The Langs' Fairy Books


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 Leonora Blanche Lang, a married couple. 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.
Leonora Blanche Lang was an English author, editor, and translator. Known to her family and friends as Nora, she assumed editorial control of the series in the 1890s, while her husband, Andrew Lang, a Scots poet, novelist, and literary critic, edited the series and wrote prefaces for its entire run.
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."
The authorship and translation of the Coloured Fairy Books is often and incorrectly attributed to Andrew Lang alone. Nora is not named on the front cover or spines of any of the Coloured Fairy Books, which all tout Andrew as their editor. However, as Andrew acknowledges in a preface to The Lilac Fairy Book, "The fairy books have been almost wholly the work of Mrs. Lang, who has translated and adapted them from the French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, and other languages."
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. A. Wallis Mills also contributed some illustrations.

''The Fairy Books''

Origin and influence

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 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. 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 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". 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. It inspired such imitators as English Fairy Tales and More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. Other followers included the American The Oak-Tree Fairy Book, The Elm-Tree Fairy Book, and The Fir-Tree Fairy Book series edited by Clifton Johnson (author), and the collections of Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith.

Books

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/503/503-h/503-h.htm#2H_4_0001 ''The Blue Fairy Book'' (1889)

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. 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.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/540/540-h/540-h.htm#2H_4_0002 ''The [Red Fairy Book'' (1890)]

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 Blue Poetry Book'' (1891)

Contains 153 poems by great British and American poets.

''The [Green Fairy Book'' (1892)">gutenberg:33571">''The [Green Fairy Book'' (1892)]

[Image:Green_Fairy_Book_1892_Cover.png|right|200px|thumb|First edition, 1892]
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 True Story Book'' (1893)

Contains 24 true stories, mainly drawn from European history.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28314/28314-h/28314-h.htm ''The Yellow Fairy Book'' (1894)

[Image:Yellow Fairy Book 1894.jpg|right|200px|thumb| First edition, 1894]
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.

''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.

''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"

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5615/5615-h/5615-h.htm#2H_4_0002 ''The Pink Fairy Book'' (1897)

Forty-one Japanese, Scandinavian, and Sicilian tales.

''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)

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)">gutenberg:33547">''The Grey Fairy Book'' (1900)

Thirty-five stories, many from oral traditions, and others from French, German and Italian collections.
[Image:Grey Fairy Book 1900.jpg|right|200px|thumb|First edition, 1900]

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/641/641-h/641-h.htm#2H_4_0002 ''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.
[Image:Violet Fairy Book 1902.jpg|right|200px|thumb| Second edition, 1902]

''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.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2435/2435-h/2435-h.htm#2H_4_0002 ''The Crimson Fairy Book'' (1903)

These 36 stories originated in Hungary, Russia, Finland, Iceland, Tunisia, the Baltic, and elsewhere.
[Image:Crimson Fairy Book 1903.jpg|right|thumb|160px|First edition, 1903]

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/31201/31201-h/31201-h.htm ''The Brown Fairy Book'' (1904)

The Brown Fairy Book contains stories from the American Indians, Australian Bushmen and African Sothos, and from Persia, Lapland, Brazil, and India.
[Image:Brown Fairy Book 190.jpg|50px|thumb|Spine of first edition, 1904]

''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.

''The Orange Fairy Book'' (1906)">gutenberg:36532">''The Orange Fairy Book'' (1906)

Includes 33 tales from Jutland, Rhodesia, Uganda, and various other European traditions.
[Image:Orange Fairy Book 1906.jpg|right|160px|thumb| First edition, 1906]

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27826/27826-h/27826-h.htm ''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.
[Image:The Olive Fairy Book, Andrew Lang, Cover, 1st edition.jpg|right|thumb|160px|First edition, 1907]

''The Book of Princes and Princesses'' (1908)

Published by Longmans as written by "Mrs. Lang"; illustrated by H. J. Ford.
Contains 14 stories about the childhoods of European monarchs, including Napoleon, Elizabeth I, and Frederick the Great.

''The Red Book of Heroes'' (1909)

Published by Longmans as written by "Mrs. Lang"; illustrated by H. J. Ford.
Contains 12 true stories about role models for children, including Hannibal, Florence Nightingale, and Saint Thomas More.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28096/28096-h/28096-h.htm ''The Lilac Fairy Book'' (1910)

The Lilac Fairy Book contains stories from Portugal, Ireland, Wales, and points East and West.

''The All Sorts of Stories Book'' (1911)

Published by Longmans as written by "Mrs. Lang"; illustrated by H. J. Ford..
Contains 30 stories on a variety of subjects, including true stories, Greek myths, and stories from Alexandre Dumas, Walter Scott and Edgar Allan Poe.

''The Book of Saints and Heroes'' (1912)

Published by Longmans as written by "Mrs. Lang"; illustrated by H. J. Ford.
Contains 23 stories about saints. Most of these are true stories, although a few legends are also included.

''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.