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I didn't see the film, The Time Traveller's Wife, nor did I particularly want to. Audrey Niffenegger's 2003 novel is he kind of book which would only be ruined in by cinematic treatment. Leave it in my memory as a wonderful read, unsullied by a director's interpretation, actors' voices, and the simplification and manipulation which must come in an adaptation. Sorry . . . this is a William Morris blog, not an outlet for film critics. What's worth mentioning here is the Morris connection. It's small, but noteworthy. It consists of one bit of dialogue. Clare, the wife of the title, becomes reacquainted with Henry, the time traveller (they had met and fallen in love before) when she comes to the Newberry Librarary on a research trip. Claire, asks Henry, who is a rare book librarian, "Hi, I'm looking for a book on papermaking at the Kelmscott Press. . . ?" This line is not in the novel—in which Claire simply states: I'm writing a paper for an a

It is almost inconceivable that one institution could have as many as 2,300 works by the Pre-Raphaelites and their associates, and perhaps even more unbelievable that all of them could be digitized and made available online. Yet it's true. All of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery's massive collection—paintings and drawings major, minor, iconic, and forgotten—is now on the Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource . I can't say too many good things about this remarkable "resource." The images are superb (produced with Microsoft's Silverlight technology which captures minute detail, even when zoomed in at almost microscopic levels). Access is by a first-rate search mechanism simultaneously providing ease-of-use and an elaborate filtering mechanism, enabling both casual viewing and research by specialists. A search for Rossetti returns 385 items, for Morris over 600, and for Burne-Jones an astonishing 1,035. There are detailed notes and thematic introductions which use

Save the Date! Useful and Beautiful: The Transatlantic Arts of William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites 7–9 October 2010 Newark and Wilmington, DE A conference and related exhibitions, 7-9 October 2010, at the University of Delaware (Newark, DE) and at the Delaware Art Museum and the Winterthur Museum and Country Estate (Wilmington, DE). Organized with the assistance of the William Morris Society, Useful and Beautiful will highlight the strengths of the University of Delaware’s rare books, manuscripts, and art collections; Winterthur’s important holdings in American decorative arts; and the Delaware Art Museum’s superlative Pre-Raphaelite collection (the largest outside Britain). This conference will focus on the multitude of transatlantic exchanges that involved Morris, the Pre-Raphaelites, and the arts and crafts and aesthetic movements of the late nineteenh century. We will invite papers that explore relationships and influences—whether personal, intellectual, political, or aesthetic—

To mark the 175th anniversary of William Morris, the William Morris Society is holding William Morris 175 Anniversary Celebrations on the weekend of 4–6 September at Kelmscott House in London. Combining elements of a scholarly conference, a museum visit, a music and drama festival, an arts workshop, and a social gathering, this one-of-a-kind event is open to members of the William Morris Society and the general public. British Labour politician Tony Benn (better known as Anthony Wedgwood Benn), the guest of honour, will speak on "The Legacy of William Morris." The opening night features a very exciting theatrical event, a special performance of the new play Alexandra Kollontai in London by Penelope Dimond. First performed on 8 March at the Torriano Meeting House to celebrate International Women’s Day, the play concerns Alexandra Kollontai, was a leading figure in revolutionary Russia and the only woman in Lenin’s government. Dimond’s was inspired by Kollontai’s visits to Lo