The Fairies' Tree by Ola Cohn, in collaboration with Norman Davies
Geelong, H. Tatlock Miller, The Book Nook, 1932.
Quarto, 64 pages with 2 pages of sheet music by Tom King and numerous decorations and 10 full-page illustrations by Marjorie Wood (who also supplied the four-colour cover artwork).
Flush-cut plain card covers with the attached overlapping colour-pictorial dustwrapper (now a little tanned on the spine and edges, with two tiny closed tears); an excellent copy (internally in fine condition).
'I have carved a tree in the Fitzroy Gardens for you and the Fairies; but mostly for the Fairies, and those who believe in them, for they will understand how necessary it is to have a Fairy Sanctuary - a place that is sacred and safe as a home should be for all living creatures. Therefore I dedicate this book to Children and Fairies, as it is to them I owe my inspiration' (the dedication in the book, dated 23 May 1932). 'From 1931 to May 1934 - Victoria's Centenary Year - Miss Cohn worked on the delightful likenesses of fairies, dwarfs, gnomes, a marvelous jackass, koalas, flying foxes and a host of typical Australian animals and birds. She used all the natural irregularities and curves to transform the tree trunk into a thing of beauty' (Fitzroy Gardens website). The carvings were done 'on the stump of one of the original Red Gum trees in the Fitzroy Gardens, well over 300 years in age', long after the tree had died. The carved tree trunk has been conserved, and survives to this day.
Item #140634
Price (AUD):
$600.00