The Tale of King Coustans the Emperor Of Byance, written and bound by William Morris in 1894 at the Kelmscott Press near London and rebound in Ulwar, India, circa just after the book was printed at Kelmscott.
The book is in an exquisite Persian-style binding that comes from Ulwar, India. The book binder was Qari Abdurrahman’s Sons, from the state of Ulwar, where some of the best binding was done in India in the late 1800’s. The covers are beautifully decorated in gold leaf with geometric patterns in blue and burgundy on front and back, and with the wonderful William Morris illuminated manuscript style inside.
The Kelmscott Press printed 525 copies of “The Tale of King Coustans the Emperor” on hand-made paper, and an additional 20 on vellum, and the Persian binding just adds to the magnificence of this book and tale. We’ve never seen any other copies in this Persian-style binding, and the covers are probably a unique binding, created only for one client.
This book is part of a series of medieval French stories produced and translated by William Morris in the 1890’s. It tells the story of the Emperor of Byzantium, who heard a prophecy that a child would marry his daughter and succeed him as emperor. Angered by the prophecy, the Emperor ordered the child in question to be killed and buried in the woods. The knight tasked with murdering the child decided not to bury the child’s body, instead he would leave it at a monastery. The child was found here by the abbot, who healed his wounds and baptized him Coustans.
Coustans grows up at the monastery, and when the Emperor hears that Coustans is still alive, summons him to court. The Emperor employs Coustans to deliver a sealed letter to the commander of Byzantium; the letter tells the commander to kill the bearer of the letter. Upon arriving at the city, Coustans wanders into a garden and falls asleep. He is found by the Emperor’s daughter, who switches the letter to one asking the commander to arrange a marriage between Coustans and her, which he does at once. Coustans then fulfills the prophecy and succeeds the Emperor upon his death, converting the city to Christianity and renaming it Constantinople.
In its way, this romantic folk tale is actually about how Byzantium - Byance - became the famed city of Constantinople.
William Morris (1834 - 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, and writer associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement, and a major influence on the revival of traditional textile arts in Britain. He designed and illuminated books by hand and was recognized as one of the most important cultural figures of the Victorian Era, and posthumously became famous for his textile and book designs.
He collaborated with Emery Walker to found the Kelmscott Press in 1891, and the press only operated for eight years. It got its name from Kelmscott Manor, Morris's home in Oxfordshire, and the rarity of books published by Morris and the Kelmscott Press cannot be overstated. It only published fifty-three books between 1891 and 1898; each book was designed and ornamented by Morris and printed by hand in limited editions, and usually illustrated by Edward Burne-Jones. Kelmscott books sought to replicate the style of fifteenth-century printing and were part of the Gothic revival movement. The Press closed shortly after Morris's death.
The book is 130 pages long and measures 5 7/8 x 4 3/8 in. wide, a first edition printed in a limited run, in an exquisite one-of-a kind binding.
See Persian And Indian Bookbinding by Thomas Holbein Hendley, Surgeon Lieut-Col., in the Journal of Indian Art, 1886 - 1916, London, Issues 38 - 45, pages 77 -106.