Author: Andrew Lang. Introduction by Joan Aiken. Illustrated by Charles van Sandwyk.
Title: The Blue Fairy Book.
Publisher: London, The Folio Society, 2003. First Folio Society edition, first printing, with no additional printing statement on the copyright page.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 10" x 7.5".
Pages: xvii-371 pages.
Binding: Fine original publisher's blue pictorial buckram binding, elaborately blocked in gilt and colors with a beautiful design by Charles van Sandwyk to the front board and spine. The binding is fresh, bright, and very well preserved. Protected in a removable mylar cover. Housed in the original blue slipcase in near fine condition, with only light and scarce scuffing.
Content: Fine content. Pages are clean, bright, and tightly bound. No ownership marks. Printed on Caxton wove paper and bound in full buckram, as stated on the colophon page. A beautiful and very well preserved copy.
Illustrations: Beautifully illustrated throughout with full-page color plates and numerous decorations by Charles van Sandwyk, including the color frontispiece and charming black and white fairy decorations.

Estimate: (USD 300–350).

The book: A beautiful First Folio Society Edition, first printing, of The Blue Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, introduced by Joan Aiken, and magnificently illustrated by Canadian artist Charles van Sandwyk.

First published in 1889, The Blue Fairy Book was the first and most famous volume in Andrew Lang's celebrated series of color fairy books. It gathers some of the best-loved traditional tales from European, Arabian, and Scandinavian sources, including Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, Beauty and the Beast, Puss in Boots, Hansel and Gretel, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and many others.

This Folio Society edition was first issued in 2003 and became the first volume in the publisher's beloved series of Lang fairy books newly illustrated by contemporary artists. The first printing sold out almost immediately and was quickly reprinted, making the true 2003 first printing especially desirable to collectors of the series and of Charles van Sandwyk's work.

The volume contains a rich selection of classic tales: The Bronze Ring; Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess; East of the Sun and West of the Moon; The Yellow Dwarf; Little Red Riding Hood; The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood; Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper; Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp; The Tale of a Youth Who Set Out to Learn What Fear Was; Rumpelstiltskin; Beauty and the Beast; The Master Maid; Why the Sea Is Salt; The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots; Felicia and the Pot of Pinks; The White Cat; The Water-lily, The Gold-spinners; The Terrible Head; The Story of Pretty Goldilocks; The History of Whittington; The Wonderful Sheep; Little Thumb; The Forty Thieves; Hansel and Gretel; Snow-White and Rose-Red; The Goose-girl; Toads and Diamonds; Prince Darling; Blue Beard; Trusty John; The Brave Little Tailor; A Voyage to Lilliput; The Princess on the Glass Hill; The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou; The History of Jack the Giant-killer; The Black Bull of Norroway; and The Red Etin.

Among these stories is The Terrible Head, Lang's own retelling of the Greek myth of Perseus and the Gorgon, showing how the collection reaches beyond fairy tales alone into myth, folklore, wonder tale, and literary adaptation.

This edition is especially desirable for Charles van Sandwyk's magical visual interpretation. His dragons, fair maidens, goblins, talking creatures, ornamental vines, delicate lettering, and mischievous fairy figures recall the spirit of the Golden Age of Illustration while remaining unmistakably his own. The result is one of the most enchanting modern Folio Society fairy books.

The editor: Andrew Lang (1844–1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, folklorist, classicist, and literary critic. He is best remembered today for his series of fairy books, beginning with The Blue Fairy Book in 1889. These volumes brought together stories from many cultures and traditions, helping preserve and popularize fairy tales for generations of English-speaking readers. Lang's editorial work played an important role in shaping the modern literary reception of folklore and fairy tales.

The introducer: Joan Aiken (1924–2004) was a celebrated British writer best known for her children's books and imaginative fiction, including The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Her introduction to this Folio Society edition links Lang's nineteenth-century fairy world with the continuing vitality of storytelling for modern readers.

The illustrator: Charles van Sandwyk is a Canadian artist, writer, and illustrator whose work is beloved for its delicate line, whimsical imagination, and deep affection for the natural and magical worlds. His illustrations often evoke the charm of Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, and Beatrix Potter, while remaining entirely distinctive. His work for The Blue Fairy Book is among the most admired modern interpretations of Lang's fairy tales and helped establish the Folio Society's illustrated Rainbow Fairy Books as highly collectible editions.