Doves Press

Shake-speares sonnets, 1909

The Doves edition of Shakespeare’s Sonnets depicts the Press’s simplicity in both their type and design. Notably, Eric Gill worked as an engraver on the three capital designs used in this edition. This page is opened to one of those designs.

Trials for Dante's Inferno, undated

These trial settings for an edition of Dante’s Infernoare the only evidence that T.J. Cobden Sanderson thought about printing an edition of Dante’s work. Similar to the Doves Press English Bible, these setting show their trademark simplicity punctuated by the colorful initial design.

Specimen page for the English Bible, [1901-1903]

T.J. Cobden-Sanderson, a binder for the Kelmscott Press and a founder of the Doves Press, believed in an unadorned perfection, distinct from the heavily ornamented designs of the Kelmscott Press editions. This philosophy of simplicity can be seen in these specimen pages, the clean lines and simple margins, yet, are still reminiscent of the initial designs and colors from the medieval period.