THE COUNTERPANE FAIRY: Introduction
Skip the intro, go right to the Book!
THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE
When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay
To keep me happy all the day.
And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;
And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.
I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.
-Robert Louis Stevenson (from "A Child's Garden of Verses")
Once upon a time, a hundred years ago, a book was written and published. Children all over read and enjoyed it. So much so that finding a copy of this book is now next to impossible. But those children, now adults, would love to read their favorite book once more.
And then, an avid reader, whose mother was one of those children, discovered the book. And since she already knew how to use the internet, this reader decided that all children everywhere (and of all ages) should have access to this wonderful work of art.
And so, consulting copyright law first, the reader typed in the words of the book, and scanned in images from the fifteenth printing. And the reader put the words into HTML and made it look as pretty as possible, and as much as possible like the original book.
And here you are, at the reader's page, devoted to the book The Counterpane Fairy. If you are new to the book, read and enjoy, and if you are visiting an old friend, welcome home, I hope I made it as cozy as the original.
THE COUNTERPANE FAIRY
All the words, all the story, all the fun.
Last updated March 14th 1999.
The Counterpane Fairy was first published by E. P. Dutton and Co in 1898. It went into at least 15 printings. It was written and illustrated by Katharine Pyle, the sister of well known artist and writer Howard Pyle.
Printing History:
First Printing ..... February, 1898
Second Printing ..... June, 1899
Third Printing ..... January, 1902
Fourth Printing ..... August, 1902
Fifth Printing ..... September, 1905
Sixth Printing ..... July, 1908
Seventh Printing ..... July, 1910
Eighth Printing ..... November, 1912
Ninth Printing ..... August, 1914
Tenth Printing ..... December, 1915
Eleventh Printing ..... November, 1917
Twelfth Printing ..... September, 1919
Thirteenth Printing ..... August, 1921
Fourteenth Printing ..... June, 1923
Fifteenth Printing ..... March, 1925