Though himself an architect first & later a painter, he found fame as a designer of fabrics, wallpapers, murals, stained glass windows & furniture. He was also a writer & social reformer. With the Kelmscott Press, he aimed to recreate the quality of printing achieved by the early hand presses of the 15th & 16th centuries. The Kelmscott Chaucer—an edition of all of Chaucer’s works illustrated by Morris’ friend Edward Burne-Jones—was the Press’s finest production.

More than thirty people meet by chance at an inn in London. In the morning they will set off on a pilgrimage to visit the shrine of Thomas a´ Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. The inn-keeper (the Host) suggests that they hold a story-telling competition, with the winner receiving a free dinner at the inn after the return journey. And so the scene is set for The Canterbury tales, the earliest and most famous collection of tales in English.