If I Could But See It: A Graphic Biography of William Morris

‘An evocative, beautifully drawn biography of William Morris, a man who dared to imagine a future that could be created together rather than imposed by a few. Big ideas, the meaning of art, colourful historical characters — it’s all here’ Joe Sacco, author of Footnotes in Gaza

‘An engaging, riotous rampage through the life of this inspiring artist, crafter and thinker’ Kate Evans, author of Red Rosa

‘Thorkelson’s wonderful lushness of word, picture, colour and design grabs you by the lapels and drops you into 1800s London, wet cobblestones and all, where you hang with one of the most gifted designers in history’ Stan Mack, creator of Stan Mack’s Real Life Funnies

‘These lively pages trace the strands of politics and poetry, practical and visionary, back to their roots in social and economic justice. A web of dreams is rendered with wit and charm by the deft pen of Nick Thorkelson’ Sabrina Jones, comic book artist, writer, editor

‘With his lively drawings, Nick Thorkelson has succeeded in reviving the life and times of William Morris for the contemporary reader’ Ben Katchor, creator of Julius Knipl: Real Estate Photographer

This is the graphic biography of William Morris (1834–1896), the celebrated designer, driven polymath and radical socialist.

Acclaimed cartoonist Nick Thorkelson moves through the events of Morris’s life weaving a rich tapestry of the major artistic, social and political questions which animated him.

He explores Morris’s politics and art, and how his hatred of class tyranny and love of humanity shaped his poetry, design and relationships.

The book brings to life the tension of Morris’s efforts to democratise art while creating pieces for the wealthy, his critique of Britain’s Empire, and his central place in socialist culture and propaganda.

Thorkelson’s striking and idiosyncratic drawings chime with the Arts and Crafts movement’s emphasis on the humanising power of the handmade.

The book also features fourteen pages of immersive and dazzling illustrations by Sharon Rudahl, pioneer of women’s comics, honouring the literary work for which William Morris was best known during his lifetime.

Nick Thorkelson is a cartoonist living in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He is the author and illustrator of Herbert Marcuse: Philosopher of Utopia (2019). He was an editorial cartoonist at The Boston Globe and has created comics and illustrations in support of organisations working on economic justice, peace, public health and industrial safety. He is the co-author and/or illustrator of The Earth Belongs to the People, The Underhanded History of the USA, The Legal Rights of Union Stewards, The Comic Strip of Neoliberalism and Economic Meltdown Funnies, and has contributed to a number of nonfiction comics anthologies. Nick also moonlights as a musician, animator, graphic designer and painter.

Nick Thorkelson is a cartoonist living in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He is the author and illustrator of Herbert Marcuse: Philosopher of Utopia (2019). He was an editorial cartoonist at The Boston Globe and has created comics and illustrations in support of organizations working on economic justice, peace, public health, and industrial safety. He is the co-author and/or illustrator of The Earth Belongs to the People, The Underhanded History of the USA, The Legal Rights of Union Stewards, The Comic Strip of Neoliberalism, and Economic Meltdown Funnies, and has contributed to a number of nonfiction comics anthologies. Nick also moonlights as a musician, animator, graphic designer, and painter.

Paul Buhle is the author or editor of more than three-dozen books. Formerly a Senior Lecturer at Brown University, he produces radical comics today, and is the authorised biographer of C.L.R. James. He founded the SDS Journal Radical America and the archive Oral History of the American Left and, with Mari Jo Buhle, is coeditor of the Encyclopedia of the American Left.