Charles Ricketts was an illustrator, book designer, publisher, painter, sculptor, stage designer, author, art critic, art advisor, and art collector--truly a Renaissance man. He remained aloof from the artistic movements of his era, and intensely disliked Post-Impressionism, but demonstrated knowledge and appreciation of the Old Masters, from earliest Greek to the Twentieth Century (especially the Italian Renaissance). He was an enthusiastic talker, intense and joyful in his approach to his life and his art. His friends found him noble and generous. He was so well known that a popular light blue commercial dye was named for him, "Ricketts blue."

1882  Studied wood engraving in Kennington, met Charles Haselwood Shannon, his life long friend and companion.

1889-1897 Published five irregular issues of The Dial, one of the most exotic Fin de Siecle journals ever created. Literary contributions came from "Michael Field," a pseudonym of the female poets Edith Cooper and Katherine Bradley.

1891 Ricketts designed all of Oscar Wilde's first editions.

1894-1903 Established the VALE PRESS which produced works by classic and contemporary authors.

1902 Began painting in oils, and produced three scholarly volumes on art, including The Prado and its Masterpieces.

1906 Began designing theater sets, the first to incorporating the proscenium arch into set designs, and demonstrating a great love for curtains and draperies.

1923 Became Art Advisor to the National Gallery of Canada to which position he was officially appointed in 1927.

1. All for Art: The Ricketts and Shannon Collection Exhibition. Selected and Catalog ed by Joseph Darracott. Fitzwilliam Museum. Cambridge 9 October-3 December 1979. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. press, 1979. (HUM N 5247 R5 C35 1979)

2. Barclay, Michael Richard. Catalog of the Works of Charles Ricketts, R.A. from the Collection of Gordon Bottomley. Stroud, Glos.: Catalpa press Ltd, 1985. (N6797 R5 A4 1985)

3. Calloway, Stephen. Charles Ricketts, Subtle and  Fantastic Decorator. London: Thames and Hudson, 1979. (HUM N 6797 R5 A4 1979)

4. Charles Ricketts R.A.: Sixty-Five Illustrations. Intr. by T. Sturge Moore. London: Cassell & Co., Ltd, 1933. (N 6797 R5 M66 1933)

5. Self-Portrait Taken from the Letters & Journals of Charles Ricketts, R.A. Coll. and comp. by T. Sturge Moore. Ed. by Cecil lewis. London: Peter Davies, 1939 (N6797 R5 A2 1939)

West Exhibit Case (Left to Right:):

Shakespeare's Heroines. London: British Broadcasting Company, 1926. (SpC PR 2991 S5) Included as an example of stage designs by Ricketts.

Troy. by Humbert Wolfe. London: Faber & Gwyer, 1928. (Strozier, PR6045. O62 T783 1928) Included as a very rare color illustration and a very rare eidtion of Wolfe's poem.

The Prado and its Masterpieces. Westminster, A. Constable, 1903. (SpC *oversize N3450R6 1903) Included for it's importance in art criticism. One of 3 such works by Ricketts.

Poems Dramatic and Lyrical by Warren Lord De Tabley. London: E. Mathres and John Lane. 1893. (SpC PR4540 P6 1893). Included as an example of Ricketts' control of his art.

Michael Field by Charles Ricketts. Edinburgh: Tragara Press, 1976. (SpC PR4699 F5 Z77 1976) Included as a reprint of a very interesting work on two women poets who collaboratred under the pseudonym Michael Field. Ricketts was a great friend and admirer of their work, and wrote this piece.

East Exhibit Case (Left to right):

Epicurus, Leontion and Termissa. London: Sold by Hacon and Ricketts, 1896. (Spc 828 L261e) Included as example of fine printers work--a very rare limited edition designed and produced by Ricketts.

A Defense of the Revival of Printing. <n.d.> Ballantine press, 1899. (SpC Z232 V25 R53) Included for its fine tooled leather binding and felt-lined slipcase. Designed and written by Ricketts.

Oscar Wilde, Recollections by Charles Ricketts. Bloomsbury: London: the Nonesuch Press, 1932. (Strozier Sbsmt PR5823 R5) Included as an extraordinary example of fine binding from a very important press. Ricketts designed the binding.

Poems of Thirty Years by Gordon Bottomley. London: Constable: 1925. (SpC Shaw PR6003 O67 P6) Included as an example of a binding designed by Ricketts.

The Rowley Poems of Thomas Chatterton... London: Hacon & Ricketts 1898. (SpC Shaw PR3340 A5 S7 1898) Included as an example of fine printing and fine typography. Designed and produced by Ricketts.

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