Doctor Faustus, Vale Press

[Vale Press] Doctor Faustus. Marlow, Christopher (1564-1593); Edited by Thomas Sturge Moore

London: Vale & Ballantyne Press For Hacon and Ricketts, 1903. Illustrated by Charles Ricketts (1866-1931). Limited Edition. A Very Good Hardcover.

This play was produced to benefit The Romantic Stage Players, a group of amateur performers led by Thomas Sturge Moore, Lawrence Binyon and W. B. Yeats. Sold by Hacon & Ricketts. Limited to 310 copies. Designed by Charles Ricketts (1866-1931). Seen through the press by John Masefield.


Green cloth with blind-stamped geometric design; Gilt stamped spine title. Printed in the Avon Type on lighter paper with the Mermaid watermark; Printed in a uniform manner as the Press’s Shakespeare using the border from the Tragedies.

The bindings are tight and square. Text clean, light even toning. Moderate shelf handling wear. Spine has age-darkening with Free endpages toned as is typical. Preliminary leaves unopened. 8vo; 9.5 inches tall; (12) blank, li, (1) blank, colophon, (13) blank.

Very Good / No Dust Jacket As Issued. Item #014366

The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to simply as Doctor Faustus, is an Elizabethan tragedy by Christopher Marlowe, based on German stories about the title character Faust. It was probably written in 1592 or 1593, shortly before Marlowe’s death.