Lot 152: The Vale Press Parables

[VALE PRESS]

The Parables from the Gospels. London: Printed at the Ballantyne Press [for the Vale Press], 1903. One of 300 copies printed on Arnold handmade paper, plus 10 copies printed on vellum. Original limp vellum, yapped fore-edge, titles to spine in gilt, housed in a chemise and leather-backed slipcase. 8 1/2 x 5 3/4 inches (21.5 x 14,5 cm); lxxxv, [1] pp., with 10 woodcuts by Charles Ricketts. Vellum faintly flecked as usual, light foxing to the endpapers, the text block clean and almost without foxing, a far better than average copy. The Charles Kalbfleisch copy, with his book label.

One of the most elegant books of the press. Kalbfleisch's collection on the Arts of the Book was dispersed at auction in 1944. Ransom, Vale Press, 40.