HAND AND SOUL

London: Printed at the Ballantyne Press for Hacon & Ricketts [i. e., Vale Press], 1899. ONE OF 210 COPIES on paper (and 10 on vellum). 150 x 117 mm. (5 7/8 x 4 5/8"). 44, [4] pp.
VERY PRETTY ROSY BROWN MOROCCO, GILT IN AN ARTS AND CRAFTS DESIGN, covers quartered by gilt tendrils emanating from a central four-pointed star, these blossoming into tulips that frame the cover, raised bands, spine compartments with tulip sprig and gilt lettering, turn-ins framed in gilt with spray of five tulips at each corner, moss green watered silk pastedowns and endleaves, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. Paragraphs marked with small leaves, two five-line white-vine initials, and two full woodcut grapevine borders, all designed by Charles Ricketts. Printed in red and black. Ricketts, p. xxvi; Tomkinson, p. 167. Joints showing just minor wear, a small scattering of tiny dark spots on rear cover, otherwise very fine.

Offered here in a floral Arts and Crafts binding, this is the very appealing Vale Press edition of Rossetti's Medieval-inspired short story. Originally published in the inaugural January 1850 issue of the Pre-Raphaelite journal "The Germ," "Hand and Soul" follows the fictional 13th-century Italian painter Chiaro dell' Erma through his art and spirituality. One of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, our author, the poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-82), was an early and profound influence on William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, and through them on the Arts & Crafts Movement that, among other things, revived letterpress printing. The Vale Press was a direct extension of that movement. Founded in 1896 by Charles Ricketts, its goal was to promote beauty and an artistic sentiment in printing. The press released nearly 50 titles issued during its eight-year life, and both its impressive output and considerable artistic success can be attributed to the fact that Ricketts, who was remarkably skilled as a designer, painter, and illustrator, was in control of every facet of the operation. Cave tells us that the Vale Press books were "far truer to the spirit of fifteenth-century printing than Kelmscott work," entirely fitting the Medieval revival sentiments so dear to Rossetti and evident in the text. The binding, while unsigned, is obviously the work of a talented craftsperson; its composition, with effective use of simple gilt fillets combined with a lively floral border, is reminiscent of the designs of Cobden-Sanderson..