Artist Profile

Charles Van Sandwyk

Charles van Sandwyk was born in South Africa and raised in Canada; he taught himself calligraphy and intaglio printing as a teenager. His first self-published book appeared when he was just 20, and won a national award. Since then his work has been archived by the National Library of Canada and treasured by private collectors across the world. Van Sandwyk has produced illustrations for the Folio editions of The Blue Fairy Book, The Wind in the Willows, How to See Fairies (which he both wrote and illustrated) and Alice in Wonderland. A limited edition of Alice in Wonderland, illustrated by Charles van Sandwyk, was published by The Folio Society to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first edition. It sold out rapidly.

Illustrated by Charles Van Sandwyk

How to See Fairies

The inhabitants of the fairy realm are beautifully imagined in Charles van Sandwyk’s tales; exquisitely illustrated and brought together as a collection for the first time by The Folio Society.

The Wind in the Willows

The timeless adventures of Toad, Mole, Ratty and Badger have enchanted children and their parents for more than a century. This is a glorious edition of a children’s classic, with enchanting illustrations by Charles van Sandwyk.

Alice in Wonderland

The Folio Society presents a glorious new edition of Lewis Carroll’s immortal tale, illustrated by acclaimed artist Charles van Sandwyk.

The making of How to see Fairies

How to See Fairies by Charles van Sandwyk transports us to a magical world of innocence.

It’s well known that fairies have a wry sense of humour. They fashion hats from toadstools, nut casings and tiny eggshells, enjoy alfresco tea parties and read up on ‘how to see humans’. It’s a whimsical life matched only by the people who write about them. In How to See Fairies, we meet the inhabitants of the fairy realm, as imagined by the Canadian artist and writer Charles van Sandwyk. ‘When you come to realise that fairies exist, you just appreciate life so much more,’ says van Sandwyk, and his book is a joyous celebration of that life.

Van Sandwyk’s watercolour illustrations have delighted a dedicated following of collectors and, importantly, children who still believe in the ‘wee folk’. First released in 2018, the first printing of How to See Fairies swiftly sold out. ‘We were taken aback at his global following,’ says Tom Walker, Folio’s publishing director, ‘but we shouldn’t have been. His work is in the tradition of Beatrix Potter and Arthur Rackham and he transports us, with great skill, to a time of innocence and childhood.’

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The making of How to see Fairies

'Our aim was to make the edition feels as handcrafted as those little originals.’

The contents of this edition previously existed as a collection of miniature, hand-created fairy books and poems emanating from van Sandwyk’s studio in Vancouver. Gathering six separate tales into a single anthology presented a substantial challenge for Folio’s designers, says Walker.

‘We worked meticulously on the tiniest details, from the most faithful rendition of colour to the book’s head and tail bands,’ he explains. ‘Our aim was to make the edition feels as handcrafted as those little originals.’ Each of van Sandwyk’s tales – from a Pocket Guide to the Little People to Wee Folk and The Fairies’ Christmas – feature flowing, stylised hand-drawn borders and line drawings, many published for the first time. Nature is anthropomorphised; there are lamplighters, teadrinking trees, bee men, festive knees-ups and scenes of magical domestic bliss. Combine that with high-quality production, and the appeal is hard to resist.’

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Charles Van Sandwyk