With its ornate engraved title page and first page of text, adorned with engraved initial letters and shoulder notes printed in red, this book is one of only 500 copies. It measures 16mo. and is bound in original blue canvas-backed boards with quarter holland binding. The title is printed in black on the front cover, while the text is printed in Chaucer type on Perch paper.
Published by The Kelmscott Press in Hammersmith, this book, titled “The Story of Amis & Amile,” was originally translated from ancient French into English by William Morris. It was published in 1891, the same year as Morris’s translation of King Florus, also published by Kelmscott.
The tale, which has versions dating back as far as 1090, revolves around a lifelong friendship between Amis and Amile. Amis impersonates Amile in a trial by combat to save his friend’s life. However, Amis commits perjury and is struck by leprosy. The story takes a macabre turn when Amile is visited by an angel who claims that Amis can only be cured by the blood of Amile’s infant children.
This book, in its re-translation and re-presentation of a once-popular folk tale, embodies the broader formal project of Kelmscott Press: to revive and preserve the calligraphy of the Middle Ages and the earlier printing that preceded it. This approach is evident in the careful selection of typeface, generous margins, decorative initials, and most strikingly, the intricately trellised and embellished title page, engraved in the trademark Kelmscott style.
Despite its small size, this book is a floridly beautiful creation from the most influential private press of the late Victorian era.
