1927 First Edition - Cicely Mary Barker - Summer Songs with Music from "Flower Fairies of the Summer"
(Description)
Author: Barker, Cicely Mary (words & pictures by) & Linnell, Olive (music by).
Title: Summer Songs with Music from "Flower Fairies of the Summer"
Publisher: London and Glasgow: Blackie & Son Limited. no date (First Edition, circa 1927).
Size: 10 " X 7.5 "
Pages: 48 pages with 12 tipped-in colour plates.
Binding: Attractive and very good, near fine original hardcover binding (hinges fine, slightly worn, soiled and scuffed) in a protective removable mylar cover
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean).
Illustrations: Profusely illustrated with 12 tipped-in colour plates.
The book: Rare and very nice First edition of this exquisite volume by Cicely Mary Barker.
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.