Author: Dan Williford

Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson. [Tennyson Lyric Poems (cover title)] [Vale Press]. TENNYSON, Alfred, Lord

Published by Printed at the Ballantyne Press for Hacon & Ricketts [Vale Press], London, 1900

London, Printed at the Ballantyne Press for Hacon & Ricketts [Vale Press], 1900. Octavo, cxvi, [ii] (limitation and colophon) pages with wood-engraved border and initials. White buckram lettered in gilt on the spine, all edges uncut; covers foxed, with the spine a little sunned; endpapers and early (blank) leaves tanned, with some light foxing elsewhere; overall, a very good copy. One of only 320 copies of this elegant publication from the Vale Press, issued in conjunction with a matching companion volume, ‘In Memoriam’. The colophon states: ‘Seen through the press by C.J. Holmes and decorated with border designed by C.S. Ricketts and engraved by C.E. Keates; printed at the Ballantyne Press.’ In his ‘Bibliography of the Books issued by Hacon & Ricketts’, Ricketts elaborates: ‘With border of willow . Three hundred and twenty copies printed. Price two guineas. Ten copies on vellum’. Seller Inventory # 123849

[Vale Press] THE LIFE OF BENVENUTO CELLINI (2 Volumes, Complete) by [Private Press] Cellini, Benvenuto | translated by John Addington Symonds; decorations by Charles Ricketts – 1900

by [Private Press] Cellini, Benvenuto | translated by John Addington Symonds; decorations by Charles Ricketts

London: Vale Press | Hacon and Ricketts, 1900. Hard Cover. Good+ binding. Imperial octavo. clxxxvii, [1 (blank)]; clxxxviii, [2 (colophon)] pp. Limited edition, one of 300 copies on paper. Printed in black in the Vale font with two foliated borders around the opening page of each book. As issued, in holland cloth-backed boards with printed paper title labels on the spines and front boards; Volume II and much of Volume I are unopened. Bindings are soiled and the cloth at the spine is fraying at the ends, more so at the head and tail of Volume I; corners are worn; spine labels are a bit chipped, but largely complete; bindings remain solid; scattered foxing along the bottom third of some leaves; bookplate of Oregon businessman and State Senator, Henry Ladd Corbett on both pastedowns. By and large, solid, clean copies of a beautifully printed edition. Ricketts was especially excited about being able to print the Symonds’s translation of this work; he felt like Cellini’s life should be “read every two years.” At the time of its printing it was the largest book issued from the Vale Press. This is a wonderful edition. Watry B30.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam translated by Edward Fitzgerald, 1901
one of 310 copies printed on handmade paper
Ransom #32

[Vale Press]. APULEIUS, Lucius De Cupidinis et Psyches Amoribus Fabula Anilis [London, Printed at the Ballantyne Press for Hacon & Ricketts, London, and John Lane, New York] [Vale Press], 1901.

Imperial octavo, xxx, 1 pages, printed in Vale type on handmade watermarked paper (two wreaths about an engraving tool), with a foliate border and a large woodcut initial to one page, and with 5 woodcut illustrations designed and engraved by Charles Ricketts.

Quarter linen and blue papered boards, with a paper title-label on the front cover; edges uncut and partially unopened; covers lightly tanned and foxed, with minimal wear to the corners; endpapers and adjacent blanks browned; some faint foxing to the edges; one gathering (b) a little browned; an excellent copy overall.

One of only 310 copies. The Latin text of this famous tale of Cupid and Psyche from the ‘Metamorphoses’ of Apuleius (often known as ‘The Golden Ass’) was edited by C.J. Holmes.

Ricketts: ‘A Bibliography of the Books issued by Hacon & Ricketts’ (1904), page xxviii.

Item #130009

Price (AUD): $1,500.00

The Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley. 3 Volumes
[Vale Press] Shelley, Percy Bysshe
Published by Vale Press, London, 1902

Ricketts, Charles. Hardcover. One of 310 copies, of which 187 copies were for sale in England and 100 in America. A beautiful representative production from the important Vale Press of Charles Ricketts. Volumes I and II were published in 1901, followed by Volume III in 1902. Bound in the original beige cloth boards with gilt titles to spines. Browning and discoloration to spines, minor fraying to head of spines, and minor foxing and soiling to covers. Printed on laid paper with elaborate title pages and decorative initials, all of which were designed by Ricketts. Most pages remain unopened. Very light browning to endpapers and page edges; otherwise, the interiors remain very clean and bright. Very good condition. Measures 5.75 x 9 inches. Each volume has approximately 200 pages. [Watry, The Vale Press p.163-164] PRI/112122. Seller Inventory # 36125

A Catalogue of Mr. Shannon’s Lithographs, with Prefatory Note by Charles Ricketts, and a Portrait engraved by Charles Ricketts after a Medal by Alphonse Legros.
SHANNON, CHARLES. RICKETTS, CHARLES.
Published by E J Wisselingh at the Dutch Gallery., London, 1902

8vo. pp. 31 (1). Portrait engraving by Ricketts. Bound by Zaehnsdorf in full brown morocco with gilt linear tooling to covers and gilt title on spine, inner dentelles with foliate gilt tooling and silk endpapers. Spine slightly rubbed, else a fine copy. One of 200 copies.’Printed in The Vale & Avon fonts under the supervision of C. Ricketts at the Ballantyne Press’. Seller Inventory # 019395

Poems from Wordsworth WORDSWORTH, WILLIAM / MOORE, T. STURGE (ED) Published by Printed at the Ballantyne Press and Sold by Hacon & Ricketts, The Vale Press, London and John Lane, New York, 1902

– First Vale Press edition, first impression, one of 310 copies – Illustrated by woodcuts designed and engraved by T. Sturge Moore a\nd printed under the supervision of Charles Rickets – Bound in cream buckram w/ gilt titles to spine – Covers rubbed w/ some light marks – Edges of text block and endpapers lightly toned – Previous owner’s bookplate to font pastedown endpaper – Book ow/ solid, clean and bright – 183 pages. Seller Inventory # 633086

Ecclesiastes; Or, The Preacher, And The Song of Solomon
Ricketts, Charles (Illustrator)
Published by Vale Press, London, 1902

17 pages. 29.5 x 20 cm. Printed at the Ballantyne Press for Hacon & Ricketts in red and black under the supervision of Charles Ricketts in the King’s fount. Roderick Cave in “The Private Press,” notes, his (Ricketts) practice of thinking each work out afresh was a valuable lesson for latter book designers, and most notable perhaps in Meynell’s work at the Nonesuch Press. Limited edition, one of 300. Slight nick to corners, endpapers toned. Orig. holland backed boards, uncut, paper label upper front cover. Very good. Seller Inventory # 20227

Lady Guff-Gordon (1821-1869) [translation] [Vale Press, Charles Ricketts] The Amber Witch, The most interesting trial for witchcraft ever known. …..

London: Vale Press at the Ballantyne Press, 1903. Designs by Charles Ricketts. Limited Edition. London: Ballantyne Press, [Feb] 1903
Limited to 300 copies [with 10 on Vellum]
Typography: Vale type with the Avon fount used for the author’s marginalia on heavy paper, watermarked with engraving tool and wreaths
Ornaments: Full-page “honeysuckle” border, designed by Ricketts and engraved by Keates.

Holland-backed blue boards are original with hand soiling and wear on the corners and edges. Spine has been replaced with linen cloth matching as issued. Labels are original. 4to; 8.125 by 11.875 inches; pp. i-iv v-viii ix x-clvi clvii-clx. The bindings are tight and square. Text clean, light even toning. Front free endpage with offsetting from bookplates of notable book collectors Robert Honeyman IV and Lawrence M. Lande.

Good / No Dust Jacket Issued. Item #15420

This quasi-historical tale of witchcraft purported to be a true chronicle set down by William Meinhold. Oscar Wilde praised Lady Duff Gordon’s translation, first published in German in 1843.

The Amber Witch was for some time held to be a genuine account of, and contemporary sidelight on, the conditions of the peasantry during the Thirty Years’ War, and the attendant obsession with witchcraft and witch-hunting that permeated that era. [Watry]

Full Title: The Amber Witch, The most interesting trial for witchcraft ever known. Printed from an imperfect manuscript by her father, Abraham Schweidler. Edited by William Meinhold, Doctor of Theology. Translated from the German by Lady Duff Gordon

The Parables from the Gospels. Vale Press: Bible Ten wood-engravings by Charles Ricketts initialled by him in the wood. Published by Printed at The Ballantyne Press for The Vale Press, London, 1903

First edition, (March) 1903. 300 copies printed, 177 copies for sale and ten copies on vellum. This copy is one of those printed on handmade paper. Copies not numbered. Small 4to. [i – ii], iii – v, [vi], vii – lxxv, [lxxvi]pp plus the ten inserted leaves of illustrations. Original vellum binding with gilt stamped title to spine. Loosely inserted Special Notice (May 1903) relating to the winding up of The Vale Press and the announcement of “A Bibliography” to be printed and issued by Mr Ricketts (Notice printed in red). Book in very good condition. Upper cover has a stain but vellum otherwise quiet clean and bright. A little light marginal toning to a few leaves. Previous owner’s signature (E. P. Williams) to front paste down. Only three of the loosely inserted tissue guards for the illustrations present. Watry. “The Vale Press”, 2004, Delaware, Oak Knoll Press. pp 170 – 172 and 207 (re the Special Notice). Seller Inventory # 1308028