The Golden Legend of Master William Caxton [Volume 2] : Preservation Lab Treatment Report

Abstract

The Golden Legend of Master William Caxton is a three-volume set printed by William Morris at Kelmscott Press. The Golden Legend is an influential collection of saints’ lives, compiled around 1260 by Jacobus de Voragine. In 1483 William Caxton translated it into English, and it is one of the earliest books printed in England. Morris produced this three-volume set of 500 limited edition books for the antiquarian bookseller Bernard Quaritch, and he was given 'absolute and sole control' over materials used and borrowed a copy of Caxton's 1483 edition from the Cambridge University Library for copy text. The woodcut title and initials are designed by William Morris, and two woodcuts by Edward Burne-Jones. All three volumes were brought to The Preservation Lab in December of 2009, where it started to receive treatment in 2010 by book conservator Gabrielle Fox. No further treatment was conducted between 2010 and 2021.View Catalog Record: http://uclid.uc.edu/record=b190814