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Study of Fairy Tales Chapter
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I. THE ORIGIN OF FAIRY TALES NOW that we have indicated the worth of fairy tales, have observed those principles which should guide the teacher in choosing and in interpreting a tale, and have stated those rules which should govern the story-teller in the telling of the tale, we may well ask a few further questions concerning the nature of these fairy tales. What is a fairy tale and whence did it come, and how are we to find its beginning? Having found it, how are we to follow it down through the ages? How shall it be classed, what are the available types which seek to include it and show its nature? And lastly, what are the books which are to be the main practical sources of fairy tales for the teacher of little children? The remaining pages attempt to give some help to the teacher who wishes to increase her resources with an intelligent knowledge of the material she is handling. Many times the question, "What is a fairy tale?" has been asked. One has said: "The fairy tale is a poetic presentation of a spiritual truth." George MacDonald has answered: "Undine is a fairy tale." Mr. G.K. Chesterton has said: "A fairy tale is a tale told in a morbid age to the only remaining sane person, a child. A legend is a fairy tale told to men when men were sane." Some, scorning to reply, have treated the question as one similar to, "What poem do you consider best in the English language?" As there are many tales included here which do not contain a fairy, fairy tales here are taken to include tales which contain something fairy or extraordinary, the magic or the marvelous-fairies, elves, or trolls, speaking animals, trees, or a talkative Tin Soldier. The Myth proper and the Fable are both excluded here, while the pourquois tale, a myth development, and the Beast tale, a short-story fable development, are both included. The origin of the word "fairy," as given by Thomas Keightley in his Fairy Mythology, and later in the Appendix of his Tales and Popular Fictions, is the Latin fatum, "to enchant." The word was derived directly from the French form of the root. The various forms of the root were:- Latin fatum, "to enchant." In old French romance, fee was a "woman skilled in magic." "All those women were called Fays who had to do with enchantment and charms and knew the power and virtue of words, of stones, and of herbs, by which they were kept in youth and in great beauty and in great riches." This was true also of the Italian fata. The word "fairy" was used in four senses. Fairy represented:- (1) Illusion, or enchantment. (2) Abode of the Faes, the country of the Fays. (3) Inhabitants collectively, the people of Fairyland. (4) The individual in Fairyland, the fairy Knight, or Elf. The word was used in the fourth sense before the time of Chaucer. After the appearance of Spenser's Faerie Queene distinctions became confused, and the name of the real fairies was transferred to "the little beings who made the green, sour ringlets whereof the ewe not bites." The change adopted by the poets gained currency among the people. Fairies were identified with nymphs and elves. Shakespeare was the principal means of effecting this revolution, and in his Midsummer Night's Dream he has incorporated most of the fairy lore known in England at his time. But the tales are older than their name. The origin of fairy tales is a question which has kept many very able scholars busy and which has not yet been settled to the satisfaction of many. What has been discovered resolves itself mainly into four different origins of fairy tales:- I. Fairy tales are detritus of myth, surviving echoes of gods and heroes. Against this theory it may be said that, when popular tales have incidents similar to Greek heroic myths, the tales are not detritus of myth, but both have a more ancient tale as their original source. There was:- (1) A popular tale which reflected the condition of a
rude (2) The same tale, a series of incidents and plot, with
the (3) The same plot and incidents, as they existed in heroic
The Grimms noted that the evolution of the tale was from a strongly marked, even ugly, but highly expressive form of its earlier stages, to that which possessed external beauty of mold. The origin is in the fancy of a primitive people, the survival is through Maerchen of peasantry, and the transfiguration into epics is by literary artists. Therefore, one and the same tale may be the source of Perrault's Sleeping Beauty, also of a Greek myth, and also of an old tale of illiterate peasantry. This was the opinion held by Lang, who said, "For the roots of stories, we must look, not in the clouds but upon the earth, not in the various aspects of nature but in the daily occurrences and surroundings, in the current opinions and ideas of savage life." In the savage Maerchen of to-day, the ideas and incidents are the inevitable result of the mental habits and beliefs of savages. We gain an idea of the savage mind through Leviticus, in the Bible, through Herodotus, Greek and Roman geographers, Aristotle, Plutarch, Pliny, etc., through voyagers, missionaries, and travelers, and through present savage peoples. Savage existence is based on two great institutions:- (a) The division of society into clans.-Marriage laws depend on the conception that these clans descend from certain plants, animals, or inorganic objects. There was the belief in human descent from animals and kinship and personal intercourse with them. (b) Belief in magic and medicine-men, which resulted in powers of metamorphosis, the effect of incantation, and communion with the dead.-To the savage all nature was animated, all things were persons. The leading ideas of savage peoples have already been referred to in the list of motifs which appear in the different fairy tales, as given by Lang, mentioned under the "Preparation of the Teacher," in The Telling of the Tale. II. Fairy tales are myths of Sun, Dawn, Thunder, Rain, etc. This is sometimes called the Sun-Myth Theory or the Aryan Theory, and it is the one advocated by Max Mueller and by Grimm. The fairy tales were primitive man's experience with nature in days when he could not distinguish between nature and his own personality, when there was no supernatural because everything was endowed with a personal life. They were the poetic fancies of light and dark, cloud and rain, day and night; and underneath them were the same fanciful meanings. These became changed by time, circumstances in different countries, and the fancy of the tellers, so that they became sunny and many-colored in the South, sterner and wilder in the North, and more home-like in the Middle and West. To the Bushmen the wind was a bird, and to the Egyptian fire was a living beast. Even The Song of Six-Pence has been explained as a nature-myth, the pie being the earth and sky, the birds the twenty-four hours, the king the sun, the queen the moon, and the opening of the pie, day-break. Every word or phrase became a new story as soon as the first meaning of the original name was lost. Andrew Lang tells how Kephalos the sun loved Prokris the dew, and slew her by his arrows. Then when the first meaning of the names for sun, dew, and rays was lost, Kephalos, a shepherd, loved Prokris, a nymph, and we have a second tale which, by a folk-etymology, became the Story of Apollo, the Wolf. Tales were told of the sun under his frog name; later people forgot that frog meant "sun," and the result was the popular tale, A Frog, He Would A-Wooing Go. In regard to this theory, "It is well to remember," says Tylor in his Primitive Culture, "that rash inferences which, on the strength of mere resemblances, derive episodes of myth from episodes of nature, must be regarded with utter distrust; for the student who has no more stringent criterion than this for his myths of sun and sky and dawn will find them wherever it pleases him to seek them." There is a danger of being carried away by false analogies. But all scholars agree that some tales are evidently myths of sun and dawn. If we examine the natural history of savages, we do find summer feasts, winter feasts, rituals of sorrow for the going of summer and of rejoicing for its return, anxious interest in the sun, interest in the motion of the heavenly bodies, the custom of naming men and women from the phenomena of nature, and interest in making love, making war, making fun, and making dinner. III. Fairy tales all arose in India, they are part of the common Aryan heritage and are to be traced by the remains of their language. They were first written in the Vedas, the sacred Sanskrit books of Buddhism. This theory is somewhat allied to the Sun-Myth Theory. This theory was followed by Max Mueller and by Sir George Cox. The theory of a common source in India will not answer entirely for the origin of tales because many similar tales have existed in non-Aryan countries. Old tales were current in Egypt, 2000 B.C., and were brought from there by Crusaders, Mongol missionaries, the Hebrews, and Gypsies. The idea of connecting a number of disconnected stories, as we find in Arabian Nights, The Canterbury Tales, and the Decameron, is traced to the idea of making Buddha the central figure in the folk-literature of India. And Jacobs says that at least one-third of all the stories common to the children of Europe are derived from India, and by far the majority of the drolls. He also says that generally, so far as incidents are marvelous and of true fairy-like character, India is the probable source, because of the vitality of animism and transformation in India in all time. Moreover, as a people, the Hindus had spread among their numbers enough literary training and mental grip to invent plots. And again, there is an accepted connection in myth and language between all Aryan languages and Sanskrit. According to Sir George Dasent, "The whole human race has sprung from one stock planted in the East, which has stretched its boughs and branches laden with the fruit of language and bright with the bloom of song and story, by successive offshoots to the utmost parts of the earth." Dasent tells how the Aryans who went west, who went out to do, were distinguished from the nations of the world by their common sense, by their power of adapting themselves to circumstances, by making the best of their position, by being ready to receive impressions, and by being able to develop impressions. They became the Greeks, the Latins, the Teutons, the Celts, and the Slavonians. The Aryans who stayed at home, remained to reflect, and were distinguished by their power of thought. They became a nation of philosophers and gave to the world the Sanskrit language as the basis of comparative philology. Dasent shows how legends, such as the Story of William Tell and Dog Gellert, which have appeared in many Aryan peoples were common in germ to the Aryan tribes before migration. Joseph Jacobs has more recently settled the travels of Gellert, tracing its literary route from the Indian Vinaya Pitaka, through the Fables of Bidpai, Sindibad, Seven Sages of Rome, Gesta Romanorum, and the Welsh Fables of Cottwg, until the legend became localized in Wales. IV. Fairy tales owe their origin to the identity of early fancy. Just as an individual, after thinking along certain lines, is surprised to come upon the exact sequence of his thought in a book he had never seen, so primitive peoples in remote parts of the world, up against similar situations, would express experience in tales containing similar motifs. A limited set of experiences was presented to the inventive faculty, and the limited combinations possible would result in similar combinations. The Aryan Jackal, the Mediaeval Reynard, the Southern Brer Rabbit, and the Weasel of Africa, are near relations. Dasent said, "In all mythology and tradition there are natural resemblances, parallelisms, suggested to the senses of each race by natural objects and everyday events; and these might spring up spontaneously all over the earth as home-growths, neither derived by imitation from other tribes, nor from the tradition of a common stock." It is probable that all four theories of the origin of fairy tales are correct and that fairy tales owe their origin not to any one cause but to all four. II. THE TRANSMISSION OF FAIRY TALES Oral transmission. The tale, having originated, may have been transmitted in many ways: by women compelled to marry into alien tribes; by slaves from Africa to America; by soldiers returning from the Crusades; by pilgrims returning from the Holy Land or from Mecca; by knights gathering at tournaments; by sailors and travelers; and by commercial exchange between southern Europe and the East-Venice trading with Egypt and Spain with Syria. Ancient tales of Persia spread along the Mediterranean shores. In this way the Moors of Spain learned many a tale which they transmitted to the French. Jack the Giant-Killer and Thomas Thumb, according to Sir Walter Scott, landed in England from the very same keels and warships which conveyed Hengist and Horsa and Ebba the Saxon. A recent report of the Bureau of Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution of the United States expressed the opinion that the Uncle Remus Tales have an Indian origin. Slaves had associated with Indian tribes such as the Cherokees, and had heard the story of the Rabbit who was so clever that no one could fool him. Gradually the Southern negroes had adopted the Indian tales and changed them. Joseph Jacobs claims to have found the original of the "Tar Baby" in the Jataka Tales. A tale, once having originated, could travel as easily as the wind. Certainly a good type when once hit upon was diffused widely. Sir Walter Scott has said: "A work of great interest might be compiled from the origin of popular fiction and the transmission of similar tales from age to age and from country to country. The mythology of one period would then appear to pass into the romance of the next century, and that into the nursery tales of subsequent ages. Such an investigation would show that these fictions, however wild and childish, possess such charms for the populace as to enable them to penetrate into countries unconnected by manners and language, and having no apparent intercourse to afford the means of transmission." Thomas Keightley, in Tales and Popular Fictions, has given interesting examples of the transmission of tales. Selecting Jack the Giant-Killer, he has shown that it is the same tale as Grimm's The Brave Tailor, and Thor's Journey to Utgard in the Scandinavian Edda. Similar motifs occur also in a Persian tale, Ameen of Isfahan and the Ghool, and in the Goat and the Lion, a tale from the Panchatantra. Selecting the Story of Dick Whittington he has shown that in England it was current in the reign of Elizabeth; that two similar tales, Danish legends, were told by Thiele; that a similar Italian tale existed at the time of Amerigo Vespucci, which was a legend told by Arlotto in 1396-1483; that another similar Italian tale was connected with the origin of Venice, in 1175; and that a similar tale existed in Persia in 1300, before 1360, when Whittington of England was born. He also pointed out that the Odyssey must have traveled east as well as west, from Greece, for Sindbad's adventure with the Black Giant is similar to that of Ulysses with the Cyclops. Another interesting set of parallels shown by him is connected with the Pentamerone tale, Peruonto. This is the Straparola Peter the Fool, the Russian Emelyan the Fool, the Esthonian tale by Laboulaye, The Fairy Craw-Fish, and the Grimm The Fisherman and his Wife. The theme of a peasant being rewarded by the fish he had thrown back into the water takes on a delightful varied form in the tale of different countries. The magic words of Emelyan, "Up and away! At the pike's command, and at my request, go home, sledge!" in each variant take an interesting new form. Literary transmission. The travels of a tale through oral tradition are to be attempted with great difficulty and by only the most careful scholarship. One may follow the transmission of tales through literary collections with somewhat greater ease and exactness. Popular tales have a literature of their own. The following list seeks to mention the most noteworthy collections:- No date. Vedas. Sanskrit. No date. Zend Avesta. Persian. Fifth century, B.C. Jatakas. Probably the oldest 4000 B.C. Tales of Ancient Egypt. These were the tales
of 600 B.C. (about). Homeric Legends. 200 B.C. (about). Book of Esther. Second century, A.D. The Golden Ass, Metamorphoses of Apuleius. 550 A.D. Panchatantra, the Five Books. This was a Second century, A.D. The Hitopadesa, or Wholesome 550 A.D. Panchatantra. Pehlevi version. Tenth century, A.D. Panchatantra. Arabic version. Eleventh century, A.D. Panchatantra. Greek version. Twelfth century, A.D. Panchatantra. Persian version. 1200 A.D. Sanskrit Tales. These tales were collected
by Tales of the West came from the East in two sources:- 1262-78. (1) Directorium Humanae Vitae, of John of Capua.
Thirteenth century. (2) The Story of the Seven Sages
of Tenth century. Reynard the Fox. This was first found
as a 1180. German-Reinhart, an epic of twelve 1230. French-Roman de Renard, with its 1250. Flemish-Reinaert, part of which was 1148. Ysengrimus, a Latin poem written at Ghent. Thirteenth century. Of the Vox and of the Wolf, Later date. Rainardo, Italian. Later date. Greek mediaeval version. Reynard the Fox[5] was first printed in England A Dutch prose romance, Historie von Reynaert de Raginhard was a man's name, meaning "strong in Reynard exhibits the bare struggle for existence * * * * * About one tenth of European folk-lore is traced to 1326. The Gesta Romanorum, written in Latin. This was
a 1000 A.D. (about). Shah-Nameh, or King-book of Persia,
The King-Book is very ancient, it is the Persian Homer.
It 1548 (not later than). The Thousand and One Nights, Boulak and Calcutta texts are better than the Galland.
They The stories in Arabian Nights are Indian, Egyptian, Thomas Keightley, in Tales and Popular Fictions, No date. The Thousand and One Days. This is a Persian
1550. Straparola's Nights, by Straparola. This collection
1637. The Pentamerone, by Basile. Basile spent his early
1697. The Tales of Mother Goose, by Charles Perrault.
In 1. The Fairies. Immediately afterwards the tales appeared published at
Paris 1650-1705. Fairy Tales, by Madame D'Aulnoy. In France
Graciosa and Percinet. (Basile.) The Blue-Bird. (Contains a motif similar to one The White Cat. (Similar to Three Feathers and The Hind in the Wood. (Similar to Rumpelstiltskin.) The Good Little Mouse. (Basile.) The Fair One with the Golden Locks. (Ferdinand The Yellow Dwarf. Princess Belle Etoile. (Straparola.) The careful translation of Madame D'Aulnoy's tales by
Mr. There were many imitators of Countess D'Aulnoy, in France,
1711-1780. Moral Tales, by Madame de Beaumont. 1765. Tales, by Madame Villeneuve. Of these we 1692-1765. Tales, by Comte de Caylus. The author Very little attempt has been made in modern times to
include Bibliotheque Rose, a collection. (What should be Bibliotheque des Petits Enfants, a collection. 1799-1874. Fairy Tales from the French, by 1866. Fairy Tales of all Nations, by Edouard 1902. Last Fairy Tales, also by Laboulaye. Tales, by Zenaide Fleuriot. (What should be 1910. Chantecler, by Edmund Rostand. Translated 1911. The Honey Bee, by Anatole France; 1911. The Blue-Bird, by Maurice Maeterlinck; In Great Britain many old tales taken from tradition were included in the Welsh Mabinogion, Irish sagas, and Cornish Mabinogion. Legends of Brittany were made known by the poems of Marie de France, who lived in the thirteenth century. These were published in Paris, in 1820. In fact, most of the early publications of fairy tales were taken from the French. Celtic tales have been collected in modern times in a greater number than those of any nation. This has been due largely to the work of J.F. Campbell. Celtic tales are unusual in that they have been collected while the custom of story-telling is yet flourishing among the Folk. They are therefore of great literary and imaginative interest. They are especially valuable as the oldest of the European tales. The Irish tale of Connla and the Fairy Maiden has been traced to a date earlier than the fifth century and therefore ranks as the oldest tale of modern Europe. The principal Celtic collections are:- Iolo M. S., published by the Welsh M. S. Society. Mabinogion, translated by Lady Guest. (Contains tales
Y Cymrodor, by Professor Rhys. 1825. Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of 1842. Popular Rhymes of Scotland. Chambers. 1860-62. Popular Tales of the West Highlands, by J.F.
Tales, collected and published with notes, by Mr. Alfred
1866. By Patrick Kennedy, the Irish Grimm. Legendary
In England the publication of fairy tales may be followed more readily because the language proves no hindrance and the literature gives assistance. In England the principal publications of fairy tales were:- 1604. Pasquil's Jests. Contained a tale similar to one
of 1635. A Tract, A Descryption of the Kynge and Quene of
Eighteenth century (early). Madame D'Aulnoy's Tales,
a 1667-1745. Gulliver's Travels, by Dean Swift. (One modern
1700-1800. Chap-Books. Very many of these books, The chap-books were little paper books hawked by chap-men,
Of Jack the Giant-Killer, in Skinner's Folk-Lore, David
Tom Hickathrift, whose history is given in an old number
In regard to their literary merit the chap-books vary
1708-90. Chap-Books. Printed by J. White, of York, 1750. A New Collection of Fairy Tales. 2 vols. 1760. Mother Goose's Melodies. A collection of many 1770. Queen Mab, A Collection of Entertaining Tales of
1783. The Lilliputian Magazine. Illustrated by Thomas
1788. The Pleasing Companion, A Collection of Fairy Tales. 1788. Fairy Tales Selected from the Best Authors, 2 vols. 1770-91. Books published by John Evans, of Long Lane.
1809. A Collection of Popular Stories for the Nursery,
1810 (about). Lilliputian Library, by J.G. Rusher, of
Mother Hubbard and Her Dog; Jack The The Penny Series included:- History of a Banbury Cake, and Jack the Of Rusher's books those engraved by the Bewick School were: Code Robin; The History of Tom Thumb; and Rusher's books also included: Mother Hubbard and Her Dog, Cinderella and Her 1818. Fairy Tales, or the Lilliputian Cabinet, collected
1824, 1826. German Popular Stories, translated by Edgar
The above are the main collections of fairy tales in England. Many individual publications show the gradual development of fairy tale illustration in England:[6]- 1713-1767. John Newbery's Books for Children. Among these
1778. Fabulous Histories of the Robins. Mrs. Sarah 1755-1886. Life and Perambulations of a Mouse; and 1785. Baron Munchausen's Narratives of His Famous Travels
1788. Little Thumb and the Ogre. Illustrated by William
1790. The Death and Burial of Cock Robin. Illustrated
by Thomas 1807. Tales from Shakespeare. Charles and Mary Lamb.
W.J. 1813. Reprints of forgotten books, by Andrew Tuer: Dame
1841. King of the Golden River. John Ruskin. Illustrated
1844. Home Treasury, by "Felix Summerley" (Sir
Henry They were new books, new combinations of old materials,
and 1824-1883. Publications by Richard Doyle. These included
1846. Undine, by De La Motte Fouque, illustrated by John
1846. The Good-Natured Bear, by Richard Hengist Home,
the 1847-1864. Cruikshank Fairy Library. A series of small
1847. Bob and Dog Quiz. Author unknown. Revived by E.V.
1850. The Child's Own Book. Published in London. There
was 1850 (about). The Three Bears. Illustrated by Absalon
and 1824-1889. Work by Mrs. Mary Whateley. She had a Moslem
1826-1887. The Little Lame Prince; Adventures of a 1854. The Rose and the Ring, by William M. Thackeray.
A 1855. Granny's Story Box. A collection. Illustrated by
J. 1856. Granny's Wonderful Chair, containing Prince 1863. Water Babies. Charles Kingsley. Sir Noel Patton.
The 1865. Stories Told to a Child, including Fairy Tales;
Mopsa 1865. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
1869. At the Back of the North Wind; The Princess and
the 1870. The Brownies; 1882, Old-fashioned Fairy Tales.
By 1873. A Series of Toy-Books for Children, by Walter Crane
1878-. Picture-Books, by Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886).
1875-. Stories from the Eddas; Dame Wiggins of Lee This brings the English side of the subject down to the present time. Present editions of fairy tales are given in Chapter VI. In Germany there were also many translations from the French of Perrault and D'Aulnoy. There were editions in 1764, 1770, etc. Most of those before the Grimms' Tales were not important. One might mention:- 1782. Popular German Stories, by Musaeus. 1818. Fables, Stories, and Tales for Children, by Caroline
1819. Bohemian Folk-Tales, by Wolfgang Gerle. 1812-1814. Kinder und Haus-Maerchen, by Jacob and William
Concerning the modern German fairy tale, the Germans have paid such special attention to the selection and grading of children's literature that their library lists are to be recommended. Wolgast, the author of Vom Kinderbuch, is an authority on the child's book. The fairy tale received a high estimate in Germany and no nation has attained a higher achievement in the art of the fairy tale book. The partial list simply indicates the slight knowledge of available material and would suggest an inviting field to librarians. A great stimulus to children's literature would be given by a knowledge of what the Germans have already accomplished in this particular. In Germany a child's book, before it enters the market, must first be accepted by a committee who test the book according to a standard of excellence. Any book not coming up to the standard is rejected. A few of the German editions in use are given:- Bilderbuecher, by Loewensohn. Bilderbuecher, by Scholz. Liebe Maerchen. One form of the above, giving three tales
Maerchen, by W. Hauff, published by Lowe. One edition,
Maerchen, by Musaus, published by Von K.A. Mueller. 1777-1843. Undine, by La Motte Fouque. A recent edition,
1817-77. Books by Otillie Wildermuth. (What of hers should
Hanschen im Blaubeerenwald; Hanschens Skifart Maerchen,
Windchen; and Wurzelkindern, both by Sybille von Olfers,
Das Maerchen von den Sandmannlein, by Riemann, published
by Der Froschkoenig, by Liebermann, published by Scholz. Weisst du weviel Sternlein stehen, by Lewinski, published
In Sweden there appeared translations of Perrault and D'Aulnoy. The Blue-Bird was oftenest printed as a chap-book. Folk-tales were collected in:- Swedish Tales, a collection. H. Von Schroter. 1844. Folk-Tales. George Stevens and Hylten Cavallius. Sweden has given us the modern fairy tale, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (2 volumes). This delightful tale by Selma Lagerloef, born 1858, and a winner of the Nobel prize, has established itself as a child's classic. It has been translated by V.S. Howard, published by Doubleday, 1907. In Norway we have:- 1851. Norske Folkeeventyr, collected by Asbjoernsen and Moe. 1862. Norse Tales. The above tales translated by Sir
In Denmark we have:- Sagas of Bodvar Biarke. Danske Folkeeventyr, by M. Winther, Copenhagen, 1823. 1843-60. Danmarks Folkesagn, 3 vols., by J.M. Thiele. 1805-1875. Fairy Tales, by Hans Christian Andersen. These
In Slavonia we have:- Wochentliche Nachrichten, by Busching, published by Schottky. In Hungary we have:- 1822. Marchen der Magyaren, by George von Gaal. In Greece and Russia no popular tales were collected before the time of the Grimms. In Italy the two great collections of the world of fairy tales have been mentioned. Italy has also given the modern fairy tale which has been accepted as a classic: Pinocchio, by C. Collodi (Carlo Lorenzini). This has been illustrated by Copeland, published by Ginn; and illustrated by Folkhard, published by Dutton. In America the publication of fairy tales was at first a reprinting of English editions. In colonial times, previous to the revolution, booksellers imported largely from England. After the revolution a new home-growth in literature gradually developed. At first this was largely in imitation of literature in England. After the time of Washington Irving a distinct American adult literature established itself. The little child's toy-book followed in the wake of the grown-up's fiction. The following list[7] shows the growth of the American fairy tale, previous to 1870. Recent editions are given in Chapter VI. 1747-1840. Forgotten Books of the American Nursery, A
1785-1788. Isaiah Thomas, Printer, Writer, and Collector.
1785. Mother Goose. The original Mother Goose's melody,
as 1787. Banbury Chap-Boohs and Nursery Toy-Booh Literature
1789. The Olden Time Series. Gleanings chiefly from old
1800-1825. Goodrich, S.G. Recollections of a Lifetime.
1686. The History of Tom Thumb. John Dunton, Boston. 1728. Chap-Books. Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia. 1730. Small Histories. Andrew Bradford, Philadelphia.
1744. The Child's New Plaything. Draper &Edwards,
Boston. 1750. John Newbery's books. Advertised in Philadelphia
1760. All juvenile publications for sale in England.
1766. Children's books. Imported and sold by John Mein,
a 1787. All Newbery's publications. Reprinted by Isaiah
1794. Arabian Nights. The Arabian Nights Entertainments
1804. Blue Beard. A New History of Blue Beard, written
by 1819. Rip Van Winkle. A legend included in the works
of 1823. A Visit from St. Nicholas. Clement Clark Moore,
in 1825. Babes in the Wood. The history of the children
of 1833. Mother Goose. The only true Mother Goose Melodies;
1836. The Fairy Book. With eighty-one engravings on wood,
1844. Fairy Land, and Other Sketches for Youths, by the
1848. Rainbows for Children, by L. Maria Child, ed. New
1851. Wonder Book, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Illustrated
by 1852. Legends of the Flowers, by Susan Pindar. New York,
1853. Fairy Tales and Legends of Many Nations, by Charles
1854. The Little Glass Shoe, and Other Stories for 1854. The History of Whittington and His Cat. Miss Corner
1855. Flower Fables, by Louisa May Alcott. Boston, G.W.
1855. The Song of Hiawatha, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
1864. Seaside and Fireside Fairies, by George Blum. 1867. Grimm's Goblins, selected from the Household 1867. Fairy Book. Fairy Tales of All Nations, by Edouard
1867. The Wonderful Stories of Fuz-buz the Fly and Mother
1868. Folks and Fairies. Stories for little children.
Lucy 1870. Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper. Boston,
1873. Mother Goose. Illustrations of Mother Goose's 1870. Beauty and the Beast, by Albert Smith. New York,
This brings the American child's fairy tale up to recent publications of the present day which are given in the chapter, "Sources of Material." An attempt has been made here to give a glimpse of folk and fairy tales up to the time of the Grimms, and a view of modern publications in France, Germany, England, and America. The Grimms started a revolution in folk-lore and in their lifetime took part in the collection of many tales of tradition and influenced many others in the same line of work. An enumeration of what was accomplished in their lifetime appears in the notes of Grimm's Household Tales, edited by Margaret Hunt, published by Bonn's Libraries, vol. II, pp. 531. etc. In modern times the Folk-Lore Society of England and America has been established. Now almost every nation has its folk-lore society and folk-tales are being collected all over the world. Altogether probably Russia has collected fifteen hundred such tales, Germany twelve hundred, Italy and France each one thousand, and India seven hundred. The work of the Grimms, ended in 1859, was continued by Emanuel Cosquin, who, in his Popular Tales of Lorraine, has made the most important recent contribution to folklore,-important for the European tale and important as showing the relation of the European tale to that of India. The principal recent collections of folk-lore are:- Legends and Fairy Tales of Ireland. Croker. 1825. This brings the subject down to the present time. The present-day contributions to folk-lore are found best in the records of the Folk-lore Society, published since its founding in London, in 1878; and daily additions, in the folk-lore journals of the various countries. REFERENCES Adams, Oscar Fay: The Dear Old Story-Tellers. Lothrop. Ashton, John: Chap-Books of the 18th Century. Chatto Windus. London, 1882. Bunce, John T.: Fairy Tales, Origin and Meaning.
Macmillan, Chamberlain, A.F.: The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought.
Clouston, W.A.: Popular Tales and Fictions. Edinburgh,
Cyclopaedia: "Mythology." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Cox, Miss Roalfe: Cinderella. Introduction by Lang. Nutt, 1892. Dasent, George W.: Popular Tales from the Norse.
Introduction. Fiske, John: Myth and Myth-Makers. Houghton. Field, Mrs. E.M.: The Child and His Book. Gardner, Darton &Co. Frazer, J.G.: The Golden Bough. (Spring ceremonies
and Frere, Miss: Old Deccan Days. Introduction. McDonough. Godfrey, Elizabeth: English Children in the Olden
Time. Dutton, Grimm, William and Jacob: Household Tales. Edited
with Guerber, Helene A.: Legends of the Middle Ages.
(Reynard the Halliwell, J.O.: Nursery Rhymes of England. Ibid.: Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales. Smith, 1849. Halsey, Rosalie: Forgotten Books of the American Nursery.
Hartland, E.S.: Science of Fairy Tales. Preface.
Scribner, Ibid.: English Folk and Fairy Tales. Camelot series,
Scott, Hartland, Sidney: Legend of Perseus (origin of a tale). Hewins, Caroline M.: The History of Children's Books.
Jacobs, Joseph: Reynard the Fox. Cranford Series. Macmillan. Ibid.: Fairy Tales. Introduction, Notes and Appendix. Putnam. Keightley, Thomas: Fairy Mythology. Macmillan. Ibid.: Tales and Popular Fictions. Whittaker &Co.,
London, Lang, Andrew: Custom and Myth. Longmans, London, 1893. Mabie, Hamilton: Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know.
MacDonald, George: The Light Princess. Introduction. Putnam. Magazine: "Myths and Fairy Tales." Fortnightly
Review, May, Mitchell, Donald G.: About Old Story-Tellers. Scribners. 1877. Moses, Montrose: Children's Books and Reading. Kennerley. Mulock, Miss: Fairy Book. Preface. Crowell. Pearson, Edwin. Banbury Chap-Books and Nursery Toy-Book
Perrault, Charles: Popular Tales. Edited by A.
Lang. Ritson, J.: Fairy Tales. Pearson, London, 1831. Scott, Sir Walter: Minstrelsy of Scottish Border.
Preface to Skinner, H.M.: Readings in Folk-Lore. American Book Co. Steel, Flora A.: Tales of the Punjab. Introduction
and Tabart, Benj.: Fairy Tales, or the Lilliputian Cabinet.
London, Tappan, Eva M.: The Children's Hour. Introduction
to Taylor, Edgar: German Popular Stories. Introduction
by Ruskin. Tylor, E.B.: Primitive Culture. Holt, 1889. Warner: Fairy Tales. Library of the World's Best
Literature, Welsh, Charles: Fairy Tales Children Love. Introduction. Dodge. Ibid.: "The Early History of Children's Books in
New Ibid.: A Chap-Book. Facsimile Edition. 1915. World Book Co. Ibid.: Mother Goose. Facsimile Edition. 1915. World Book Co. White, Gleeson: "Children's Books and Their Illustrators."
Kready, Laura F. A Study of Fairy Tales. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916. |
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