Sharing lodging in Chagford on the edge of Dartmoor, Lee and Froud spent nine months researching, illustrating and writing the book. Inspired by the success of the 1977 Dutch-authored book Gnomes, Ballentine recruited the two British illustrators Brian Froud and Alan Lee to produce a similar tome about fairies as a follow up to Gnomes (a third book, Giants, was published following Faeries).
The idea for the book came from New York publisher Ian Ballantine. In total, the book contains 185 illustrations, 147 in full colour. Included amongst Lee and Froud's text are Celtic legends and ballads about faeries, as well as excerpts from poems about faeries by poets such as William Butler Yeats and Christina Rossetti. Although the book's historical information covers folklore from around the world, most of the facts, poetry and literature of faeries come from France, England, Scotland and Ireland. It also gives in-universe advice on where faeries are most likely to be found, how to ward off faerie spells, when it is especially dangerous to come across faeries, and the ecology of faery-plant interactions. The book's contents include information about faerie archaeology, history, characteristics and customs, a geography of Faerieland, and a catalogue of faerie types. Spelled in the archaic fashion, the title faeries refers not just to fairies, but encompasses a wide range of mythological creatures including goblins, dwarves, pixies, elves, leprechauns, ogres, boggarts, banshees, mermaids and selkies. Reviewers praised the authors' illustrations and depth of research, while some criticized the book's writing style for not clearly separating fact from fiction regarding the book's mythical subject matter. The book received a mixed critical reception from news sources and library trade publications. As of 2003, the book had sold more than five million copies. Faeries has since been translated into at least nine other languages, and in 1981 was adapted into an animated television special of the same name. It reached number four on the New York Times Best Seller list. in the United States and Souvenir Press in the United Kingdom.
The book was first published in 1978 by Harry N. An illustrated compendium of faerie mythology, legends and folklore, the book explores the history, customs and habitat of faeries in the manner of a field guide, complete with hand annotations. Faeries is a book written and illustrated by English artists Brian Froud and Alan Lee.
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