A Fairy Tale for Weary People,
Ronald Firbank was 19 years old when this, his first book, was published — so states Wikipedia. I had never heard of him but could not resist the title.
The book is quite an accomplishment and the pictures by Albert Buhrer are nice, too. Since the covers of the book were in terrible condition, I have had to remove the defects as much as I am able with my poor photo-editing skills. The cover is the only Illustration by Albert Buhrer that showed color in the image (which is in black and white in the Title Pages). I matched this color as closely as I could.
Curiously, Mr. Firbank uses a word, bercing, that is defined in no dictionary, on the internet or otherwise, that I could find. After my recent attempts to study French, I now realize that he has made a new word, a neologism, from berceau, which is French for cradle, or crib. Thus, “cradling” makes perfect sense in the text.
This book is suitable for children and adults. It is more intricate, and subtly so, than is usual for a fairy tale. The young age of the author adds to my sense of awe at the power at his ability.
The cover is below, and NEXT then takes you to Odette. Let her story berce you to sleep!