Atma Fairy Stories

New York: Home Publishing Company, 1903. Hardcover. Fair/No Jacket. 12mo. 147 pages. Hardcover in grey cloth with front cover designs embossed in dark brown and gilt. The binding is quite rubbed and worn. The front board has damping. Rear board has smudges and scuffs. Some pages are damped have smudging. Text is foxed. No copyright date, but the book was published in 1903. An early owner's inscription on front flyleaf reads, "To Thomas (?) from Katherine Kelby. / Feb. 19, 1905." We have found a listing of this book for sale in the December, 1903 advertisements of "The Theosophical Forum." The advertisement in that journal of this book states, "The dawn of a new day in the intellectual and spiritual development of the child. These stories, which embody the higher laws of being, are so simply told that the youthful mind can easily comprehend them. Between each story is an exquisite 'Moonlight Lullaby.'" (The "Moonlight Lullaby" is a poem between each little story. Not an illustrated work. Laura C. Holloway-Langford (1848-1930) was born in Tennessee and after a brief marriage in the 1860s turned to writing to support herself. She is best known for her 1870 book, "Ladies of the White House." She became a journalist and editor and was friends with Susan B. Anthony. She became active in progressive women's causes, the temperance movement, and theosophy. She was admitted to the Society in 1883. This scarce book of Fairy tales is a collection of tales inspired by theosophy.