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The Green Fairy Book
by LANG, Andrew (ed)
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London and New York: Longmans, Green and Co, 1892. Limited first edition. Ford, H.J.. A handsome copy of the third of Lang's beautiful fairy books with illustrations by Henry J. Ford. The Scots author was an avid collector of fairy tales from around the world and many of the stories in this collection, particularly the classic French tales, are translated here into English for the first time. In the preface Lang writes, "The stories in all the books are borrowed from many countries; some are French, some German, some Russian, some Italian, some Scotish, some English, one Chinese. However much these nations differ about trifles, they all agree in liking fairy tales."
One of the French stories collected in 'The Green Fairy Book' may have provided inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings'. Issued in the year of Tolkien's birth, we know that Tolkien had read the 'The Enchanted Ring' in Lang's 'Green Fairy Book'. Tolkien makes reference to the collection in his dissertation, 'On Fairy-stories'. Telling the tale of a young man who is given a ring that can not only make him invisible but will make him "the most powerful of men" as long as he does not "make bad use of it", Lang attributes 'The Enchanted Ring' to the French writer and archbishop, François Fénelon (1651 - 1715).
"To form a collection is to transform the individual items. Collections remove objects from their context and reassign identities according to imposed categorization and classification. One of the most striking attributes of the Fairy Book collection is its international scope. Multicultural fairy-tale collections are common in the twentieth century, but Lang's collection is the first and arguably one of the most extensive."
Hines, Sara. "Collecting the Empire: Andrew Lang's Fairy Books (1889-1910)." Marvels & Tales, vol. 24, no. 1, 2010, pp. 39-56. Signed limited edition, one of 150 copies of which this is number 74, octavo, large paper edition, bound in full green crushed morocco by Stikeman, decorated with gilt, top edge gilt, 366 pages, numerous black & white illustrations throughout, full page illustrations, in fine condition.
One of the French stories collected in 'The Green Fairy Book' may have provided inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings'. Issued in the year of Tolkien's birth, we know that Tolkien had read the 'The Enchanted Ring' in Lang's 'Green Fairy Book'. Tolkien makes reference to the collection in his dissertation, 'On Fairy-stories'. Telling the tale of a young man who is given a ring that can not only make him invisible but will make him "the most powerful of men" as long as he does not "make bad use of it", Lang attributes 'The Enchanted Ring' to the French writer and archbishop, François Fénelon (1651 - 1715).
"To form a collection is to transform the individual items. Collections remove objects from their context and reassign identities according to imposed categorization and classification. One of the most striking attributes of the Fairy Book collection is its international scope. Multicultural fairy-tale collections are common in the twentieth century, but Lang's collection is the first and arguably one of the most extensive."
Hines, Sara. "Collecting the Empire: Andrew Lang's Fairy Books (1889-1910)." Marvels & Tales, vol. 24, no. 1, 2010, pp. 39-56. Signed limited edition, one of 150 copies of which this is number 74, octavo, large paper edition, bound in full green crushed morocco by Stikeman, decorated with gilt, top edge gilt, 366 pages, numerous black & white illustrations throughout, full page illustrations, in fine condition.
Synopsis
The Fairy Books, or "Coloured" Fairy Books is a collection of fairy tales divided into twelve books, each associated with a different colour. Collected together by Andrew Land they are sourced from a number of different countries and were translated by Lang's wife and other translators who also retold many of the tales. The collection has been incalculably important and, although he did not source the stories himself direct from the oral tradition he can make claim to the first English translation of many.First published in 1892, The Green Fairy Bookis the 3rd volume in this series.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Rare Illustrated Books
(AU)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 1325
- Title
- The Green Fairy Book
- Author
- LANG, Andrew (ed)
- Illustrator
- Ford, H.J.
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- Limited first edition
- Publisher
- Longmans, Green and Co
- Place of Publication
- London and New York
- Date Published
- 1892
- Keywords
- fairy tales limited edition private press Brothers Grimm faerie faeries fairies folk tales mythology legends children J.R.R. Tolkien childrens stories bedtime stories collection Andrew Lang French tales The Hobbit Lord of the Rings
- Bookseller catalogs
- Fairy Theme; Magic;
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Rare Illustrated Books
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About the Seller
Rare Illustrated Books
Biblio member since 2018
Sydney, New South Wales
About Rare Illustrated Books
Intriguing and rare collectors' books of international interest from 1850 - 1950. We buy and sell - fine condition paramount.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Top Edge Gilt
- Top edge gilt refers to the practice of applying gold or a gold-like finish to the top of the text block (the edges the pages...
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
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