On a recent visit to Kelmscott House, William Morris’s former home in Hammersmith, I picked up the text of a lecture given in 2012 to the William Morris Society by Fiona MacCarthy, the great biographer of Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. Although little more than thirty pages, the lecture gives an interesting account of the two men and their long friendship. From their first meeting as undergraduates at Oxford they formed a working and emotional bond that was to last their lifetimes. So much about them was different. Different social backgrounds, different temperaments, and ultimately different paths, but they were united by a vision of the place that art and craft ought to have in the lives of everyone. Their friendship led to an extraordinary creative collaboration that left a deep mark on the arts and crafts of the late 19th century and gave the world works of profound beauty and meaning.

MacCarthy went on to write wonderful, full-length biographies of both men. Her lecture might whet the appetite of those interested in learning more about these visionary figures of the 19th century.