Sorcery'', p.&nbsp;39 Doubleday and Company Garden City, NY, 1976.</ref>

<ref name="EB1911">"William Morris" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' 1911</ref>

<ref name="encyclopedia">[[David Pringle]], ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', London, Carlton, 1998. (p. 36)</ref>

<ref name="huntington">{{cite web |publisher=Huntington Library |title=William Morris: Creating the Useful and the Beautiful |url=http://www.huntington.org/ArtDiv/morris.html |access-date=22 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416232041/http://www.huntington.org/ArtDiv/morris.html |archive-date=16 April 2008 |url-status=dead |date=22 September 2002}}</ref>

<ref name="kelmscottmanor">{{cite web |url=https://www.sal.org.uk/kelmscott-manor/ |title=Kelmscott Manor |website=Society of Antiquaries|date=August 2024 }}</ref>

<ref name="Menz 2002">{{cite book |last=Menz |first=Christopher |year=2002 |title=Morris & Co. |publisher=South Australia State Government Publications |isbn=978-0-7308-3029-0}}</ref>

<ref name="Menz 1994">{{cite book |last=Menz |first=Christopher |year=1994 |title=Morris & Company: Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts & Crafts Movement |publisher=Art Gallery Board of South Australia |place=Adelaide |isbn=978-0-7308-3024-5}}</ref>

<ref name="Oriental carpets and their structure: highlights from the V&A collection">{{cite book|last1=Wearden|first1=Jennifer Mary|last2=Thomas|first2=Ian|title=Oriental carpets and their structure: highlights from the V&A collection|publisher=Harry N. Abrams|year=1983|isbn=978-0-8109-6610-9}}</ref>

<ref name="stephen">{{cite journal |last=Hero |first=Stephen |title=Morris and James Joyce |journal=The Journal of William Morris Studies |volume=6 |issue=3 |date=Summer 1985 |page=11}}</ref>

<ref name="supernatural">{{cite book |author=John R. Pfeiffer |chapter=William Morris |title=Supernatural Fiction Writers: Fantasy and Horror |editor=[[E. F. Bleiler]] |publisher=Scribner |year=1985 |isbn=0-684-17808-7 |pages=299–306}}</ref>

<ref name="walthamforest8">{{cite web|title=The William Morris Gallery needs your help to achieve its aims! |url=http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/index/leisure/museums-galleries/william-morris/wmg-support-us.htm |website=Walthamforest.gov.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912034249/http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/index/leisure/museums-galleries/william-morris/wmg-support-us.htm |archive-date=12 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="walthamforest9">{{cite web|title=Support the William Morris Gallery Development Project |url=http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/index/leisure/museums-galleries/william-morris/development-project.htm |website=Walthamforest.gov.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504071559/http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/index/leisure/museums-galleries/william-morris/development-project.htm |archive-date=4 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="william0">{{cite web |title=William Morris at the Victoria and Albert Museum |url=http://www.victorianart.btinternet.co.uk/va-web/victoria_and_albert_museum.htm |access-date=22 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721213142/http://www.victorianart.btinternet.co.uk/va-web/victoria_and_albert_museum.htm |archive-date=21 July 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="william3">{{cite book |author=Edward James |chapter=Morris, William |title=St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers |editor=David Pringle |publisher=St. James Press |year=1996 |isbn=1-55862-205-5 |pages=426–429}}</ref>
}}

<!--

THE SECTION OF UNUSED refs

<ref name="WMprinter">{{cite web|title=How We Might Live: The Vision of William Morris|url=http://www.lib.umd.edu/williammorris/exhibition/07printer.html|work=A Typographical Adventure: Morris as Printer|publisher=University of Maryland Libraries|access-date=1 March 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="bepress">Caroline Jewers, "Six Views of William Morris," in: ''[http://works.bepress.com/richard_utz/86/ Cahier Calin: Makers of the Middle Ages. Essays in Honor of William Calin]'', ed. Richard Utz and Elizabeth Emery (Kalamazoo, MI: Studies in Medievalism, 2011), pp. 65–67.</ref>

<ref name="kelmscott">Dreyfus, John, "The Kelmscott Press". In Parry, ''William Morris'' (1996) pp.&nbsp;310–345.</ref>

<ref name="Fiell">Fiell and Fiell (1999), ''William Morris'' pp.&nbsp;160–165.</ref>

<ref name="Merton Abbey">{{cite web|last=William Morris Society |title=Merton Abbey |url=http://www.morrissociety.org/mertonabbey.html |access-date=22 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513150743/http://www.morrissociety.org/mertonabbey.html |archive-date=13 May 2008 }}</ref>

<ref name="William Morris and the Kelmscott Press">{{cite web | title = William Morris and the Kelmscott Press | url = http://www.alfredom.com/art/morris.htm | access-date = 22 August 2008}} See also Peterson.</ref>

<ref name="Beer, pg. 256">Beer, ''A History of British Socialism,'' vol. 2, pg. 256.</ref>

<ref name="mackail">J. W. Mackail, ''Life of William Morris'', p.&nbsp;3–8</ref>

<ref name="nicholas">Pevsner, Nicholas ''Pioneers of Modern Design'' (1936)</ref>

<ref name="Daly">Daly, ''Pre-Raphaelites in Love'', pp. 340–341, 402–404</ref>

<ref name="ER1924">{{cite book | last =Robinson| first = Elizabeth | title = Deaconess Gilmore| publisher = S.P.C.K. | year = 1924| location = London| pages = 53}}</ref>

<ref name="socialism">Clayton, ''The Rise and Decline of Socialism in Great Britain,'' pg. 44.</ref>

<ref name="international">''Marx-Engels Collected Works: Volume 48.'' New York: International Publishers, 2001; pg. 538, fn. 95.</ref>

<ref name="watkinson">Watkinson, Ray, "Painting" in Parry, ''William Morris'', p. 90</ref>-->

=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite journal |title=Why William Morris left his Joyous Gard |last1=Allen |first1=Rob |year=2001 |journal=The Journal of William Morris Studies |volume=14 |number=3 |pages=21–30 |url=http://www.morrissociety.org/publications/JWMS/W01.14.3.Allen.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430122031/http://www.morrissociety.org/publications/JWMS/W01.14.3.Allen.pdf |archive-date=30 April 2015 }}
* {{harvc |last=Brill |first=Hans |c=Foreword |in=Rodgers |year=1996}}
* {{harvc |last=Faulkner |first=Peter |c=The Writer |in=Parry |year=1983}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Holland|first=Owen|date=Summer 2015|title=Revisiting Morris's internationalism: reflections on translations and colonialism (with an annotated bibliography of translations of 'News from Nowhere', 1890–1915)|journal=The Journal of William Morris Studies|pages=26–52|url=http://www.morrissociety.org/JWMS/21.2Summer2015/026-052RevisitingMorrisSocialist.pdf|archive-date=28 September 2019|access-date=28 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928110333/http://www.morrissociety.org/JWMS/21.2Summer2015/026-052RevisitingMorrisSocialist.pdf|url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lyons|first=Martyn|year=2011|title=Books: A Living History |publisher=Getty Publications |isbn=978-1-60606-083-4}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris: A Life for Our Time |last=MacCarthy |first=Fiona |year=1994 |publisher=Faber & Faber |location=London |isbn=978-0-571-14250-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/williammorrislif0000macc |url-access=registration }}
* {{cite book |last=MacCarthy |first=Fiona |year=2010 |title=William Morris: A Life for Our Time |publisher=Faber & Faber |location=London |isbn=978-0-571 25559-7 |edition=pbk.}}
* {{cite book |title=The Life of William Morris: Volume One |last=Mackail |first=J. W. |year=1901 |publisher=Longmans, Green & Co. |location=London, New York, and Bombay |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofwilliammor01mackuoft }}
* {{cite book |title=The Life of William Morris: Volume Two |last=Mackail |first=J. W. |year=1899 |publisher=Longmans, Green & Co. |location=London, New York, and Bombay |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofwilliammor02mackuoft }}
* {{cite book |last=Parry |first=Linda |title=William Morris Textiles |year=1983 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London |isbn=978-0-297-78196-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rodgers |first=David |title=William Morris at Home |year=1996 |publisher=Ebury Press |location=London |isbn=978-0-09-181393-2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Sprague de Camp |first=L. |author-link=L. Sprague de Camp |year=1976 |title=Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: The Makers of Heroic Fantasy |isbn=0-87054-076-9 |place=Sauk City, WI |publisher=Arkham House |title-link=Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris: Romantic to Revolutionary |last=Thompson |first=E. P. |year=1955 |publisher=Lawrence & Wishart |location=London }}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris: His Art, His Writings and His Public Life |last=Vallance |first=Aymer |url=https://archive.org/details/williammorrishi01vallgoog |year=1897 |location=London |publisher=George Bell and Sons }}
* {{cite book |title=The Beauty of Life: William Morris and the Art of Design |last1=Waggoner |first1=Diane |last2=Kirkham |first2=Pat |year=2003 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-28434-6}}
* {{cite book |title=No-Nonsense Guide to Green Politics |url=https://archive.org/details/nononsenseguidet0000wall |url-access=registration |last=Wall |first=Derek |year=2010 |location=Oxford |publisher=New Internationalist |isbn=978-1-906523-39-8 }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones: Interlacings |last=Arscott |first=Caroline |year=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-14093-4}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris in the Twenty-First Century |last1=Bennett |first1=Phillippa |last2=Miles |first2=Rosie |year=2010 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3-0343-0106-0}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris: His Life and Work |last=Coote |first=Stephen |year=1995 |publisher=Smithmark |isbn=978-1-85833-479-0}}
* {{cite journal |title=The Kelmscott Press and the New Printing |url=https://archive.org/stream/contemporaryrev14unkngoog#page/n228/mode/2up |last=Cotton |first=Albert Louis |year=1898 |journal=The Contemporary Review |volume=74 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Pre-Raphaelites in Love |last=Daly |first=Gay |year=1989 |publisher=Ticknor and Fields |isbn=978-0-89919-450-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/preraphaelitesin00daly }}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings |last=Donovon |first=Andrea Elizabeth |year=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-95595-9}}
* {{cite book |title=Textiles by William Morris and Morris & Co. 1861–1940 |last1=Fairclough |first1=Oliver |last2=Leary |first2=Emmeline |year=1981 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-27225-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/textilesbywillia00oliv }}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris |last1=Fiell |first1=Charlotte |last2=Fiell |first2=Peter M. |year=1999 |publisher=Taschen |isbn=978-3-8228-6617-7}}
* {{cite book |title=Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts and Crafts Home |last=Freudenheim |first=Leslie M. |year=2005 |publisher=Gibbs M. Smith |isbn=978-1-58685-463-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/buildingwithnatu00freu_0 }}
* {{cite book |title=Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: Left-Libertarian Thought and British Writers from William Morris to Colin Ward |last=Goodway |first=David |year=2012 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-1-84631-025-6|title-link=Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: Left-Libertarian Thought and British Writers from William Morris to Colin Ward }}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris: Design and Enterprise in Victorian Britain |last1=Harvey |first1=Charles |last2=Press |first2=Jon |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-7190-2419-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/williammorrisdes0000harv }}
* {{cite book |title=Art, Enterprise and Ethics: The Life and Works of William Morris |last1=Harvey |first1=Charles |last2=Press |first2=Jon |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7146-4258-1}}
* {{cite book |title=Marxism and the History of Art: From William Morris to the New Left |last=Hemingway |first=Andrew |year=2006 |publisher=Pluto Press |isbn=978-0-7453-2329-9}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris: His Life, Work and Friends |url=https://archive.org/details/williammorrishis0000hend |url-access=registration |last=Henderson |first=Philip |year=1967 |publisher=Thames and Hudson}}
* {{cite book |title=Art and Forbidden Fruit: Hidden Passion in the Life of William Morris |last=Le Bourgeois |first=John |year=2006 |publisher=Lutterworth Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-7188-3059-5}}
* {{cite book |title=A Bibliography of William Morris |last=LeMire |first=Eugene |year=2006 |publisher=British Library |isbn=978-0-7123-4926-0}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris and Red House: A Collaboration Between Architect and Owner |last=Marsh |first=Jan |year=2005 |publisher=National Trust Books |location=Not published |isbn=978-1-905400-01-0 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Collected Letters of Jane Morris |last1=Marsh |first1=Jan |last2=Sharp |first2=Frank C. |year=2013 |publisher=Boydell Press |isbn=978-1-84383-676-6}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris: The Marxist Dreamer |volume=I |last=Meier |first=Paul |year=1977 |publisher=Harvester |isbn=978-0-85527-474-0}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris: The Marxist Dreamer |volume=II |last=Meier |first=Paul |year=1978 |publisher=Harvester }}
* {{cite book |last=Miele |first=Chris |year=2005 |title=From William Morris: Building Conservation and the Arts and Crafts Cult of Authenticity, 1877–1939 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-10730-2}}
* {{cite journal |last=Morris |first=Brian |date=31 May 2012 |title=The Revolutionary Socialism of William Morris |journal=Social Anarchism |issue=45 |pages=5–21 |url=http://www.socialanarchism.org/mod/magazine/display/174/}}
* {{cite book |title=The Collected Letters of William Morris, Volume I: 1848–1880 |last1=Morris |first1=William |last2=Kelvin |first2=Norman |year=2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-61279-9}}
* {{cite book |title=The Collected Letters of William Morris, Volume II, Part A: 1881–1884 |last1=Morris |first1=William |last2=Kelvin |first2=Norman |year=2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-60369-8}}
* {{cite book |title=The Collected Letters of William Morris, Volume II, Part B: 1881–1884 |last1=Morris |first1=William |last2=Kelvin |first2=Norman |year=2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-60764-1}}
* {{cite book |title=The Collected Letters of William Morris, Volume III: 1889–1892 |last1=Morris |first1=William |last2=Kelvin |first2=Norman |year=2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-60272-1}}
* {{cite book |title=The Collected Letters of William Morris, Volume IV: 1893–1896 |last1=Morris |first1=William |last2=Kelvin |first2=Norman |year=2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-60818-1}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement: A Design Source Book |last=Parry |first=Linda |year=1989 |publisher=Studio Editions |isbn=978-1-85170-275-6}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris |last=Parry |first=Linda |year=1996 |publisher=Philip Wilson Publishers |isbn=978-0-85667-441-9}}
* {{cite book |title=A Bibliography of the Kelmscott Press |last=Peterson |first=William S. |year=1984 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-818199-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofke0000pete }}
* {{cite book |title=Kelmscott Press: A History of William Morris's Typographical Adventure |url=https://archive.org/details/kelmscottpresshi0000pete_y2f4 |url-access=registration |last=Peterson |first=William S. |year=1992 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06138-5}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris in Oxford: The Campaigning Years 1879–1895 |last=Pinkney |first=Tony |author-link=Tony Pinkney |year=2007 |publisher=Illuminati Books |isbn=978-0-9555918-0-8}}
* {{cite book |title=Morris & Co.: Designs & Patterns from the Art Gallery of South Australia |last=Reason |first=Robert |year=2003 |publisher=Art Gallery of South Australia |isbn=978-0-7308-3037-5}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones and the Kelmscott Chaucer |last=Robinson |first=Duncan |year=1982 |publisher=Gordon Fraser |isbn=978-0-86092-038-0}}
* {{cite book |title=The William Morris Chronology |last1=Salmon |first1=Nick |last2=Baker |first2=Derek W. |year=1996|publisher=Thoemmes Continuum |isbn=978-1-85506-504-8}}
* {{cite book |title=The Earthly Paradise: Arts and Crafts by William Morris and His Circle from Canadian Collections |last=Stacey |first=Robert |year=1994 |publisher=Key Porter |isbn=978-1-55013-450-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/earthlyparadisea0000unse }}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris |last=Stanksy |first=Peter |year=1983 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-287571-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/williammorris0000stan }}
* {{cite book |title=American Book Design and William Morris |edition=second |year=1996 |last=Thompson |first=Susan Otis |publisher=Oak Knoll |isbn=978-1-884718-26-7}}
* {{cite book |title=The Pre-Raphaelites at Home |year=2001| last=Todd |first=Pamela |publisher=Pavilion Books |isbn=978-1-86205-444-8}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris and the Idea of Community: Romance, History and Propaganda, 1880–1914 |last=Vaninskaya |first=Anna |author-link=Anna Vaninskaya |year=2010 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-4149-9}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris's Utopia of Strangers: Victorian Medievalism and the Ideal of Hospitality |last=Waithe |first=Marcus |year=2006 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-84384-088-6}}
* {{cite book |title=William Morris as Designer |last=Watkinson |first=Ray |year=1990 |publisher=Trefoil Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-86294-040-9}}
* {{cite book |title=Political Fictions |url=https://archive.org/details/politicalfiction00wild |url-access=registration |last=Wilding |first=Michael |year=1980 |publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul |location=London |isbn=0-7100-0457-5}}

{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Library resources box}}
{{Wikisource|Author:William Morris|William Morris}}
{{Wikiquote|William Morris}}
{{Commons category|William Morris}}

=== Sources ===
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-morris}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=107 |name=William Morris}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Morris, William|name=William Morris|author=yes}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=William Morris}}
* {{Librivox author |id=961}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-morris}}
* [http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Morris%2c%20William%2c%201834%2d1896 Works by William Morris] at [[The Online Books Page]]
* {{OL author|28409A}}
* [http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/ Morris Online Edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014224227/http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/ |date=14 October 2007 }} at William Morris Archive. Morris's literary works, translations, life and images, the Book Arts
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/morris/index.htm Works by William Morris] at sacred-texts.com, including full text of ''The Earthly Paradise''
* [http://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/william-morris Works by William Morris] at The Anarchist Library
* [https://archive.org/details/selectionsfromwilliammorris ''Selections from William Morris''], a compilation published in the Soviet Union containing poetry, prose works, and essays by Morris in [[PDF]] format
* [http://theotherpages.org/poems/poem-mn.html#morris William Morris Index Entry at Poets' Corner]
* [http://www.marxists.org/archive/morris/index.htm The William Morris Internet Archive] at [[Marxists Internet Archive]]
* [http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PR-SEL-00003-00231/1 The tale of Beowulf (Sel.3.231)]; a digital edition of the proof-sheets with manuscript notes and corrections by William Morris in [[Cambridge Digital Library]]
* Archive of [https://search.socialhistory.org/Record/ARCH00903 William Morris Papers] at the [[International Institute of Social History]]
* [https://archives.lib.umd.edu/repositories/2/resources/131 William Morris papers] at the [[University of Maryland Libraries]]
* [https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/islandora/object/ui%3Amorris William Morris Editions]
* [[hdl:10079/fa/beinecke.morris|William Morris Collection]]. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

=== Other ===
* [http://www.wmgallery.org.uk/ The William Morris Gallery official website]
* [http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/pages/services/wmg.aspx The William Morris Gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807201830/http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/pages/services/wmg.aspx |date=7 August 2012 }} (London Borough of Waltham Forest)
* [https://williammorrissociety.org/ The William Morris Society]
* [http://www.morrissociety.org/ The William Morris Society in the United States]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070708155649/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/ceramics/object_stories/morris_demorgan_tile_panel/index.html A Morris and De Morgan tile panel at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London]
* [http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/web/morris/ William Morris online exhibition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203083034/http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/web/morris// |date=3 February 2012 }} at the [[Harry Ransom Center]] at [[the University of Texas at Austin]]
* [http://www.mccunecollection.org/gems.html Examples of pages from the Kelmscott Chaucer]
* [http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/translations.html Morris Online Edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130071528/http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/translations.html |date=30 November 2018 }}.
* [http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/listtranslations.html Morris's translations]
* [http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/ Morris's literary writings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014224227/http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/ |date=14 October 2007 }} The Morris Online Edition includes images of first editions and Kelmscott editions, as well as online texts and supplementary materials.
* {{ISFDB name|id=William_Morris|name=William Morris}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* {{NPG name}}
* [http://cle.ens-lyon.fr/anglais/arts/peinture/victorian-printing-and-william-morris-s-kelmscott-press Mingam, Laura. "Victorian printing and William Morris's Kelmscott Press". La Clé des Langues, Lyon, ENS de LYON/DGESCO (ISSN 2107-7029). May 2013. Accessed 27/09/2021.]

{{William Morris}}
{{Beowulf}}
{{Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood}}
{{Tapestry}}
{{Textile designers}}
{{British and Irish stained glass}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, William}}
[[Category:William Morris| ]]
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[[Category:19th-century British textile artists]]
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[[Category:Epic poets]]
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[[Category:Morris & Co.]]
[[Category:Mythopoeic writers]]
[[Category:People educated at Marlborough College]]
[[Category:People from Walthamstow]]
[[Category:Philosophers of technology]]
[[Category:Pre-Raphaelite stained glass artists]]
[[Category:Private press movement people]]
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[[Category:Translators of Homer]]
[[Category:Translators of Virgil]]
[[Category:Utopian socialists]]
[[Category:Victorian novelists]]
[[Category:Victorian poets]]
[[Category:Victorian short story writers]]
[[Category:Writers from the London Borough of Waltham Forest]]
[[Category:Writers of mythic fiction]]