The Girl's Own Book

Fairy Tales

Madame d’Aulnoy was the most prolific writer among the salonnières, publishing her first book of fairy stories in 1697. The term she used for her works — contes des fées — gave the new genre its name. A fellow Parisian, Charles Perrault, published his first book of adapted traditional tales the same year. His versions are the best known for many popular stories, including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Sleeping Beauty. The Grimm brothers sought out variants of German and European folk tales, and published versions of Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Snow White, and many others in the forms we know today.
 
Publishers often did not bother to identify actual authors, but attributed the stories to well-known fairies — Oberon or Puck — or to Mother Goose, the archetypal old woman who recounts folk stories and poetry to listeners young and old. Hans Christian Andersen, unusually, wrote original stories, many of which came to be well-known fairy tales: The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Little Mermaid, and The Ugly Duckling.
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Aulnoy, Marie-Catherine. Queen Mab: Containing a Select Collection of Only the Best, Most Instructive, and Entertaining Tales of the Fairies. London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1782.

Perrault, Charles, et al. The Celebrated Fairy Tales of Mother Goose. London: Printed for J. Harris, corner of St. Paul’s Church Yard, 1817.

Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. German Popular Stories: Translated from the Kinder und Haus Märchen. London: C. Baldwyn, 1823.

Tabart, Benjamin., et al. Popular Fairy Tales: or, A Liliputian Library. London: Published by Sir Richard Phillips and Co., Bride Court, Bridge Street, 1818.

Andersen, Hans Christian, and Mary Howittt, translator. Wonderful Stories for Children. London: Chapman and Hall, 1846.

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