This early work by William Morris was originally published in 1899 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. William Morris was born in London, England in 1834. Arguably best known as a textile designer, he founded a design partnership which deeply influenced the decoration of churches and homes during the early 20th century. However, he is also considered an important Romantic writer and pioneer of the modern fantasy genre, being a direct influence on authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien. As well as fiction, Morris penned poetry and essays. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

The Story of the Glittering Plain (full title: The Story of the Glittering Plain which has been also called the Land of Living Men or the Acre of the Undying) is an 1891 fantasy novel by William Morris, perhaps the first modern fantasy writer to unite an imaginary world with the element of the supernatural, and thus the precursor of much of present-day fantasy literature.[2] It is also important for its exploration of the socialist themes that interested Morris. His earlier fantasies The House of the Wolfings and The Roots of the Mountains were to some degree historical novels. Like these The Story of the Glittering Plain is set in a world similar to the distant past of northern Europe. Morris would go on to develop the new genre established in this work in such later fantasies as Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair, The Wood Beyond the World, The Well at the World's End, and The Water of the Wondrous Isles

This beautiful volume makes one of history's most extraordinary achievements in book design and printing available in an inexpensive paperback edition. The Story of the Glittering Plain, a richly evocative medieval tale of knightly adventure written by the Victorian poet and artist William Morris, was the first publication of Morris' newly founded Kelmscott Press; its second (1894) edition, reprinted here, was one of the most influential Kelmscott books. The sumptuous look and feel of the book, its exemplary presswork and fine paper, and scrupulous attention to every detail combined to create a sensation among printers and collectors. The Story of the Glittering Plain was one of a small group of Morris' masterpieces that were to revolutionize the art of printing and transform it from a routine trade into high art. In addition to the elegant typography, which Morris based on fonts by great fifteenth-century German printers, the book features rich ornaments and initials designed by Morris as well as 23 superb woodcuts by noted artist Walter Crane. The result is a chivalrous tale that is both an aesthetic and a heroic adventure.