[Kelmscott Press- Folded Folio Sheets in their most authentic state] Uncut Sheets of The Earthly Paradise, the First Two Books

Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1896. First Edition. First Edition. The first two volumes, complete (of the eight-volume work) in original folded folio gatheredi sheets, uncut and unopened (preserved in contemporary marbled paper folders with gilt spine labels). Unfolded folio sheet size measure 18.3 x 12.8 inches (46.5 ◊ 32.5 cm). Printed in Chaucer type in black and red on Kelmscott handmade paper bearing the characteristic apple watermark. The sheets remain as full folio sheets folded twice to form quarto gatherings (8 separate pages) as issued to subscribers who chose to commission their own bindingsóa very small bespoke number such provided to certain friends or members of the Press. The Kelmscott Earthly Paradise was one of the pressís largest and most ambitious undertakings, issued in an edition of 225 paper copies and only seven on vellum; a small but undocumented portion of the paper copies were supplied in this unbound state, and surviving examples remain notably scarce. In fact, we haven not found one uncut folded folio leaf (8 pages) on recored in recent memory, let alone the 44 provided here! The present two volumes comprise 44 full folio sheets (plus bifold blanks), including numerous blank and preliminary leaves as issued, entirely consistent with Kelmscott production. The text pages are in excellent condition, crisp and fresh with strong original folds, and gathered together in archival form, preserved in the contemporary folders by a contemporary, fastidious collector. A rare and most desirable survival of Kelmscott Press books in their original issued state, offering an unusually direct view of Morrisís printing before the intervention of the binder and embodying the collaborative ideals at the heart of the private press movement.