If I Could But See It: A Graphic Biography of William Morris

Up at the League, says a friend, there had been one night a brisk conversational discussion, as to what would happen on the Morrow of the Revolution … As he sat in that vapour-bath of hurried and discontented humanity, a carriage of the underground railway, he, like others, stewed discontentedly … he found himself musing on the subject-matter of discussion: "If I could but see a day of it," he said to himself; "if I could but see it!" This is the graphic biography of William Morris (1834-1896), the celebrated designer, driven polymath and radical socialist.  With the telegraphic immediacy of the doodle, Nick Thorkelson's striking and idiosyncratic illustrations chime with the Arts and Crafts movement's emphasis on the humanising power of the handmade. Thorkelson moves through the major events of Morris's life weaving a rich tapestry of the major artistic, social and political questions which animated him. He explores Morris's politics and art, and how his hatred of class tyranny and love of humanity shaped his poetry, design and relationships. He considers the tension of Morris's efforts to democratize art while creating pieces for the wealthy, his critique of Britain's Empire, and his central place in socialist culture and propaganda.