714. A Lecture about Ricketts: Our Collection

Last Friday I gave a lecture to the visitors of the National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague about Charles Ricketts, simply because I had not completed any other research by the time they asked a title (in November last year) and my Ricketts research is ongoing. There are a number of works designed by Charles Ricketts in the library (KB, National library) and I have written previously about our holdings. However, there is always more to discover. 

The Rowley Poems of
Thomas Chatterton (1898):
KB The Hague

In May 2012 I wrote a blog (No. 43 'Rik was talked off his feet by Ricketts') about a visit by the Dutch artist Richard Roland Holst to Ricketts.

At the time, I reported that the national library had acquired Ricketts related books in three batches, in 1900, in 1954, and in 1988. However, as always, history is more complicated.

After my lecture there was a gathering in the Special Collections reading room where I was able to show examples from our collection: pre-Vale books, Vale Press books, commercial books designed by Ricketts, books designed for his friends and others. One of the guests asked me if such a Ricketts collection was still being maintained, now that the library's acquisition policy has changed drastically.

A good question. The KB has decided years ago to primarily collect the national heritage: everything that is published in the Netherlands, and a selection from what is published about the Netherlands.

But I realized that the selection on display was not a Ricketts collection at all. Most of the books were purchased for their literary content, and, examining them more closely after the visit was over, I discovered that there were more than just three batches of Ricketts acquisitions.

1900

The library ordered books from Hacon and Ricketts as stated in the acquisition books:

• Michael Field, The World at Auction (1898) in the flame binding. Received by 1 November 1900.
• John Milton, Early Poems (1896). Received by 5 December 1900.
• Charles Ricketts, A Defence of the Revival of Printing (1899). Received by 5 December 1900.
• The Rowley Poems of Thomas Chatterton (1898), two volumes in the flame binding. Received by 10 December 1900.

KB The Hague, acquisition ledger for November 1900

KB The Hague, acquisition ledger for December 1900

1904

The Poems & Sonnets of Henry Constable (1897). Received by 14 December 1904

The acquisition ledger does not mention a dealer or price.

KB The Hague, acquisition ledger for December 1904

Earlier, Charles Ricketts's first art historical monograph had been added to the collection: The Prado and Its Masterpieces (1903), received on 17 September 1904.

1908-1909

Oscar Wilde, The Duchess of Padua. A Play (1908) and ten other volumes from the first collected edition. Received by 20 February 1908, except for The Picture of Dorian Gray which was received in April 1909.

KB The Hague, acquisition ledger for 1908 and 1909

Michael Field and W.B. Yeats (1908-1947)

The library did not acquire other plays by Michael Field published by the Vale Press. Four later books of poetry for which Ricketts designed the cover were acquired in the year of publication: Wild Honey (in May 1908), Poems of Adoration (June 1912), Mystic Trees (April 1913), however, Dedicated (1914) was acquired after the World War I had ended, in June 1920. W.B. Yeats's collected works were sometimes acquired in later or American editions. Early Poems and Stories was bought in the year of publication (1925), Autobiographies was acquired in a later American edition from 1927 and joined the library twenty years later in 1947. 

1936

In 1936 the library received The Pageant, of which two yearly issues were published in 1895 and 1896 (for 1896 and 1897). Only the second volume is part of our collection.

1939

Just before World War II the librarian selected books from two private collections: the library of Ricketts's friend R.N. Roland Holst and the private collection of poet and critic Willem Kloos. Both had died in 1938.

R.N. Roland Holst's books were given by his widow, Henriette Roland Holst-van der Schalk and bear a bookplate with her name (produced by the library):

• Oscar Wilde, De Profundis (ninth printing, 1907). Signed by R.N. Roland Holst.
• The Bard of the Dimbovitza. Roumanian Folk-Songs. Collected from the Peasants, edited by Hélène Vacaresco. Translated by Carmen Sylva and Alma Strettell (second edition, 1892).
• Lord de Tabley, Poems, Dramatic and Lyrical (third edition, 1896).

The books owned by Willem Kloos included two works designed by or written by Ricketts. These books have a similar bookplate produced by the library, bearing the name of Willem Kloos:

• W.B. Yeats, Later Poems (reprint, 1924)
• Charles Ricketts, Oscar Wilde. Recollections (1932)

1954-1961

In the run-up to the 1960s, the KB began to purchase more and more books with a view to establishing a museum of the book, which later became Museum Meermanno (now Huis van het boek). However, it is completely unclear why some books were included in the collection and others were not. There are now copies from private presses such as Kelmscott Press, Vale Press and Eragny Press in both the KB and the Huis van het Boek.

In 1954 the library acquired the Vale Press edition of The Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson (1900), containing the Lyric Poems, this copy printed on vellum and bound by Zaehnsdorf. It was acquired from F. Hammond, Sutton Coldfield for fl. 230,-.

In 1955 the library acquired a copy of Charles Ricketts, Beyond the Threshold (1929) with an inscription by A.J.A. Symons for the collection of bookbindings. 

In 1961 a copy of Charles Ricketts and Lucien Pissarro's De la typographie et de l’harmonie de la page imprimée; William Morris et son influence sur les arts et métiers (1898) was bought at the Internationaal Antiquariaat for fl. 45 (invoice paid on 10 April 1961). 

1988

Finally, in 1988, the library received a large collection of books from the library of poet Adriaan Roland Holst, nephew of R.N. Roland Holst - these were donated by the Letterkundig Museum (now Literatuur Museum) in The Hague. These included works that Adriaan had been given by his uncle Rik:

• The Dial, No. 2-5 (1892-1897), with the name stamp of Adriaan Roland Holst. 
• John Gray, Silverpoints (1893), with the bookplate (designed by R.N. Roland Holst) and with the name stamp of Adriaan Roland Holst.
• Lord de Tabley, Poems, Dramatic and Lyrical (third edition, 1896), with the signature of painter Charley Toorop and the name stamp of Adriaan Roland Holst.
• William Shakespeare, A Most Pleasant and Excellent Conceited Comedy of Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor (1902). Bookplate of 'Klingerder' and name stamp of A. Roland Holst.
• William Meinhold, Mary Schweidler, the Amber Witch. The most interesting trial for witchcraft ever known. Printed from an imperfect manuscript by her father, Abraham Schweidler, the pastor of Coserow in the Islands of Usedom (1903). With the name stamp of A. Roland Holst.

1999

In 1999 the library acquired a Vale Press book for the bookbinding collection: the edition of Maurice de Guérin's The Centaur, The Bacchante (1899), in a binding by Bryan Cantle (Eddington Bindery).

The existence of a kind of Charles Ricketts collection in the KB is not due to a consistent acquisition policy on the part of the library. Rather, it is due to the fact that Ricketts designed many literary works and to donors who presented some rare books with an interesting provenance.

713. The Condition of a Book

There are professional guides to the terminology of the condition of a book. An online example of this is ‘A Guide to Used Book Conditions’ [on the website of Abebooks].  

The fact is that second-hand books are often not ‘As New’, ‘Fine’ or ‘Near Fine’. The condition of a hundred-year-old book often does not even meet the criteria 'Very Good', 'Good' or 'Fair'. We descend into the depths and cellars of the book supply, where no treasures can be found and books are described as 'Poor' - meaning: 'A heavily worn book whose primary value is its complete, legible text. May have loose joints, hinges, or pages, and may be soiled, scuffed, stained, or spotted' - or not described at all. Even then, there is a term: in such cases the seller may resort to the phrase 'As Described'. However, usually a bad condition is not mentioned as photographs are said to be part of the description.

Books may be bowed, chipped, dampstained, darkened, faded, edgeworn, foxed, loose, re-cased, shaken, sunned, trimmed, or there may be worm holes or worse.

Three recent examples found on e-Bay may illustrate such conditions. 

Charles Ricketts's Titian is not a rare book at all, and may be found in good condition. This, however, is a copy that I would not even like to touch.

Charles Ricketts, Titian (1910)

Even a deluxe edition can be stored or left in the wrong places - damp sheds and attics, musty basements, above the central heating, in forgotten moving boxes or on garden tables in the rain. Here are two examples of G.B. Shaw's Saint Joan (1926), illustrated and with a cover designed by Ricketts. The edition was 750 copies.

G.B. Shaw, Charles Ricketts  Saint Joan (1926)

The condition of the Shaw books are described as:

The book is in a used condition, the pages are clean, some have a stain on the bottom, the sketches are in good condition, two of the corners are slightly folded and one has a piece coming away (please see all photos).
The Paper cover is in a used condition and is fragile (please see all photos).

and:

Spine largely detached and partially lacking, thus a fair only copy (internally fine) lacking the dustwrapper

E-bay prices were c. $160 and $430 respectively. Better copies may be found for less.