This captivating image comes from a collection of 12 books, known as Lang’s Fairy Books (or Andrew Lang’s Fairy Books of Many Colours). Compiled by Andrew Lang, illustrated by Henry Justice Ford and published under the editorial direction of Lang’s wife, Leonora Alleyne, the books were a sensation among British schoolchildren and were sold all around the world.
Each book in the series was named for the colour of its featured fairy, and this Olive Fairy notebook reproduces the front cover of that book’s first edition. Lang was a Scottish poet, novelist and anthropologist who specialized in collecting folk and fairy tales from around the globe. Published in 1907, his Olive Fairy Book includes stories such as “The Golden-Headed Fish” and “The Prince and the Princess in the Forest” gathered from places like Turkey, India, Denmark, Armenia and the Sudan. H.J Ford’s Olive Fairy illustration offers a botanical and almost insectile quality that gives her a sense of scientific realism as well as fey possibility. May the Olive Fairy bring a hint of vintage whimsy to your writings.
