Talk:William Morris

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[edit] possible changes

I'm not normally a contributor to wikimedia, so I don't know if it is appropriate for me just to wade in and make changes here; I'll say what I intend to do, and come back in a few days to see if anyone has said not to...

  1. The 'overview' is opinionated - in my view plain wrong, but certainly not neutral POV, and should be dropped.
  2. The end note about IKEA is irrelevant and should be dropped
  3. Morris was famous in his own life as (and saw himself as) a poet. An encyclopedia entry which doesn't say more about this has something mssing, and I propose adding a new subsection

Marinheiro 20:41, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

Made those changes; I think it reads ok, though the (very good) section on the Kelmscott Press is a little out of place following Morris' death in the previous paragraph..

The problem with Morris is that he did so many totally different things exceptionally well it's difficult to stop a short article being rather 'bitty'. It also means he certainly can't be pigion-holed into a single 'category'.

Marinheiro 23:36, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] name change

I've made a copy-edit that may offend some -- I have changed Morris' to Morris's throughout, as both forms were present, and the former is strictly incorrect. Adams' is fine, as the final s sounds like a plural, Jesus' and Herodutus' are conventional, but the final s in Morris is not the same sound as the plural or possessive, so Morris' is simply wrong (and anyone who writes Marx' should be shot :-)).

I've made a quick check through the history, and I think Morris's precedes Morris', if this is taken as a cis-/trans-atlantic English difference (ie US/UK). BrendanH 15:00, Apr 16, 2004 (UTC)

I'm being a complete pedant, and I have "reverted" to "Morris's" (and dropped the apostrophe after "Press" where it could be taken as adjectival), on the same grounds that I did nearly two years ago. "Morris'" is simply not correct, though common in the US. Most style guides that I have looked at (Handbook of MLA, Chicago Manual of Style, Strunk and White, Hart's Rules) either counsel against it or give examples like "Paris's". BrendanH 22:01, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Categories

It is policy (see Wikipedia:categories) that it should be obvious to anyone, coming from the category to the article, why the article is in the category. In other words, before categorizing Morris as a Marxist theorist, discuss News from Nowhere and the socialist essays. (The result of the discussion may lead to Cat:anarchists as well, or instead; but that's a question to be established by editing.)Septentrionalis 04:00, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Critique of Morris link

A critique of Morris can be found on [1]. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Szczels (talk • contribs) (08:59, 3 February 2006)

[edit] Socialism

I was wondering if the scoialism section should be expanded more. Morris was at first a supporter of Gladstone as he was against Disraeli's agressive foreign policy but then grew disillusioned under Gladstones government. Although remembered as a poet he was influential at the time as well (Trafalgar square riot etc). I'm not the man for the job but I think this is quite a key area, and one that many people would say should be expanded. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.92.40.49 (talk • contribs) (12:25, 9 May 2006)

[edit] Page reorganization and edits

I made some fairly substantial changes to the article, and I want to spell out my reasons here:

  • First, I moved most of the opening down, and split it into three sections, because it made more sense to discuss that substantial span of time between his birth and his meeting the other future Pre-Raphaelites in the main text than crammed into the opening.
  • I also created a new section for his writings, under which I created subsections on poetry, translations, and his fantasy writing.

Now, the sections on this early life, education, the Pre-Raphaelites, etc., need to be expanded. And, how can there be little or no mention in this article of the Arts and Crafts Movement? Many improvements still to be made. ---RepublicanJacobiteThe'FortyFive' 02:18, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sale of important Morris piece

I don't know if it's worthy of inclusion, but a major tapestry by the Morris Workshop currently owned by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page is being sold. [2] Anchoress · Weigh Anchor · Catacomb 03:02, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Jimmy Page owns the Holy Grail tapestry? Wow. Thanks for posting that. - PKM (talk) 16:03, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Textiles

I've added some basic info on embroidery, printed and woven textiles, and tapestry.

Some to-do's:

  • Carpets
  • How Morris's preference for medieval tapestry and dislike of renaissance styles threw the latter out of favor for about 100 years (I have a reference on this, have to dig it up); it's an important indicator of the impact of Morris's aesthetic.

- PKM (talk) 23:45, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Color Picture Please

Is it possible to update this to a color picture? This painting looks like it would be great in color. 76.117.2.182 (talk) 05:31, 8 May 2008 (UTC)