Classics for Your Collection:
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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. In all, the volumes feature 798 stories, besides the 153 poems in The Blue Poetry Book.
Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a Scots poet, novelist, and literary critic. As acknowledged in the prefaces, although Lang himself made most of the selections, his wife and other translators did a large portion of the translating and retelling of the actual stories. Four of the later volumes (from 1908 to 1912) were published as by -Mrs. Lang-.
Roumania, Japan, Serbia, Lithuania, Africa, Portugal, and Russia are among the sources of these 35 stories that tell of a haunted forest, chests of gold coins, a magical dog, and a man who outwits a dragon.
A TALE OF THE TONTLAWALD
THE FINEST LIAR IN THE WORLD
THE STORY OF THREE WONDERFUL BEGGARS
SCHIPPEITARO
THE THREE PRINCES AND THEIR BEASTS (LITHUANIAN FAIRY TALE)
THE GOAT'S EARS OF THE EMPEROR TROJAN
THE NINE PEA-HENS AND THE GOLDEN APPLES
THE LUTE PLAYER
THE GRATEFUL PRINCE
THE CHILD WHO CAME FROM AN EGG
STAN BOLOVAN
THE TWO FROGS
THE STORY OF A GAZELLE
HOW A FISH SWAM IN THE AIR AND A HARE IN THE WATER.
TWO IN A SACK
THE ENVIOUS NEIGHBOUR
THE FAIRY OF THE DAWN
THE ENCHANTED KNIFE
JESPER WHO HERDED THE HARES
THE UNDERGROUND WORKERS
THE HISTORY OF DWARF LONG NOSE
THE NUNDA, EATER OF PEOPLE
THE STORY OF HASSEBU
THE MAIDEN WITH THE WOODEN HELMET
THE MONKEY AND THE JELLY-FISH
THE HEADLESS DWARFS
THE YOUNG MAN WHO WOULD HAVE HIS EYES OPENED
THE BOYS WITH THE GOLDEN STARS
THE FROG
THE PRINCESS WHO WAS HIDDEN UNDERGROUND
THE GIRL WHO PRETENDED TO BE A BOY
THE STORY OF HALFMAN
THE PRINCE WHO WANTED TO SEE THE WORLD
VIRGILIUS THE SORCERER
MOGARZEA AND HIS SON
About the Author:
Andrew Gabriel Lang was a prolific Scots man of letters. He was a poet, novelist, and literary critic, and a contributor to anthropology. He now is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales.
A gifted student and avid reader, Lang went to the prestigious St Andrews University (now holding a lecture series in his honour every few years) and then to Balliol College, Oxford. He would later write about the city in Oxford: Brief Historical and Descriptive Notes, published in 1880.
Moving to London at the age of 31, already a published poet, he started working as a journalist. His dry sense of humor, writing style and huge array of interests made him a popular editor and columnist and he was soon writing for The Daily Post, Time magazine and Fortnightly Review. It was whilst working in London that he met and married his wife Leonore Blanche Alleyne.
Amongst the most famous of Andrew Lang books are The Rainbow Fairy Books, growing from Lang's interest in myths and folklore which continued to grow as he and Leonore traveled through France and Italy hearing local legends. In the late 19th century, interest in the native fairy tales of Britain had declined and there were very few books recounting them for young readers. In fact, fairy tales and magical stories, in general, were being attacked by some educationalists as being harmful to children. It was to challenge this notion that Lang first began collecting fairy stories for the first of his colored fairy books, The Blue Fairy Book.
Whilst other folklorists collected stories directly from source, Lang set about gathering those stories which had already been recorded. This gave him time to collect a much greater breadth of fairy tales from all over the world, most from well-known writers such as the Brothers Grimm, Madame d'Aulnoy and others from less well-known sources. Whilst Lang also worked as the editor for his work and is often credited as its sole creator, the support of his wife, who transcribed and organized the translation of the text, was essential to the work's success.
The last Andrew Lang book, Highways and Byways of the Border remained unfinished after his death on 20th July 1912.