"In Victorian England, the possibility of a parallel realm alive with fairies, elves and other ethereal creatures preoccupied the minds of the general public. Today's fairies are often portrayed as twee childhood daydreams, but during the later part of the 19th century faerieland was a very adult preoccupation and, at times, verged on the sinister. Far from benign, nature sprites were often used as explanation for the unexplained, wreaked havoc on households and conducted themselves according to their own particular non-human logic. Looking for faeries brings together more than 160 extraordinary works that reflect upon the imagination and extraordinary legacy of the Victorian fairy tradition."--Publisher website.