1950 Rare Book - The Book of the Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker.
(description)
Author: Poems and Pictures by Cicely Mary Barker.
Title: THE BOOK OF THE FLOWER FAIRIES.
Publisher: London and Glasgow, Blackie & Son Limited, no date, (circa 1950).
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5" X 5.5"
Pages: 92 pages + 72 plates.
Binding: Very good original full-cloth binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) in a good dust jacket (small chips and tears - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight, and clean - as shown, name of a previous owner on the first endpaper - as shown, rare light foxing - as shown). A very clean copy!
Illustrations: Complete with the 72 wonderful and exquisite color plates by Cicely Mary Barker.
Estimate: (USD 300 - USD 500).
The book: Rare and attractive edition with the scarce dust jacket 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.