What's in a Fairy

What indeed?
Not long ago I was looking fondly at an old children's book of mine, an illustrated copy of Enid Blyton's The Folk of the Faraway Tree. One picture in particular caught my eye as it looked very similar to one in book about faeries I had recently bought by Brian Froud and Alan Lee.

The Beautiful Fairy by Georgina Hargreaves from The Folk of the Faraway Tree (1984).

Leanan-Sidhe from Faeries Deluxe Collector's Edition
described and illustrated by Brian Froud and Alan Lee (2010).

It should be noted that the original edition of Faeries was published in 1978 however the collector's edition featured new art and I really couldn't tell you if the picture of Leanan-Sidhe was new or not. According to The Enid Blyton Society the earliest edition of The Folk of the Faraway Tree featuring Hargreaves illustrations was published in 1983.
So which came first? I couldn't tell you. Does it matter? I'm not sure.

In any case I like both these pictures and find it pleasantly spooky that I should end up with both of them on my bookshelf.