Spritely revelers gather in an enchanted forest. Gossamer-winged creatures serenade mortals. Fantastic goblins hover over an artist, lost in his dreams. Fairy paintings in Victorian England--rich in subject matter €" offered an escape from the grim, everyday life of an industrial society. Drawing on literary inspiration from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as theater, dance, and music, painters such as Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Joseph Paton, Richard Dadd, and John Anster Fitzgerald created a host of little folks who mingled with exquisitely rendered birds, flowers, and insects. More than 100 of their delightful illustrations appear here for use by graphic designers, hobbyists, lovers of fine art, and devotees of enchanting fairy lore.
