Charles Ricketts, everything for art : selected writings /
Frankel, Nicholas,1962-
Rivendale Press.Publisher.
High Wycombe : Rivendale Press,
2014.
Charles Ricketts (1866-1931) has been called the quintessence of the 1890s.  One of the period's foremost book designers and illustrators, he was eagerly sought after by many of the leading writers and publishers of his day, and he collaborated frequently with Oscar Wilde (among others), for whom he designed numerous books.  Ricketts was an innovator in many other fields too - publishing, fine printing, stage design, jewelry, and sculpture.  - as well as a prolific writer.  Sir Kenneth Clark viewed him as one of the leading art critics of his day, and Rickett's writings on printing and typography vie with those of William Morris in their efforts to raise book design to the status of art.  While Ricketts is well-known for his collaborations, this is the first book to present Ricketts as an intellectual force in his own right.  It demonstrates the breadth of vision driving one of the most important (and neglected) aesthetes of the late-Victorian era, gathering Rickett's writings in the fields of book design, art history, memoir and fiction.  Along with reproductions of over thirty of Rickett's most beautiful designs (eight in colour), it includes full-texts of 'The Unwritten book' (1892), 'Of typography and the harmony of the printed page' (1896), 'A defence of the revival of printing' (1899), 'Beyond the threshold' (1929), and 'Oscar Wilde: Recollections' (1932) - the latter an indispendable and intimate account by one whom Wilde called the 'subtle and fantastic decorator' of his work.  It reveals Ricketts as a nuanced theorist of typography, a decisive figure in the history of printing, a skilled writer of fiction and art criticism, and the careful observer of a period in which he was also a major player.  It will interest all students of the fin-de-siècle, as well as those with specialized interests in book history and design, the visual arts, Oscar Wilde, Michael Field, and the Decadent Movement. -- Publisher's description.
Includes bibliographical refererences (p. 353-354).
List of colour plates -- List of illustrations -- Chronology -- Introduction -- Writings on printing and book design: Of typography and the harmony of the printed pages -- A note on original wood engraving -- A defence of the revival of printing -- Book printing -- Introduction to 'A Bibliography of books issued by Hacon and Ricketts' -- Writings on art: The unwritten book -- William Morris and his influence on the Arts and Crafts -- Prefatory note to 'A catalogue of Mr Shannon's lithographs' -- On Velasquez -- On Rubens -- On Titian -- The tendency of the Venetian School and Titian's influence -- A note on the art of Watteau -- From 'Puvis de Chavannes' -- Outamaro -- Gustave Moreau -- Three essays on Egyptian art: Head of Amenemmēs III -- Head in Serpentine of Amenemmēs III -- Bas-Relief figure of a King in the Ptolemaic Period in blue faience -- On first seeing the pyramids -- On the Hermes of Parxiteles -- Memoirs and recollections: Oscar Wilde: Recollections -- Michael Field -- On Wilde's Salome -- Fiction: From 'The Dial No. 2': Ella the she-bear -- Snow in spring -- From 'Unrecorded histories': A morning in spring -- The new God -- The two peaches -- Beyond the threshold -- Appendices: 1.  "The Vale artists No. 2 - Charles Ricketts" from 'The Sketch' -- 2.  "Mr Charles Ricketts & The Vale Press" (An interview), from 'Bookselling' -- 3.  "The work of Charles Ricketts" by J. W. Gleeson White -- Selected reading.
Charles Ricketts (1866-1931) has been called the quintessence of the 1890s.  One of the period's foremost book designers and illustrators, he was eagerly sought after by many of the leading writers and publishers of his day, and he collaborated frequently with Oscar Wilde (among others), for whom he designed numerous books.  Ricketts was an innovator in many other fields too - publishing, fine printing, stage design, jewelry, and sculpture.  - as well as a prolific writer.  Sir Kenneth Clark viewed him as one of the leading art critics of his day, and Rickett's writings on printing and typography vie with those of William Morris in their efforts to raise book design to the status of art.  While Ricketts is well-known for his collaborations, this is the first book to present Ricketts as an intellectual force in his own right.  It demonstrates the breadth of vision driving one of the most important (and neglected) aesthetes of the late-Victorian era, gathering Rickett's writings in the fields of book design, art history, memoir and fiction.  Along with reproductions of over thirty of Rickett's most beautiful designs (eight in colour), it includes full-texts of 'The Unwritten book' (1892), 'Of typography and the harmony of the printed page' (1896), 'A defence of the revival of printing' (1899), 'Beyond the threshold' (1929), and 'Oscar Wilde: Recollections' (1932) - the latter an indispendable and intimate account by one whom Wilde called the 'subtle and fantastic decorator' of his work.  It reveals Ricketts as a nuanced theorist of typography, a decisive figure in the history of printing, a skilled writer of fiction and art criticism, and the careful observer of a period in which he was also a major player.  It will interest all students of the fin-de-siècle, as well as those with specialized interests in book history and design, the visual arts, Oscar Wilde, Michael Field, and the Decadent Movement. -- Publisher's description.
Provenance: Gift of Nicholas Frankel and the publisher.
Accession No.: G2013/13.
In brown cloth binding, with original dust-jacket.
Ricketts, Charles de Sousy, 1866-1931.
Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900.
Field, Michael.
Vale Press.
Book design.
Private presses
Art criticism.
Decadent literature.
Great Britain High Wycombe.