"The Puzzle of Dickens's Last Plot" from Andrew Lang. Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology (1844-1912).

"The Valet's Tragedy and Other Stories" from Andrew Lang. Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology (1844-1912).

"The World's Desire" from Andrew Lang. Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology (1844-1912).

An enchanting collection of fairy tales and myths from around the world, including stories from the Brothers Grimm, Madame d'Aulnoy, the Arabian Nights and Norwegian folklore.

Rediscover the magic of Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltzkin, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretel, Puss in Boots, Trusty John, Jack and the Giantkiller, Goldilocks, and so many more timeless classics in their original, undiluted form.

Cherished by readers of all ages, Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book, became an immensely influential collection of stories when it was first published in 1889....

Once upon a time in a certain country there lived a king whose palace was surrounded by a spacious garden. But, though the gardeners were many and the soil was good, this garden yielded neither flowers nor fruits, not even grass or shady trees. The King was in despair about it, when a wise old man said to him: "Your gardeners do not understand their business: but what can you expect of men whose fathers were cobblers and carpenters? How should they have learned to cultivate your garden?" "You are quite right," cried the King. "Therefore," continued the old man, "you should send for a gardener...

The stories in the Fairy Books have generally been such as old women in country places tell to their grandchildren. Nobody knows how old they are, or who told them first. The children of Ham, Shem and Japhet may have listened to them in the Ark, on wet days. Hector's little boy may have heard them in Troy Town, for it is certain that Homer knew them, and that some of them were written down in Egypt about the time of Moses.

ONCE upon a time there lived in the village of Montignies-sur-Roc a little cow-boy, without either father or mother. His real name was Michael, but he was always called the Star Gazer, because when he drove his cows over the commons to seek for pasture, he went along with his head in the air, gaping at nothing.

Though some of the essays in this volume have appeared in various serials, the majority of them were written expressly for their present purpose, and they are now arranged in a designed order. During some years of study of Greek, Indian, and savage mythologies, I have become more and more impressed with a sense of the inadequacy of the prevalent method of comparative mythology.

The tales in the Grey Fairy Book are derived from many countries-Lithuania, various parts of Africa, Germany, France, Greece, and other regions of the world. They have been translated and adapted by Mrs. Dent, Mrs. Lang, Miss Eleanor Sellar, Miss Blackley, and Miss hang. 'The Three Sons of Hali' is from the last century 'Cabinet des Fees, ' a very large collection. The French author may have had some Oriental original before him in parts; at all events he copied the Eastern method of putting tale within tale, like the Eastern balls of carved ivory

The children who read fairy books, or have fairy books read to them, do not read prefaces, and the parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, who give fairy books to their daughters, nieces, and cousins, leave prefaces unread. For whom, then, are prefaces written? When an author publishes a book 'out of his own head, ' he writes the preface for his own pleasure. After reading over his book in print-to make sure that all the 'u's' are not printed as 'n's, ' and all the 'n's' as 'u's' in the proper names-then the author says, mildly, in his preface, what he thinks about his own book, and what he...