It was in February, 1885, that I entered into negotiations, with Mr. Harry Furniss, for illustrating the book. Most of the substance of both Volumes was then in existence in manuscript: and my original intention was to publish the whole story at once. In September, 1885, I received from Mr. Furniss the first set of drawings—the four which illustrate “Peter and Paul” (see the incidents 1, 2, 3 and 4): in November, 1886, I received the second set—the three which illustrate the Professor’s song about the “little man” who had “a little gun” (In Vol. II chapter 17, drawings 1, 2, 3): and in January, 1887, I received the third set—the four which illustrate the “Pig-Tale.”
So we went on, illustrating first one bit of the story, and then another, without any idea of sequence. And it was not till March, 1889, that, having calculated the number of pages the story would occupy, I decided on dividing it into two portions, and publishing it half at a time. This necessitated the writing of a sort of conclusion for the first Volume: and most of my Readers, I fancy, regarded this as the actual conclusion, when that Volume appeared in December, 1889. At any rate, among all the letters I received about it, there was only one which expressed any suspicion that it was not a final conclusion. This letter was from a child. She wrote “we were so glad, when we came to the end of the book, to find that there was no ending-up, for that shows us that you are going to write a sequel.”
It may interest some of my Readers to know the theory on which this story is constructed. It is an attempt to show what might possibly happen, supposing that Fairies really existed; and that they were sometimes visible to us, and we to them; and that they were sometimes able to assume human form: and supposing, also, that human beings might sometimes become conscious of what goes on in the Fairy-world—by actual transference of their immaterial essence, such as we meet with in “Esoteric Buddhism.”
I have supposed a Human being to be capable of various psychical states, with varying degrees of consciousness, as follows:—
(a) the ordinary state, with no consciousness of the presence of Fairies;
(b) the “eerie” state, in which, while conscious of actual surroundings, he is also conscious of the presence of Fairies;
(c) a form of trance, in which, while unconscious of actual surroundings, and apparently asleep, he (i.e. his immaterial essence) migrates to other scenes, in the actual world, or in Fairyland, and is conscious of the presence of Fairies.
I have also supposed a Fairy to be capable of migrating from Fairyland into the actual world, and of assuming, at pleasure, a Human form; and also to be capable of various psychical states, viz.
(a) the ordinary state, with no consciousness of the presence of Human beings;
(b) a sort of “eerie” state, in which he is conscious, if in the actual world, of the presence of actual Human beings; if in Fairyland, of the presence of the immaterial essences of Human beings.
I will here tabulate the passages, in both Volumes, where abnormal states occur.
| Historian’s Locality and State | Other Characters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vol. I | ||||
| In train | c | Chancellor. (b). | ||
| do. | c | |||
| do. | c | |||
| At lodgings | c | |||
| On beach | c | |||
| At lodgings | c | S. and B. (b). Professor. | ||
| In wood | b | Bruno. (b). | ||
| do. sleepwalking | c | S. and B. (b). | ||
| Among ruins | c | do. (b). | ||
| do. dreaming | a | |||
| do. sleepwalking | c | S. B. and Professor in Human form. | ||
| In street | b | |||
| At station, etc. | b | S. and B. (b). | ||
| In garden | c | S. B. and Professor. (b). | ||
| On road, etc. | a | S. and B. in Human form. | ||
| In street, etc. | a | |||
| In wood | b | S. and B. (b). | ||
| Vol. II | ||||
| In garden | b | S. and B. (b). | ||
| On road | b | do. (b). | ||
| do. | b | do. in Human form. | ||
| do. | b | do. (b). | ||
| In drawing-room | a | do. in Human form. | ||
| do. | c | do. (b). | ||
| In smoking-room | c | do. (b). | ||
| In wood | b | do. (a); Lady Muriel (b). | ||
| At lodgings | c | |||
| do. | c | |||
| do. | b | |||
In the Preface to Vol. I., I gave an account of the origination of some of the ideas embodied in the book. A few more such details may perhaps interest my Readers:—
I. The very peculiar use, here made of a dead mouse, comes from real life. I once found two very small boys, in a garden, playing a microscopic game of “Single-Wicket.” The bat was, I think, about the size of a tablespoon; and the utmost distance attained by the ball, in its most daring flights, was some 4 or 5 yards. The exact length was of course a matter of supreme importance; and it was always carefully measured out (the batsman and the bowler amicably sharing the toil) with a dead mouse!
I. The two quasi-mathematical Axioms, quoted by Arthur at chapter 18 of Vol. I, (“Things that are greater than the same are greater than one another,” and “All angles are equal”) were actually enunciated, in all seriousness, by undergraduates at a University situated not 100 miles from Ely.
II. Bruno’s remark (“I can, if I like, etc.”) was actually made by a little boy.
II. So also was his remark (“I know what it doesn’t spell.”) And his remark (“I just twiddled my eyes, etc.”) I heard from the lips of a little girl, who had just solved a puzzle I had set her.
II. Bruno’s soliloquy (“For its father, etc.”) was actually spoken by a little girl, looking out of the window of a railway-carriage.
II. The remark, made by a guest at the dinner-party, when asking for
