2: Moonlit Elf on Hercules-Beetle. Fairy on Humming-bird. c1905

by Evans, Edmund

Fairyland Moonlight Messengers antique prints. Fairy Queen's Messengers. Elf on Beetle, Fairy on Bird. Fairy Land Moonlight Messengers: Elf and Fairy.

Richard Doyle's wood-drawn engravings, colour-printed by Edmund Evans for William Allingham's In Fairyland published in London c1905. From a family of talented artists and gifted with inate humour, from an early age Richard Doyle (1824-1883), drew juvenalia - children's subjects. He loved drawing fairies.

One of the finest colour-printers in London from around 1860, Edmund Evans (1826-1905) was highly regarded as an illustrator of children's toy books, picture books and book covers. His particular skill was in the mixing of colours for the print impressions - rather than just printing successive layers of individual colour.

This pair of small engravings is from a full page.
Image sizes are around 80 x 110 mm (3 1/8 x 4 1/4 inches) and 110 x 125mm (4 1/4 x 5  inches).
(The upper image is slightly soiled and has a faint crease. Price reduced.)