Lang's Fairy Books
![]() Rumpelstiltskin from The Blue Fairy Book, illustrated by Henry J. Ford. | |
The Blue Fairy Book The Red Fairy Book The Blue Poetry Book The Green Fairy Book The True Story Book The Yellow Fairy Book The Red True Story Book The Animal Story Book The Pink Fairy Book The Arabian Nights' Entertainments The Red Book of Animal Stories The Grey Fairy Book The Violet Fairy Book The Book of Romance The Crimson Fairy Book The Brown Fairy Book The Red Romance Book The Orange Fairy Book The Olive Fairy Book The Red Book of Heroes The Lilac Fairy Book The All Sorts of Stories Book The Book of Saints and Heroes The Strange Story Book | |
Author | Andrew Lang Nora Lang |
---|---|
Illustrator | Henry J. Ford (and others) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Genre | Fairy tales |
Published | 1889–1913 |
No. of books | 25 |
The Langs' Fairy Books are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. The best known books of the series are the 12 collections of fairy tales also 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. He initially edited the series and wrote prefaces for its entire run, while his wife, the translator and author Leonora Blanche Alleyne (1851 – 10 July 1933), known to friends and family as Nora, assumed editorial control of the series in the 1890s.[1] She and other translators did a large portion of the translating and retelling of the actual stories, as acknowledged in the prefaces. Four of the volumes from 1908 to 1912 were published by "Mrs. Lang".
According to Anita Silvey, "The irony of Lang's life and work is that although he wrote for a profession—literary criticism; fiction; poems; books and articles on anthropology, mythology, history, and travel ... he is best recognized for the works he did not write."[2]
The 12 Coloured Fairy Books were illustrated by Henry Justice Ford, with credit for the first two volumes shared by G. P. Jacomb-Hood and Lancelot Speed, respectively.[3] A. Wallis Mills also contributed some illustrations.
The Fairy Books[]
Origin and influence[]
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The best-known volumes of the series are the 12 Fairy Books, each of which is distinguished by its own color. The Langs did not collect any fairy tales from oral primary sources, yet only they and Madame d'Aulnoy (1651–1705) have collected tales from such a large variety of sources. These collections have been immensely influential; the Langs gave many of the tales their first appearance in English. Andrew selected the tales for the first four books, while Nora took over the series thereafter.[4] She and other translators did a large portion of the translating and retelling of the actual stories.
Lang's urge to gather and publish fairy tales was rooted in his own experience with the folk and fairy tales of his home territory along the Anglo-Scottish border. British fairy tale collections were rare at the time; Dinah Craik's The Fairy Book (1869) was a lonely precedent. According to Roger Lancelyn Green, Lang "was fighting against the critics and educationists of the day" who judged the traditional tales' "unreality, brutality, and escapism to be harmful for young readers, while holding that such stories were beneath the serious consideration of those of mature age".[5] Over a generation, Lang's books worked a revolution in this public perception.
The series was immensely popular, helped by Lang's reputation as a folklorist and by the packaging device of the uniform books. The series proved of great influence in children's literature, increasing the popularity of fairy tales over tales of real life.[6] It inspired such imitators as English Fairy Tales (1890) and More English Fairy Tales (1894) by Joseph Jacobs. Other followers included the American The Oak-Tree Fairy Book (1905), The Elm-Tree Fairy Book (1909), and The Fir-Tree Fairy Book (1912) series edited by Clifton Johnson, and the collections of Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith.
Sources[]
Some of Lang's collected stories were included without any attribution at all (e.g., "The Blue Mountains"), and the rest are listed with brief notes. The sources can be tracked down when given as "Grimm" or "Madame d'Aulnoy" or attributed to a specific collection, but other notes are less helpful. For instance, "The Wonderful Birch" is listed only as "from the Russo-Karelian". Lang repeatedly explained in the prefaces that the tales which he told were all old and not his, and that he found new fairy tales no match for them:
But the three hundred and sixty-five authors who try to write new fairy tales are very tiresome. They always begin with a little boy or girl who goes out and meets the fairies of polyanthuses and gardenias and apple blossoms: "Flowers and fruits, and other winged things". These fairies try to be funny, and fail; or they try to preach, and succeed. Real fairies never preach or talk slang. At the end, the little boy or girl wakes up and finds that he has been dreaming.
Such are the new fairy stories. May we be preserved from all the sort of them!
The collections were specifically intended for children and were bowdlerised, as Lang explained in his prefaces. J. R. R. Tolkien stated in his essay "On Fairy-Stories" (1939) that he appreciated the collections but objected to his editing the stories for children. He also criticized Lang for including stories without magical elements in them, with "The Heart of a Monkey" given as an example, where the monkey claims that his heart is outside his body, unlike "The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body" or other similar stories. However, many fairy tale collectors include tales with no strictly marvelous elements.
Books[]
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The Blue Fairy Book (1889)[]
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
The first edition consisted of 5,000 copies, which sold for 6 shillings each. The book assembled a wide range of tales, with seven from the Brothers Grimm, five from Madame d'Aulnoy, three from the Arabian Nights, and four Norwegian fairytales, among other sources.[7] The Blue Fairy Book was the first volume in the series, and so it contains some of the best known tales, taken from a variety of sources.
- "The Bronze Ring"
- "Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess"
- "East of the Sun and West of the Moon"
- "The Yellow Dwarf"
- "Little Red Riding Hood"
- "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood"
- "Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper"
- "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp"
- "The Tale of a Youth Who Set Out to Learn What Fear Was"
- "Rumpelstiltskin"
- "Beauty and the Beast"
- "The Master Maid"
- "Why the Sea Is Salt"
- "The Master Cat or Puss in Boots"
- "Felicia and the Pot of Pinks"
- "The White Cat"
- "The Water-lily. The Gold-spinners"
- "The Terrible Head"
- "The Story of Pretty Goldilocks"
- "The History of Whittington"
- "The Wonderful Sheep"
- "Little Thumb"
- "The Forty Thieves"
- "Hansel and Gretel"
- "Snow-White and Rose-Red"
- "The Goose-girl"
- "Toads and Diamonds"
- "Prince Darling"
- "Blue Beard"
- "Trusty John"
- "The Brave Little Tailor"
- "A Voyage to Lilliput"
- "The Princess on the Glass Hill"
- "The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou"
- "The History of Jack the Giant-killer"
- "The Black Bull of Norroway"
- "The Red Etin"
Media related to Blue Fairy Book at Wikimedia Commons
The Red Fairy Book (1890)[]
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
The Red Fairy Book appeared at Christmas 1890 in a first printing of 10,000 copies. Sources include French, Russian, Danish, and Romanian tales as well as Norse mythology.
- "The Twelve Dancing Princesses"
- "The Princess Mayblossom"
- "Soria Moria Castle"
- "The Death of Koschei the Deathless"
- "The Black Thief and Knight of the Glen"
- "The Master Thief"
- "Brother and Sister"
- "Princess Rosette"
- "The Enchanted Pig"
- "The Norka"
- "The Wonderful Birch"
- "Jack and the Beanstalk"
- "The Little Good Mouse"
- "Graciosa and Percinet"
- "The Three Princesses of Whiteland"
- " "
- ""
- "Kari Woodengown"
- "Drakestail"
- "The Ratcatcher"
- "The True History of Little Goldenhood"
- "The Golden Branch"
- "The Three Dwarfs"
- "Dapplegrim"
- "The Enchanted Canary"
- "The Twelve Brothers"
- "Rapunzel"
- "The Nettle Spinner"
- "Farmer Weatherbeard"
- "Mother Holle"
- "Minnikin"
- "Bushy Bride"
- "Snowdrop"
- "The Golden Goose"
- "The Seven Foals"
- "The Marvellous Musician"
- "The Story of Sigurd"
Media related to The Red Fairy Book at Wikimedia Commons
The Blue Poetry Book (1891)[]
Contains 153 poems by great British and American poets.
- Anonymous
- "A Red, Red Rose"
- ""
- "Battle of Otterbourne"
- "Cherry Ripe"
- "The Demon Lover"
- "Helen of Kirkconnel"
- "Kinmont Willie"
- "Lawlands of Holland"
- "Lyke-Wake Dirge"
- "Mary Ambree"
- "Sir Hugh, or the Jew's Daughter"
- "Sir Patrick Spens"
- "The Twa Corbies"
- "The Wife of Usher's Well"
- ""
- Richard Barnfield
- "The Nightingale"
- William Blake
- "Night"
- "Nurse's Song"
- ""
- "The Lamb"
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- ""
- William Cullen Bryant
- "To a Waterfowl"
- John Bunyan
- Minstrel Burn
- ""
- Robert Burns
- "Bannockburn"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Farewell"
- ""
- Lord Byron
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Destruction of Sennacherib"
- Thomas Campbell
- "Hohenlinden"
- "Lord Ullin's Daughter"
- ""
- "The Last Man"
- ""
- ""
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- "Christabel"
- "Kubla Khan"
- "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
- William Collins
- ""
- ""
- William Cowper
- "Boadicea"
- ""
- "John Gilpin"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- Charles Dibdin
- "Tom Bowling"
- Michael Drayton
- ""
- John Dryden
- ""
- Jean Elliot
- ""
- Oliver Goldsmith
- ""
- Thomas Gray
- "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"
- "The Bard"
- Robert Herrick
- ""
- ""
- Thomas Heywood
- "Morning"
- James Hogg
- ""
- ""
- Thomas Hood
- ""
- "I Remember, I Remember"
- Ben Jonson
- ""
- John Keats
- ""
- "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer"
- "Winter"
- Charles Lamb
- "Hester"
- Mary Lamb
- ""
- Walter Savage Landor
- ""
- Lady Anne Barnard
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- ""
- "The Day is Done"
- ""
- "The Village Blacksmith"
- "The Wreck of the Hesperus"
- Richard Lovelace
- ""
- ""
- Thomas Babington Macaulay
- "Ivry"
- "The Armada"
- "The Battle of Naseby"
- Christopher Marlowe
- "The Passionate Shepherd to his Love"
- Andrew Marvell
- ""
- ""
- William Julius Mickle
- ""
- John Milton
- "L'Allegro"
- "Il Penseroso"
- "Lycidas"
- ""
- Thomas Moore
- ""
- "The Light of Other Days"
- ""
- ""
- Carolina Nairne
- ""
- Thomas Nashe
- "Spring"
- Thomas Love Peacock
- ""
- Edgar Allan Poe
- "Annabel Lee"
- "The Haunted Palace"
- "The Sleeper"
- "The Valley of Unrest"
- "To Helen"
- ""
- "Ulalume"
- Winthrop Mackworth Praed
- ""
- Walter Scott
- ""
- ""
- "Allen-a-Dale"
- ""
- "Evening"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Cavalier"
- ""
- "The Outlaw"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "Young Lochinvar"
- William Shakespeare
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "Winter"
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
- "Arethusa"
- "To a Skylark"
- "The Recollection"
- James Shirley
- ""
- Philip Sidney
- "Sleep"
- Robert Surtees
- ""
- Charles Wolfe
- "The Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna"
- ""
- William Wordsworth
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
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- "The Solitary Reaper"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- Henry Wotton
- "Elizabeth of Bohemia"
The Green Fairy Book (1892)[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Green_Fairy_Book_1892_Cover.png/200px-Green_Fairy_Book_1892_Cover.png)
In his Preface to this volume, Lang expressed the view that it would be "probably the last" of the collection. Their continuing popularity, however, demanded subsequent collections. In The Green Fairy Book, the third in the series, Lang has assembled stories from Spanish and Chinese traditions.
- "The Blue Bird"
- ""
- ""
- "The Enchanted Watch"
- "Rosanella"
- ""
- "Fairy Gifts"
- ""
- ""
- "The Three Little Pigs"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Golden Blackbird"
- ""
- "The Magic Swan"
- "The Dirty Shepherdess"
- "The Enchanted Snake"
- "The Biter Bit"
- "King Kojata"
- ""
- "Puddocky"
- ""
- "The Story of the Three Bears"
- ""
- "Little One-eye, Little Two-eyes, and Little Three-eyes"
- "Jorinde and Joringel"
- "Allerleirauh; or, the Many-furred Creature"
- "The Twelve Huntsmen"
- "Spindle, Shuttle, and Needle"
- "The Crystal Coffin"
- "The Three Snake-leaves"
- "The Riddle"
- "Jack my Hedgehog"
- "The Golden Lads"
- "The White Snake"
- "The Story of a Clever Tailor"
- "The Golden Mermaid"
- ""
- "The Story of the Fisherman and his Wife"
- ""
- "The Three Dogs"
Media related to Green Fairy Book at Wikimedia Commons
The True Story Book (1893)[]
Contains 24 true stories, mainly drawn from European history.
- "A Boy among the Red Indians"
- "Casanova's Escape"
- "Adventures on the Findhorn"
- "The Story of Grace Darling"
- "The 'Shannon' and the 'Chesapeake'"
- "Captain Snelgrave and the Pirates"
- "The Spartan Three Hundred"
- "Prince Charlie's Wanderings"
- ""
- "The Story of Kaspar Hauser"
- "An Artist's Adventure"
- "The Tale of Isandhlwana and Rorke's Drift"
- "How found Vineland the Good"
- "The Escapes of Cervantes"
- "The Worthy Enterprise of John Foxe"
- "Baron Trenck"
- "The Adventure of John Rawlins"
- "The Chevalier Johnstone's Escape from Culloden"
- "The Adventures of Lord Pitsligo"
- "The Escape of Caesar Borgia from the Castle of Medina del Campo"
- "The Kidnapping of the Princes"
- "The Conquest of Montezuma's Empire"
- "Adventures of Bartholomew Portugues, a Pirate"
- "The Return of the French Freebooters"
Media related to The true story book (1893) at Wikimedia Commons
The Yellow Fairy Book (1894)[]
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Yellow_Fairy_Book_1894.jpg/200px-Yellow_Fairy_Book_1894.jpg)
Its initial printing was 15,000 copies. The Yellow Fairy Book is a collection of tales from all over the world. It features many tales from Hans Christian Andersen.
- "Cat and Mouse in Partnership"
- "The Six Swans"
- "The Dragon of the North"
- "Story of the Emperor's New Clothes"
- "The Golden Crab"
- "The Iron Stove"
- "The Dragon and his Grandmother"
- "The Donkey Cabbage"
- "The Little Green Frog"
- "The Seven-headed Serpent"
- "The Grateful Beasts"
- "The Giants and the Herd-boy"
- ""
- "The Crow"
- ""
- "The Wizard King"
- "The Nixy"
- "The Glass Mountain"
- "Alphege, or the Green Monkey"
- "Fairer-than-a-Fairy"
- ""
- "The Boy and the Wolves, or the Broken Promise"
- ""
- "The Dead Wife"
- "In the Land of Souls"
- "The White Duck"
- ""
- ""
- "The Flower Queen's Daughter"
- "The Flying Ship"
- ""
- "The Story of King Frost"
- ""
- "The Witch"
- "The Hazel-nut Child"
- "The Story of Big Klaus and Little Klaus"
- "Prince Ring"
- "The Swineherd"
- "How to tell a True Princess"
- "The Blue Mountains"
- "The Tinder-box"
- "The Witch in the Stone Boat"
- "Thumbelina"
- "The Nightingale"
- "Hermod and Hadvor"
- "The Steadfast Tin-soldier"
- "Blockhead Hans"
- "A Story about a Darning-needle"
Media related to The yellow fairy book (1906) at Wikimedia Commons
The Red True Story Book (1895)[]
Contains 30 true stories, mainly drawn from European history. Includes the life of Joan of Arc and the Jacobite uprising of 1745.
- "Wilson's Last Fight"
- "The Life and Death of Joan the Maid"
- "How the Bass was held for King James"
- "The Crowning of Ines de Castro"
- "The Story of Orthon"
- "How Gustavus Vasa won his Kingdom"
- "Monsieur de Bayard's Duel"
- "Story of Gudbrand of the Dales"
- "Sir Richard Grenville"
- "The Story of Molly Pitcher"
- "The Voyages, Dangerous Adventures, and Imminent Escapes of Captain Richard Falconer"
- "Marbot's March"
- "Eylau. The Mare Lisette"
- "How Marbot crossed the Danube"
- "The Piteous Death of Gaston, Son of the Count of Foix"
- "Rolf Stake"
- "The Wreck of the 'Wager'"
- "Peter Williamson"
- "A Wonderful Voyage"
- "The Pitcairn Islanders"
- "A Relation of three years' Suffering of Robert Everard upon the Island of Assada, near Madagascar, in a voyage to India, in the year 1686"
- "The Fight at Svolder Island"
- "The Death of Hacon the Good"
- "Prince Charlie's War"
- "The Burke and Wills Exploring Expedition"
- "The Story of Emund"
- "The Man in White"
- "The Adventures of 'The Bull of Earlstoun"
- "The Story of Grisell Baillie's Sheep's Head"
- "The Conquest of Peru"
The Animal Story Book (1896)[]
Contains 65 stories about animals. Some of them are simple accounts of how animals live in the wild. Others are stories about pets, or remarkable wild animals, or about hunting expeditions. Many are taken from Alexandre Dumas.
- "'Tom': an Adventure in the Life of a Bear in Paris"
- "Saï the Panther"
- "The Buzzard and the Priest"
- "Cowper and his Hares"
- "A Rat Tale"
- "Snake Stories"
- "What Elephants can Do"
- "The Dog of Montargis"
- "How a Beaver builds his House"
- "The War Horse of Alexander"
- "Stories about Bears"
- "Stories about Ants"
- "The Taming of an Otter"
- "The Story of Androcles and the Lion"
- "Monsieur Dumas and his Beasts"
- "The Adventures of Pyramus"
- "The Story of a Weasel"
- "Stories about Wolves"
- "Two Highland Dogs"
- "Monkey Tricks and Sally at the Zoo"
- "How the Cayman was killed"
- "The Story of Fido"
- "Beasts Besieged"
- "Mr. Gully"
- "Stories from Pliny"
- "The Strange History of Cagnotte"
- "Still Waters Run Deep; or, the Dancing Dog"
- "Theo and his Horses: Jane, Betsy, and Blanche"
- "Madame Théophile and the Parrot"
- "The Battle of the Mullets and the Dolphins"
- "Monkey Stories"
- "Eccentric Bird Builders"
- "The Ship of the Desert"
- "Hame, hame, hame, where I fain wad be"
- "Nests for Dinner"
- "Fire-eating Djijam"
- "The Story of the Dog Oscar"
- "Dolphins at Play"
- "The Starling of Segringen"
- "Grateful Dogs"
- "Gazelle"
- "Cockatoo Stories"
- "The Otter who was reared by a Cat"
- "Stories about Lions"
- "Builders and Weavers"
- "More Faithful than Favoured"
- "Dolphins, Turtles, and Cod"
- "More about Elephants"
- "Bungey"
- "Lions and their Ways"
- "The History of Jacko I."
- "Signora and Lori"
- "Of the Linnet, Popinjay, or Parrot, and other Birds that can Speak"
- "Patch and the Chickens"
- "The Fierce Falcon"
- "Mr. Bolt, the Scotch Terrier"
- "A Raven's Funeral"
- "A Strange Tiger"
- "Halcyons and their Biographers"
- "The Story of a Frog"
- "The Woodpecker Tapping on the Hollow Oak Tree"
- "Dogs Over the Water"
- "The Capocier and his Mate"
- "Owls and Marmots"
- "Eagles' Nests"
The Pink Fairy Book (1897)[]
Forty-one Japanese, Scandinavian, and Sicilian tales.
- "The Cat's Elopement"
- "How the Dragon Was Tricked"
- "The Goblin and the Grocer"
- "The House in the Wood"
- "Urashimataro and the Turtle"
- "The Slaying of the Tanuki"
- "The Flying Trunk"
- "The Snow Man"
- ""
- "The Princess in the Chest"
- ""
- "The Snow-queen"
- "The Fir-Tree"
- ""
- "Peter Bull"
- "The Bird 'Grip'"
- "Snowflake"
- "I Know What I Have Learned"
- "The Cunning Shoemaker"
- "The King Who Would Have a Beautiful Wife"
- "Catherine and Her Destiny"
- "How the Hermit Helped to Win the King's Daughter"
- "The Water of Life"
- "The Wounded Lion"
- "The Man Without a Heart"
- "The Two Brothers"
- "Master and Pupil"
- "The Golden Lion"
- "The Sprig of Rosemary"
- "The White Dove"
- "The Troll's Daughter"
- "Esben and the Witch"
- ""
- "Maiden Bright-eye"
- "The Merry Wives"
- "King Lindworm"
- ""
- ""
- "The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue"
- ""
- "Don Giovanni de la Fortuna"
Media related to The pink fairy book (1897) at Wikimedia Commons
The Arabian Nights' Entertainments (1898)[]
Contains 34 stories from the Arabian Nights, adapted for children. The story of Aladdin is in this volume as well as in the Blue Fairy Book.
- "The Arabian Nights"
- "The Story of the Merchant and the Genius"
- "The Story of the First Old Man and of the Hind"
- "The Story of the Second Old Man, and of the Two Black Dogs"
- "The Story of the Fisherman"
- "The Story of the Greek King and the Physician Douban"
- "The Story of the Husband and the Parrot"
- "The Story of the Vizir Who Was Punished"
- "The Story of the Young King of the Black Isles"
- "The Story of the Three Calendars, Sons of Kings, and of Five Ladies of Bagdad"
- "The Story of the First Calendar, Son of a King"
- "The Story of the Envious Man and of Him Who Was Envied"
- "The Story of the Second Calendar, Son of a King"
- "The Story of the Third Calendar, Son of a King"
- "The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor"
- "First Voyage"
- "Second Voyage"
- "Third Voyage"
- "Fourth Voyage"
- "Fifth Voyage"
- "Sixth Voyage"
- "Seventh and Last Voyage"
- "The Little Hunchback"
- "The Story of the Barber's Fifth Brother"
- "The Story of the Barber's Sixth Brother"
- "The Adventures of Prince Camaralzaman and the Princess Badoura"
- "Noureddin and the Fair Persian"
- "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp"
- "The Adventures of Haroun-al-Raschid, Caliph of Bagdad"
- "The Story of the Blind Baba-Abdalla"
- "The Story of Sidi-Nouman"
- "The Story of Ali Cogia, Merchant of Bagdad"
- "The Enchanted Horse"
- "The Story of Two Sisters Who Were Jealous of Their Younger Sister"
The Red Book of Animal Stories (1899)[]
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Contains 46 stories about real and mythical animals. Some of them are simple accounts of how animals live in the wild. Others are stories about pets, or remarkable wild animals, or about hunting expeditions.
- "The Phœnix"
- "Griffins and Unicorns"
- "About Ants, Amphisbænas, and Basilisks"
- "Dragons"
- "The Story of Beowulf, Grendel', and Grendel's Mother"
- "The Story of Beowulf and the Fire Drake"
- "A Fox Tale"
- "An Egyptian Snake Charmer"
- "An Adventure of Gérard, the Lion Hunter"
- "Pumas and Jaguars in South America"
- "Mathurin and Mathurine"
- "Joseph: Whose proper name was Josephine"
- "The Homes of the Vizcachas"
- "Guanacos: Living and Dying"
- "In the American Desert"
- "The Story of Jacko II"
- "Princess"
- "The Lion and the Saint"
- "The Further Adventures of 'Tom,' a Bear, in Paris"
- "Recollections of a Lion Tamer"
- "Sheep Farming on the Border"
- "When the World was Young"
- "Bats and Vampires"
- "The Ugliest Beast in the World"
- "The Games of Orang-Outangs, and Kees the Baboon"
- "Greyhounds and their Masters"
- "The Great Father, and Snakes' Ways"
- "Elephant Shooting"
- "Hyenas and Children"
- "A Fight with a Hippopotamus"
- "Kanny, the Kangaroo"
- "Collies or Sheep Dogs"
- "Two Big Dogs and a Little One"
- "Crocodile Stories"
- "Lion-Hunting and Lions"
- "On the Trail of a Man-eater"
- "Greyhounds and their Arab Masters"
- "The Life and Death of Pincher"
- "A Boar Hunt by Moonlight"
- "Thieving Dogs and Horses"
- "To the Memory of Squouncer"
- "How Tom the Bear was born a Frenchman"
- "Charley"
- "Fairy Rings; and the Fairies who make them"
- "How the Reindeer Live"
- "The Cow and the Crocodile"
The Grey Fairy Book (1900)[]
Thirty-five stories, many from oral traditions, and others from French, German and Italian collections.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ab/Grey_Fairy_Book_1900.jpg/200px-Grey_Fairy_Book_1900.jpg)
- "Donkey Skin"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "Fortunatus and his Purse"
- "The Goat-faced Girl"
- "What came of picking Flowers"
- "The Story of Bensurdatu"
- "The Magician's Horse"
- ""
- ""
- "The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles"
- "Udea and her Seven Brothers"
- "The White Wolf"
- ""
- ""
- "The Dog and the Sparrow"
- ""
- ""
- "The Jackal and the Spring"
- "The Bear"
- "The Sunchild"
- "The Daughter of Buk Ettemsuch"
- "Laughing Eye and Weeping Eye, or the Limping Fox"
- "The Unlooked for Prince"
- "The Simpleton"
- "The Street Musicians"
- "The Twin Brothers"
- "Cannetella"
- ""
- ""
- "Long, Broad, and Quickeye"
- "Prunella"
The Violet Fairy Book (1901)[]
Romania, 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.
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/88/Violet_Fairy_Book_1902.jpg/200px-Violet_Fairy_Book_1902.jpg)
- "A Tale Of the Tontlawald"
- ""
- "The Story of Three Wonderful Beggars"
- "Schippeitaro"
- "The Three Princes and their Beasts"
- "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 Envious Neighbour"
- "The Fairy of the Dawn"
- ""
- "Jesper Who Herded the Hares"
- ""
- "The History of Dwarf Long Nose"
- "The Nunda, Eater of People"
- ""
- "The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Boys with the Golden Stars"
- "The Frog"
- "The Princess Who Was Hidden Underground"
- "The Girl Who Pretended to be a Boy"
- ""
- "The Prince Who Wanted to See the World"
- "Virgilius the Sorcerer"
- "Mogarzea and his Son"
Media related to The Violet Fairy Book at Wikimedia Commons
The Book of Romance (1902)[]
Contains nineteen stories from various medieval and Renaissance romances of chivalry, adapted for children. Includes stories about King Arthur, Charlemagne, William of Orange, and Robin Hood.
- "The Drawing of the Sword"
- "The Questing Beast"
- "The Sword Excalibur"
- "The Story of Sir Balin"
- "How the Round Table began"
- "The Passing of Merlin"
- "How Morgan Le Fay tried to kill King Arthur"
- "What Beaumains asked of the King"
- "The Quest of the Holy Graal"
- "The Fight for the Queen"
- "The Fair Maid of Astolat"
- "Lancelot and Guenevere"
- "The End of it All"
- "The Battle of Roncevalles"
- "The Pursuit of Diarmid"
- "Some Adventures of William Short Nose"
- "Wayland the Smith"
- "The Story of Robin Hood"
- "The Story of Grettir the Strong"
Media related to The book of romance (1902) at Wikimedia Commons
The Crimson Fairy Book (1903)[]
These 36 stories originated in Hungary, Russia, Finland, Iceland, Tunisia, the Baltic, and elsewhere.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fc/Crimson_Fairy_Book_1903.jpg/160px-Crimson_Fairy_Book_1903.jpg)
- "Lovely Ilonka"
- ""
- "The Hairy Man"
- "To Your Good Health!"
- ""
- ""
- "The Boy Who Could Keep a Secret"
- "The Prince and the Dragon"
- "Little Wildrose"
- ""
- ""
- "The Gifts of the Magician"
- ""
- ""
- "The Cottager and his Cat"
- ""
- "The Stone-cutter"
- "The Gold-bearded Man"
- "Tritill, Litill, and the Birds"
- ""
- ""
- "How the Beggar Boy turned into Count Piro"
- ""
- ""
- "The Death of Abu Nowas and of his Wife"
- ""
- "Niels and the Giants"
- ""
- ""
- "The Crab and the Monkey"
- "The Horse Gullfaxi and the Sword Gunnfoder"
- ""
- ""
- "How to find out a True Friend"
- "Clever Maria"
- "The Magic Kettle"
The Brown Fairy Book (1904)[]
The Brown Fairy Book contains stories from the American Indians, Australian Bushmen and African Kaffirs, and from Persia, Lapland, Brazil, and India.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Brown_Fairy_Book_190.jpg/50px-Brown_Fairy_Book_190.jpg)
- "What the Rose did to the Cypress"
- ""
- ""
- "The Bunyip"
- ""
- "The Story of the Yara"
- ""
- ""
- "How Geirald the Coward was Punished"
- "Habogi"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Husband of the Rat's Daughter"
- "The Mermaid and the Boy"
- ""
- "The Elf Maiden"
- ""
- "Fortune and the Wood-Cutter"
- ""
- "The Sister of the Sun"
- "The Prince and the Three Fates"
- ""
- "Kisa the Cat"
- ""
- ""
- "Asmund and Signy"
- "Rubezahl"
- "Story of the King who would be Stronger than Fate"
- ""
- ""
- "The Knights of the Fish"
Media related to Brown Fairy Book at Wikimedia Commons
The Red Romance Book (1905)[]
Contains 29 stories from various medieval and Renaissance romances of chivalry, adapted for children. Includes stories about Don Quixote, Charlemagne, Bevis of Hampton and Guy of Warwick.
- "How William of Palermo was carried off by the Werwolf"
- "The Disenchantment of the Werwolf"
- "The Slaying of Hallgerda's Husbands"
- "The Death of Gunnar"
- "Njal's Burning"
- "The Lady of Solace"
- "Una and the Lion"
- "How the Red Cross Knight slew the Dragon"
- "Amys and Amyle"
- "The Tale of the Cid"
- "The Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance"
- "The Adventure of the Two Armies who turned out to be Flocks of Sheep"
- "The Adventure of the Bobbing Lights"
- "The Helmet of Mambrino"
- "How Don Quixote was Enchanted while guarding the Castle"
- "Don Quixote's Home-coming"
- "The Meeting of Huon and Oberon, King of the Fairies"
- "How Oberon saved Huon"
- "Havelok and Goldborough"
- "Cupid and Psyche"
- "Sir Bevis the Strong"
- "Ogier the Dane"
- "How the Ass became a Man again"
- "Guy of Warwick"
- "How Bradamante conquered the Wizard"
- "The Ring of Bradamante"
- "The Fulfilling of the Prophecy"
- "The Knight of the Sun"
- "How the Knight of the Sun rescued his Father"
The Orange Fairy Book (1906)[]
Includes 33 tales from Jutland, Rhodesia, Uganda, and various other European traditions.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Ian_and_the_Blue_Falcon_by_H._J._Ford_for_Andrew_Lang%27s_The_Orange_Fairy_Book.jpg/170px-Ian_and_the_Blue_Falcon_by_H._J._Ford_for_Andrew_Lang%27s_The_Orange_Fairy_Book.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Orange_Fairy_Book_1906.jpg/160px-Orange_Fairy_Book_1906.jpg)
- ""
- "The Magic Mirror"
- ""
- ""
- "Ian, the Soldier's Son"
- "The Fox and the Wolf"
- "How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon"
- "The Ugly Duckling"
- "The Two Caskets"
- ""
- "The Enchanted Wreath"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Three Treasures of the Giants"
- ""
- "The White Doe"
- ""
- ""
- "The Frog and the Lion Fairy"
- "The Adventures of Covan the Brown-haired"
- ""
- "The Bird of Truth"
- ""
- ""
- "How the Stalos were Tricked"
- "Andras Baive"
- ""
- "The Magic Book"
The Olive Fairy Book (1907)[]
The Olive Fairy Book includes unusual stories from Turkey, India, Denmark, Armenia, the Sudan, and the pen of Anatole France.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/The_Blue_Parrot._by_H._J._Ford_for_Andrew_Lang%27s_The_Olive_Fairy_Book.jpg/170px-The_Blue_Parrot._by_H._J._Ford_for_Andrew_Lang%27s_The_Olive_Fairy_Book.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/The_Olive_Fairy_Book%2C_Andrew_Lang%2C_Cover%2C_1st_edition.jpg/160px-The_Olive_Fairy_Book%2C_Andrew_Lang%2C_Cover%2C_1st_edition.jpg)
- "Madschun"
- ""
- "Geirlug The King's Daughter"
- ""
- ""
- "Jackal or Tiger?"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Strange Adventures of Little Maia"
- "Diamond Cut Diamond"
- "The Green Knight"
- ""
- "The Golden-Headed Fish"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Story of Zoulvisia"
- ""
- ""
- "The Snake Prince"
- "The Prince and the Princess in the Forest"
- ""
- "The Boy Who Found Fear At Last"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Silent Princess"
Media related to The Olive Fairy Book (Andrew Lang) at Wikimedia Commons
The Book of Princes and Princesses (1908)[]
Published by Longmans as written by "Mrs. Lang"; illustrated by H. J. Ford (LCCN 08-28404).
Contains 14 stories about the childhoods of European monarchs, including Napoleon, Elizabeth I, and Frederick the Great.
- "Napoleon"
- "His Majesty the King of Rome"
- "The Princess Jeanne"
- "Hacon the King"
- "Mi Reina! Mi Reina!"
- "Henriette the Siege Baby"
- "The Red Rose"
- "The White Rose"
- "Richard the Fearless"
- "Frederick and Wilhelmine"
- "Une Reine Malheureuse"
- "The 'Little Queen'"
- "Two Little Girls and their Mother"
- "The Troubles of the Princess Elizabeth"
The Red Book of Heroes (1909)[]
Published by Longmans as written by "Mrs. Lang"; illustrated by H. J. Ford (LCCN 09-17962).
Contains 12 true stories about role models for children, including Hannibal, Florence Nightingale, and Saint Thomas More.
- "The Lady-in-Chief"
- "Prisoners and Captives"
- "Hannibal"
- "The Apostle of the Lepers"
- "The Constant Prince"
- "The Marquis of Montrose"
- "A Child's Hero"
- "Conscience or King"
- "The Little Abbess"
- "Gordon"
- "The Crime of Theodosius"
- "Palissy the Potter"
The Lilac Fairy Book (1910)[]
The Lilac Fairy Book contains stories from Portugal, Ireland, Wales, and points East and West.
- "The Shifty Lad"
- "The False Prince and the True"
- "The Jogi's Punishment"
- "The Heart of a Monkey"
- "The Fairy Nurse"
- ""
- ""
- "The King of the Waterfalls"
- ""
- "The Three Crowns"
- ""
- "The Brown Bear of Norway"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Wonderful Tune"
- "The Rich Brother and the Poor Brother"
- "The One-Handed Girl"
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- ""
- "The Battle of the Birds"
- "The Lady of the Fountain"
- ""
- "The Groac'h of the Isle of Lok"
- "The Escape of the Mouse"
- ""
- "The Hoodie-Crow"
- ""
- "The Winning of Olwen"
The All Sorts of Stories Book (1911)[]
Published by Longmans as written by "Mrs. Lang"; illustrated by H. J. Ford.(LCCN 11-27934).
Contains 30 stories on a variety of subjects, including true stories, Greek myths, and stories from Alexandre Dumas, Walter Scott and Edgar Allan Poe.
- "How a Boy became first a Lamb and then an Apple"
- "The Battle of the White Bull"
- "The Serpents' Gift"
- "Meleager the Hunter"
- "The Vanishing of Bathurst"
- "In the Shadow of the Guillotine"
- "The Flight of the King"
- "The Real Robinson Crusoe"
- "How the Russian Soldier was Saved"
- "Marbot and the Young Cossack"
- "Heracles the Dragon-Killer"
- "Old Jeffery"
- "The Adventures of a Prisoner"
- "What became of Old Mr. Harrison?"
- "Aunt Margaret's Mirror"
- "The Prisoner of the Chateau d'lf"
- "The Hunt for the Treasure"
- "The Story of the Gold Beetle"
- "Loreta Velazquez, the Military Spy"
- "The Farmer's Dream"
- "The Sword of D'Artagnan"
- "The Bastion Saint-Gervais"
- "Little General Monk"
- "The Horse with Wings"
- "The Prize of Jeanne Jugan"
- "Unlucky John"
- "How the Siamese Ambassadors reached the Cape"
- "The Strange Tale of Ambrose Gwinnett"
- "With the Redskins"
- "The Wreck of the Drake"
The Book of Saints and Heroes (1912)[]
Published by Longmans as written by "Mrs. Lang"; illustrated by H. J. Ford (LCCN 12-24314).
Contains 23 stories about saints. Most of these are true stories, although a few legends are also included.
- "The First of the Hermits"
- "The Roses from Paradise"
- "The Saint with the Lion"
- "Synesius, the Ostrich Hunter"
- "The Struggles of St. Augustine"
- "Germanus the Governor"
- "Malchus the Monk"
- "The Saint on the Pillar"
- "The Apostle of Northumbria"
- "St. Columba"
- "Brendan the Sailor"
- "The Charm Queller"
- "Dunstan the Friend of Kings"
- "St. Margaret of Scotland"
- "St. Elizabeth of Hungary"
- "Saint and King"
- "The Preacher to the Birds"
- "Richard the Bishop"
- "Colette"
- "The Apostle of the Japanese"
- "The Servant of the Poor"
- "The Founder of Hospitals"
- "The Patron Saint of England"
The Strange Story Book (1913)[]
Published after Andrew Lang's death, with an introduction by Leonora Blanche Lang. Contains thirty-four stories on a variety of subjects, including ghost stories, Native American legends, true stories, and tales from Washington Irving.
- "The Drowned Buccaneer"
- "The Perplexity of Zadig"
- "The Return of the Dead Wife"
- "Young Amazon Snell"
- "The Good Sir James"
- "Rip van Winkle"
- "The Wonderful Basket"
- "The Escape of the Galley-slaves"
- "The Beaver and the Porcupine"
- "An Old-world Ghost"
- "The Gentleman Highwayman"
- "The Vision of the Pope"
- "Growing-up-like-one-who-has-a-grandmother"
- "The Handless Brigade"
- "The Son of the Wolf Chief"
- "Blind Jack of Knaresborough"
- "Blind Jack Again"
- "The Story of Djun"
- "What Became of Owen Parfitt?"
- "Blackskin"
- "The Pets of Aurore Dupin"
- "The Trials of M. Deschartres"
- "Aurore at Play"
- "How Aurore learned to Ride"
- "Land-Otter the Indian"
- "The Disinheriting of a Son"
- "The Siege of Rhodes"
- "The Princess of Babylon"
- "The Adventures of Fire-Drill's Son"
- "The Strange Story of Elizabeth Canning"
- "Mrs. Veal's Ghost"
- "The Chief's Daughter"
- "The Boyhood of a Painter"
- "The Adventures of a Spanish Nun"
References[]
- ^ Day, Andrea (2017-09-19). ""Almost wholly the work of Mrs. Lang": Nora Lang, Literary Labour, and the Fairy Books". doi:10.1080/09699082.2017.1371938. Cite journal requires
|journal=
(help) - ^ Anita Silvey, Children's Books and Their Creators, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995; p. 387.
- ^ Richard Dalby (1997). "Ford, H J". In John Clute; John Grant (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fantasy. sf-encyclopedia.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
- ^ Day, Andrea (2017-09-19). ""Almost wholly the work of Mrs. Lang": Nora Lang, Literary Labour, and the Fairy Books". doi:10.1080/09699082.2017.1371938. Cite journal requires
|journal=
(help) - ^ Roger Lancelyn Green, "Andrew Lang in Fairyland", in: Sheila Egoff, G. T. Stubbs, and L. F. Ashley, eds., Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature, New York, Oxford University Press; second edition, 1980; p. 250.
- ^ Betsy Hearne, "Booking the Brothers Grimm: Art, Adaptations and Economics", p 221 James M. McGlathery, ed. The Brothers Grimm and Folktale, ISBN 0-252-01549-5
- ^ “The Blue Fairy Book (1889)”. Mythfolklore.net
External links[]
- Full Andrew Lang's Fairy Books collection at One More Library
- Andrew Lang collection
- The Folio Society "Rainbow Fairy Books"
- The Green Fairy Book at Faded Page (Canada)
- The Grey Fairy Book at Faded Page (Canada)
- The Lilac Fairy Book at Faded Page (Canada)
- The Yellow Fairy Book at Faded Page (Canada)
Andrew Lang's Fairy Books public domain audiobook at LibriVox
- [1] Illustrated list of all the first editions.
- Collections of fairy tales
- Series of children's books
- Scottish children's literature