The Triple Crown at Bridwell Library

About the Collection

“Kelmscott, Doves, Ashendene – this being now a shrine for all the world…”

Bridwell Library’s Triple Crown acquisitions began in Fall 1974, when Bridwell’s director Decherd Turner ventured to bookseller Colin Franklin’s home in Oxford to view a copy of the Kelmscott Chaucer printed on vellum. This copy, which is signed by William Morris to the book’s illustrator, Edward Burnes Jones, was purchased by Bridwell Library and delivered by Colin Franklin on November 17, 1974. Franklin later played a role in Bridwell’s acquisition of the Ashendene Press, which included all copies of the press’s publications on both paper and vellum, including the works of Dante. Finally, he facilitated the purchase of Emery Walker’s vellum copy of the Doves Press Bible, one of only two copies ever made.

In a 1977 address at Bridwell Library to mark the occasion of the acquisition of the Doves Press Bible, Franklin referred to Bridwell’s collection as the “Triple Crown” of printing, remarking that “henceforth in any serious discussion of private presses Bridwell becomes the focal point of reference.”

In addition to the Doves Press Bible, the Kelmscott Chaucer, and the Ashendene Dante, Bridwell holds many works produced by all three presses, as well as the Ashendene Press archives, which include correspondence, design notes for typefaces and illustrations, subscription lists, ledgers, and more.

[Nel Mezzo in ink on vellum with pencil measurements]

And there Receyved Hym Three Quenes with Grete Mournyng...

[Dancing Woodcut Proof]