Flower
Fairy
Post
World War One Britain was enchanted by the charm andtheir
appeal today, over eighty years later, remains as strong as ever.
They
can be found on everything from greetings cards and calendars to
figurines, and their longevity is a credit to the unrivalled
technical skill and artistic imagination of their creator, Cicely
Mary Barker.Cicely, affectionately nicknamed 'Ciskin' by her family,
was born in 1895 in Croydon.
A
frail child who also suffered from epilepsy, her constitution
remained delicate throughout her life. Unable to attend school, she
was taught at home where she spent a great deal of time drawing and
reading.
Cicely
was delighted by the naturalism of the Pre-Raphaelite painters, and,
in common with many early 19th century children, she would have been
familiar with the work of Kate Greenaway, both styles huge influences
on her later illustrations.
Her
father Walter, a seed merchant by trade was an enthusiastic artist,
and recognised Cicely's talent which he
nurtured by enrolling her in The Croydon Art Society at age 13. Her
work showed immense promise and, in 1911, at age 16, she became the
youngest ever person to be t elected a life
member
of the society.
Walter
was also instrumental in her first publication when, in the same
year, he showed some examples of her work to the printer, Raphael
Tuck.
Tuck
bought four illustrations for use on greeting cards, and requested
more. From this point on, Cicely regularly illustrated and wrote the
verse for both cards and magazines, notably titles such as
My Magazine
and
Childs Own.
This
income was soon to become important to the family when they were
devastated by Walter's sudden death in 1913.
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Together
with the Victorians' fascination with fairies and the success of
books such as J.M Barrie's
Peter Pan,
her work proved very
popular
and
she
even included Queen Mary amongst her many admirers.
Surprisingly,
it was not until March 1922 that her first book was commissioned,
when Blackie and Son of London agreed to purchase 24 of her
illustrations with an accompanying verse for each, and for which she
received the sum of £25.
Flower Fairies of the Spring
was to become her first Flower Fairies book when it was finally
published in 1923.
In
general, gauging editions on the Flower Fairy books can be difficult
as the publishers did not date the various issues.
However,
first editions were priced on their dust-jackets at either 1 s or 1
s/6d and any more expensive versions are generally assumed to be
later editions.
Flower
Fairies of the Spring
will also have Tiny Tot's Series' on the front board and, in common
with the other Flower Fairy originals, is a small sextodecimo volume
(or 16mo - around 6 inches tall) in hard cover with pictorial
dust-jacket. Today a very good copy can fetch up to £100.
The book
was very favourably received,with part of its charm being the
delightful mix of realism and fantasy in her illustrations,
underpinned by her attention to natural detail.
The
fairies were all real children from her sister's kindergarten, who
would model for her holding the relevant flower, with only the size
ratio changing.
The
flower itself would be minutely studied and copied faithfully, with
Cicely often enlisting the help of staff at London's Kew Garden to
ensure her work was botanically accurate.
Cicely's
Flower Fairies of the Spring
was followed in 1925 by
Flower Fairies of the Summer,
and
Flower Fairies of the Autumn completed
the first trio of books in 1926, with
each
now worth around £80.
These
three seasonal books came together in 1927 as The
Book of the Flower Fairy Larger than the original volumes and in green boards with a pictorial
dust-jacket, this is a very collectable piece and can realise around
£250 in very good condition.
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Non-Flower
Fairy titles followed, including
The Children's Book of Hymns
(Blackie, 1929) and A
Little Book of Rhymes New and Old (Blackie,
1933), but it was not until 1934 that the series continued, when
A Flower Fairy Alphabet
was published, again by Blackie. With a fairy and verse for each
letter except U and Z, a fine dust-jacketed copy of this charming
collection of 24 illustrations is now worth up to £100.
Fairies
of the Trees,
published in 1940, provided escapism from the austerity of the war
years, as did the following title,
Flower Fairies of the Garden
(Blackie, 1944). With Cicely's popularity even more firmly
established, the penultimate Flower Fairy book,
Flower Fairies of the Wayside,
came out in 1948, with first editions of these three titles often
fetching between £50 and
£60
each in fine condition.
As
with
The Book of the Flower Fairies
in 1927, Blackie brought the
Trees, Garden and Wayside
titles together in a single volume, Fairies
of the Flowers and Trees,
published in 1950.
This
collection, similar in design to the previous collection in green,
gilt-decorated boards, is perhaps the most expensive Cicely Mary
Barker first edition, with a very good to fine copy worth around
£300.
The
eighth and final Flower Fairy book, Flower
Fairies of the Winter,
was compiled posthumously by Blackie in 1985 and completed the
seasonal series, and in the same year all of the original Flower
Fairy titles were re-issued, introducing Cicely's creations to a
whole new generation.
Cicely's
frail health decreased considerably in the later years of her life,
particularly towards the end of the 1960s, and she died in February
1973.
She
left behind a series of perhaps the best loved illustrations of the
last century, whose glimpses into an enchanting and idyllic world and
its magical inhabitants may well ensure that her Flower Fairies
remain enduringly popular and collectable for many years to come, not
just as books but also resin figurines by Border Fine Arts.
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