 Although retaining a main home in London , from 1871 Morris rented the rural retreat of Kelmscott Manor , Oxfordshire . Greatly influenced by visits to Iceland , with Eiríkr Magnússon he produced a series of English @-@ language translations of Icelandic Sagas . He also achieved success with the publication of his epic poems and novels , namely The Earthly Paradise ( 1868 – 1870 ) , A Dream of John Ball ( 1888 ) , the utopian News from Nowhere ( 1890 ) , and the fantasy romance The Well at the World 's End ( 1896 ) . In 1877 he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings to campaign against the damage caused by architectural restoration . Embracing Marxism and influenced by anarchism , in the 1880s Morris became a committed revolutionary socialist activist ; after an involvement in the Social Democratic Federation ( SDF ) , he founded the Socialist League in 1884 , but broke with that organization in 1890 . In 1891 he founded the Kelmscott Press to publish limited @-@ edition , illuminated @-@ style print books , a cause to which he devoted his final years . 
