First edition, first printing. Publisher's original limp vellum with titles in gilt to the spine, green silk ties. Printed in black and red in Chaucer type on flower paper. Wood-engraved frontispiece after a design by Edward Burne-Jones, facing page with full woodcut page-border, numerous three-quarter and smaller woodcut page-borders, 10-line and smaller initial capitals. A near fine copy, the binding square and tight, the vellum with a little natural patina and a touch of darkening to the spine. Three of the four tie ends have perished. The contents, with the armorial bookplate of Robert Russell Needham Baron to the front pastedown, a previous owner's name to the front endpaper and a couple of isolated foxing spots to the rear blank are otherwise clean throughout. Housed in a bespoke olive green cloth, ribbon pull slipcase.
Published on 16 October 1894 in a limited edition of 350 copies on paper, (there was also an edition of eight copies printed on vellum). A source of inspiration for the modern fantasy genre, 'The Wood Beyond the World' is one of only two texts William Morris wrote specifically for the Kelmscott Press. The novel was a major influence on many writers of fantasy fiction, including C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkein. (Peterson A27).
Stock code: 25476
£6,750
London: Printed by William Morris at The Kelmscott Press.
1894