THE BLUE FAIRY BOOK. Edited by Andrew Lang. Undated, circa 1899 (has handwritten inscription dated 1911). Published by Chatterton-Peck, New York. 7.5” x 5” decorated cloth hardcover. With Numerous Illustrations by H.J. Ford and G.P. Jacomb Hood. 412 pages.

Condition: VERY GOOD ANTIQUE CONDITION. Exterior as shown in photo. Firm binding. Text is clean and complete, illustrations look very nice. No torn, loose or missing pages.

Description:

This is THE BLUE FAIRY BOOK, the first of Andrew Lang’s beloved series of “Coloured Fairy Books.”

Andrew Lang's Fairy Books are a series of twenty-five collections of true and fictional stories for children, published between 1889 and 1913. The best known books of the series are the twelve collections of fairy tales, known as Andrew Lang's "Coloured" Fairy Books or Andrew Lang's “Fairy Books of Many Colors.”

The books were primarily illustrated by Henry J. Ford. Lancelot Speed, G. P. Jacomb-Hood, and A. Wallis Mills also contributed some illustrations.

The most well-known volumes of the series are the twelve Fairy Books, each of which is distinguished by its own color. Although Lang did not collect any fairy tales himself from oral primary sources, only he and Madame d'Aulnoy (1651–1705) have collected tales from such a large variety of sources.

Lang's urge to gather and publish fairy tales was rooted in his own experience with the folk and fairy tales of his home territory along the English-Scottish border. At the time he worked, English fairy-tale collections were rare. When Lang began his efforts, he "was fighting against the critics and educationists of the day", who judged the traditional tales' "unreality, brutality, and escapism to be harmful for young readers, while holding that such stories were beneath the serious consideration of those of mature age." Over a generation, Lang's books worked a revolution in this public perception.

The series was immensely popular, helped by Lang's reputation as a folklorist, and by the packaging device of the uniform books. The series proved of great influence in children's literature, increasing the popularity of fairy tales over tales of real life.

The first edition consisted of 5000 copies, which sold for 6 shillings each. The book assembled a wide range of tales, with seven from the Brothers Grimm, five from Madame d'Aulnoy, three from the Arabian Nights, and four Norwegian fairytales, among other sources. The Blue Fairy Book was the first volume in the series and so it contains some of the best known tales, taken from a variety of sources.

To give you a thorough understanding of the wonders awaiting you in this blue book of wonders, I have provided some helpful details below, starting with a summary of the many fairy tales collected in this volume (several of which you are bound to recognize). Further down the page you can see some of the many charming illustrations.

I hope you’ll take a moment to have a look.

Stories Include:

The Bronze Ring

Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess

East of the Sun and West of the Moon

The Yellow Dwarf

Little Red Riding Hood

The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood

Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

The Tale of a Youth Who Set Out to Learn What Fear Was

Rumpelstiltskin

Beauty and the Beast

The Master Maid

Why the Sea Is Salt

The Master Cat or Puss in Boots

Felicia and the Pot of Pinks

The White Cat

The Gold-spinners

The Terrible Head

The Story of Pretty Goldilocks

The History of Whittington

The Wonderful Sheep

Little Thumb

The Forty Thieves

Hansel and Gretel

Snow-White and Rose-Red

The Goose-girl

Toads and Diamonds

Prince Darling

Blue Beard

Trusty John

The Brave Little Tailor

A Voyage to Lilliput

The Princess on the Glass Hill

The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou

The History of Jack the Giant-Killer

The Black Bull of Norroway

The Red Etin

Remember folks, this is an 1899 original. This book is 125 years old.

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