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William Morris: A Life for Our Time Hardcover – September 26, 1995

by Fiona Maccarthy (Author)

9 customer reviews

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A wonderfully talented designer, William Morris created a style that still lives. He was a political activist who was both a traditionalist and a founding father of British socialism. In this biography, MacCarthy brings all aspects of Morris's personality together, resulting in a perceptive, wonderfully entertaining, unfailingly readable work. Illustrations.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An accomplished and original designer of textiles and furniture, books and typefaces, a socialist activist, poet and novelist (News from Nowhere), Morris (1834- 1896) had a "magpie mind" that sought expression in any number of media. MacCarthy (Eric Gill, a prize-winning biography of the sculptor), illuminates the paradoxes that shaped Morris's "painfully heroic progress through life." Morris was a manufacturer of lush housewares who rejected his father as a "capitalist villain"; an astringent critic of Victorian England who nearly became its poet laureate; a man both worldly and naive, stymied by his wife's affair with the charismatic Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Morris emerges in vivid snapshots as vital, protean and compassionate. This is the biography of a temperament?of a burgeoning reaction against late Victorian bourgeois complacency?that Morris shared with his friend painter Edward Burne-Jones, Rossetti, George Bernard Shaw and others. It also is shaped by interesting extended discussions?of the period's architecture, politics and literature?that sometimes distract from the account of the life they purportedly illuminate. Erudite, lavishly illustrated, including 24 pages of color, and absorbing, this is of interest for the amateur as well as the professional student of Victorian England.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

"When William Morris was dying one of his physicians diagnosed his disease as 'simply being William Morris and having done more than most ten men."' This was in part true of the driven man who was a poet, translator, publisher, businessman and retailer, medievalist, weaver, textile designer, political activist, early environmentalist, father of British Socialism, and guiding force behind the Arts and Crafts movement. With his complex versatility, Morris was an enigma to his Victorian contemporaries. Though there have been numerous works on different aspects of Morris's work, MacCarthy (Eric Gill, LJ 3/1/89) tackles the massive job of the complete story. Her five years of research show in her full and vivid understanding of the artist, the man, his friends, relatives, and era. Well illustrated, this work will serve as a worthy companion to Elizabeth Wilhide's book of Morris interiors, William Morris: Decor and Design (LJ 2/1/92), and the Gillian Naylor-edited William Morris, By Himself: Designs and Writings (New York Graphic Society, 1988). Highly recommended.?Joseph Hewgley, Nashville P.L.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product details

Hardcover: 780 pages
Publisher: Knopf (September 26, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0394585313
ISBN-13: 978-0394585314
Product Dimensions: 2.5 x 6.8 x 9.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #273 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Artists, Architects & Photographers
- #396 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Europe > Great Britain
- #1045 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Authors

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Magisterial, comprehensive, wonderfully entertaining

ByTim LukemanTOP 500 REVIEWERon May 1, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

While there have been many fine books written about William Morris & his work, with many more undoubtedly to come, this is definitely THE biography of the man. In Fiona McCarthy he has found an intelligent, sensitive biographer who clearly admires & respects the man, but not to such a degree that she loses her objectivity & analytical powers. Everything is in balance here, and the book has the narrative quality of a good novel -- something Morris would have appreciated.

What strikes me in particular is McCarthy's care in delving into Morris' psyche & private life. While there's plenty to be gleaned from both his writing & the memoirs of others, she often tells us that she won't speculate on this or that particular topic because she simply doesn't have enough information to deliver a reasonably probable answer. The anguished tangle of Morris' marriage & friendships is illuminated as much as possible, but some of it remains hidden by Victorian propriety even now. To her credit, McCarthy leaves it there without resorting to wild hunches & pathography. Suffice it to say that Morris' psyche was obviously as rich & complicated as his many artistic talents were diverse.

Still, there is much to say about this enormously energetic & driven man, and McCarthy does her best to convey as much as she can in a lucid, unencumbered fashion. There's just so much to deal with! Yet she invariably makes everything clear for the reader -- timelines, influences, relationships, artistic responses -- and all of it in context of Morris' time & place in history. Further, she offers a sympathetic & keen-eyed appraisal of his work as a writer, a Socialist, and a wide range of artistic pursuits. Some of his frequently disparaged work is shown to be more than popular & critical opinion would have it; at the same time, she unerringly points out its flaws & weaknesses. Without over-praising Morris as a creative artist, she does take him more seriously than others have in the past, and invites us to see that as well. The poetry comes out better than expected, however uneven; and the late romances reveal much of his worldview, filtered through fine storytelling.

Lastly, Morris is sometimes regarded as well-meaning but naive in his attitudes toward Socialism & the living of a meaningful life. McCarthy remedies that short-sighted verdict by thoroughly examining the growth of his worldview, finding in him a man very much aware of his own times & anticipating the increased crassness & emptiness of modern society. In this he remains a relevant figure, with much to say about our contemporary consumerist world, so driven by greed, power & sheer ugliness as the expense of the human spirit.

A book well worth several readings -- most highly recommended!

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Biography, photos & designs!

ByLexi D.on January 19, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This biography is rich and detailed. For anyone who has enjoyed the artistic works of William Morris and want to know more about his life and influences on his life's writings, and sense of design and talent. It is not a complete summary of his artistic output but you get a good dose of the different kinds of art & design that he's famous for.

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Five Stars

Byhardtopleaseon November 12, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

A page turner & even more comprehensive than expected.