A Study of Fairy Tales Part 18

Speaking of the pa.s.sage, "The giant roared hideously but Tom had no more mercy on him than a bear upon a dog," he said: "No one but Fielding could have described battle so." Of the pa.s.sage, "Having increased his strength by good living and improved his courage by drinking strong ale," he remarked: "No one but Fielding could have given such an expression."

The quality of the English of this chap-book is apparent in the following sentence, taken from Ashton's version: "So Tom stepped to a gate and took a rail for a staff."

In regard to their literary merit the chap-books vary greatly. Some evidently are works of scholars who omitted to sign their names. In the collection by Ashton those deserving mention for their literary merit are: _Patient Grissel_, by Boccaccio; _Fortunatus_; _Valentine and Orson_; _Joseph and His Brethren_; _The Friar and the Boy_; _Reynard the Fox_, from Caxton's translation; _Tom Hickathrift_, probably by Fielding; and _The Foreign Travels of Sir John Mandeville_.

1708-90. Chap-Books. Printed by J. White, of York, established at Newcastle, 1708. These included: _Tom Hickathrift; Jack the Giant-Killer_; and _c.o.c.k Robin_.

1750. _A New Collection of Fairy Tales_. 2 vols.

1760. _Mother Goose's Melodies_. A collection of many nursery rhymes, songs, and a few old ballads and tales, published by John Newbery. The editor is unknown, but most likely was Oliver Goldsmith. The t.i.tle of the collection may have been borrowed from Perrault's _Contes de ma Mere l'Oye_, of which an English version appeared in 1729. The t.i.tle itself has an interesting history dating hundreds of years before Perrault's time. By 1777 _Mother Goose's Melodies_ had pa.s.sed the seventh edition. In 1780 they were published by Carnan, Newbery's stepson, under the t.i.tle _Sonnets for the Cradle_. In 1810 _Gammer Gurton's Garland_, a collection, was edited by Joseph Ritson, an English scholar. In 1842 J.O. Halliwell issued, for the Percy Society, _The Nursery Rhymes of England_. The standard modern text should consist of Newbery's book with such additions from Ritson and Halliwell as bear internal evidence of antiquity and are true nursery rhymes.

1770. _Queen Mab, A Collection of Entertaining Tales of Fairies_.

1783. _The Lilliputian Magazine_. Ill.u.s.trated by Thomas Bewick, published by Carnan.

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.

Printed on coa.r.s.e sugar paper. They included: _c.o.c.k Robin_, 1791; _Mother Hubbard; Cinderella_; and _The Tragical Death of an Apple Pye_.

1809. _A Collection of Popular Stories for the Nursery_, translated from French, Italian, and Old English, by Benjamin Tabart, in 4 volumes.

1810 (about). _Lilliputian Library_, by J.G. Rusher, of Bridge St., Banbury. The Halfpenny Series included:

_Mother Hubbard and Her Dog; Jack The Giant-Killer; d.i.c.k Whittington and His Cat; The History of Tom Thumb_ (Middles.e.x); _Death and Burial of c.o.c.k Robin; and Cinderella and Her Gla.s.s Slipper_.

The Penny Series included:--

_History of a Banbury Cake, and Jack the Giant-Killer_, designed by Craig, engraved by Lee.

Of Rusher's books those engraved by the Bewick School were:

_c.o.c.k Robin; The History of Tom Thumb_; and _Children in the Wood_.

Rusher's books also included:

_Mother Hubbard and Her Dog, Cinderella and Her Gla.s.s Slipper_, and _d.i.c.k Whittington and His Cat_, all designed by Cruikshank, engraved by Branstone.

1818. _Fairy Tales, or the Lilliputian Cabinet_, collected by Benj. Tabart, London. This was a new edition of the collection of 1809, and contained twenty-four stories. A full review of it may be seen in the _Quarterly Review_, 1819, No. 41, pp. 91-112. The tales included translations from Perrault, Madame D'Aulnoy, Madame de Beaumont, tales from _The Thousand and One Nights_, and from _Robin Hood_; and the single tales of _Jack the Giant-Killer, Tom Thumb_, and _Jack and the Bean-Stalk_.

1824, 1826. _German Popular Stories_, translated by Edgar Taylor, with ill.u.s.trations by Cruikshank, published by Charles Tilt, London. A new edition, introduction by Ruskin, was published by Chatto & Windus, 1880.

The above are the main collections of fairy tales in England. Many individual publications show the gradual development of fairy tale ill.u.s.tration in England:[6]--

1713-1767. John Newbery's _Books for Children_. Among these were _Beauty and the Beast_, by Charles Lamb, 1765, and _Sinbad the Sailor_, 1798.

1778. _Fabulous Histories of the Robins_. Mrs. Sarah Trimmer. Cuts designed by Thomas Bewick, engraved by John Thompson, Whittingham's Chiswick Press.

1755-1886. _Life and Perambulations of a Mouse_; and _Adventures of a Pin-Cus.h.i.+on_. Dorothy Kilner.

1785. Baron Munchausen's _Narratives of His Famous Travels and Campaigns in Russia_. Rudolf Raspe.

1788. _Little Thumb and the Ogre_. Ill.u.s.trated by William Blake; published by Dutton.

1790. _The Death and Burial of c.o.c.k Robin_. Ill.u.s.trated by Thomas Bewick. Catnach.

1807. _Tales from Shakespeare_. Charles and Mary Lamb. W.J.

G.o.dwin and Co. William Blake ill.u.s.trated an edition of these tales, probably the original edition.

1813. Reprints of forgotten books, by Andrew Tuer: _Dame Wiggins of Lee; The Gaping Wide-Mouthed Waddling Frog: The House that Jack Built. Dame Wiggins of Lee_ was first printed by A.K. Newman and Co., Minerva Press. Original cuts by Stennet or Sinnet. Reprinted by Allen, 1885, with ill.u.s.trations added by Kate Greenaway.

1841. _King of the Golden River_. John Ruskin. Ill.u.s.trated by Richard Doyle, 1884.

1844. _Home Treasury_, by "Felix Summerley" (Sir Henry Cole). "Felix Summerley" was a reformer in children's books.

He secured the a.s.sistance of many of the first artists of his time: Mulready, Cope, Horsley, Redgrave, Webster, all of the Royal Academy, Linnell and his three sons, Townsend, and others. These little books were published by Joseph Cundall and have become celebrated through Thackeray's mention of them. They aimed to cultivate the affections, fancy, imagination, and taste of children, they were a distinct contrast to the Peter Parley books.

They were new books, new combinations of old materials, and reprints, purified but not weakened. Their literature possessed brightness. The books were printed in the best style of the Chiswick Press, with bindings and end papers especially designed. They included these tales: _Puck's Reports to Oberon; Four New Fairy Tales; The Sisters; Golden Locks; Grumble and Cherry; Little Red Riding Hood_, with four colored ill.u.s.trations by Webster; _Beauty and the Beast_, with four colored ill.u.s.trations by Horsley; _Jack and the Bean-Stalk_, with four colored ill.u.s.trations by Cope; _Jack the Giant-Killer_, also ill.u.s.trated by Cope; and _The Pleasant History of Reynard, the Fox_, with forty of the fifty-seven etchings made by Everdingen, in 1752.

1824-1883. Publications by Richard Doyle. These included _The Fairy Ring_, 1845; _Snow White and Rosy Red_, 1871; _Jack the Giant-Killer_, 1888, etc.

1846. _Undine_, by De La Motte Fouque, ill.u.s.trated by John Tenniel, published by James Burns.

1846. _The Good-Natured Bear_, by Richard Hengist Home, the English critic. This was ill.u.s.trated by Frederick Taylor, published probably by Cundall. The book is now out of print, but deserves to be reprinted.

1847-1864. _Cruikshank Fairy Library_. A series of small books in paper wrappers. Not equal to the German popular stories in ill.u.s.tration. It included _Tom Thumb_, 1830; _John Gilpin_, 1828 (realistic); and _The Brownies_, 1870.

1847. _Bob and Dog Quiz_. Author unknown. Revived by E.V.

Lucas in _Old-fas.h.i.+oned Tales_. Ill.u.s.trated by F.D. Bedford; published by Stokes, 1905.

1850. _The Child's Own Book_. Published in London. There was an earlier edition, not before 1830. The introduction, which in the 1850 edition was copied from the original, indicates by its style that the book was written early in the nineteenth century. The book was the delight of generations of children. It was a collection containing tales from _Arabian Nights_, Perrault's tales of _Cinderella, Puss-in-Boots, Hop-o'-my-Thumb, Bluebeard_, etc., D'Aulnoy's _Valentine and Orson_, chap-book stories of _d.i.c.k Whittinqton, Fortunatus, Griselda, Robinson Crusoe, The Children in the Wood, Little Jack_, and others. A recent edition of this book is in the _Young Folks' library_, vol.

1, published by Hall & Locke, Boston, 1901.

1850 (about). _The Three Bears_. Ill.u.s.trated by Absalon and Harrison Weir. Addy and Co.

1824-1889. Work by Mrs. Mary Whateley. She had a Moslem school in Cairo and exerted a fairy tale influence.

1826-1887. _The Little Lame Prince; Adventures of a_ _Brownie_; and _The Fairy Book_. Produced by Mrs. Dinah Muloch Craik.

1854. _The Rose and the Ring_, by William M. Thackeray. A modern edition contains the original ill.u.s.trations with additions by Monsell. Crowell.

1855. _Granny's Story Box_. A collection. Ill.u.s.trated by J.

Knight; published by Piper, Stephenson, and Spence.

1856. _Granny's Wonderful Chair_, containing _Prince Fairy-foot_. Written by Frances Browne, a blind Irish poetess.

1863. _Water Babies_. Charles Kingsley. Sir Noel Patton. The Macmillan Company.

1865. _Stories Told to a Child, including Fairy Tales; Mopsa the Fairy_, 1869. By Jean Ingelow.