Elves and Fairies
Bedtime Stories Collector's Edition Picture Book Folklore Fantasy Fairy Tale Australian Illustration Victorian/Edwardian Art
Collectors and parents alike hunt for the 1999 Hachette Australia hardcover of “Elves and Fairies” because it packages the golden-age work of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite—Australia’s most celebrated fairy-tale illustrator—inside a generous 292 mm tall, 80-page gallery. Every spread features her famously delicate color plates of gossamer-winged sprites, moonlit toadstool rings and mischievous elves, reproduced on high-grade paper that still glows a quarter-century after publication. The oversized format lets the intricate ink-and-wash details breathe, turning bedtime reading into an immersive art experience that captivates toddlers, school-age fantasy lovers and adult collectors of Victorian/Edwardian illustration.
Annie R. Rentoul’s gentle rhyming text weaves classic folklore motifs—wishes granted at dawn, secret revels under fern fronds, guardians of the four seasons—into lyrical read-aloud verses that never outstay their welcome. Because the vocabulary spans from simple nursery cadences to richer descriptive language, the book grows with the child: a soothing lullaby for two-year-olds, an early reader for primary grades, and later a nostalgic keepsake for teens and adults who appreciate Edwardian fairy lore. The durable stitched binding and protective dust jacket (light foxing noted only on the underside) mean the volume can be read and re-read without the page-browning typical of 1990s picture books.
This particular copy is clean, tight, and free of inscriptions or dog-ears—an increasingly scarce condition for the Australian first printing. At just 600 g it mails affordably, yet on the shelf it has the visual heft of a coffee-table art book. Whether you are gifting a first edition to a fairy-obsessed child, curating a vintage illustration collection, or sourcing story-time magic that predates digital animation, “Elves and Fairies” delivers heirloom charm that modern reprints simply cannot replicate.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
Buy Now