In Fairyland. Prince and Grasshopper Jousting, Butterfly Dancing. c1905.

by Evans, Edmund

Antique print. Fairy Prince and friends playing - Elves and Insect tug-of-war, Fairy, Butterfly and Flower, Jousting on Insects, Elf and Beetle watching Fairy Prince asleep in the shade of a mushroom.

Delightful group of fanciful fairy activities imaginatively drawn by Richard Doyle for Edmund Evans's colour-printed wood engravings for William Allingham's In Fairyland published in London c1905.

Gifted with inate humour, from an early age Richard Doyle (1824-1883), drew juvenalia (children's subjects) - and excelled in drawing fairies. The most gifted of a family of artists 'Dickie Doyle' illustrated his first book, Home for the Holidays when he was 12. From 1840 he collaborated with prolific humorous illustrator John Leech (1817-1864), and became most proficient in wood engraving after lessons from Punch illustrator, Joseph Swain (1820-1909). 

Working in London from around 1860, Edmund Evans (1826-1905) was one of the finest colour-printers, 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.