PETROSINELLA: A Neapolitan Rapunzel

New York: Dial Books For Young Readers, 1997. 2nd Printing. Hardcover. As New/As New. Diane Stanley color illustrations. CONDITION: UNREAD, but not quite perfect, 1997 Dial Books hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), second printing. Tiny edge wear top DJ spine with light shelf wear to DJ in the form of pale "wrinkle." Interior perfect. With blank bookplate. Lovely soft color illustrations by the Author. CONTENT: Stanley offers a Neapolitan version of Rapunzel that predates the Grimms by 200 years. Petrosinella ("parsley" in Italian) is similar in many ways to the more familiar Grimm tale, but here the women play a more active part in the plot. It is Petrosinella's pregnant mother (not her father) who steals the parsley from the ogress - the event that leads to the girl's imprisonment. Likewise, it is the girl who discovers the secret to her release (three hidden acorns) and who implements the steps that cause the destruction of the enchantress. Stanley's watercolors and colored inks are rendered in royal blues and verdant greens - a fitting backdrop for the young woman and the prince with whom she falls in love, and an effective contrast to the ugly hag. Visual parallels, however, abound; note the folds in the cliffs, the ogress's face, and the bulldog's jowls in the scene with the first acorn. The illustrations have been published before but now Stanley's own narrative spin replaces John Edward Taylor's 1847 translation, used in the book's 1981 publication. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]