E-Book Content
FRANCES JENKINS OLCOTT Illustrations LIBRARIES NY PUBLIC LIBRARY THE BRANCH 3 REFERENCE ,., 3333 11040 3249 D 6. HE SAID, "LITTLE TABLE SET THYSELF!" GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES EDITED BY FRANCES JENKINS OLCOTT By Rie Cramer Illustrated THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY PHILADELPHIA 1927 COPYRIGHT BY 9 2 * > THE PENN i PUBLISHING COMPANY Grimm's Fairy Tale* Printed in the U. S. A. FOREWORD" our American boys and girls is offered this volume which is really Grimm's Fairy Tales, not an abridg- TO ment superficial and colorless, nor an insipid retelling of the stories. This edition tion by the is based on the folk-lorist, Hunt version, with Andrew Lang. an introduc- The Hunt version is considered a most accurate English translation. From the full collection, fifty-one stories suitable for children have been selected. Among these are famous tales as well as many delightful ones not usually included in children's volumes. Where the Hunt wording is too stilted, the text of the Hausmarchen itself has been followed. The very long sentences have been subdivided. translation, illustrated with tributed its bit of folk While that quaint old-fashioned woodcuts by Wehnert, has con- phraseology. The Editor's desire is to restore to the children as large a collection as possible of Grimm's Fairy Tales unmutilated in their literary perfection. The by the well-kxiovn Dutch artist, Mrs. Some of Rie Cramer's other fairy tale pictures illustrations are Rie Cramer. published in England, are said by admiring critics there, to be very charming, of exceptional merit, and to have high merit of their own. Her illustrations for Grimm artistic are particularly harmonious in [5] FOREWORD color, while their quaint one lives with them. charm grows on one more and more as They are fanciful or humorous. They have the quality, rare in fairy tales, of actually illustrating their text. This will mean added pleasure to the children. Rie Cramer's little and graceful The black and white headings are particularly pretty in outline. tales are presented here in their original form, with noth- out of child-heartedness, humor, poetic feeling, and delicate sentiment and fancy. Indeed, it is all here the poesy ing left and purity which those profound and child-loving scholars, the Brothers Grimm, retained in the old folk-tales which, with so much pains, they gathered largely from among the peasant- folk themselves. And the Brothers explained, in their preface, that they had planned the volume as an educational book as well as one for scholars; for which reason they had eliminated everything which they feared might harm the children. But since the Brothers issued their book, about a hundred years ago, educational re- quirements of what is ethicalh' best for children have materially advanced. Therefore, in this book, a few other parts unsuitable for children -hiavs been 'oinittfedi: So now this volume; of G-rimm's Fairy Tales is offered to our American boys a'nd- girls; and may they have continued