1940's Rare Book - Cicely Mary Barker - THE BOOK OF THE FLOWER FAIRIES

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Author : Poems and Pictures by Cicely Mary Barker 
Title : THE BOOK OF THE FLOWER FAIRIES
Publisher : London and Glasgow: Blackie & Son Limited, no date, 'War Economy Standard' printed to copyright page, so dates this copy to circa 1940's. 
Size : 8 "X 6 "  
Pages : 92 pages + 72 plates
Dustjacket: Good dustjacket (chips and tears - as shown)  in a protective removable mylar cover  
Binding : Very good near fine full cloth binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed )  
Content : Very good content (bright, tight and clean, some rare light foxing, gift note of a previous owner on first endpaper dated  Christmas 1948) 
Illustrations : Profusely illustrated with 72 colour plates.

The book : Rare and Nice edition with the dustjacket of this exquisite omnibus volume by Cicely Mary Barker including the Flower Fairies of the Spring, Summer, and Autumn.

The author : Cicely Mary Barker (June 28, 1895 - February 16, 1973) was the illustrator who created the famous Flower Fairies, in the shape of ethereal smiling children with butterfly wings. As a child she was greatly influenced by the works of the illustrator Kate Greenaway, whom she assiduously copied in her formative years. Her principal influence, however, which she duly credited, was the artwork of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Cicely was also influenced by the huge popular interest in fairies which developed from the Victorian enthusiasm for fairy stories and was epitomised by the immense popularity of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan in the early part of the 20th century. Published in 1923, Flower Fairies of the Spring was well received by a post-industrial, war-weary public who were charmed by her vision of hope and innocence, which seemed to evoke a less aggressively modern world.