The Vale Press operated from 1896 to 1904, though its founder, Charles Ricketts, had worked as a book designer and illustrator for commercial publishers since the 1880's. The print shop for the Vale Press was in fact housed in one of these commercial establishments, the Ballantyne Press, where a handpress was set aside for Ricketts's exclusive use. Ricketts designed three typefaces – Vale, Avon, and King's – for the Vale Press, the costs being underwritten by his business partner Llewellyn Hacon. Ricketts ultimately threw the punches and matrices for these typefaces into the Thames and melted down the type itself, to keep it out of the hands of lesser book designers.

Special Collections has the following items associated with the Vale Press:

• Ricketts, Charles. A Bibliography of the Books Issued by Hacon & Ricketts. 1904. Z232 .V25 1904

Special Collections has the following secondary resources relating to the Vale Press:

• Ricketts, Charles. A Bibliography of the Books Issued by Hacon & Ricketts. The Ballantyne Press, 1904. Z232 .V25 1904