615. Charles Ricketts's Illustrations of Cupid and Psyche

This week I received a Canadian query about Charles Ricketts's woodcuts for two editions of Apuleius. The Vale Press published an English translation of this classic love story in 1897, followed in 1901 by a Latin edition, both with woodcuts by Ricketts: six roundel wood-engravings for the first edition and five square wood-engravings for the later one.

Copies of the small editions have ended up in libraries, but of course not every university library has both editions.

For the convenience of academics and others, complete sets of these illustrations are shown in this blog.

The Most Pleasant and Delectable Tale of the Marriage of Cupide & Psyches (1896)

Text: the translation by William Adlington (1566).

The illustrations are not positioned adjacent to particular scenes but, for printing convenience, in the top right-hand corner on the first page of each sheet.

1.

SYMBOLS │ OF PSYCHES' | PASSION 

Signed upper right: CR (Charles Ricketts)

81 x 80 mm (p. 9)

Text on this page: Apuleius, Metamorphoses. IV, 34

The Most Pleasant and Delectable Tale of the Marriage of Cupide & Psyches
(1896, wood-engraving by Charles Ricketts, page 9)

2. 

THE LEAP │ FROM THE │ ROCK. 

80 x 80 mm (p. 17)

Text on this page: Metamorphoses. V, 8-9

The Most Pleasant and Delectable Tale of the Marriage of Cupide & Psyches
(1896, wood-engraving by Charles Ricketts, page 17)

3. 

PSYCHES' IN- │ VISIBLE │ MINIS- │ TRANTS. 

80 x 80 mm (p. 25)

Text on this page: Metamorphoses. V, 17-18

The Most Pleasant and Delectable Tale of the Marriage of Cupide & Psyches
(1896, wood-engraving by Charles Ricketts, page 25)

4. 

VENVS' BIRD │ MESENGER. 

81 x 81 mm (p. 33)

Text on this page: Metamorphoses. V, 27-28

The Most Pleasant and Delectable Tale of the Marriage of Cupide & Psyches
(1896, wood-engraving by Charles Ricketts, page 33)

5.

THE DESCENT │ INTO │ HELL. 

Signed upper right (initials mirrored): CR (Charles Ricketts)

81 x 80 mm (p. 41)

Text on this page: Metamorphoses. VI, 4-5 

[See also: initial P from The Dial 4 (1896): read blogpost 334]

The Most Pleasant and Delectable Tale of the Marriage of Cupide & Psyches
(1896, wood-engraving by Charles Ricketts, page 41)

6.

LOVE'S PACT │ WITH │ JOVE. 

78 x 78 mm (p. 49)

Text on this page: Metamorphoses. VI, 14-15 

The Most Pleasant and Delectable Tale of the Marriage of Cupide & Psyches
(1896, wood-engraving by Charles Ricketts, page 49)

De Cupidinis et Psyches amoribus fabula anilis (1901)

Latin text: edited by Charles Holmes. 

The illustrations are not positioned adjacent to particular scenes but, for printing convenience, in the top right-hand corner on the first page of the second, third, fourth and fifth sheet (with one illustration on the fifth page of the second sheet).

Text:

Page [iii]: Apuleius, Metamorphoses. IV, 28-30; page iv: IV, 30-32; page v: IV, 32-34; page vi: IV, 34-35, V 1; page vii: V 1-4; page viii: V 4-6; ; page ix: V 6-8; page x: V 8-10; page xi: V 10-12; page xii: V 12-15; page xiii: V 15-16; page xiv: V 17-19; page xv: V 19-22; page xvi: V 22-24; page xvii: V 24-26; page xviii: V 26-28; page xix: V 28-30; page xx: V 30-31; VI 1-2; page xxi: VI 2-3; page xxii: VI 3-6; page xxiii: VI 6-9; page xxiv: VI 9-11; page xxv: VI 11-14; page xxvi: VI 14-17; page xxvii: VI 17-19; page xxviii: VI 19-22; page xxix: VI 22-23; page xxx: VI 23-24. 

1.

[Psyche in the House]

9,3 x 8,6 cm (p. v)

Text on this page: Apuleius, Metamorphoses, IV, 32-34

[See also an earlier version of this image in The Pageant, 1896: read blogpost 401]

De Cupidinis et Psyches amoribus fabula anilis
(1901: wood-engraving by Charles Ricketts, page v)

2.

[The Toilet]

9,4 x 8,7 cm (p. ix)

Text on this page: Metamorphoses, V, 6-8

De Cupidinis et Psyches amoribus fabula anilis
(1901: wood-engraving by Charles Ricketts, page v)

3

[The Flight of Cupid]

9,8 x 8,6 cm (p. xiii)

Text on this page: Metamorphoses, V, 15-16

De Cupidinis et Psyches amoribus fabula anilis
(1901: wood-engraving by Charles Ricketts, page xiii)

 4.

[Pan and Psyche]

9,3 x 8,7 cm (p. xxi)

Text on this page: Metamorphoses, VI, 2-3

De Cupidinis et Psyches amoribus fabula anilis
(1901: wood-engraving by Charles Ricketts, page xxi)

5.

[Cupid Embracing Psyche]

9,7 x 8,8 cm (p. xxix)

Text on this page: Metamorphoses, VI, 22-23

De Cupidinis et Psyches amoribus fabula anilis
(1901: wood-engraving by Charles Ricketts, page xxix)