Grimm’s Fairy Tales

[Pedro Del Mar]

Hi all

I’ve been reading the Ladybird Well Loved Tales to my young sons at bedtime. I’ve been searching out the older 6D versions on EBay with them being a little less dumbed down than the newer versions. Both my boys love them as much as I did when I was their age.

What I’d like some help with if possible is a recommendation for a more adult version of Grimm’s Tales for myself. I believe the original German versions were much darker and quite savage in parts. I was thinking of treating myself to a really good quality hardbacked illustrated version as a Christmas present to self.

Could anyone recommend a version that’s available that’s very close to the original stories in terms of the translation, and also hardback and illustrated please?

Many thanks in advance

Pedro

 

[Matteo]

I researched this some years ago and it's a bit of minefield trying to get the original text - especially since some editions are falsely labelled. The Grimms themselves also edited out a lot of the more salacious and violent stuff in later editions.

I did find a very good scholarly piece on the stories and the various versions which included mention of an "authentic" edition, but right now I can't find it - so it's probably buried under a pile of papers at home.

A quick look brings up this edition https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0691160597/?tag=brite-21 which seems familiar but I can't be certain.

In addition, I remember reading that the later editions (i.e. the sanitised versions) were actually improved because the Grimms' story telling improved. Also, that stories most of us are used to are the better ones and that the original (full) collection contains a lot of very minor stories.

If I find the article, I'll try to post it here.

 

[Extollager]

Pedro, I can recommend The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales, published by Pantheon/Random House 1944/1972. This edition was endorsed by W. H. Auden ("This book is a beautiful job of publishing" -- said of the original edition). Mine is bound in red cloth and was bought in 1976. The pages are showing some tanning by now.

0394494156 - The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library by Brothers Grimm - AbeBooks

"The text of this edition is based on the translation of Margaret Hunt. It has been thoroughly revised, corrected and completed by James Stern" -- from other side of the title page. ISBN is 0394494156.

I think the drawings by Joseph Scharl are a good complement to the stories.

The drawings are not typically pretty, and they're not overly detailed, with that lavish and quite distracting quality one often sees in fairy tale collections.

The gruesome drawings are gruesome enough, but I don't have a specimen to show.

 

[Extollager]

Here's a glimpse of the original publication of the Pantheon edition:

Immigrant Publishers

 

[Extollager]

Pedro, you might be interested in the Folktales thread, which contains a lot of bibliographic information:

Folktales: Grimm, Asbjørnsen and Moe, Jacobs, Afanasyev, & more

You might like to get hold of the University of Chicago book Folktales of Germany, ed. by Kurt Ranke -- not as a substitute for a good Grimm, but as an additional book.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

Wow - I never expected such detailed responses. Thank you very much for helping Matteo and Extollager, i’ll start to do some research and see what I can find.

Thanks again, really appreciate your help