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.