English Fairy Tales

Flora Annie Steel (1847-1929) was the author of more than thirty books, most of which were novels describing Anglo-Indian life during the British Raj. She moved to India with her husband in 1867 and lived there for twenty-two years. Steel had a strong interest in traditional Indian culture and folk tales, and was a contemporary of John Lockwood Kipling, Rudyard Kipling's father, with whom she worked to encourage local arts and crafts.

Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) was one of the leading figures from the Golden Age of British book illustration. He had an ornate pen-and-ink style, which was sometimes paired with subtle watercolours, and many of his books were published as de luxe limited editions. His reputation was founded after he illustrated Washington Irving's Rip van Winkle in 1905, followed by Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens for J. M. Barrie in 1906.