At the Pittsburgh Dopefest, we ventured into Barnes and Noble, where Medea’s Child spotted a lovely compilation entitled Lady Cotthingham’s Pressed Fairy Book.
All I can say is: What the HELL? It was like a book where a woman traps poor innocent fairies, and some not so innocent evil NAKED FAIRIES (hey, cook band name…Evil Naked Fairies)
Anyhoo, Spinne bought a copy for his girlfriend-how’d she like it? Medea-did you end up buying it?
**OH MY GOD DO THEY HAVE ANOTHER COPY OF THE BOOK!?!?!?!
PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEGETMEONEOHPLEEEEEASE.**
:regaining composure:
Ahem.
Allow me to disentagle myself.
Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book was out of print for the longest time, and is a wonderful book by Terry Jones (of ‘Monty Python’ fame), done as a parody of the “Gnomes” craze of just prior to its publication.
Please tell me it is back in print.
Aaaaaah!
God, that was a weird book, but I loved it! It belonged to a friend in Virginia. I read the whole thing on evening and wanted a copy of my own. Thank you for reminding me; maybe I’ll go to B&N tonight and get it.
~Mag
Terry Jones and Brian Froud have done a couple of follow ups to that book, incidentally. Look around.
I’ve seen that at both Barnes and Noble and Hot Topic.
I’ve always wanted to get one, but never had the money…
Hmmmm, birthday in two months… Can you say HINT? 
Guinastasia, fret not. I do not, alas, possess a copy of this excellent tome, but was privileged to read a friend’s copy a couple of years ago. Very few fairies died in the making of this book. IIRC the fairies had a means of leaving some kind of ectoplasmic imprint (or some such, don’t quote me) which left an impression but caused no harm to the fairy. In fact, ‘fairy-squishing’ became a very popular fairy olympic sport. Although the book does mention there were a few early fatalities before they got the hang of it.
Also, the story is IMO very sad and bittersweet and not likely to be fully appreciated by children.
Also Also the section at the back containing facsimiles of ACTUAL SQUASHED FAIRY CORPSES, as opposed to ‘ectoplasmic prints’ is firmly sealed.
I always enjoyed that book. Wish I had it. Was my christmas gift to my sister a few years back…she thought it was a hoot as well.
I just went to Barnesandnoble.com and was devestated to see that (truly) it is no longer in print. Going into their used book section, I found that the first edition copies are going upwards of 100 dollars, for ones that haven’t been ravaged by some slobbering faerie worshipper. Ugh. What a let down. I might get one anyway… but only if I can find a good, cheap hardcover. ::sigh::
~Mag
I tell you, this is one messed up book. But I know a few people who own it, and there are many copies around the bookstores here. There’s like 6 or 7 at the B&N here.
Yes I did end up buying it.
It rocks. It’s ill, but it rocks. I’m petting it as I type actually.
The storyline isn’t something I’d have my sisters read. (Yes, my family is that sheltering.) But I’m going to have my mom see it as soon as I can…
I picked one up at Borders in December, sent it as a gift to one of my bestest friends in Dallas. It really is a hoot. I had thought the one I got was a second printing, because I hadn’t seen any for ages either. I guess not. 
If all else fails, just e-mail me, I work at a bookstore and have ordered it for people in the past and am fairly certain I can still get it, and would be more than happy to send it out to anyone who wanted it, if they don’t mind the wait.
A while back, I sent a copy to TubaDiva, who truly appreciated it. I have my own copy, of course. The expression on the fairies’ faces is priceless.
Muwahahaha…I, too, own a copy of this masterpiece…first edition, yet. It was reprinted again recently (last couple of years or so), and there was also a Pressed Fairy Calendar that came out at the same time. Brian Froud (artist) hooked up with Alan Lee to do a book called “Faeries” in the '70’s, which is probably the “sequel” to “Gnomes” (also published in the ‘70’s) that you’re thinking of, screech-owl. I own three copies of that one, I liked it so much. The Pressed Fairy Book is Froud and Jones’ take-off on the story of the Cottingley Fairies hoax, which so suckered Arthur Conan Doyle (actual photographic evidence of the existence of fairies!!). Very cool book. Good luck finding one if you’re hunting…
I might also add, in case anyone’s interested, that Brian Frouds website is http://www.faeries.net A bit of little known (I think) Froud trivia is that his wife Wendy designed Yoda…yep, that Yoda. Small world it is, hmmm?
Lol. Pressed fairies. Sounds like a hoot. I’d never heard of anything like that until I read this thread. Next time I go to Barnes & Noble, I’ll have to check that out. Pressed fairies. Hahahahaha.
Until now, I didn’t know that the book is out of print. It’s been on my “buy list” for ages, after the first time I saw it about 6-7 years ago.
::kicks herself in the ass for not buying it the first time around::
It’s still listed as available within 24 hours at http://www.amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/186205505X/o/qid=982065249/sr=8-1/026-9663443-2506855
It’s listed at http://www.amazon.com as well, but as a “hardcover, may or may not be available, ships in 4-6 weeks if you’re lucky” book.
Gah! I forgot about the Conan Doyle connection. That makes a lot more sense, but there was the “Gnomes” and “Fairies” craze just before the book came out. That’s where I made the connection.
“Pressed Gnomes” - sounds like a rock band or something on the buffet line.
I vote we rename “Potted Meat Food Product” to “Potted Gnome.” You have to admit, it doesn’t sound any worse…