Charles Perrault
(1628-1703)

Perrault's Tales on SurLaLune

Donkey Skin

Ludicrous Wishes

Sleeping Beauty in the Wood

Little Red Riding Hood

Bluebeard

Puss in Boots

The Fairies

Cinderella

Ricky of the Tuft

Little Tom Thumb

Griselda

About Charles Perrault
from The Quest for the Earliest Fairy Tales
by Heidi Anne Heiner

In 1697 in Paris, Charles Perrault published several tales from the oral tradition, albeit with his own embellishments, in his Histoires ou Contes du temps passé (also known as Mother Goose Tales). The tales enjoyed instant success. Some of the tales included are Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, and Puss in Boots. He ultimately recorded eleven fairy tales, most of which are among the most popular tales today. All of Perrault's tales are available on SurLaLune at The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault. The earliest English translation of Perrault's work was published in 1729 by Robert Samber. The translation was fairly accurate and incredibly popular. Excellent translations in print today can be found in Jack Zipes' Beauties, Beasts, and Enchantment: Classic French Fairy Tales. Another helpful translation, The Complete Fairy Tales in Verse and Prose, includes the original French alongside an English translation.

Further Reading

Canepa, Nancy L., editor. Out of the Woods: The Origins of the Literary Fairy Tale in Italy and France. Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 1997.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.

Perrault, Charles. The Complete Fairy Tales in Verse and Prose: A Dual Language Book. Stanley Applebaum, editor and translator. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2002.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Warner, Marina, editor.  Wonder Tales: Six French Stories of Enchantment. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1996.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Zipes, Jack.  Beauties, Beasts and Enchantments: Classic French Fairy Tales. New York: New American Library, 1989.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.