UB Libraries Debut Digital Collection of Rare Macdonald Watercolors

by DENISE WOLFE

The University at Buffalo Libraries has made available a digital collection, Defence Of Guenevere, featuring 21 original watercolors by Frances E. and Margaret Macdonald. The works illustrate The Defence of Guenevere, a volume by 19th-century designer and writer William Morris.

As central figures in the Glasgow Style within the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain, the Macdonald sisters were recognized for their symbolic, dreamlike imagery. Their illustrations for Morris’ book, published by the Kelmscott Press in 1892, embody both his medieval-inspired poetry and their own distinctive artistic vision.

Part of the Libraries’ Rare Books Collection, the watercolors are now accessible online, providing scholars and the public with an opportunity to examine these rare interpretations of Morris’ work.