‘The World of Art’ in The Glasgow Herald, 5 December 1898, p. 7 about the exhibition (see C48) in 1898: ‘During the last ten years the two very remarkable artists C.H. Shannon and C. Ricketts, who formed and are the promotors of the Vale Press, have been at work upon a series of original woodcuts, engraved by themselves. Some were done for the purpose of decoration, such as the beautiful cameo-like series of oval cuts printed in two colours on tinted paper – “Pegasus,” “The Coral Snatchers,” “The Oven,” &c.'
And see:
ppc, [?preparatory drawing of Japanese warrior], add: E. F. Strange Esq | Victoria & Albert Museum | South Kensington
Dear Strange.
I think you should mention in the case of our prints that Daphnis & Chloe was published 20 years ago.* The print of the feast contains the portraits of the wood engravers Ricketts, Shannon, T. S. Moore, Pissar[r]o & Savage in fact all the originalwood cutters of the time I think. Shannons Chiaroscuro prints were done in two batches the first set 18 years ago the second book about 15 or 14 years ago. I thought of this on seeing two of Shannon’s old lithos at Kensington dating back 20 & 15 years ago near prints done yesterd a few months ago. How time flies! [about 4 words heavily deleted] years
Yours ever
C Ricketts
PS
Of course these original engravers were contributors to The Dial.
*Date of the letter is c.1913?
Both CR and CHS were well represented in this exhibition, as recorded in the Catalogue of the Works of Art in the Cartwright Memorial Hall (Bradford: City of Bradford, 1904, to which D.S. MacColl supplied a Preface (see Letter 312). woodcuts – 671, ‘The Porch’; 672, ‘The Fruit Pickers’; 673, ‘Hero and Meander [Leander]. Eros and Anteros. Venus and Diana’; 674, Daphnis and Chloe: The Vintagers’ [and] ‘The Topmost Apple’; 675, Daphnis and Chloe, ‘The Wedding Feast’; 676: ‘Sheaves Binders’.
