flower fairy

Flower Fairy

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.

flower fairy

Seeds of talent

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.

flower fairy

Royal approval

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.

Fairies and other friends

flower fairy

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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