Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Processing History
Biography
Scope and Content
Contributing Institution:
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Title: Charles Ricketts Collection
Creator:
Ricketts, Charles S., 1866-1931
Identifier/Call Number: Ricketts Collection
Physical Description:
3 Linear Feet
4 boxes
Date (inclusive): about 1888-1950
Abstract: This collection contains visual material created by Charles Ricketts, an English printer and artist active in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries.
Physical Location: Clark Library
Language of Material:
English
.
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Clark Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item, Box and Folder number], Charles Ricketts Collection, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University
of California, Los Angeles.
Acquisition Information
Much of this collection was donated to the Clark Library throughout the 1960s by Albert Sperisen (accessions MS.1963.009,
MS.1965.003, MS.1968.009, MS.1968.010, MS.1969.001). Material in accession MS.1961.008 are from the collection of actress
Lillah McCarthy and were purchased by the Clark Library in 1961. Other materials here were purchased individually, or are
of unknown provenance.
Processing History
Processed and described by Katie Duvall, October 2010.
Revised by Rebecca Fenning Marschall, August 2023.
Biography
Charles de Sousy Ricketts was born on October 2, 1866 in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1882, at the age of sixteen, he met his lifelong
partner, artist and lithographer, Charles Haslewood Shannon.
The two lived in London, where together they founded an occasional art journal, The Dial (1889-1897) and designed and illustrated
books, including Daphnis and Chloe (1893) and Hero and Leander (1894). During this period Ricketts also worked for commercial
publishers designing books, including an edition of Oscar Wilde's The Sphinx (1895).
In partnership with wealthy lawyer William Llewellyn Hacon, Ricketts and Shannon ran their own imprint, called the Vale Press,
from 1896-1904. The Vale Press published over eighty works.
After the Vale Press closed, Ricketts focused his energies on painting, sculpture and theater design. He was also a great
connoisseur of art and, with Shannon, developed an extensive personal collection of drawings, paintings, prints and antiquities.
This connoisseurship led to a position as the acting art adviser to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa from 1924-1931.
In 1929, Shannon's brain was damaged in a fall and parts of their art collection had to be sold to pay for Shannon's care.
The financial and emotional strain of Shannon's condition contributed to Rickett's death on October 7, 1931 at his home in
London.
Scope and Content
This collection contains visual material created by Charles Ricketts, an English printer and artist active in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. This collection includes costume designs, original artwork, prints, book designs, and sculpture,
as well as 30 trial proofs of wood engravings created by Ricketts and Charles Haslewood Shannon for their publication of Daphnis
and Chloe.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Drawings (visual works) -- England -- 19th century
Lithography -- England -- 19th century
Woodcuts (prints)
Book design -- England -- 19th century
Costume design -- England -- 19th century