An Address Delivered by William Morris at the Distribution of Prizes to Students of the Birmingham Municipal School of Art on Feb. 21, 1894

London: Longmans & Co, 1898. First Edition. hardcover. Near Fine. 8 3/8" × 5 3/4" (21.3 × 14.6 cm) . First Printing. Printed by Chiswick Press. 8vo. Bound in publisher's original hardcover quarter Holland-backed blue paper boards, with blue linen spine and black titles to cover. Printed on fine, hand-made, heavy paper. Uncut, deckled edges. Colophon. [iv], 25, [iv] pp. Part of a William Morris series comprising five octavo books printed at the Chiswick Press with the Golden type designed by Morris for his Kelmscott Press, 1898–1901. Lecture I: "Birmingham School of Art," delivered before the Birmingham Municipal School of Art. on Feb. 21, 1894.As Walter Crane wrote of Morris's far-reaching aesthetic philosophy, "if it has not turned all British craftsmen into artists or all British artists into craftsmen, it has done not little to expand and socialize the idea of art, and (perhaps it is not too much to say) has made the tasteful English house with its furniture and decorations a model for the civilized world." [PMM 367.]Finished on the 18th day of April, 1898. Note tucked in from Chiswick Press which reads: "It is hoped that this lecture, which is printed in the 'Golden' type designed by William Morris for the Kelmscott Press, will be followed by other lectures in the same form, and at the same price, 2s. 6d. net. The Kelmscott Press is now closed, and all the wood blocks of the initials and ornaments have been given to the British Museum. They type still remains under the control of the trustees, for whom this book was printed at the Chiswick Press." Internally bright, with no foxing or yellowing to pages. Condition overall: Near Fine.