(Doyle, Richard) illustrator. IN FAIRYLAND: A SERIES OF PICTURES FROM THE ELF-WORLD by Richard Doyle; with a poem by William Allingham. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1875. SECOND EDITION. Folio - 15-1/4" x 10-15/16". AEG. Green cloth covered boards with border, decoration and lettering stamped in gilt to front cover, decoration stamped in gilt to spine, and border blind-stamped to back cover, with minor shelf wear for what is truly a superior copy of the book. Plain endpapers with neat gift inscription dated Christmas 1903 on verso of FFEP. [5], [1-2] 3-31 leaves. A sumptuous presentation of Richard Doyle's series of pictures which show his vision of a world inhabited by elves and fairies. William Allingham was commissioned by the publisher to write verses to accompany Doyle's pictures; the resulting poem was entitled "A Forest in Fairyland"; the book is illustrated with a black and white title-page drawing and sixteen plates engraved and printed in color by Edmund Evans; light spotting to the back of frontispiece plate but with no other defects or flaws of any sort internally. Laid in is a handwritten note dated Easter 1923 to another lucky recipient of the book in which the note's writer, one "Great Aunt Constance", writes that in spring they see the fairies "busy painting the flowers, teaching the birds to sing, scolding those who do it out of tune, making lambs play, and helping everyone to love one another"; a wonderful note accompanying an equally wonderful book. The condition of the book is NEAR FINE. # 000771