Page 123 - Expanded Media & the MediaPlex

Expanded Media - and the MediaPlex 123/206
William Morris:Pages from The Earthly Paradise Kelmscott Press edition 1896
With several publishers producing previous editions of The Earthly Paradise, including T.S. Ellis, Reeves and Turner, and Roberts Brothers in the USA, it is only in 1896 that Morris, in his Kelmscott Press edition, is able to fully implement his design and incorporate the influence and lessons of Emery Walker. This is a beautiful example of how successful Emery Walker’s ideas of an integrated whole design can be.
And note the displacement of text on the right-hand page (recto) - the ‘perfect’ balance of text-area to margins (white-space) and page proportions (later analysed - by the modernist typographer Jan Tschichold among others - to be determined by Golden Section reasoning. Tschichold says: "Though largely forgotten today, methods and rules upon which it is impossible to improve have been developed for centuries. To produce perfect books these rules have to be brought to life and applied.” He published his first thoughts on this canon of ideal page construction in 1951, so Morris is working from his own observations, perhaps with the advice of Emery Walker in mind, in the layout of The Earthly Paradise.
Whatever the inspiration, Morris’ page design and use of his Golden typeface, together with his gothic- styled border embellishments, and capital letter decorations (both to his own design) - even his choice of red-ink for headers and marginalia - sit happily on the page, and work harmoniously as a spread. Of course this was a ‘private press’ limited edition: “This Kelmscott Press edition had eight volumes that were issued between July 1896 and September 1897. There were 225 paper copies and 6 copies on vellum.” (Abebooks).