,,the ,,arts ,,and ,,crafts ,,movement  
,,by ,t4 ,j4 ,,cobden-,,sanderson       
,,hammersmith ,,publishing ,,society    
,,river ,,house ,,hammersmith ,,mdccccv 
,the ,movement1 passing under the name  
of ',arts and ,crafts1' admits of many  
definitions4 ,it may be associated with 
the movement of ideas1 characteristic of
 the close of the last century1 and be  
defined to be an effort to bring it     
under the influence of art as the       
supreme mode in which human activity of 
all kinds expresses itself at its       
highest and best2 in which case the     
so-called ',arts and ,crafts            
,exhibitions' would be but a symbolic   
presentment of a whole by a part1 itself
 incapable of presentment3 or it may be 
associated with the revival1 by a few   
artists1 of hand-craft as opposed to    
machine-craft1 and be defined to be the 
insistence on the worth of man's hand1 a
 unique tool in danger of being lost in 
the substitution for it of highly       
organized and intricate machinery1 or of

 emotional as distinguished from merely 
skilled and technical labour3 or again1 
it may be defined to be both the one and
 the other1 and to have a wider scope   
than either2 as for example1 it may be  
defined to constitute a movement to     
bring all the activities of the human   
spirit under the influence of one idea1 
the idea that life is creation1 and     
should be creative in modes of art1     
that this creation should extend to all 
the ideas of science and of social      
organization1 to all the ideas and      
habits begotten of a grandiose and      
consciously conceived procession of     
humanity1 out of nothing and nowhere1   
into everything and everywhere1 as well 
as to the merely instrumental           
occupations thereof at any particular   
moment4  ,no definition1 however1 is    
orthodox or to be propounded with       
authority3 each has its apostles3 and   
besides the definitions attempted above1
 there are still others1 some of them1  
indeed1 concerning themselves only with 

the facilities to be afforded to the    
craftsman for the exhibition1           
advertisement1 and sale of his wares4   
,nor do ,i propose1 myself1 to propound 
one at this stage of my description of  
the movement4 ,i merely adumbrate the   
shifting goal1 as it may have presented 
itself to the minds of the men engaged  
in the movement1 that you may know at   
the outset1 in vision1 those far-off    
heights1 which they1 or some of them1   
essayed not only themselves to climb1   
but to make all mankind also to climb4  
,it is to the movement itself that ,i   
will first ask your attention4  ,art is 
one1 though manifold1 and when the      
,royal ,academy of ,arts1 in spite of   
many protests1 continued to restrict its
 ,academic ,exhibitions to ,painting1   
,sculpture1 and ,abstract ,architecture1
 a body of protesters came together1 not
 any longer to protest only1 but this   
time to constitute a society of         
exhibitioners who should widen the      
academic conception of art1 and open its

 exhibitions to all forms of art1       
provided only that the form was of art1 
born of the imagination1 and destined to
 touch the imagination4  ,such a society
 was in due time formed1 and1 under the 
name of the ',arts and ,crafts          
,exhibition ,society1' initiated the    
wider movement which1 from itself as    
source1 has spread all the world over1  
and created a new interest4 ,the arts   
and crafts have been born again1 and1 in
 a new sense1 occupy the attention of   
mankind4  ,the first exhibition was held
 in the ,new ,gallery1 in ,london1 in   
the autumn of #ahhh4 ,it is not         
necessary to dwell on the exhibits which
 stand enumerated in the catalogue now  
before me4 ,it is sufficient to say that
 whereas each exhibit1 standing alone1  
might have been seen without any sense  
of a new 'movement' being on foot1 the  
accumulation1 under one roof and idea1  
of so many different and differently    
conceived things of beauty1 made a      
marked impression on the public         

imagination1  unmistakably heralded the 
advent of a new force into society1 at  
once creative and classificatory4 ,old  
things1 long since done1 were to be put 
into new relations1  upon a higher      
plane1 and all new work was to be       
conceived of as convergent upon one end1
 the dignity and sweetness of life1 and 
the workman--artist or craftsman--was to
 derive therefrom his measure of        
happiness  delight4 ,and that work1     
which for the world had lost all        
association with human initiative       
solicitude1 was to be made to resume    
that intimate relation1 and the workman 
himself to be recalled into the assembly
 of those who are consciously striving  
to the acknowledged end4 ,the workmen   
contributing to the creation of a work  
were to be thenceforward named its      
author1 and to have their names         
inscribed upon the great roll of the    
world's ever visible record4  ,such     
appeared to be the new movement of which
 the first exhibition of the ,arts and  

,crafts ,exhibition ,society was the    
first overt act4  ,besides the          
enumeration and description of exhibits1
 the catalogue contained a preface by   
the ,president1 ,walter ,crane2 a notice
 of lectures to be given in connexion   
with the exhibition2 and a number of    
',notes' upon various arts  crafts      
written by men who1 as stated in the    
preface1 were associated with the       
subjects of which they treated1 not in  
the literary sense only1 but as actual  
designers and workmen4  ,the object of  
the lectures was stated to be twofold3  
7#a7 ,to set out the aims of the        
,society2 and 7#b7 by demonstration     
otherwise1 to direct attention to the   
processes employed in the arts and      
crafts1 and so to lay a foundation for a
 just appreciation1 both of the         
processes themselves1 and of their      
importance as methods of expression in  
design4  ,and here ,i may intercalate an
 extract from a book which appeared at  
that time1 as it throws a light upon1   

indeed constituted1 one of the main     
impulses to which was due the inception 
of the lectures4 ,i refer to            
',scientific ,religion1 or ,higher      
,possibilities of ,life and ,practice   
through the ,operation of ,natural      
,causes1' by ,laurence ,oliphant2 and   
the passage to which ,i ask your        
attention is the following3  ',he can no
 longer be esteemed an excellent workman
 who can only work excellently6 for his 
work1 to prove that it is living1 must  
be generative1 and it will not be       
generative unless the workman has his   
mind trained to a clear conception of   
his own methods and their connexion with
 the laws of ,nature3 and unless he can 
impart that understanding by word of    
mouth3 unless1 in fine1 the sum of his  
experience1 while he is constantly      
increasing it1 is as constantly forced  
by him into mental shape'--or1 as ,i    
might add1 into imaginative shape and   
association4  ,when ,i read this ,i     
seemed to see all crafts and            

manufactures and commerce crystal clear 
and capable of statement1 so that1 even 
as they stood outlined and embodied to  
the corporeal eye1 so they should shine 
in all their processes and relations    
clear as in sunlight to the eye of      
intelligence3 and it was in such wise   
that when the time came ,i proposed to  
the ,committee of the ,arts and ,crafts 
,exhibition ,society that ,lectures     
should form a part of the purpose of the
 ,society1 and should accompany and be  
delivered in the building of the        
,exhibition 7#a7 to convert the implicit
 mental processes involved in the       
exercise of a craft into explicit       
articulate utterance capable of making  
such mental processes intelligible at   
once to the worker himself and to the   
spectator interested to know1 and 7#b7  
to widen the horizons of the workers and
 to set their work in due relation to   
the other crafts and processes with     
which it was associated1 and to the     
forces of ,nature upon which they and it

 depended4  ,lectures1 as announced in  
the ,catalogue1 were given in connexion 
with the first exhibition by ,william   
,morris on ,tapestry1 by ,george        
,simmonds on ,modelling and ,sculpture1 
by ,emery ,walker on ,letterpress       
,printing1 by myself on ,bookbinding1   
and by ,walter ,crane on ,design4       
,perhaps1 in view of the results which  
have flowed from it1 and at this        
distance of time1 ,i may for a moment   
dwell particularly on the lecture on    
,letterpress ,printing4 ,it was at my   
urgent request that ,mr4 ,walker        
overcame his reluctance to speak in     
public1 and ,i therefore claim for      
myself the honour of being the real     
author of ,the ,kelmscott ,press6 for it
 was in consequence of this lecture     
given by ,mr4 ,emery ,walker at my      
request1 and the lantern slides of      
beautiful old founts of type and ,,ms4  
by which it was illustrated1 that       
,william ,morris was induced to turn    
again his attention to printing1 and    

this time1 as a printer1 to produce1 in 
friendly collaboration with ,mr4        
,walker1 that splendid series of printed
 books which has inspired printing with 
a new life1 and enriched the libraries  
of the world with books as nobly        
conceived and executed as any that      
distinguish the great age of ,printing  
itself4  ,the ',notes1' to which        
reference has already been made1        
occupied a little more than a third of  
the ,catalogue1 and treated of3         
,textiles1     ,decorative ,painting and
 ,design1     ,wall papers1             
,fictiles1     ,metal work1     ,stone  
and ,wood carving1     ,furniture1      
,stained and ,table glass1              
,printing1 and     ,bookbinding3  and as
 they contain the doctrines of the new  
movement so far as it was applicable to 
the crafts of which they treated1 it may
 be worth while to turn over a few pages
 and to see what those doctrines are4   
,mr4 ,morris1 who writes on ,textiles1  
opens at once on his subject4 ',there   

are1' he says1 'several ways of         
ornamenting a woven cloth4' ,he then    
enumerates the ways as follows3 7#a7    
,real ,tapestry2 7#b7 ,carpet weaving2  
7#c7 ,mechanical weaving2 7#d7 ,printing
 or ,painting2 and 7#e7 ,embroidery2 and
 proceeds under each head to lay down   
principles1 accordant with the          
particular method1 for the production of
 the ornament required1 and concludes   
his note with some general maxims       
applicable to all the methods alike1 as 
thus1 ',never forget the material you   
are working with1 and try always to use 
it for doing what it can do best3 if you
 feel yourself hampered by the material 
in which you are working1 instead of    
being helped by it1 you have so far not 
learned your business1 any more than a  
would-be poet has1 who complains of the 
hardship of writing in measure and      
rhyme4 ,the special limitations of the  
material should be a pleasure to you1   
not a hindrance3 a designer1 therefore1 
should always thoroughly understand the 

processes of the special manufacture he 
is dealing with1 or the result will be a
 mere tour-de-force4 ,on the other hand 
it is the pleasure in understanding the 
capabilities of a special material1 and 
using them for suggesting 7not          
imitating7 natural beauty and incident1 
that gives the raison d'etre of         
decorative art4'  ,in a note on wall    
papers ,mr4 ,crane goes into useful     
detail as to the conditions of          
successful pattern making for their     
decoration4 ,as1 however1 our purpose is
 only with the more general lines and   
direction of the movement1 we need not  
follow him into this detail1 and ,i will
 leave it with the remark that this and 
kindred notes by him and others show    
sufficiently that the writers did not   
confine themselves to general principles
 difficult of application without       
intermediary illustration1 but addressed
 themselves vigorously to the actual    
practice of the craft treated of1 and   
sought to quicken it into life at once  

by ,principle and ,precept1 by ,example1
 and by ,trade ,recipe4  ,continuing our
 exploration of the ,notes1 we next come
 upon an interesting one by the         
late--alas6 too many of the early       
workers in the movement have ceased to  
be with us1 and ,i feel here tempted to 
break off1 and1 in sympathy with that   
sublime chapter of ,ecclesiasticus which
 ,i have recently been printing1 to     
commemorate 'our fathers that begat us1'
 the great ,dead4      ,such as did bear
 rule in their kingdoms1     ,men       
renowned for their power1     ,giving   
counsel by their understanding1     ,and
 declaring prophecies4  ,burne-,jones1  
,william ,morris1 ,madox ,brown--'these 
be of them that have left a name behind 
them to declare their praises4' ,and    
some there be that have no memorial save
 the memory of them enshrined in the    
hearts of them that knew them4 ,but     
adequately to commemorate were too great
 an enterprise1 and ,i return to my     
immediate topic2 and yet1 as ,i turn1   

one of great name1 greater than all whom
 ,i have named1 impels me to pause and  
to praise him1 him who begat the        
begetters1 him who was 'as the morning  
star in the midst of a cloud1 as the    
moon at the full1' ,ruskin6 ,to him we  
all owe whatever of impulse is in us    
toward that goal whose outline it is my 
business to describe to you to-night4   
,to ,ruskin1 then1 all honour1 all      
praise1 to ,ruskin1 the great ,dead who 
in life1 living1 begat us6  ,to resume4 
,the ,note on ,fictiles1 by the late ,g4
 ,t4 ,robinson1 carries us to the dawn  
of art and craft1 for1 as says ,mr4     
,robinson1 ',man's first needs in       
domestic life1 his first utensils1 his  
first efforts at civilization1 came from
 the mother earth1 whose son he believed
 himself to be1 and his ashes or his    
bones returned to earth1 enshrined in   
the fictile vases he created from their 
common clay4 ,and these fictiles1'      
continues ,mr4 ,robinson1 'tell the     
story of his first art instincts1 and of

 his yearnings to unite beauty with use4
 ,they tell1 too1 more of his history   
than is enshrined and preserved by any  
other art2 for almost all we know of    
many a people and many a tongue is      
learned from the fictile record1 the    
sole relic of past civilizations which  
the destroyer ,time has left us4 ,begun 
in the simplest fashion1 fashioned by   
the simplest means1 created from the    
commonest materials1 fictile ,art grew  
with man's intellectual growth1 and     
fictile ,craft grew with his            
knowledge--the latter conquering in this
 our day1 when the craftsman strangles  
the artist alike in this as in all other
 arts4 ,to truly foster and forward an  
art1' concludes ,mr4 ,robinson1 'the    
craftsman and the artist should1 where  
possible1 be united2 or1 at least1      
should work in common1 as was the case  
when1 in each civilization1 the         
,potter's ,art flourished most1 and when
 the scientific base was of less account
 than was the art employed upon it4'    

,it is not necessary for our purpose to 
go through the succeeding ,notes1 or to 
say more than that1 assuming the        
principles which underlie all great art1
 they deal in their several ways with a 
number of crafts which the creative     
ingenuity of man1 working1 as described 
by ,mr4 ,robinson1 for the satisfaction 
for the adornment of the satisfaction of
 his wants1 imaginative and real1 has in
 different circumstances and at         
different times invented1 and seek1 amid
 the confusion which has arisen in the  
abuse of these crafts by                
pseudo-craftsmen and artists1 who have  
approached them from the outside1 to    
restore to them their sanity1 alike in  
process and in choice of material1 in   
aim1 and in the expression of beauty and
 of purpose4  ,the master-principle1    
however1 to be deduced from the ,notes  
may be here restated in the words of    
,mr4 ,morris1 for it is a principle     
applicable to the whole range of        
imaginative creation3 ',never forget the

 material you are working with1 and try 
always to use it for doing what it can  
do best4'  ,to the catalogues of the two
 following exhibitions more ,notes were 
added1 and finally1 in #ahic1 all the   
,notes were put together and published  
in one volume1 entitled ',art and       
,crafts ,essays by ,members of the ,arts
 and ,crafts ,exhibition ,society1' with
 a ,prefatory ,note by ,william ,morris4
 ,this volume was reprinted in #ahii4   
,in the ,prefatory ,note ,mr4 ,morris   
sets out the purpose of the ,society as 
understood by him--too narrowly1 ,i     
think4 ',it is1' he says1 'to help the  
conscious cultivation of art and to     
interest the public in it1 by calling   
special attention to that1' in his      
judgement1 'really most important side  
of art1 the decoration of utilities by  
furnishing them with genuine artistic   
finish in place of trade finish4' ,to   
this ,i shall return by and by4  ,after 
the ,prefatory ,note comes the ,table of
 ,contents of the volume4 ,and looking  

for a moment down the long list of      
tongues in which ,craft1 under the      
guidance of ,art1 is striving to speak  
afresh1 how can one fail to lament the  
time now past and to wish it back1 when 
these tongues1 now the language1 and too
 often the quite artificial language1 of
 a professional and specially trained   
class1 were but the vernacular of one   
common language1 widely and familiarly  
spoken1 and craftmanship itself but 'joy
 in widest commonalty spread'2 joy in   
working in all the various ways of      
imaginative invention1 upon all sorts   
and kinds of material1 material brought 
from afar1 sought with danger or grown  
in pastoral peace2 joy in making and    
devising things of use and of beauty1   
homely things1 princely things1 things  
of beauty for beauty's adornment1 noble 
things for a city's2 all amid ,nature's 
own1 yet unsullied1 immense             
creativeness1 all for the admiration and
 use of vigorous emergent and vanishing 
generations1 whose common bond in life  

was the thing so made1 its beauty and   
its use4  ,we may now leave the         
explanatory preludes1 the ,notes1 and   
turn to the ,lectures1 to which         
reference has already been made4 ,they  
were given1 ,i think1 at each           
,exhibition1 except the last1 and in the
 ,exhibition itself1 and were meant1    
besides the objects officially announced
 in the catalogues1 to widen the scope  
of the ,exhibitions1 otherwise          
restricted to things of minor importance
 only1 and to extend the attention of   
the public to things not present in the 
,exhibition1 though to be imagined and  
thought of in association with it4 ,and 
here we may expect to find1 and shall   
find1 as ,i shall show1 a more extended 
view of the aims of the ,society as set 
out by itself4  ,it is matter of regret 
that1 save one series presently to be   
mentioned1 and a lecture by ,william    
,morris1 no record has been kept of     
them4 ,they were delivered1 and are now 
perhaps forgotten4 ,and yet how         

stimulating1 how interesting the        
circumstances of some of them6 ,william 
,morris1 on a raised platform1          
surrounded by products of the loom1 at  
work upon a model loom specially        
constructed from his design--now in the 
,victoria and ,albert ,museum--to show  
how the wools were inwrought1 and the   
visions of his brain fixed in colour and
 in form2 ,walter ,crane1 backed by a   
great black board1 wiped clean1 alas6   
when one would have had it remain for   
ever still adorned by the spontaneous   
creations of his inexhaustible brain2   
,george ,simmonds1 demonstrating to us  
the uses of the thumb1 and how under its
 pressure things of clay rose into life2
 ,lewis ,day1 designing as he spoke1 and
 bringing before our inner eye1 as well 
as the outer1 the patterns of ,asia and 
of ,europe in stage after stage of      
development2 ,selwyn ,image1 by his     
studied elocution1 taking us back to the
 church which he had left1 but with     
sweet reasonableness depicting before   

its shadowy background the bright new   
,jerusalem toward which his enfranchised
 imagination burned2 ,lethaby1          
entrancing us with the cities which     
crowned the hills of ,europe1 or sat in 
white on the still seashore1 or mirrored
 in the waters of ,italy3 all vanished1 
save the memory of them6 ,and here1     
dwelling in memory on the past1 may ,i  
not recall the fervour1 the enthusiasm  
of those first years1 the ready         
invention1 the design1 born of the      
moment and the occasion1 for catalogue1 
rules and room2 and one design that     
caused so much1 long-forgotten          
commotion--the design by the ,president1
 to be hung over the out-door entrance  
to the gallery1 of artist and craftsman1
 hand in hand6 ,but how recall them to  
those who knew them not8 ,impossible6 ,i
 mention them only in piety to that holy
 time1 when we circled about the founts1
 and played1 of that great movement     
which is now the world's6  ,as ,i write 
these words ,i am reminded of that      

definition to which ,i said ,i would    
return4 ',the aim of the ,arts and      
,crafts ,exhibition ,society'--,i repeat
 the definition--'is to help the        
conscious cultivation of art1 and the   
attempt to interest the public in it1 by
 calling special attention to that      
really most important side of art1 the  
decoration of utilities1 by furnishing  
them with genuine artistic finish in    
place of trade finish4'  ,surely this is
 a strange misapprehension  restriction 
of the aims of the ,society6 ,were that 
the only aim1 then the movement was not 
what ,i imagined it to be1 and still    
imagine1 nor would it be worthy of your 
attention to-day1 not to speak of the   
world's6  ,in the same preface in which 
this definition occurs there is a       
passage which ,i passed over at the     
time1 but which at this stage of our    
history it is important that ,i should  
notice4 ',we can1' says the writer1     
'expect no general impulse towards the  
fine arts till civilization has been    

transformed into some other condition1  
the details of which we cannot see4'    
,and it was therefore--because we could 
expect no general impulse towards the   
fine arts1 until this obstacle was      
removed1 that we were in the meantime1  
and this was to be our 'movement1' to   
help the conscious cultivation of art1  
which the writer at the same time says  
is no art at all1 and the attempt to    
interest the public in it6  ,here ,i am 
at issue with the writer1 and would     
submit that this general impulse must   
precede and itself bring about the      
transformation3 and further that this   
general impulse is precisely and already
 the impulse constituting that great    
movement dubbed ',arts and ,crafts1' and
 that its aim is not merely to help the 
conscious cultivation of art pending the
 transformation1 but itself to bring the
 transformation about4  ,in fact1 ,i    
submit that in the intention of the     
founders1 or in the intention of some of
 them1 ,art is1 or should be1 an agent  

in the production of noble life1 and not
 merely an executant dependent upon and 
presupposing its existence4  ,as some   
evidence of this intention1 ,i may      
adduce the following conclusion from an 
unpublished ,report of the ,committee to
 the ,members of the ,society4 ',in     
conclusion1 the ,committee would venture
 for a moment to take their stand upon  
the higher plane of the ,society1 and to
 say a word or two upon the cause which 
in the opinion of the ,committee        
constitutes the claim of the ,society to
 attention and support4 ,for a small    
body of artists to band themselves      
together1 simply to produce and to      
exhibit objects of art for an age which 
is not indeed essentially inartistic1   
but which1 by the accident of the       
failure of the imagination to grasp and 
mould its dominant realities1 has not   
had revealed to itself the splendour of 
its opportunities1 or of the meaning of 
,beauty in association with ,industry   
and ,science--for a small body of       

,artists to band themselves together for
 such a purpose is indeed something2 but
 it is to leave unfulfilled1 unessayed1 
the main function1 in this and every    
age1 of all great ,art and of all great 
,artists4 ,such ,art and such ,artists  
would and should1 whilst still          
producing1 as best they may1 if not     
things of immortal ,beauty1 at least    
things of their own1 strive at the same 
time to understand the true drift and   
possible ,ideal of the ,age in which    
they live4 ,it is the function of an    
,artist to divine the ,ideal of an age1 
and to express it in manifold ,form4    
,the ,ideal of the present age has been 
neglected by him4 ,the actuality has    
been left as an actuality1 unredeemed by
 ideas1 to those whose sole business it 
is to carry on1 and to constitute1 the  
actuality of the age4 ,but there is     
above and beyond every ,actuality an    
,ideal upon which it can and should be  
modelled4 ,it is this ,ideal which it is
 the function of the ,artist--which it  

is the function of this ,society--to    
discover and to express1 in great things
 as in small1 in small as in great3 and 
the ,ideal1 expressed1 is then as a     
great ,light to those who sit in        
darkness2 it is a light towards which   
the soul of ,actuality turns2 it is that
 which1 aspired to1 gives to an age     
dignity and immortality1 and converts   
the work of the hand and brain from work
 that is sordid and mean1 to work that  
is imaginative and noble4'  ,but the    
claim does not rest on unpublished      
records alone4 ,this ,i think will be   
apparent if attention be given to the   
one series of ,lectures which has       
survived their delivery1 and been       
published4 ,i refer to ',art and ,life1 
and the ,building and ,decoration of    
,cities1' a title which of itself       
carries the scope of the ,society beyond
 all the possible ,exhibits of an       
,exhibition4  ,the object of these      
,lectures is thus explicitly stated by  
the ,lecturer on ',art and ,life1' which

 introduces the series1 and his         
statement is borne witness to throughout
 by all the other speakers4 ,the        
statement to which ,i refer is as       
follows3 ',i now begin the first of a   
series of ,lectures having for their    
object generally the extension of the   
conception of ,art1 and more especially 
the application of the idea of ,beauty  
to the organization and decoration of   
our greater cities4' ,and of his own    
,lecture he says3 ',i desire to extend  
the conception of ,art1 and to apply it 
to life as a whole2 or1 inversely1 to   
make the whole of life1 in all its      
grandeur1 as well as in all its         
delightful detail1 the object of the    
action of ,art and ,craft4'  ,and in the
 course of it the ,lecturer thus defined
 what seemed to him the function of art 
in this extended conception of its      
meaning4 ',art implies a certain lofty  
environment1 and is itself an adjustment
 to that environment of all that can be 
done by mankind within it4 ,art as a    

great function of human imagination is  
not the creation of isolated objects of 
beauty1 though isolated objects of      
beauty may indeed be created by art1    
and1 in themselves1 resume all that is  
beautiful1 orderly1 restful1 and stable 
in the artist's conception of that      
environment4 ,still less is it1 what    
some may seem to imagine1 the objects of
 beauty themselves4 ,art is1 or should  
be1 alive1 alive and a universal        
stimulus4 ,it is that spirit of order   
and seemliness1 of dignity and          
sublimity1 which1 acting in unison with 
the great procession of natural forces  
in their own orderly evolution1 tends to
 make out of a chaos of egotistic       
passions1 a great power of disinterested
 social action2 which tends to make out 
of the seemingly meaningless            
satisfaction of our daily and annual    
needs1 a beautiful exercise of our      
innumerable gifts of fancy and          
invention1 an exercise which may be its 
own exceeding great reward1 and come to 

seem to be indeed the end for which the 
needs were made4'  ,it was thus and thus
 that1 in the inception of the ,society1
 we sought to 'divine' the ,ideal of the
 ,age1 and to give effect to it in the  
work which lay immediately to hand4 ,but
 it was not to such work only that the  
ideal was to be extended4 ',nor1'       
continues the ,lecturer1 'do ,i stop at 
deeds to be done in such unison4 ,i     
demand in the name of art--and here is  
especially the note and distinction of  
,modern ,art as ,i conceive it--,i      
demand in the name of art1 that ,science
 itself1 that knowledge1 shall enter    
upon a new phase1 and itself become1 in 
the mind of man1 the imaginative        
,re-presentment of the universe without1
 an analytical knowledge of which has   
hitherto been its one sole and supreme  
aim4'  ,again1 in another matter1       
bearing upon the aims of the ,society   
of the movement1 ,i must1 albeit        
reluctantly1 dissent from the view taken
 of it by my friend ,mr4 ,morris4 ,it   

will help1 perhaps1 to clear up the     
situation4  ,in an article ',on the     
revival of ,handicraft' published in the
 ',fortnightly' in #ahhh1 the year of   
the first ,arts and ,crafts ,exhibition1
 an article interesting and stimulating 
as are all the writings of ,mr4 ,morris1
 there is1 amid so much that is         
admirable1 a statement which would sweep
 away the whole of modern life1  render 
the achievement of its distinctive ideal
 an impossible dream--a consummation    
devoutly to be wished6 we can indeed    
imagine ,mr4 ,morris to exclaim4  ',as a
 condition of life1' ,mr4 ,morris says1 
'production by machinery is wholly an   
evil4'  ,but surely this is altogether  
questionable4 ,surely things there are1 
the production of which by machinery may
 be wholly right1 things which1         
moreover1 when so produced may be wholly
 right also1 and in their rightness even
 works of art4  ,great works of art are 
useful works1 greatly done4 ,in the same
 article ,mr4 ,morris1 deprecating1 as  

,i would do1 the exclusive production of
 ,beauty for ,beauty's sake1 goes on to 
say1 as ,i would wish to say3 ',in the  
great times of art1 conscious effort was
 used to produce great works for the    
glory of the city1 the triumph of the   
,church1 the exaltation of the citizens1
 the quickening of the devotion of the  
faithful3 even in the higher art1 the   
record of history1 the instruction of   
men alive or to live hereafter1 was the 
aim rather than beauty4'  ,but if in the
 great times of art1 great works were   
the aims of great art rather than       
beauty1 why to-day should not great     
works still be the aim of great art     
rather than beauty8 ,is to-day wanting  
in great works waiting to be done in the
 great way1 which is the way of art8 or 
is it that to-day all great works are   
machinery only1 and so an evil1         
incapable of artistic treatment8  ,but1 
to take a simple instance1 one short of 
that complete ,transformation of ,life  
which should be the main aim of art1 to 

take a practical problem of modern life1
 the supply of water to a great city1   
consider the grandiose character of the 
problem1 despite1 or shall we say in    
consequence of1 the mighty mechanical   
agencies now involved in its            
solution--the fetching of the water from
 the far-off pure source1 the hills of  
rain  of snow1 to the city of the plain 
and the sun1 its storage and            
distribution1 by the immense pulsations 
of machinery1 day  night1 year after    
year4 ,is not that a noble problem for  
the imaginative faculties of the artist1
 only less noble than the supply of the 
,holy ,spirit from the pulpit or the    
altar1 to the massed congregation at    
their feet1 or than the summons from    
,tower or ,belfry to unity of action or 
of prayer1 of the separated members of a
 city or a ,church8 ,but such a problem1
 since the great days of ,rome1 is not  
thought of in connexion with art1 nor is
 the grandiose character of its solution
 so much as dreamed of--the carriage of 

the water to the city1 one long         
triumphant procession3 and within the   
city what noble works6 first in         
importance1 the pumping station2 how    
prosaic it sounds6 yet to the           
imagination how magnificent6 that mighty
 heart1 that to the uttermost ambit of  
the city drives the far-off burthen of  
the hills6 ,then the public fountains in
 the great thoroughfares1 at the great  
crossings  in the great squares2 noble  
works of art1 at once to typify and to  
actualize a city's purity and to satiate
 a city's thirst1 and for a city's joy  
and remembrance1 in pleasant shower1 to 
cast into the air the liquid drops which
 first fell for it1 and fall1 on the    
distant heights of snow4 ,and finally in
 each house1 in each room1 the separate 
jet1 the very taps this time ablaze with
 beauty for happy beauty's sake1 and    
happier use6  ,again1 to take a larger  
instance--still an instance of          
machinery4 ,the people of ,england1 like
 the people of ,rome1 have been engaged 

for a thousand years or more in making a
 constitution1 a great piece of         
machinery1 for their own governance1 and
 are still engaged in that task1 and are
 likely to be engaged in it1 perhaps for
 a thousand years or more to come4 ,it  
is a great task1 a great problem1 ever  
changing its conditions with the changes
 which1 with other causes1 its own      
changes bring about3 it is also1 or     
should be1 a great work of art as well  
as of machinery1 in which1 in future    
ages1 will be seen the moral            
imaginative framework of this people of 
,england4 ,that work of art should be   
had in view in the struggles of the     
moment1 should be had in view and be    
promoted by every citizen who would do  
more than live out his individual years 
in selfish  ignoble isolation2 but it   
should especially be had in view by the 
people as a whole1 be their ideal1 their
 supreme work of art2 and theirs whom   
the people's will has placed at their   
head to mould and to guide their        

destinies1 theirs1 so that when the     
world's history shall be rounded off and
 resumed in planetary stillness1 and in 
the consciousness of the gods1 ,england1
 ,england's history1 shall shine out    
starlike1 ,england1 which shall have    
made1 not itself its goal1 but an       
immortal purpose--ideal freedom and the 
world's joy6  ,such is one other great  
work of art1 of machinery1 still        
awaiting accomplishment1 still awaiting 
the devotion to which all great art is  
due4  ,but art to-day has no eyes1 no   
devotion1  so for art there is no great 
object1 and for the great object no art4
 ,nor does the great artist1 as does the
 great opportunity1 sojourn in our      
midst4 ,such art and artists as there   
are1 and are there any8 are but engaged 
in the conscious cultivation of art for 
art's sake1 or of beauty for beauty's   
sake1 pending the great transformation  
which1 meanwhile1 is no affair of       
theirs4  ,of such art and of such       
cultivation1 nothing need be expected3  

and such art and such cultivation are   
certainly not in my judgement1 nor are  
they1 so far as ,i know1 in the         
judgement of the artists whose revolt   
founded the ,society1 the aims of the   
movement now passing under its name4    
,what those aims are1 ,i will now1 from 
my own point of view1 endeavour to      
restate3 for of the subsequent          
exhibitions of the ,society1 nothing    
more need be said4 ,subsequent          
exhibitions1 whether in ,england1 on the
 ,continent1 or in the ,united ,states  
of ,america1 were1 and are1 but         
repetitions1 with variations only of    
detail1 of the first1 and need no       
description2 though against exhibitions 
themselves ,i may be allowed before ,i  
pass away from them to urge one         
objection1 an objection1 not indeed     
condemnatory of them1 but an objection  
which should1 ,i think1 be borne in mind
 in promoting them1 and be obviated as  
far as the circumstances of each        
exhibition will permit4 ,the objection  

which ,i would urge is this4  ,an       
exhibition1 as ,i have already insisted1
 is but a small part of the ,arts       
,crafts movement1 which is a movement in
 the main of ideas and not of objets    
d'art1  there is a danger in the        
constant repetition of exhibitions1     
civic1 national1 and international1 of  
public attention being diverted from the
 movement of ideas1  action thereupon1  
to the mere production and exhibition of
 exhibits4 ,moreover1 of exhibits1 very 
few things1 relatively to the whole of  
life's possessions and productions1 can 
be brought together usefully1 or at all1
 under one roof1 and of those which can 
very few can tell their own tale1       
apologize for their shortcomings1 or of 
themselves ask to be forgiven for the   
sake of their approximate merit4 ,it was
 to guard against the danger of this    
possible diversion of interest and      
forgetfulness of the movement's greater 
purposes1 and indirectly1 by suggestion 
of the ideal1 to illuminate the possible

 deficiencies of the exhibits1 as well  
as to draw attention to their merits1   
that the aid of lectures was made an    
essential part of at least the scheme of
 the ,society3 and lectures of the kind 
in question1 lectures1 that is to say1  
which shall deal at large with the      
meaning1 as well as the contents1 of an 
exhibition1 are1 in my opinion1 an      
essential adjunct of every exhibition4  
,with this objection stated1 ,i now     
proceed to wind up my observations and  
to come to a conclusion4 ,but before    
doing so ,i must ask your attention in  
one other matter in which ,i find it    
necessary to differ from ,mr4 ,morris4  
,but pray note that it is a matter of   
interpretation only in which here1 as   
elsewhere1 ,i presume to differ from    
that great spirit1 now passed away4     
,only in the matter of interpretation1  
for ,i do not--how could ,i8--call in   
question1 here or anywhere1 the         
greatness of the aims of ,william       
,morris himself4 ,i claim only 7#a7 that

 the movement which ,i am attempting to 
describe had a higher aim than in his   
own despite he assigned to it in the    
passage ,i have quoted3 7#b7 that       
machinery may be redeemed by            
imagination1 and made to enter even into
 his restored world1 adding to the      
potency of good1 and to its power over  
evil1 which itself1 in my view1 it is   
not3 and 7#c7 finally1  this is the last
 point of difference to which ,i shall  
have to call your attention1 that the   
age upon which mankind entered1 at the  
close of the fifteenth century1 was one 
of decay of an old world indeed1 but at 
the same time1 and this was its         
characteristic1 was an age in which a   
new and a greater world came to the     
birth1 as in this age it is coming to   
maturity1 and that it is with this new  
world1 and not with the old world1 that 
the movement  ourselves have now to do4 
,to resume1 and to revert to what ,i was
 about to say4  ,in that magnificent    
brief lecture on ,gothic ,architecture1 

which was first spoken as a lecture at  
the ,new ,gallery for the ,arts and     
,crafts ,exhibition ,society in the year
 #ahhi1 and afterwards printed by the   
,kelmscott ,press during and in the     
,arts and ,crafts ,exhibition in the    
,new ,gallery1 #ahic1 ,mr4 ,morris      
traced1 with lightning-like swiftness   
and clearness1 the progress of ,gothic  
,architecture from its first inception  
by the ,romans in the invention of the  
,arch to its consummation in the        
exquisitely poised and traceried        
buildings of the close of the fifteenth 
century4  ,at the end of the fifteenth  
century1 ,mr4 ,morris says1 'the great  
change' came1  ,mr4 ,morris means that  
we and ,architecture1 our principal     
structural expression1 entered upon a   
period of decay4 ,but ,i would          
rather--and here is my point of         
difference--,i would rather put it1 that
 the great change came in that the inner
 vision was substituted for the outer2  
or1 better still1 that one inner vision 

was substituted for another inner vision
 and that the outward expression of the 
latter was arrested4 ,its buildings had 
been built and the passion for them     
exhausted1 for the world which had      
inspired them had vanished1  another had
 been born or created in its place3     
partly another world of fact1 the newly 
discovered continent of ,america1 and   
the whole round world itself2 partly    
another world of ideas1 the ancient     
world and its literature1 ,greece and   
,rome4 ,at the end of the fifteenth     
century the printing press was at work1 
and ,europe left for a time the outer   
world1 the world of the senses and      
material building1 and entered into the 
inner world1 the world of imaginative   
reason1 of ideas--communicable          
henceforward1 for a time1 by the printed
 page only1 whereon only it could build 
up and contemplate the vision of its    
extended universe4  ,ever since that    
time this vision has been growing1      
taking on new matter for greater change 

still1 and now it is worldwide indeed1  
and the time has come to cast its       
inspirations into form1 to embody them  
in works of ,art4  ,what of the past is 
past is no matter of regret1 but        
somewhat of the past is imperishable    
because it is of all time3 such is the  
instinct to build4 ,the building of the 
past is built and is in decay4 ,the     
building of the future has yet to be    
built4 ,of what will it be8  ,the answer
 to this question will be the answer to 
the question3 ,what1 then1 is the       
movement which ,i am attempting to      
describe8  ,the building of the future  
will be the building of the industries  
thereof1 the building of its ways of    
looking at things determined by the     
vision which has taken the place of that
 old vision1 under the inspiration of   
which were built the buildings of the   
past4  ,and the first thing to build    
will be the vision itself1 the supreme  
vision--for 'where there is no vision   
the people perish4'  ,the important1 the

 essential thing in the ,architecture of
 the early and middle ages1 as of all   
ages1 is not the ,architecture itself1  
but the exaltation of sentiment and     
knowledge1 and skill of hand and brain1 
which produced it1 and the vision of    
life which was also the creation of the 
sentiment1 and in turn its inspiration4 
,the vision1 indeed1 here as elsewhere  
always1 is the important1 the essential 
thing4 ,what then is there in the life  
of to-day comparable in exaltation to   
the vision of that day1 what vision     
competent to produce to-day an          
,architecture of life and occupation1   
with resultant material and imaginative 
expression1 comparable to the           
,architecture of life and occupation and
 resultant material and imaginative     
expression1 which the vision of that day
 was competent to produce and did       
produce8  ,there is one set1 static     
universe1 or vision1 the ,norm of ,life1
 in which all force is at rest1 at rest 
in equilibrium1 in equilibrium of       

motion1 and there are in the many minds 
of men innumerable versions thereof1    
isolated1 unrelated or related1 sequent1
 one3 set in motion by passion1 crime1  
terror1 frenzy1 even of hate1 love1     
madness1 ambition1 or by the soft touch 
of the dreamer of dreams1 the musician1 
painter1 poet4 ,but be these visions    
what they may be1 they are but visions1 
which die again into the norm1 the      
static universe1 which is the tomb1 as  
it is the womb1 of all motion1 at once  
the birth-place and the cinerary urn of 
all change1 the all in all4 ,it is with 
this all of change and rest1 that the   
soul of man1 athwart all distraction1   
aspires to be at one1 at one for the    
fruit of its energy in creation1 at one 
for the control of its energy in rest1  
in rest interlocked1 repose absolute4   
,and if ,i were asked1 as ,i have asked1
 what that supreme vision1 that ,norm of
 ,life1 in plain words was1 ,i should   
say that it was the vision of the       
universe as revealed to-day in history  

science1 including in science all that  
is not man1 though revealed by man      
working to that end through the ages1   
and in history all that is man1 all his 
doings1 all his imaginings1 all his     
aspirations1 all whatsoever that is his1
 but all seen in the light of science1  
positively--the vision of the universe1 
framed in the infinite4 ,and ,i should  
say that man is at the top of his       
thought when in exalted1 ecstatic       
contemplation thereof1 and at the top of
 his doing when in action in accordance 
therewith1 be the action what it may be4
 ,and ,i should say that the supreme    
consciousness emergent from the supreme 
vision was the consciousness of         
,being--the wonder1 ,i ,,am--and of its 
inexplicable1 insuperable mystery4  ,the
 next thing to build will be the work of
 the world in the light of this supreme 
vision so seen and understood4  ,a time 
arrives in the development of the       
world's work when1 in addition to the   
perfect workmanship and beauty of the   

world's wares1 the embellishment of the 
world's work itself should become the   
object of ambition of those who carry   
the world's work on1 an embellishment   
which may take one of two forms1 but    
should take both3 the embellishment by  
material means and the embellishment by 
ideas4 ,in embellishment by material    
means the senses are satisfied and the  
imagination touched1 and we have noble  
roads and houses1 noble cities and      
harbours1 noble wharves and warehouses1 
noble modes and means of communication1 
and noble modes and means of            
creativeness1 and1 crowning and giving  
significance to all1 crowning and       
expressive ceremonial3 in embellishment 
by ideas we have the illimitation which 
is the characteristic of the            
imagination1 and enables us to see and  
to create wholes and relations which    
surpass the sweep of the senses1 and are
 visible to the eye of reason only2 it  
is thus that we have the vision1 and see
 all man's work in its entirety and as  

part of the universal process of        
creation4  ,thinking1 then1             
dispassionately of the world1 not for my
 country's sake or another's1 but for   
man's1 ,i am haunted by the vision of   
this its industrial life1 as the matter 
of man's art to-day4 ,and there come to 
me the murmur of the beat of far-off    
waves on an unknown shore1 the rustle   
and the struggle of winds through       
unknown forests and over wide spaces of 
inhabitable land3 ,i see the masts of   
shipping far asunder1 solitary1 on the  
wide seas1 or clustered into peopled    
harbours3 ,i see the busy hives of      
industry1 glittering like fanes of light
 by the river's side or bridging        
them--all part and parcel of the ocean1 
the land1 and the air1 obedient like    
them to the cadency of thought1 as day  
and night1 the seasons and the years1   
beat out their sequences and bear life  
onward into the future1 or leave it1    
silent1 in the irrecoverable past4      
,such a world1 such a wealth of animate 

forces1 such a vision1 the creation in  
part of the unknown force1 ,god1 in part
 of man1 who is ourselves1 such is the  
vision upon which1 pending the arrival  
of the shadow which is ,death1 we should
 fix the eyes of ,art1 permeating all1  
embracing all1 producing all1 even as   
would do1 were he us1 the supreme force1
 ,god4  ,as of the world of man's work1 
so of all the visions within the        
vision--build with the instincts of     
fitness and beauty1 build  await the    
,shadow3 to-day again1 for a time1 comes
 the light1 again and yet again4 ,in the
 infinitude of sequences the soul rests1
 and whilst it rests1 resting1 it       
disappears1 even as in life1 into sleep1
 into ,death4 ,build and await the      
,shadow4  ,such as ,i dream it is the   
,vision of ,life1 such the ,vision of   
man's world within it1 such the ,vision 
of ,art1 such1 or something like it1 the
 ,vision of the ,arts and ,crafts       
,movement1 its inception1 its history1  
and its aims4  ',and here ,i will make  

an end4 ,and if ,i have done well and as
 is fitting the story1 it is that which 
,i have desired3 but if slenderly and   
meanly it is yet that which ,i could    
attain unto4'  ,it may be1 indeed1 that 
,i have all the while been describing   
some other movement1  not that of the   
,arts and ,crafts at all2 some movement 
that has been taking place in my own    
mind1 as ,i have had the possibilities  
of man's being and doing brought home to
 my imagination 'in thoughts from the   
visions of the night1 when deep sleep   
falleth on men'3 for in the             
,introduction to the ,lectures on ',art 
,life1' to which reference has been made
 in support of the ,vision1 it is stated
 that the ,lectures are not to be taken1
 nor is any of them to be taken1 as the 
official expression of the aims of the  
,society6  ,but be the official         
expression of the aims of the ,society  
what it may be1 it is the ,,vision1 some
 ,,vision1 which imports your           
good1--which ,i urgently commend to your

 attention4 ,,where ,,there ,,is ,,no   
,,vision ,,the ,,people ,,perish4       
,printed at the ,chiswick ,press3       
,charles ,whittingham  ,co41 ,tooks     
,court1 ,chancery ,lane1 ,london4 ,and  
sold by the ,hammersmith ,publishing    
,society1 ,river ,house1 ,hammersmith4