The English Bible

The Doves Press, one of the great early twentieth-century English private presses, was established in 1900 by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson (1840-1922), a friend of William Morris who left his career as a lawyer in mid-life to become a hand bookbinder. Emery Walker (1851-1939), Cobden-Sanderson's partner, was a neighbor of William Morris. In November 1888, Walker delivered a lecture on "Letter Press Printing and Illustration" that inspired Morris; Cobden-Sanderson spoke on bookbinding in the series. Walker designed a type for the press based on a fifteenth-century design. The classic proportions of the Doves Press Bible, which had no illustrations or decorations except for the initial letters by calligrapher Edward Johnston, exemplify Walker's principles of design.