761. Had Zimri Peace Who Slew His Master?

Harry Quilter (1851-1907), whose work was ridiculed by both James McNeill Whistler and Oscar Wilde, gave Shannon and Ricketts the opportunity to create drawings for his magazine The Universal Review. He would reproduce two of these drawings, both by Charles Shannon, in his art historical work Preferences in Art, Life and Literature (1892).

Preferences contained 67 illustrations. However, a deluxe large-paper edition also appeared. These numbered copies contain 114 illustrations, 56 of which were printed in autotype, mounted on additional sheets with the titles and names of the artists handwritten in ink. Among those additional illustrations were a drawing by Shannon and one by Ricketts, the latter titled 'Had Zimri Peace Who Slew His Master?'

Charles Ricketts, 'Had Zimri Peace Who Slew His Master?'
(The Universal Review, 15 August 1889)
[Photo: Jos Uljee]

The original illustration in The Universal Review measured 17.9 by 13.8 cm; the autotype reproduction was larger: 21.4 by 16.4 cm. Both, the title and the name contained mistakes: Ricketts's name was given as 'H.S. Ricketts', the title was given as 'Jezebel', which was the title of the story that Ricketts and Shannon had illustrated.

Charles Ricketts, 'Had Zimri Peace Who Slew His Master?'
(published as 'Jezebel' in
Preferences in Art, Life and Literature (1892), facing page 232)

It is unclear whether Ricketts or Shannon ever laid eyes on that deluxe edition, but we do know that their friend, the poet Gordon Bottomley, was proud to have obtained a copy after years of searching. (Apparently, Bottomley had never managed to find a copy of the original reproduction in The Universal Review.)

He wrote in a letter that accompanied a copy of the book he sent as a Christmas present to Thomas Sturge Moore (13 December 1926):

We are far from Christmas yet, but I am sending your Christmas present with this as the post-office won't have it, and it too will probably take time on the railway – though I shall send it by passenger train.
It comes with a great deal of love from Emily and me to you and Marie. Of course my commercial soul is distressed by the foreknowledge that you will want to cut it up and take out the only things that are of value, for its price is going up steadily! But here it is for you to do as you like with; and we are happy in sending it, for we know you will rejoice in the superb reproduction of Ricketts’ “Jezebel” and the other treasures as much as we do.
It was really a great happiness when we found this copy some months ago, and we at once said we must have it for you.

[Quoted after the edition by John Aplin, Complete Correspondene of Gordon Bottomley and Thomas Sturge Moore. Volume 3: 1926-1948 (Letters 578-911) on the online platform Intelex, July 2020].