The Child's Fairy Library Series III

Undated, c1840’s; Joseph Thomas, London. 18mo, 11 x 14cm; 172pp. Quarter black leather with dark green stippled boards; 5 gilt bordered panels to spine. Engraved frontis and title and charming engravings throughout text. Announcement from the publishers on a prelim page about the forthcoming publication of Child's Fairy Library Series IV. 

The Child’s Fairy Tale Library Series consists of 6 volumes, the first of which was published in 1837. It is full of interesting and exciting tales for both children and adults who enjoy reading children's literature. They are affectionately dedicated to all of the children of Great Britain, and are offered to them for their approval. This volume contains the following six stories:  

Princess Rosetta (d’Aulnoy)

Little Red Riding-Hood (Perrault)

Septimus (du Caylus)

The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood (Perrault)

The Fair One with the Golden Hair (d’Aulnoy)

Hop-O’-My-Thumb (Perrault) 

Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy (1650/1651–1705), also known as Countess d'Aulnoy, was a French writer known for her fairy tales. When she termed her works contes de fées (fairy tales), she originated the term that is now generally used for the genre. Her most popular works were her fairy tales and adventure stories as told in Les Contes des Fees and Contes Nouveaux, ou Les Fées à la Mode. Unlike the folk tales of the Grimm Brothers, who were born some 135 years later than d'Aulnoy, she told her stories in a more conversational style, as they might be told in salons. These stories were far from suitable for children and many English adaptations are very dissimilar to the original. 

Charles Perrault (1628 – 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known of his tales include Le Petit Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), Cendrillon (Cinderella), Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots), La Belle au bois Dormant (The Sleeping Beauty), and Barbe Bleue (Bluebeard).  Some of Perrault's versions of old stories may have influenced the German versions published by the Brothers Grimm more than 100 years later. The stories continue to be printed and have been adapted to opera, ballet, theatre, and film. Perrault was an influential figure in the 17th-century French literary scene, and was the leader of the Modern Faction during the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns.

Condition: Rubbing to edges of spine and spine tips; previous owner’s name to ffep. Printing error on title page in which the publisher’s name is a third cut off. Split at last but one page, but holding. Good.