Jacobus de Voragine / The Golden Legend.

In Morris’ time, books were printed in thin, spindly perversions of Bodoni and Didot’s modern style fonts. Such types were very weak in comparison to the work of the early printers, which Morris admired. After seeing projected enlargements of the pages of Gutenberg, Jenson, Zainer and others in a slide lecture given by Emery Walker, Morris decided to start his own press, which he named the Kelmscott Press, in order to print books in the manner he admired.

The Golden type was an amalgam of the work of Jenson and Jacobus Rubeus, as seen through Morris’ mediaevalist eyes.