The Vale Press : Charles Ricketts, a publisher in earnest

"The Vale Press" is the story of typographer, publisher and wood engraver Charles Ricketts (1866-1931) and his famous press. Ricketts was a versatile and innovative practitioner of the printing arts who exerted a powerful influence on the development of the modern book design. "The Vale Press" is the most comprehnsive history of this early private press.Beginning with his work as "a designer of books and bindings" for Oscar Wilde, the story of the Vale Press reveals for the first time the nature of Ricketts's collaboration with the master printer Charles McCall of the Ballantyne Press, and the degree to which his success, both artistic and commercial, depended upon the transformation of his redundant skill as a wood engraver into a positive medium of artistic expression. This work lists a complete bibliography of the Vale Press' books and ephemera and is illustrated in color and b/w. Co-published with The British Library.… (more)