“The story which runs through and makes up the bulk of this book is my own. The intention has been, however, to make it conform to the laws governing certain beings commonly regarded in this country as mythical, as those laws are revealed in the folk-lore of many peoples, and particularly of Irish people. Almost every incident in which the fairies are concerned might occur, and very many of them do actually occur, in Irish folk-lore. But in a real folk-tale there are usually only two or three, or, at any rate, only a few, of the characteristic incidents, while this story attempts to combine many of them.
The shorter stories wherewith the main story is interspersed are all, to the best of my information and belief, genuine Irish folk-tales. I have told them in my own way, of course. I have sometimes condensed and sometimes elaborated them, but I have seldom, if ever, I think, materially changed their substance.” (from the introduction, p.xi)
- Title: Fairies and Folk of Ireland
- Author: William Henry Frost
- Illustrator: Sydney Richmond Burleigh
- Publisher: Charles Scribner’s Sons
- Place: New York
- Year: 1900
- Edition: First Edition
- Length: 290pp
- Dimensions: 5” x 7.5” 1.36”
- Condition: The original green cloth-covered boards are in fair condition—intact, speckled with yellow spots, tanned to a light tobacco color on the spine, and worn and frayed about the edges. The engraved title and author on the front cover shine with aged gilding. The gilt titles on the spine are significantly faded but still visible. A subtly printed illustration of an elf/gnome/being resting on a hill with their chin in their hand is just visible on the front cover. Two pink streaks, possibly highlighter, run down the back cover. The binding has come slightly loose. The first endpaper after the front pastedown is missing. A large crack runs down the hinge of the front pastedown, and a slightly larger one runs down the hinge of the back pastedown. Foxing of varying degrees runs throughout the text block. There is some soiling and some pencil marks as well as some small folds and tears. An inscription in black ink sits on the front pastedown.