3rd, 4th, 5th ; Hard Cover, Nonfiction, Picture Book, Prose ; Extra Purchase

Beautiful Useful Things: What William Morris Made

I would have liked more information about this complexed man – William Morris and his works to truly find this book worthwhile. The text barely scratches the surface of who this man was and his life’s works. The illustrations by Melodie Stacey meticulously engage the eye, going from reality to past historical times to fantasy.

“The older William grew, and the more he saw, the more he wanted to honor beauty by making beautiful things.”

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful…”

William Morris was a very artistic man of means, living during a time when factories were beginning to churn out mass produced household items. Morris wanted handmade one-of-a-kind items, not mass produced items.

William Morris was an idealist which most people cannot afford to be.