740. The Vale Press through the Eyes of Alfred W. Pollard

The bibliographer Alfred William Pollard (1859-1944) criticised the work of the Vale Press on several occasions between 1899 and 1912. Since 1883 he had been an assistant in the department of printed books at the British Museum (he would be promoted to assistant keeper in 1909, and keeper in 1919).

Frank Brooks, 'Portrait of Alfred William Pollard'
[© British Library]

In December 1899, he mentioned Ricketts's A Defence of the Revival of Printing (published June 1899) in The Library, the magazine of the Bibliographical Society:

The revival of printing is hardly in need of a defender, and Mr. Ricketts' "defence" is indeed chiefly directed against certain criticisms on his own share in it. Incidentally, however, he makes some excellent observations on the lines on which all sound printing and type-cutting must proceed, and his pamphlet is one of the pleasantest of the "Vale" books.

('Notes on Books and Work: Bibliography, Literary History, and Collecting', The Library, 1 December 1899, p. 111).

He had apparently received the book soon after its publication, because in July he gave it to the bibliographer Robert G.C. Proctor (1868-1903) to read. Proctor had become an assistant to the same department at the British Museum in 1893. He was an expert on incunabula. In his diary, Proctor wrote (without enthusiasm):

Got Ricketts on printing from Pollard – badly written, & not well printed – he breaks his own rules.
(diary entry for 31 July 1899).
[For Proctor, see also blog 220].

Three years later, Pollard wrote about 'Recent English Experiments in Artistic Printing' for an American magazine, The Literary Collector (March, 1902):

[The Vale Press books] have many excellencies, but they cannot stand the test of comparison with those of Morris. Their highest success seems to me to lie in some of their borders, which are quite original and have a lighter and gayer touch well in keeping with the lyrics they surround. [...] It could not help working on the same lines [as The Kelmscott Press], and yet it strove to be different; and in the effort to be different fell back at times on mere eccentricity, as in the ugly intermixture of large and small letters in one or two of its colophons, and the staring form adopted for &. Nevertheless the fount is a fine one, and with tolerable initials and the occasional excellence of its borders the books are pleasant possessions.

Five months later, he welcomed the new edition of the works of Thomas Browne:

The only new publication of any interest which I have to record is a really fine edition of the chief works of Sir Thomas Browne, in the Vale Press series, uniform with the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini. Of all the amateur of semi-amateur experiments in printing now being made those of the Vale Press seem to me the most worthy of encouragement from the literary point of view, for its managers show both enterprise and originaly in the books they select to print, and appeal not merely to collectors , or the rather speculative individuals who will buy any book from a private press if the issue is small enough, but to such lovers of literature as care to have their book well printed at a reasonable price. Good printing is an admirable thing, and specimens of good printing are well worth buying for their own sake. But one does not want to multiply them indefinitely, while there is hardly any limit to the number of good books which it would be a pleasure to welcome if the charm of good printing were added to them. The distinction is an important one and the Vale Press seems more alive to it than most of its rivals.

(Alfred W. Pollard, 'Recent English Experiments in Artistic Printing', The Literary Collector (August, 1902), p. 125-126.

The King's Fount in The Kingis Quair (vale Press, 1903)

In 1912, Pollard published Fine Books (Methuen & Co.) in which he criticised the Vale Type and King's Fount:

Foremost among these [the followers of Morris] must be placed Mr. Charles Ricketts, whose Vale type, despite a few blemishes, is not very far behind the Golden type of the Kelmscott Press, and whose ornament at its best is graceful, and that with a ligher and gayer grace than Morris's, though it cannot compare with his for dignity or richness of effect. In a later type, called the Kinge's Fount from its use in an edition of The Kingis Quair (1903), Mr. Ricketts’s good genius deserted him, for the mixture of majuscule and minuscule forms is most unpleasing.

(Fine Books, p. 307-308).

Pollard wavered somewhat in his opinion of The Vale Press, showing more appreciation for the borders and choice of text than for the typefaces and typesetting.

739. Ricketts at the Amsterdam International Antiquarian Book & Map Fair

Last weekend saw the International Antiquarian Book & Map Fair in Amsterdam (which, for personal reasons, I could not attend). Considering the online catalogues of some exhibitors, it must have been a delight to explore the range on offer. 

There were at least two Vale Press books on offer. 

Iris van Daalen (Antiquarian Bookshop Acanthus, Utrecht) showed a copy of William Blake's The Book of Thel. Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience (1897) in an 'Exhibition' binding by Zaehnsdorf. Her description ran: 'Full brown crushed morocco, front cover elaborately decorated in gilt a design of swirling branches with leaves and dots. The spine with raised bands and gilt decorated in four compartments with the same leaves and dots, which also come back at the turn-ins. Signed by Zaehnsdorf on front turn-in and with their gilt oval exhibition stamp showing a binder using a backing hammer on rear pastedown. Top edge gilt. With a small dedication in ink on the first blank leaf, dated "Dec. 1899" and a small "R" in ink on the last blank leaf.'

The Book of Thel. Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience (1897)
Binding by Zaehnsdorf (from a snapshot)

The other Vale Press book was shown by Sophie Schneideman Rare Books (London). A copy of Mathew Arnold's Empedocles on Etna (1896). This was the copy owned previously by the Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, Campbell Dodgson - Ricketts, Shannon and Dodgson knew each other quite well. In 1905, for example, Ricketts and Dodgson both became members of the Executive Committee of the recently founded Vasari Society.

Bookplate of Campbell Dodgson
in Mathew Arnold, Empedocles on Etna (1896)

Sophie Schneideman also brought a vellum copy of Lord de Tabley's Poems Dramatic and Lyrical with the enigmatic cover designed by Ricketts.

These books may or may not have been sold by now.

738. The Collected Letters of Charles Ricketts in Proof

Every publication reaches an exciting moment when the first proofs arrive. The publication date draws nearer, the book slowly takes shape, and so it is with The Collected Letters of Charles Ricketts, for which editors John Aplin and I received the proofs last week. For the first time, we saw the extensive project virtually in print: 2147 letters in three volumes with a total of 2267 pages. The letters are addressed to more than 180 recipients.

Correcting the proof is obviously a time-consuming task. Here is a preview of one of the indices of the work to be published by Brill (Leiden, Boston).

Proof for The Collected Letters of Charles Ricketts

737. Robert Ross as Author

This year, The Rivendale Press published another volume in the Questing Collector Series, the tenth volume to date: Robert Ross as Author by Michael Seeney, consisting of an introduction, a checklist and three appendices.

Michael Seeney, Robert Ross as Author
(The Rivendale Press, 2025)

Many aspects of his life have been covered in the three biographies published to date: Robert Ross, Friend of Friends by Margery Ross (1952), Wilde's Devoted Friend: a Life of Robert Ross 1869-1918 by Maureen Borland (1990), and Robbie Ross. Oscar Wilde's True Love by Jonathan Fryer (2000). They portray him as a friend and lover, and it is abundantly clear that Ross, as Wilde's friend, played a decisive role in his life, but as a result, he remains underexposed as an n independent personality. One of the ephemeral aspects of his life is an incessant stream of publications, so many of which were published anonymously that they remained invisible for a long time and could not be attributed to him.

The checklist records no fewer than 420 publications, 42 of which appeared between 1892 and 1905. Most articles were published between 1905 and 1918 (the year of his death). On average, he published around thirty articles per year. More than half of these were published in The Morning Post between 1908 and 1914.

The introduction covers his various publication channels, starting with The Gadfly and The Granta, and follows Ross's career as an author chronologically from The Saturday Review and The Academy to The Morning Post, The Bystander and The Burlington Magazine. Ross published reviews, satire and articles in other periodicals as well, such as Cornhill Magazine, The Times and La Revue politique et littéraire. 

While the introduction is arranged chronologically, the bibliography is not. It is based on the classification used in literary bibliographies, such as Donald Gallup's bibliography of the work of T.S. Eliot: first the publications in book form, followed by contributions to books, and then articles in periodicals. These are arranged alphabetically by journal title, except at the end, where there is a section for miscellaneous items: 'Contributions to other periodicals'. 

This does not really do justice to the journalist and critic Ross; he is treated as an author of books, which he was not. He was primarily a kind of columnist who could afford to take enormous liberties in his articles. A chronological list (with a good index) would be more obvious for making the work easy to navigate.

As a reader of bibliographies, I would also have liked to see each entry accompanied by a brief summary of the subject and Ross's opinion – now there are only very brief additions such as 'review' or 'story'. Of course, that would have doubled the size, but that space would have been made available by omitting the three examples of his writing (the three appendices): perhaps it is time for a more extensive selection of his pieces in a separate publication?

Nevertheless, this is an indispensable book for anyone who has at least one of the biographical studies on their bookshelf, and I hope that it will find its way into university libraries. Despite the current state of digitisation of periodicals, compiling such an overview is still a hellish task.

Michael Seeney, Robert Ross as Author 

Published by The Rivendale Press
Paperback with marbled paper wrappers: 40 numbered copies only
14.8 x 21.0 cm., 68 pp., 3 black and white illustrations.
ISBN 978 1 904201 458
£20.00 / $25.00

Contact: Steven Halliwell at The Rivendale Press.

736. In an Orchard. (The Sequel)

Last week's blog about two studies for Charles Shannon's decorative painting consisting of three panels elicited a response from Michael Seeney, Oscar Wilde scholar and collector, drawing my attention to yet another study for 'Autumn'. He kindly offered to share an image of this study from his collection.

Charles Shannon, study for 'Autumn'
[Collection of Michael Seeney]

The drawing is initialled CS on the right below the drawing and titled by Shannon in the bottom left corner.

A woman sits with her knees slightly raised, leaning against a tree or wall (which is not drawn). This could have been one of the drawings sold at auction in 1939. With each drawing we get a little closer to the (unillustrated) original painting.

735. In an Orchard

Charles Shannon explored a limited number of subjects for his paintings, as he did for his lithographs. Street scenes were not among them, nor were seascapes. Many of his scenes are set in the bathroom, on the beach, or in an orchard. Not all of his works have survived and there are studies that can not be connected to any finished painting.

An orchard drawing can be found in the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. It is not a study for 'The Apple Gatherers' (1900, Ashmolean Museum), 'The Romantic Landscape' (1904) or 'The Vintage' (1910), and is said to be a study for 'Autumn'.

Another study for 'Autumn' was sold at auction in November 2004 (Christie's, London). Actually, the leaf contained two drawings, a study for 'Autumn' (recto) and a study of a reclining figure (verso). The former was signed with initials and titled 'Autumn', pencil and brown wash, 39.5 x 21.5 cm.

Charles Shannon, study for 'Autumn'
[Christie's, London, 2004]

The catalogue description included the following:

This drawing is a study for Autumn (private collection), a large decorative painting consisting of three panels, each measuring 4 by 6 feet, that Shannon executed about 1911. The study relates to the third panel, a scene of harvesting, but in the painting the foremost girl has been changed to a young man holding a sickle.

Between this sketch and the final decorative panel, many other sketches will have followed, especially with such a major change. One of the drawings that is closer to the final stage is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

Charles Shannon, study for 'Autumn' (1913)
[Rijksmuseum Amsterdam: RP-T-1950-260]

However, the Rijksmuseum catalogue describes the drawings as being a sketch for 'the left panel of that name'. Confusing! I have never seen an image of these panels. 

This drawing in red, black and white chalk, 43.0 x 27.8 cm, is dated 1913. It depicts a woman embracing a man leaning against a tree with a sickle; behind them is a ladder and in the foreground a seated child. The title 'Autumn' is on the verso.

'Five Studies for "Autumn"', in pencil, pen sanguine and chalks, were sold after Shannon had died. See the Catalogue of Fine Paintings by Old Masters and Modern Drawings (London, Sotheby’s, 14 June 1939, p. 4, no. 13). These were sold for £5 5s to Gerald Reitlinger (1900-1978).

The Rijksmuseum acquired the drawing in 1950.

734. Shakespeare in New York and Beyond (2)

Last week, I wrote about John Lane's advertisement in The International Studio. Of course, that magazine was not his only publicity channel. Steven Halliwell sent me scans of two other publications in which The Vale Shakespeare is mentioned.

John Lane's Bodley Head Bulletin, February 1900
[scan by Steven Halliwell]

John Lane's Bodley Head Bulletin for February 1900 is an eight-page leaflet (26 x 19,5 cm), published in New York. It contains two paragraphs on 'The Vale Press' and 'A New Edition of Shakespeare'. They urge readers to subscribe to the 36-volume set as soon as possible. The brochure then goes on to discuss a Bodley Head publication containing poems by Stephen Phillips, who was a popular poet and playwright at the time.

John Lane's Bodley Head Bulletin, February 1900
[scan by Steven Halliwell]

Another relevant leaflet was dated 15 March 1900, also published in New York: Spring Announcements. This four-page list (24 x 15 cm) briefly mentions The Vale Shakespeare.

John Lane's Spring Announcements, 15 March 1900
[scan provided by Steven Halliwell]

The list serves as an order form. 

These two publications were not typeset in Vale type and printed in London by the Ballantyne Press, but were produced in New York. There will have been other publications in which John Lane attempted to promote sales of The Vale Shakespeare.

[Thanks are due to Steven Halliwell for drawing attention to these leaflets and kindly providing scans.]

733. Shakespeare in New York and Beyond

One hundred copies of the Vale Press edition of the Plays of Shakespeare were set aside for the American market. They were sold by John Lane from his New York office at 251 Fifth Avenue. 

Each Play will be issued in a single demy 8vo volume, bound in cloth and stamped in blind from a design by Mr. Ricketts.

Two special lists were set in Vale Type by the Ballantyne Press in London and printed on Vale Press paper. They were shipped to America and distributed by John Lane. (These are now exceedingly rare. If you have a copy, please let me know.) 

But that was not all. He also had them photographed and published in the American counterpart to The Studio, which he published. The International Studio contained articles published by The Studio a month before (usually adding some American news). The March 1900 issue, for example, opened with the article that had appeared in London in February. Advertisements were included at the front and back of the issues.

The International Studio, March 1900 (cover)

The sections containing advertisements were entirely focused on the American market, with promotional material from, for example, The New York School of Art, Ida J. Burgess from Chicago, The London Art Publishers from Philadelphia, Foster Bothers in Boston, The National Correspondence School of Indianapolis and the Art Academy of Cincinnati. There were some London art adverts as well.

Four of the sixteen advertising pages in the March 1900 issue were used by John Lane to advertise the Vale Press and Vale Shakespeare.

The International Studio, March 1900 (page Ad VIII)

The first page—at the front of the issue—focused on the Shakespeare publication.

The International Studio, March 1900 (page Ad XIV: detail)

The three pages at the back emphasised that although copies of the previously published Vale Press editions were still available, stocks would soon be exhausted.

The International Studio, March 1900 (page Ad XVI: detail)

The fourth and last page of the original list was omitted here. It mentioned prices of the Pre-Vale editions and contained a list of editions that were sold out in both London and New York, but of which copies occasionally became available.

In this (for him) inexpensive way, John Lane effectively spread the message about the Vale Shakespeare throughout America.

732. The Garland

Several catalogues of Charles Shannon's lithographs have been published. Between 1889 and 1898, fifty-four lithographs were issued. In 1902, Charles Ricketts compiled the first catalogue, announcing that Shannon had given up lithography. 

But Shannon returned to the lithographic stone in 1904, printing another twenty-nine lithographs, abandoning the medium in 1909. In 1914 a second catalogue was published by Georges Derry (pseudonym of R.A. Walker) who described the lithographs that were made between 1904 and 1909. 

Again, Shannon took up lithography in 1917, and produced another thirteen lithographs. In 1920 Derry (Walker) produced a new catalogue covering most of the latter batch, and finally, in 1978, Paul Delaney published the definitive catalogue of Shannon's lithographs.

Some of these have smaller edition sizes than others, and consequently have been less reproduced in publications, auction catalogues, or in online presentations of museum collections. One rarely seen print is 'The Garland' from 1918.

A copy is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam) and published on their website (find the print on Rijksmuseum.nl).

Charles Shannon, 'The Garland' (lithograph, 1918)

[Collection Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: RP-P-1949-308]

There was an edition of 25 impressions in sanguine, or in grey-black, or in brown, 35,6 x 20,4 cm, initialled CS in the stone. The Rijksmuseum copy is in grey-black.

This lithograph was not listed by Derry. However, an earlier unpublished version from 1906 was described as follows:

Two nude women  are putting up a garland; one is standing on a stool and stretches up to hang the garland over the top of a door, and the other stands on the ground and supports her. A small child  on the right is holding a wreath and watching the others. 

A trial proof (one of only three copies) of the earlier version is in the collection of the British Museum. Twelve years passed between that first version and the second.

Charles Shannon, 'The Garland' (lithograph, trial proof, 1906)
[Collection The British Museum, London: 1913,0814.54]
[© The Trustees of the British Museum.
Shared under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence]

731. A Lady in a Striped Shirt (Helen Lawson)

Some time ago, I received a mail from Belgium about a hitherto unrecorded portrait by Charles Shannon depicting a lady in a striped shirt. It came from a collection in the city of Roeselaere. Last week it was sold at auction by Aubrey's Auctioneers; hammer price £8,000.

Charles Shannon, portrait of a lady in a striped shirt, 1915

The oil on canvas was not a small painting or sketch, measuring 75 x 61 cm, in a red and gilt frame. Signed and dated, it was finished in 1915.

Charles Shannon, portrait of a lady in a striped shirt, 1915

There is a label on the back with the name of James Bourlet & Sons., Ltd., a firm of fine art packers and framers.

The auctioneer's description reads:

A portrait painting depicting a young woman with androgynous charm, seated with her chin resting on her hand, her other hand holding pansies, gazing directly at the viewer with a soft introspective expression, she wears a coral and white striped blouse with voluminous sleeves, partially covered by a dark shawl, complimented by her cabochon coral and gold ring, she wears a black feathered toque style hat, her reflection in a circular mirror behind her, signed and dated 1915 to lower right, oil on canvas, 75 x 61 cm

(Jewellery, Art & Antiques. Guildford, Surrey: Aubrey’s Auctioneers, 31 July 2025, lot 139).

Note, 6 August 2025:

The painting has now been identified as being the portrait of ‘Miss Helen Lawson (Lady with a Coral Ring)’. As such, it was listed by 'Tis' [Herbert Furst] in Charles Shannon, A.R.A. An Essay. London, Colour Ltd., [1920]. (Masters of Modern Art), p. 7. At the time, the painting was owned by P.J. Ford. It had been exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1916. Frank Rutter mentioned it in The Sunday Times, 30 April 1916 (‘The Academy. A Portrait Year'): 'Mr. Charles Shannon shows several small square portraits of women's heads, admirable in placing and arrangement, fine in quality and harmonious, if rather low and sombre in colour. Their fanciful titles, "The Lady with a Coral Ring" (119), "The Lady in a Black Hat" (483), and "The Lady with the Amethyst" (524), suitably express the painter’s romantic and decorative intentions.' (Thanks are due to John Aplin for sending me some reviews of the exhibition.)

730. Drawings for Unrecorded Histories (5)

The sheet containing the five sketches for the illustrations in Unrecorded Histories (British Museum collection) does not include one for the story ‘The Pavilion of the Winds’ about Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. 

The fifth and final sketch is for another story, 'The Last Guest', which takes place in the house of Lepidus, a friend of Caesar. As in the previous story ('A Morning in Spring'), Caesar's imminent death plays a role, in this case he appears at the house of his friend, the evening before he is murdered. 

This - the approaching, inevitable death - was clearly a subject that fascinated Ricketts. He often painted figures shortly before or after the ultimate moment: Montezuma, Christ, Cleopatra, Don Juan and others, time and time again.

The basic premise of this story is Ricketts' idea that historians have placed too much emphasis on Caesar as a military leader and politician and have forgotten 'the art and beauty-loving Caesar who wrote epigrams and plays'.

Charles Ricketts, 'The Last Guest'

The uncultured host has gathered a motley company of businessmen, orators and poets, some of whom are of Greek origin, such as Agathon. A separate table is set for Caesar so that he can continue his work as a statesman during the meal and the discussions (dictating a letter, listening to a messenger). However, though the meal is progressing, Caesar has not yet arrived.

Agathon talks about the effect of thunder on the growth of truffles, which are said to be half animal and half plant. Many of the guests eagerly speculate on this topic. The doctor in the company responds soberly:

Be the truffle animal or vegetable, I think that storms, by their torrential rain, merely uncover their hiding place without need of intervention from the thunderbolts of Zeus.

The doctor seems to be the voice of Ricketts, who speaks about ageing:

[...] age calms the force of our passions, even the passion of love; how much more does it affect our power to hate! which experience of life commonly softens. [...] I even hold that old enemies may sometimes be preferable to new friends.

Ricketts, who in his youth had declared many artists and critics his enemies, later realised that these 'frenemies' were perhaps closer to him than others.

During the conversation about friendship and love - ('Let a youth acquire knowledge of the pleasures of the bed from a young boy slave, this saves him from the snares of venal harlots [...]'), - Caesar quietly enters.

Charles Ricketts, sketch for Unrecorded Histories
[Collection British Museum: 1946,0209.122]
[Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license]
[© With permission of the executors of the Charles Ricketts estate,
Leonie Sturge-Moore and the heirs of Charmain O'Neil]

The illustration shows his arrival, or, perhaps his later departure.

The Emperor paused to hear; then, with a salutation of the hand towards his host and fellow guests, he sank upon his couch and chose some simple food from the onyx table before him.

The physician wondered, 'how long would Caesar have to live', because of his 'transparent hands' and his thinning hair. However, his eyes 'had a fixed inner light like the glance of a hawk'.

The discussion continues about the soul, and the physician says that the soul is part of the body and cannot live on its own. Meanwhile, Caesar silently responds to several messages, including one from his wife, who is worried because of the late hour and a prophetic dream about the Ides of March.

The lateness of the hour, and something disquieting in the behaviour of the Emperor had affected the guests [...]

No wonder, because some of the guests were in on the plot to kill him.

After the physician repeats his opinion - 'To me the Soul can never be immortal, it dies with the brain' - the discussion turns to death.

Suddenly Caesar stands up and as he leaves, his host asks him what he thinks is the best way to die. His words end the story:

The Swiftest, the most unforeseen!

729. Drawings for Unrecorded Histories (4)

The second story in Unrecorded Histories (1933) is called 'A Morning in Spring' and takes place on the day Caesar was assassinated in 42 BC. According to Ricketts's fancy, Cleopatra, who had been living in Rome for two years in the palace of the autocrat, had bought a small villa near the capital, where she secretly returned after Caesar had sent her back to Egypt. Here she would receive her new lover, Marc Antony.

Cleopatra, despite her veneer of Greek culture, had a profound belief in magic, fostered by her old nurse Tui, and Amenothes was almost the ruler of the queen's household.

He, her 'Egyptian soothsayer', used coloured sands and small idols to predict the future, and the signs were obscure: 'Absence and departure'. The absence turned out to be Julius Caesar's who was murdered that morning. The departure was Cleopatra's who subsequently escaped to Egypt. Thus, her absence from Rome was also predicted by Amenothes.

Marc Antony had sent a letter because he was delayed. Cleopatra feared that the 'absence' meant he would not arrive at all.

Charles Ricketts, 'A Morning in Spring'

They were not yet lovers, apparently. While she reclined on a silver couch, she mused about his body:

What would the naked Antony look like? Well enough, for he had kept his body in athletic condition.

Presently, he arrived:

Cleopatra did not listen to his explanations. She merely noted the small beads of sweat upon his full brow, crowned with a matted pelt of auburn hair, his superb neck and his physical splendour which the loose-fitting tunic did not conceal.

The servants withdrew and Marc Antony 'mounted the silver couch'.

With delicate laughter his mistress unfastened  the fibulae of his tunic [...] the lovers embraced and became united.

They did not take heed of a young black servant, 'cup in hand filled with wine-drenched snow'.

The illustration shows the silver couch and Cleopatra, the servant holding the cup, and the naked Marc Antony who 'began to put on his tunic' after a debate about the question who of them would follow or not follow the other. Ricketts's illustration confuses the moments of the attendance by the servant and Antony who was getting dressed. Unless, of course Ricketts meant to illustrate the fact that the servant stood by while their lovemaking was in progress and their discussion endured. However, the gesture seems to be that of a servant presenting a drink, not of someone who has been standing there for an hour waiting.

Finally, the message of Caesar's murder arrived, and Antony looked on as Cleopatra was brought to safety by her servants.

Already his mistress was being carried to the garden threshold, when she stretched out her lovely arms and cried:

'Farewell, farewell for ever!...

Forget Cleopatra.'

Of course, in reality they were reunited, and Cleopatra would bear him three children.

Charles Ricketts,  sketch for Unrecorded Histories
[Collection British Museum: 1946,0209.122]
[Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license]
[© With permission of the executors of the Charles Ricketts estate,
Leonie Sturge-Moore and the heirs of Charmain O'Neil]

The original drawing for the illustration is rather messy, and the servant seems not to hold anything, or turn his head to the left. Ricketts's portrait of the servant is rather stereotypical for a black man, while his portraits of Marc Antony - his face is invisible - and Cleopatra - her famous nose is not depicted - are more general in character.

728. Drawings for Unrecorded Histories (3)

The only surviving moving images of Charles Ricketts show him quickly closing his mouth when he laughed to prevent the viewer from seeing his bad teeth. It is precisely with such a scene that the story of Joséphine de Beauharnais and Napoleon begins in Unrecorded Histories. Joséphine, after eating some sweets (intended for her guests), uses a different trick:

Madame de Beauharnais smiled often and well, it was one of her many attractions, but she smiled with a graceful downward movement of the head to conceal this blemish.

The story, called 'The Sword', is set in the circular boudoir in Joséphine's house in around 1795, just before Napoleon would propose marriage to her (in Unrecorded Histories, her name is consistently spelled without an acute accent). Ricketts describes her hairstyle and dress and the room in which she and her daughter wait for visitors. The furniture belongs to the reign of Louis XVI,

[...] it had been given a touch of fashion by the addition of jonquil-coloured curtains and a long swan-headed couch, on which Madame de Beauharnais reclined toying with the sweets on a gilded tripod by her side.

Charles Ricketts, 'The Sword'

Ricketts's illustration shows the swan-headed bench, but the tripod is out of view. The curtains are suggested by semi-circles that hang down from the ceiling.

In several stories in this posthumous collection, Ricketts openly introduces homosexual characters (whereas he used to be very secretive about sex). In this story, one of the guests enters with 'a youth of extraordinary beauty', who 'passed as his nephew, some said his son, others his latest favourite'. 

His beige-coloured tights and myrtle-green coat moulded every line of his body, and from his prim-rose coloured waistcoat hung a collection of chains, watches and seals. Yes, Achilles was beautiful, thought Josephine, who adored beauty [...]

After greeting the hostess, Achilles 'leant languidly against a mirror, where he looked like Narcissus tired of his own reflection. [The book contains the spelling error ‘liked’ instead of ‘like.’] 

In the illustration, Achilles is the figure on the right. The two figures on the left are a rich manufacturer, Lucien Tillleux, who kisses her hand, and 'a rich profiteer', Népomucène Théoleyre, who holds 'a dwarf myrtle plant in a Sèvres pot'. A striking difference between the sketch and the illustration is the raised hand holding the flower pot, which does not appear in the sketch.

The conversation about the uncertain political situation – in which France seemed to be developing a need for a sword – reminds the hostess of her uncertain times after the Revolution, when she was imprisoned and her first husband was guillotined. This goes completely over Achilles' head, who acts like 'all beautiful young animals', and seems to have become infatuated with Joséphine's daughter. Meanwhile, one of the other visitors, Théoleyre, is fascinated by Achilles' beauty, which makes his patron La Chèze uneasy.

Charles Ricketts,  sketch for Unrecorded Histories
[Collection British Museum: 1946,0209.122]
[Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license]
[© With permission of the executors of the Charles Ricketts estate,
Leonie Sturge-Moore and the heirs of Charmain O'Neil]

The conversation focuses on the incompetence of the state's leaders, including the promoted general, who, as soon as his qualities are questioned, is announced by the manservant, and thus Napoleon enters the story in the final lines - the future emperor and husband  of Joséphine.

There is not much action in the stories in this collection; most of them consist of conversation and the exchange of ideas; the scenes Ricketts drew are therefore static. Here, he selected the moment when two guests enter and a third stands aside, grouped around the hostess. It is also interesting that Ricketts never seems to depict the most famous characters, such as Nero (in 'The New God') or, here, Napoleon.

727. Drawings for Unrecorded Histories (2)

Some illustrations in Unrecorded Histories are pure silhouette drawings, but the first drawing in the book - see last week's blog - contains elements that are not just positive or negative shapes, with areas that appear to be drawn in, such as the balcony, and the window shutters. The illustration accompanying the story 'The New God' likewise contains such elements, especially on the wall, where decorative areas have been drawn, and on the floor, where the contours of a carpet or of marble stones have been sketched.

Charles Ricketts, 'The New God'

At the beginning of the story, Seneca retreats to a small office in Nero's palace, a cool room where the sound of a water organ can be heard. The murals from the time of Tiberius 'represented the Loves of Venus' - one such scene is visible at the upper-hand side. Seneca is seated in the centre, having sunk 'wearily into a chair'.

In the small sketch Ricketts made in 1930, the scene on the wall is difficult to identify; the final illustration shows Venus and Adonis - Cupid hovers in the air to their left.

Charles Ricketts,  sketch for Unrecorded Histories
[Collection British Museum: 1946,0209.122]
[Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license]
[© With permission of the executors of the Charles Ricketts estate,
Leonie Sturge-Moore and the heirs of Charmain O'Neil]

The figure pointing upwards (to the left of Seneca) is a prisoner: 'Some call him Saul, others name him Paul.' Paul tells him about his master, Jesus, but Seneca cannot quite follow him. He thinks 'that Paul had no new message; his was the worship of some obscure dual deity, and one of those Asiatic cults that were countless.' Seneca is baffled by the idea of 'One True God':

Nature, Life gave no hint of any guiding purpose. Each separate part seemed at war with each. Nature, like Nero, sometimes disguised her cruelty with beauty.

Nero enters, moist with sweat after a ball game.

The apostle remained silent, he beheld before him the terrible master of the World, the beast of Rome, the vessel of all known abominations who, at that moment, was proffering his naked buttocks to be powdered by his slaves.

Nero - who is charmed by Paul's phrase 'Circumcision of the Spirit' - decides to read one his poems:

I will read you the passage where Venus entreats Adonis, as yet unknowing of his coming death.

Venus tries to persuade 'the reluctant Youth' to take action: 

when grief has blinded and removed from sight

the vision of that limb, whose gentle use

the goddess craved and sought in vain to stir,

between those marble thighs; which cruel fate

will dash with purple drawn from lovely veins

that knew not yet the ardent pulse of Love.

Finally, Nero asks Paul which Goddess 'your Christ' resisted.

Interestingly, Ricketts does not show the meeting between the apostle and Nero in the presence of Seneca, but only the weary, pensive Seneca listening to the stubborn apostle.

726. Drawings for Unrecorded Histories (1)

Several sketches have been preserved for the cover of the short story collection Unrecorded Histories (which would be published two years after Charles Ricketts had died), but of the six illustrations, only rudimentary sketches remain—and not even for all of them. The one on page 106 with an elephant, a servant with a fan and a naked female figure has no preliminary study that we know of. [See the remaining sketches in the collection of the British Museum].

Charles Ricketts, sheet with several sketches for book covers and illustrations
[Collection British Museum: 1946,0209.122]
[Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license]
[© With permission of the executors of the Charles Ricketts estate,
Leonie Sturge-Moore and the heirs of Charmain O'Neil]

The five sketches – the final drawings appear to have been lost – are on a sheet with other sketches for book covers, one of which must be much older: a sketch (left row, second from top) is for the collected works of W.B. Yeats, which were published from 1922 onwards. From a letter to the poet Gordon Bottomley, we know that Ricketts worked on the illustrations for his stories in December 1930:

I have also designed silhouette illustrations to 5 short tales or dialogues by J P Raymond, which I hope to engrave & publish later. 

(Letter from Charles Ricketts to Gordon Bottomley, 26 December 1930: BL Add MS 88957/1/76, f 132)

The five sketches (a sixth appears to have been erased) are approximately 7 cm in height, while the book illustrations, including the frames, measure 15 cm. Ricketts's original scheme for making wood-engravings differs greatly from the final silhouette drawings printed in terracotta.

Charles Ricketts, two sketches for Unrecorded Histories
[Collection British Museum: 1946,0209.122]
[Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license]
[© With permission of the executors of the Charles Ricketts estate,
Leonie Sturge-Moore and the heirs of Charmain O'Neil]

The two drawings at the top right are sketches for the illustrations on page 44 (left) and page 10 (right). The latter is the first illustration in the book accompanying the story “The Transit of the Gods”. The first story takes place in Rome in the late 1920s, where Greek gods gather in a private room at Bar Gréco (the Antico Caffè Greco): Hermes and Apollo arrive first, followed by Aphrodite and Zeus. Given the stifling atmosphere, they move to the café's small courtyard where they sit among orange trees in boxes and 'an unhappy palm', which figures in the illustration.

Charles Ricketts, 'The Transit of the Gods'

Aphrodite is standing to the left of the tree, Zeus on the right behind a smoking Apollo and Hermes, who is perched on a small table and also holds a cigarette. After the café closes, Hermes leaves them, and they retire to Apollo's house where his help Hyacinthus announces the unexpected arrival of 'a Jewish deity'. However, his name is not Christ or God, but  Mephistopheles:

I will not detain you on my share in the creation of the world; to a rudimentary vegetation I have added choicer flowers, richer fruit. I invented pleasure instead of lust, the arts instead of morals; but these are details.

His proposal entails that monotheism must come to an end - 'these are the days of adventure and change'. Like Beyond the Threshold, this story gives Ricketts the opportunity to reflect on love, art, beauty and the times in which he lived.

725. The Great Wave off Kanagawa

The auction catalogue Japanese Prints. Art of the Woodblock (Dreweats, 8 July 2025) contains a famous print by Katsushika Hokusai, 'Under the Wave of Kanagawa', also known as 'The Great Wave'. This particular copy comes from the collection of Thomas Sturge Moore. 

Katsushika Hokusai, 'Under the Wave of Kanagawa' (provenance: T.S. Moore)

In February of this year, Mariko Hirabayashi, published her blog about Hokusai in the collection of Ricketts and Shannon (see blog No. 706), including an image of the same print from their collection which is now in the British Museum.

Japanese Prints. Art of the Woodblock (Dreweats, 8 July 2025)

This copy of the print is 'The Property of an English Family', the provenance being: 'Thomas Sturge Moore (1870-1944); thence by descent'. It is curious to see that such a treasure once belonged to artists such as Ricketts, Shannon and Moore, who, in their early days, were keen but poor collectors. The current value is estimated a grand £80,000-£120,000.

Japanese Prints. Art of the Woodblock (Dreweats, 8 July 2025)

Note

Jan Piggott kindly provided the information that another print from the collection of T.S. Moore had been reproduced as early as 1898 in C.J. Holmes's book on Hokusai (At the Sign of  the Unicorn): 'Storm at the Foot of Fuji' (plate XI). A print of waves and yellow ships opposite Kanagawa (plate XII) came from the collection of C.H. Shannon; the book also contains four plates after original drawings from his collection. Holmes himself collected Japanese prints  (three of which were reproduced in his book).