Almost a week ago, I received the latest issue of The Book Collector, volume 75, no. 3, Autumn 2026. The magazine contains a review of The Collected Letters of Charles Ricketts written by Simon Cook who has published widely about Victorian and modern book art. (See the website of The Book Collector here).
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| Cover of The Book Collector, Autumn 2026 |
I usually start at the end of an issue (heading for the ‘News and Notes’ section) and came across the review straight away, as it rounds off this issue (pages 566-569).
It is encouraging to read that the publication of the letters by Brill, a division of De Gruyter Brill, is regarded as 'extremely useful', 'opening up a range of information that sheds new light on a significant figure', and, as Cooke argues, for some information 'we are privileged to take it from the artist's own mouth'. His conclusion about the publication is: 'Invaluable for the specialist and a cornerstone in all future research, it will also appeal to anyone with an interest in art, the art of the book and publishing.'
Among other things, Cooke discusses the warmth with which Ricketts addresses his correspondents, and, alongside his generous personality, the letters also reveal more about his ‘critical thinking’, for example following his reading of Conrad. Indeed, Ricketts was an avid reader whose interests were wide and up to date, including French and German literature.
Speaking about Ricketts’s book designs, Cooke says: 'Once again, the innovator is revealed to be a traditionalist as much as a creator of a modern style'.
(For those who read every publication, including The Book Collector, with a correction pencil: on page 567, replace ‘Douglas’ with ‘Sydney’, and on page 568, replace ‘1,398’ with ‘2,147’.)
I would like to remind the reader that four letters not included in this edition (because the editors only discovered them later) were published to celebrate the publication of The Collected Letters of Charles Ricketts. A few copies of these are still available at the original price; see blog 776 'Published: Four Fugitive Letters'. These are letters written by Ricketts to Cecil French, Martin Birnbaum, Helen Travers Smith & Isabelle Augusta Gregory.