Riverside’s Chaucers
Tomás Rivera Library, 4th Floor
Weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from January 27 – March 24
I am delighted that the “Gig Workers of The Kelmscott Chaucer” will have its world premiere as part of the University of California, Riverside’s extraordinary exhibition — “Riverside’s Chaucers”. This exhibit, curated by UCR Library’s Special Collections & University Archives, will be on display January 27, 2023 – March 24, 2023 at the reading room located on the 4th floor of the Tomás Rivera Library.
The fine-art print series by artist Rex Parker, “Gig Workers of The Kelmscott Chaucer”, celebrates William Morris and the artists and artisans, wordsmiths and machinists who forged this Arts and Crafts masterpiece, which W. B. Yeats declared “the most beautiful of all printed books.”
While doing research in spring 2020 for an upcoming lecture to the William Morris Society in Hammersmith, I came across a statement by artist Robert Catterson-Smith concerning what he called “A Little Job for William Morris”. That “little job” was the now-legendary Kelmscott Chaucer, Smith had been one of numerous freelance “gig workers” on the job.
“What a delight to fall into Rex Parker’s brilliant poster celebration, the ‘Gig Workers of The Kelmscott Chaucer’. Honoring the 125th anniversary of the most famous private press book ever printed, Parker’s poster series introduces you to the craftspeople who made The Kelmscott Chaucer, not unlike the way we became acquainted with Chaucer’s Canterbury cast, one by one. From the typecaster, engraver, and printer, to the bookbinder, papermaker, and William Morris himself, Parker delivers a series that is worthy of devotees of Morris and Chaucer alike. As a bookseller and traditional letterpress printer, I am captivated with Parker’s ability to bring these characters to life in a way that honors Morris’s tradition of employing only the best of the best craftsmanship in his work,” said Kate Askew — letterpress printer, dealer of rare books and founder of the Yella Dog Press.
