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From the catalog entry: Fictitious imprint. Printed in Holland. Cf. Weller. Die falschen und fingirten Druckorte. II, page 102. Possibly printed in Holland.
Several Roman and Greek Gods are present: le Dieu de Cythère (blindfolded by the ancients, suggesting the blindness of love); Cupid, Circé, Cibelle (perhaps a reference to Cybele), Hécate, Hébé (with a footnote clarifying that she is the Goddess of Youth). The storyteller mentions the story of Dido and Aeneas from Virgil's Aeneid. The magic woman the girl visits speaks a Latin spell from a book called the Eclogue Enchanteresse, perhaps another reference to Virgil. The storyteller uses the word magotter as a verb, perhaps an adapted word deriving from the Magot and his Magotte, and playfully meaning to monkey around together. The Islands of America are called an uncultured, unknown place filled with monsters. The storyteller mentions slaves in America, and slaves are brought back with the Governor and Governess. The fairy Biscaroux (perhaps another literary reference) gave Magot his magic ring. The girl considers that her lover may be a lutin (imp or hobgoblin), suggesting that invisibility, or some magic article granting invisibility, may be an aspect of the lutin in general. The happy and sad moments of the story of the lovers are attributed to the changeability of Fate. The story's humor includes the juxtaposition of low-brow and high-brow elements. Poetry, songs, rhymes, and Latin verses are interspersed in the story. There is a word chart illustrating the Magot's self-deprecating rhymes.
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Les Souhaites ridicules is in verse. It is dedicated to Mademoiselle de la C... and begins by saying that he can tell her this story because she recognizes that the beauty of a tale is not in the content, but in how it is told. Jupiter is present in the story.
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Peau d'asne is written in verse. The king desires his daughter. The moral of the story is given in that virtue which survives an unfortunate challenge will always be rewarded. Perrault points out the importance of having beautiful clothing, and says that there is not a woman under the heavens that doesn't believe herself the most beautiful. There is a dedication written in verse to the Madame la marquise de L... extolling the virtue of fairy tales in general. There is a footnote defining the word ogre. He alludes to the feminine transmission of tales, mentioning mothers and grandmothers who will keep this story alive in their memories.
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Griselidis Nouvelle is written in verse. Griselidis has only one child, a daughter. There is a preface, in which Perrault addresses the polemic of the ancients vs. the moderns, extolling the morality of modern tales, and of fairy tales in general. He notes the typically female transmission of these stories, as from grandmother or governess to children. This maternal connection is mirrored in the story, in which Griselidis follows her intuition to protect the woman who will be revealed to be her daughter.
In a dedication addressed to Mademoiselle, Perrault states that Griselidis would be too extreme a model of patience, and that the lesson in morality she offers is so ancient that it would likely be laughable in his modern Paris. Nonetheless, he states that one can never have enough antidote to vice, even in Paris where a woman's will shapes society.
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The moral of the story is written in verse following the tale. It states that, though a rich heritage is a great advantage, the industry and know-how of ordinary people is worth more. A second moral is given that fine clothing, youth and a handsome face are valuable to inspire tenderness.
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The Sleeping Beauty tale most known in the US ends just after the awakening of the Princess; this version has a second half that includes her children. The moral, included after the tale, is that one should not rush to marry, though Perrault concedes that he could not preach this to the sex with so much ardor to marry. (le sexe avec tant d'ardeur)
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Grognon has a wine cellar, and mentions several types of wines. The beauty of Gracieuse is compared to Venus. Initially, Gracieuse is insulted to be admired by Percinet when she believes him to be a Page, and considers his admiration a sign of how low she has fallen. The dangers of love are comparable to the tortures of the evil stepmother. At the end of the story is the moral, written in verse, in which Envy is blamed for human evil, and for the anger of Grognon.
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In the Palace on the Island of tranquil pleasures there are murals of the Zodiac, of the goddess Diana, and of the Amazons. The fairy princess discusses the virtues of "tranquil" pleasures, that is those that do not involve the heart. The stories of Psyche and Cupid are mentioned as parallels to the princess's conundrum. The fairy queen describes love as tyrannical. Leandre is a sort of hybrid lutin (imp or hobgoblin) and man, able to retain the powers of the lutin while also remaining embodied.
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In this tale, the dragon slayer is of noble birth. Defeating the monster not only gains him a princess for a wife, but also leads to the release of his two brothers and villagers who had been imprisoned by the beast. The dragon is a shapeshifter that encloses within his body, like nested boxes, a series of other animals. In order to be victorious, the slayer must defeat the dragon, a boar, a hare, a pigeon, and finally a sparrow that reveals where the dragon has been keeping its captives. The slayer does not act alone but receives help from an old woman who is being held prisoner by the dragon and from a princess whose kiss enables him to finally defeat it. Two black and white illustrations accompany the tale: the first depicts one of the princes being caught by the dragon; the second depicts the dragon slayer receiving a kiss from the king’s daughter before he slays the dragon.
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In this version of Cinderella based on Charles Perrault’s tale, her fairy godmother used magic to transform pumpkin and animals (mice, rats, lizards) into a carriage and servants to take Cinderella to the ball to meet the Prince. Her stepsisters were cruel to her, but once they found out she was the beautiful girl at the ball with the Prince, they begged for her forgiveness. There is one color illustration for this tale that depicts Cinderella coming out of her carriage at the prince’s ball.
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There are twelve black and white illustrations for this tale. The story is written in a simple style, is easy to read, and moves quickly. In the preface to the entire volume, Mary Howitt writes that her favorite fairy tale is Cinderella, because of the moral: “There is a deep moral in it—hope to the hopeless, joy to the joyless—the white healing wings of a good angel hovering over us when our hearts are shorn to the very quick by unkindness or neglect.”
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Translated from Danish, this edition of “The Princess in the Chest” has been simplified for young readers. It comes from The Pink Fairy Book, one volume of a larger collection of stories and fairy tales for children. This version of the tale softens some of the frightening themes by incorporating some lighthearted humor and including a few detailed illustrations . This tale has clear religious references, including a hero named Christian who protects himself with a book taken off the altar in the church where the princess lies dead in a chest .
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There is one full-page black and white illustration of the prince about to wake the sleeping princess, as well as smaller illustrations including a historiated initial at the beginning of the tale. Unlike in many fairy tales, in this translation of the Grimms’ story, there is no justice carried out on the woman whom cursed the princess; she is never mentioned again .
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The illustration in this version is very colorful and intricate, almost dream-like, and gives a detailed image of Beauty and the beast once he is a prince. This illustration is at the end of the story, however, allowing the reader to form their own mental images of the characters first. Additionally, this version deals with class and gender roles. The merchant starts out rich, but loses his money, which causes the story to unfold. There is no mention of regaining wealth, however they do end up with the prince at his palace, so it is implied. Throughout the story, Beauty displays what may be a message to women about their role in society and what they have to do to be proper ladies. Beauty is constantly doing housework and taking care of her father without complaint, and eventually agrees to marry a beast. She is rewarded for these actions by the beast turning into a handsome prince, her prideful sisters being enchanted, and her father being able to live with her in the palace.
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This tale is told in language easily understood by children, using almost exclusively one-syllable words, an conveys clear a clear moral instructing children to obey their parents. Longer words, such as moth-er, fai-ry, gi-ant, and cas-tle, are hyphenated into syllables to aid early readers. There are thirteen simple black-and-white images to simply supplement the storyline.
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Part of the Walter Crane’s Toy Books Shilling Series, this edition of Beauty and the Beast is a simplified tale with light colorful images that caters toward young readers. It is a very light and simple read with many magical and delightful elements. In this version, the prince is put under a spell by a magician and doomed to live as a beast, until a beautiful girl loves him despite his ugliness.
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This tale is a new version of the old Greek story created by Andrew Lang in 1906. The plot also recalls the Greek myth of King Minos who sacrificed young men and women from Athens to the Minotaur he kept in his labyrinth. One black and white illustration depicts the serpent threatening a group of men on their knees.
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This version of the tale has very beautiful illustrations by Arthur Rackham, including four black and white illustrations positioned throughout the text and one color plate depicting Sleeping Beauty in her bed. The black and white illustrations depict: the evil fairy, the old woman spinning, the castle surrounded by thorns, and an elf at the end of the tale.
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This is a simplified version of the tale that was clearly intended for children. There are six tales in total. Besides Sleeping Beauty, the book includes some of Grimm’s best known tales including The Frog Prince, Rumplestilskin, and Hansel and Grethel, as well as The Rabbit’s Bride and The Shreds. The illustrations are simple but beautiful and a few pages are decorated with floral motifs.
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Perrault’s version of the tale focuses more on the prince’s mother than on Sleeping Beauty. This translation of Perrault’s tale includes nine black and white illustrations. Except the scene of the fairies at the Christening which is a full page illustration, all of the images are smaller and embedded in the text of the tale. Instead of captions, there are phrases in italics that link the text to the images.
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In this thrilling rendition of a princess in a coffin, you witness a royal couple’s unusual quest for parenthood. A wicked prophecy is cast upon an unnaturally born princess, and the King’s lack of patience and brings about a great misfortune. The princess is revived but at a great cost to a great number of men who lose their lives. This version of the tale is not written for young readers, as it presents great horrors and a lack of illustrations and so a child reader would probably not be greatly entertained. Although the editor of the volume was a Danish folklorist, the American translator claims to have heard the same stories when he lived in Denmark as a child. It follows a similar plot path to many other Princess in a Chest Fairy tales, including Straparola’s early version (1550), the tale of Tebaldo and Doralice. But this version contains many Christian references, including a protagonist called Christian who prays to God and setting in a Church.
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This version of Cinderella was written with language suitable for children of all ages and contains only one-syllable words. It includes few black and white illustrations, but there are more words than pictures. This book was created with the intention of entertaining young readers who are interested in Fairy Tales.
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This adaptation of Beauty and the Beast is one that highlights an extremely compassionate Beast and has an ending that contains a strong sense of justice for the two sisters who treated Beauty horribly. In this version, Beauty and the Beast live happily ever after she returns from visiting her father because she realizes she love the Beast which breaks his enchantment. After the Beast becomes a handsome prince, a fairy appears to make Beauty a queen and to make her sisters pay for their malice and injustice towards Beauty by turning them into statues at the gates of Beauty’s palace. They will remain statues until they become aware of the mistakes they have made, while Beauty and the Beast live a long and happy life. This version is also special because it is a cheap version of print published without an author or the original source. It is printed extremely simply, and only sold for a penny. Samuel and John Keys have published countless other fairytales, as seen on the back of the book, all for a penny each .
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The maiden wears the skin of a magical ass/ donkey to hide herself amidst the public of the kingdom. This is unique because instead of her hiding in a dresser or being shipped away to another land, as in some persecuted maiden tales, she is instead hiding under a second skin to make herself unrecognizable. There are three black and white illustrations depicting the king and his pet donkey; the fairy, the princess, and the donkey skin; and the donkey skin falling off the princess as the prince stands nearby.
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This richly illustrated edition of Hop-O’-My-Thumb includes six black and white images. The text is directed towards younger children. In the preface, Mary Howitt writes that “The gist of every fairy tale is the triumph of the weak over the strong—an overruling principle of justice and mercy, which will, in the end, set all things right; and so far they are full of truth .” In this version, Hop-O’-My-Thumb uses his wits to trick a hungry and angry Ogre into killing his daughters, seven Ogresses. Hop-O’-My-Thumb steals magical seven league boots from the Ogre and uses them to bring riches to his poor family.