Folio Society ‘Classic’ Fairy Tales
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Folio Society: Classic Fairy Tale Collection
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Introduction
This essay is dedicated to what I would call a ‘loose’ collection of classic fairy tales by the Folio Society. The books were not all officially released as part of a collection, but the size and binding designs are complementary, and most of the works are facsimiles of volumes that were released during the period known as the “golden age of illustration,” which lasted from the 1880s until shortly after WWI. Many of the binding designs were redrawn by David Eccles based on original work by the illustrators, and the colourful spines are very distinctive on a bookshelf. The books are large and sturdy (10″ high x 7.5″ wide) , the illustrations are beautiful, and there is plenty of white space around the text which makes them very easy on the eyes.
All the books are reviewed in the video below if you’d like to see inside them, and clicking on the cover images will bring up the larger file if you’d like a closer look.
Video review
List of Books in the Classic Fairy Tale Collection
Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales
Illustrator: W. Heath Robinson
Date Published: Original 1913, FS 1995
Status: Out of Print
Where to buy: Abes | Amazon | eBay
About the book: William Heath Robinson was an English cartoonist and illustrator best known for drawings of ridiculously complicated machines for achieving simple tasks, and in the UK the term “Heath Robinson contraption” was used during WWI in much the same way that “Rube Goldberg Machine” is used today in the US. He first illustrated Hans Christian Andersen’s Danish Fairy Tales and Legends in 1897, and then again in 1913 when he illustrated Anderson’s Fairy Tales, the book on which the Folio Society edition is based. This edition contains 17 of Andersen’s most famous tales’. Robinson’s illustrations are lovely and the book includes 16 colour plates and numerous black & white illustrations.
The tales: The Marsh King’s Daughter, Tommelise, The Snow Queen (in 7 parts), Elfin-Mount, The Little Mermaid, The Storks, The Nightingale, The Wild Swans, The Real Princess, The Red Shoes, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Swineherd, The Flying Trunk, The Leaping Match, The Shepherdess and the Chimney-Sweeper, The Ugly Duckling, The Naughty Boy.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Illustrator: Arthur Rackham
Date Published: Original 1909, FS 1996
Status: In Print
Where to buy: Abes | Amazon | eBay | Folio Society
About the book: The FS volume of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm is drawn from the mammoth collection first published in 1909 and illustrated by Arthur Rackham. It features 40 full-color plates, plus over 60 black-and-white spot elements, and feels quite luxurious to read. Rackham is, of course, probably the best known of the golden age of illustrators, and Folio have published several volumes featuring his work.
The tales: The Golden Bird; Hans in Luck; Jorinda and Joringel; The Bremen Town Musicians; Old Sultan; The Straw, the Coal and the Bean; Briar Rose; The Dog and the Sparrow; The Twelve Dancing Princesses; The Fisherman and his Wife; The Wren and the Bear; The Frog Prince; The Cat and Mouse in Partnership; The Goosegirl; The Adventures of Chanticleer and Partlet; Rapunzel; Fundevogel; The Valiant Tailor; Hansel and Gretel; The Mouse, the Bird and the Sausage; Mother Hulda; Red Riding Hood; The Robber Bridegroom; Tom Thumb; Rumpelstiltskin; Clever Gretel; The Old Man and his Grandson; The Little Peasant (or “Peasan”, as misprinted in the Contents of my 1996 printing. Is this a FS misprint, or a reproduction of the 1909 edition?); Fred and Kate; Sweetheart Roland; Snowdrop (Snow White); The Pink; Clever Elsa; The Jew among the Thorns*; Ashenputtel; The White Snake; The Wolf and the Seven Kids; The Queen Bee; The Elves and the Shoemaker; The Wolf and the Man; The Turnip; Clever Hans; The Three Languages; The Fox and the Cat; The Four Clever Brothers; The Lady and the Lion; The Fox and the Horse; The Blue Light; The Raven; The Golden Goose; The Water of Life; The Twelve Huntsmen; The King of the Golden Mountain; Doctor Know-All; The Seven Ravens; The Marriage of Mrs Reynard; The Salad; The Youth who could not Shudder; King Thrushbeard; Iron Hans.
Perrault's Fairy Tales
Illustrator: Edmund Dulac
Date Published: Original 1910, FS 1998
Status: Out of Print
Where to buy: Abes | Amazon | eBay
About the book: When Charles Perrault, a civil servant in Paris in the 17th century, heard his son’s nurse recounting old French folk stories, he wrote them down, for fun. This edition is taken from Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch’s 1910 “The Sleeping Beauty and Other Tales from the Old French” and other tales translated by Robert Samber, complemented here by 30 colour paintings of Edmund Dulac, as well as black and white headpieces at the start of each story. Edmund Dulac was a French-born British naturalized illustrator, who – in addition to his beautiful children’s and fantasy illustrations – was also responsible for designing banknotes during WWII as well as several sets of postage stamps.
The tales: Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Blue Beard, Puss in Boots, The Fairy, Cinderella, Riquet-with-the-Tuft, Hop-O’-my-Thumb, and Beauty & the Beast.
East of the Sun, West of the Moon
Illustrator: Kay Nielsen
Date Published: Original 1910, FS 1998
Status: Out of Print
Where to buy: Abes | Amazon | eBay
About the book: First published in 1914, East of the Sun and West of the Moon (‘Old Tales from the North’) is a celebrated collection of fifteen fairy tales, gathered by legendary Norwegian folklorists Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe on their journeys across Norway in the mid-nineteenth century. Danish illustrator Kay Nielsen provided 25 colour plates and 21 monochrome images for this collection, and the artwork is widely considered a jewel of early 20th-century children’s literature. The images were reproduced using a 4-colour process in contrast to many of his contemporaries that used the more characteristic 3 colours. The cream binding on this facsimile is known as “elephant hide,” which is a type vegetable parchment.
The tales: East of the Sun and West of the Moon; The Blue Belt; Prince Lindworm; The Lassie and Her Godmother; The Husband Who Was to Mind the House; The Lad Who Went to the North Wind; The Three Princesses of Whiteland; Soria Moria Castle; The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body; The Princess on the Glass Hill; The Widow’s Son; The Three Billy-Goats Gruff; The Three Princesses in the Blue Mountain; The Cat on the Dovrefell; One’s Own Children Are Always Prettiest.
Bonus: I adore Key Nielsen’s work and the FS edition East of the Sun, West of the Moon is an absolutely lovely volume, but it can be difficult to source second hand. If you’re interested, I think the more easily available Taschen edition of this book is well worth the investment, as it reproduces the illustrations in vivid detail, it has a truly beautifully redesigned very clear layout, and includes close-ups and fascinating historical essays as well. It even has additional illustrations that are not in the FS edition.
Where to buy Taschen edition: Amazon | Blackwells | Taschen
I made a comparison video for Folio and Taschen editions of this title if you’d like to see the visual difference between them.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Illustrator: W. Heath Robinson
Date Published: Original 1914, FS 2001
Status: Out of Print
Where to buy: Abes | Amazon | eBay
About the book: The Folio Society version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a truly lovely edition. I am sure most of you are familiar with the story, which includes the adventures of young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, who are manipulated by the fairies.
The text of this edition is taken from that first published by Constable and Co. in 1914 and the treatment of the play is exquisite. From the title page, to the playful two-page spread that closes the book, there are delights on nearly every page. There are 12 full-page colour plates, but it is the variety of Robinson’s black-and-white illustrations — 32 full-page, along with plentiful vignettes — that makes this book the ultimate graphic presentation of Shakespeare’s most beloved play. Far superior to the later Lamb’s Shakespeare collection I think.
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Author: Roger Lancelyn Green
Illustrator: John Holder
Date Published: Original 1956, FS 2001
Status: Out of Print
Where to buy: Abes | Amazon | eBay
About the book: I also include in this collection one volume with contemporary illustrations. Robin Hood is dispossessed of his inheritance by Prince John while the rightful king, Richard the Lionheart, is away at the crusades. Robin escapes deep into Sherwood Forest, where with his faithful band of outlaws – including Little John, Friar Tuck and Will Scarlet – he robs the rich to give to the poor, outwitting the Sheriff of Nottingham and his henchmen at every turn.
The adventures of Robin Hood are here collected and retold by Roger Lancelyn Green, a British children’s writer and contemporary of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. This version was originally published in 1956, and it’s a lovely retelling, making use of many legendary and historical sources to portray a wily Robin and a capable Marian, although the language is a little stilted. This edition has some lovely contemporary illustrations drawn in a classic period style by Cambridge artist John Holder.
Illustrated by John Holder (frontispiece and 10 colour plates). Bound in buckram. 240 pages.
Tanglewood Tales
Author: Nathanial Hawthorne
Illustrator: Edmund Dulac
Date Published: Original 1918, FS 2002
Status: Out of Print
Where to buy: Abes | Amazon | eBay
About the book: Nathanial Hawthorne’s ‘second’ wonder book for children is known as Tanglewood Tales, a re-writing of more of the ancient Greek myths for children.
This volume includes Theseus and the Minotaur and Jason and the Golden Fleece. This volume is based on the 1918 edition illustrated by Edmund Dulac – who also did the FS edition of Perrault’s Fairy Tales – and includes 14 full-colour plates.
Arabian Nights
Illustrator: Edward Detmold
Date Published: Original 1924, FS 2003
Status: In Print
Where to buy: Folio Society | Abebooks | Amazon | eBay
About the book: Edward Detmold became renowned as one of the most talented illustrators of his time, particularly his depictions of plants and animals. In 1924, Hodder & Stoughton published The Arabian Nights with 12 colour plates, a change of direction for the artist into the realms of fantasy, and a facsimile of this edition was published by the Folio Society in 2003. Edward was known to be very painstaking in his work, so much so that he frequently missed deadlines, and shortly after this masterpiece he retired completely from public life.
Tales from Shakespeare
Retold by: Charles & Mary Lamb, introduced by Katherine Duncan-Jones.
Illustrator: Various Artists.
Date Published: Original 1909, FS 2003
Status: Out of Print
Where to buy: Abebooks | Amazon | eBay
About the book: This adaptation of 20 of Shakespeare’s plays for children by Charles and Mary Lamb, first published in 1807, uses small excerpts from Shakespeare, and retains some of the feeling of the original. However, the Lambs do pare away sub-plots and characters, and sanitize situations, to make relatively simple stories appropriate for children. The Tempest is a fairy tale on an enchanted island, King Lear a lesson to sons and daughters on the perils of disobedience, and Measure for Measure and The Winter’s Tale are rewritten with happier endings.
This reproduction of a 1909 edition contains 12 colour plates each by a different artist. I would consider it interesting from a historical point of view, but the archaic language and lack of illustrations could be a turn off for most modern children.
Introduced by Katherine Duncan-Jones. Bound in cloth. 288p. Frontispiece and 11 colour plates.
The Fables of Æsop
Illustrator: Edward Detmold
Date Published: Original 1909, FS 2006
Status: Out of Print
Where to buy: Abebooks | Amazon | eBay
About the book: Tradition has it that Aesop was a freed Phrygian slave living in the 6th century BC, making this the world’s oldest collection of stories. It includes over 300 fables, including ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’ and ‘The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.
Edward Julius Detmold and his twin brother Charles Maurice were prolific Victorian book illustrators, born in London in 1883. Their watercolours were influenced by traditional Japanese art and the Art Nouveau movements, and their work was already being exhibited at the Royal Academy when they were only 13. In 1903, at the age of twenty, the twins were commissioned to produce 16 watercolours for Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, which was tremendously successful, but tragically Maurice ended his life in 1908. Following this tragedy, Edward threw himself into his work, and in 1909 he produced 23 colour plates and a host of pen and ink drawings for The Fables of Aesop, and it is a facsimile of this edition which The Folio Society produced in 2006.
Illustrated by Edward J. Detmold. Bound in cloth. 168 pages. Frontispiece and 22 colour plates. 168p.
A Wonder Book for Girls & Boys
Author: Nathanial Hawthorne
Illustrator: Walter Crane
Date Published: Original 1892, FS 2008
Status: Out of Print
Where to buy: Abebooks | Amazon | eBay
About the book: Nathanial Hawthorne adapted the fanciful tales for children in his Wonder Book from classical mythology. The original volume was first published in 1852, but the Folio Society edition is based on the 1892 edition with 60 illustrations by Walter Crane, including 19 colour plates.
This volume was illustrated at the time when the William Morris/Walter Crane inspired arts and crafts movement was at its height, and the full-page colour illustrations are classics of their type.
The tales: The Gorgon’s Head, The Golden Touch, The Paradise of Children, The Three Golden Apples, The Miraculous Pitcher, The Chimæra
