The blessed damozel.

Oblong 32mo.

Publisher's binding: half beige paper, frieze of angels and doves in buff and green paper boards designed by Ch. Ricketts, lettered label on flat spine. Slipcase.

Neat typography printed under the supervision of Ch. Ricketts in red & black Vale type, decorated with large orn. initials (5 in red and 2 in black). "Throughout the book, black initials with red type and red initials with black type are juxtaposed on opposite pages, while pages without decorative initials feature text printed in black with stanza numbers and page numbers printed in red" (Watry). Pp. 2-3 are ruled with red fillets. Edition limited to 220 unnumbered copies (incl. 10 on vellum), on of the 210 on Arnold's unbleached hand-made paper. The poem of Rossetti (1828-1882) is reprinted from the second version of The Germ, the magazine in which it was first published in 1850. This poem is a fictional story about an early Italian artist who was inspired by a vision of a woman who bids him to combine the human and the divine in his art. It is the smallest Vale Press book published.
Ref. Watry B21. - Ransom, Vale Press, 21. - Tomkinson, Vale Press, 21. - A collection of books designed by Charles Ricketts. Zurich, L'Art ancien, bulletin 25, 1972, pp. 2-43, n. 42.