SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS AND THE LOVER’S COMPLAIN; THE VALE SHAKESPEARE. (Vale Press). Shakespeare, William. London: sold by Hacon & Ricketts, printed at the Ballantyne Press under the supervision of Charles Ricketts, 1903.
8vo
publisher’s green blind-stamped cloth.
69, (2) pages
First Vale Press edition, first impression. From the Vale Press edition of Shakespeare’s Plays. (Watry, B44/36). Partially unopened. Minor bump to the bottom corner of the front board, else a fine copy. Very scarce. The decorations were designed by Charles Ricketts (1866-1931), a publisher, designer, and wood engraver who readily embraced the printing revival which propagated the ideals of the arts-and-crafts movement: “The novelty of a book, made during the recent revival, lies in the fact that it shows design in each portion of it, from type to paper, and from ‘build’ to decoration. Therein lies the difference between a book so understood and any other modern book printed before 1891.”. Franklin, p. 81; Ransom, p. 437.
