Wednesday, October 29, 2025

743. Dedication copies of An Ideal Husband (1899)

›
Presentation copies of the plays, poems and stories of Oscar Wilde now command prices that may surprise those who are not book lovers or die...
Wednesday, October 22, 2025

742. Walter M. Hill and The Vale Press around 1900

›
Walter Martin Hill from Chicago regularly issued catalogues of books for sale. In his eleventh catalogue from December 1903, he assured the ...
Wednesday, October 15, 2025

741. Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum: Ricketts and Shannon Collection

›
In 1936, a fascicule in the ongoing series Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum  appeared: Great Britain, Fascicule 11, Cambridge, Fascicule 2 . Winifr...
Wednesday, October 8, 2025

740. The Vale Press through the Eyes of Alfred W. Pollard

›
The bibliographer Alfred William Pollard (1859-1944) criticised the work of the Vale Press on several occasions between 1899 and 1912. Since...
Wednesday, October 1, 2025

739. Ricketts at the Amsterdam International Antiquarian Book & Map Fair

›
Last weekend saw the International Antiquarian Book & Map Fair in Amsterdam (which, for personal reasons, I could not attend). Consideri...
Wednesday, September 24, 2025

738. The Collected Letters of Charles Ricketts in Proof

›
Every publication reaches an exc iting moment when the first proofs arrive. The publication date draws nearer, the book slowly takes shape, ...
Wednesday, September 17, 2025

737. Robert Ross as Author

›
This year, The Rivendale Press published another volume in the Questing Collector Series, the tenth volume to date: Robert Ross as Author b...
Wednesday, September 10, 2025

736. In an Orchard. (The Sequel)

›
Last week's blog about two studies for Charles Shannon's decorative painting consisting of three panels elicited a response from Mic...
Wednesday, September 3, 2025

735. In an Orchard

›
Charles Shannon explored a limited number of subjects for his paintings, as he did for his lithographs. Street scenes were not among them, n...
Wednesday, August 27, 2025

734. Shakespeare in New York and Beyond (2)

›
Last week, I wrote about John Lane's advertisement in The International Studio . Of course, that magazine was not his only publicity cha...
Wednesday, August 20, 2025

733. Shakespeare in New York and Beyond

›
One hundred copies of the Vale Press edition of the Plays of Shakespeare were set aside for the American market. They were sold by John Lane...
Wednesday, August 13, 2025

732. The Garland

›
Several catalogues of Charles Shannon's lithographs have been published. Between 1889 and 1898, fifty-four lithographs were issued. In 1...
Wednesday, August 6, 2025

731. A Lady in a Striped Shirt (Helen Lawson)

›
Some time ago, I received a mail from Belgium about a hitherto unrecorded portrait by Charles Shannon depicting a lady in a striped shirt. I...
Wednesday, July 30, 2025

730. Drawings for Unrecorded Histories (5)

›
The sheet containing the five sketches for the illustrations in Unrecorded Histories  (British Museum collection) does not include one for t...
Wednesday, July 23, 2025

729. Drawings for Unrecorded Histories (4)

›
The second story in Unrecorded Histories (1933) is called 'A Morning in Spring' and takes place on the day Caesar was assassinated i...
Wednesday, July 16, 2025

728. Drawings for Unrecorded Histories (3)

›
The only surviving moving images of Charles Ricketts show him quickly closing his mouth when he laughed to prevent the viewer from seeing hi...